Индианская государственная тюрьма: История и современность

Prison

The Indiana State Prison is a maximum security Indiana Department of Correction prison for adult males; however, minimum security housing also exists on the confines. It is located in Michigan City, Indiana, about 50 mile (80 km) east of Chicago. The average daily inmate population in November 2006 was 2,200, 2,165 in 2011. The Indiana State Prison was established in 1860. One of the most famous prisoners to be in the Michigan City prison was bank robber John Dillinger, who was released on parole in 1933. The prison houses all the male death row inmates in the state. It appeared in the ITV documentary Inside Death Row with Trevor McDonald. Indiana plans to close the prison in Michigan City after a new prison opens in Westville.

The history of the Indiana State Prison dates back to 1859 when the state legislature granted $50,000 for a new state prison. The prison space at Jeffersonville became too scarce, calling for a new prison to be built in Michigan City. Later, State Prison South became the Indiana Reformatory and State Prison North became known as Indiana State Prison. During that same time period, of farmland were in use by the prison on land leased by the state. Michigan City had a cemetery for prisoners when the prison first opened in 1860; however, that cemetery no longer exists. The new prison cemetery in Michigan City has around 350 prisoners buried on the premises. Sam Thomas was the first offender buried in the new cemetery on June 10, 1927. Currently all state executions must be carried out in the Indiana State Prison. The prison also has or had a cat adoption program. This program has been exceptionally successful at finding new homes for felines previously owned by prison inmates.

William Clyde Gibson – Serial killer convicted of three murders. On death row.

Howard Allen – Serial killer convicted of three murders. Formerly on death row; sentence commuted. Died of natural causes in 2020.

Steven Timothy Judy – Executed March 9, 1981, via electric chair. The first person executed in Indiana since the reinstatement of the death penalty. Alan Matheney – Executed September 28, 2005, via lethal injection. Matthew Eric Wrinkles – Executed December 11, 2009, via lethal injection. Currently the last person executed in Indiana.