Thomas Silverstein
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Thomas Silverstein, is an American murderer that has been incarcerated since 1975.
In 1977, he was jailed for armed robbery. During this sentence, Silverstein killed an inmate, and received a life sentence for the murder. He was transferred, in 1980, to USP Marion, At Marion, Silverstein was housed in the H-Unit, a top security area consisting of solitary confinement regime reserved for prisoners prone to assaultive and disruptive behavior. It was here were Silverstein killed a second inmate, and received a second life sentence.[1]. Following, this, Silverstein then killed a third inmate, and received another life sentence.
Due to the dangerous nature of Silverstein, officials determined they would keep him locked in handcuffs anytime he was outside his cell. Guards escorted while handcuffed him to the library, rec room, and shower. The guards were not armed, with the notion prisoners would seize weapons given the opportunity. On October 22, 1983 at 10:15 am, Silverstein was removed from his solitary cell to be escorted to the shower. Three guards were assigned to this task. During this process, Silverstein slipped his cuffs into the cell adjacent to his, where inmate Randy Gometz unlocked his handcuffs and passed him a shank fashioned from one of the cell beds. Silverstein stabbed 51-year-old corrections officer Merle Eugene Clutts 29 times.[2] Both Gometz and Silverstein were tried together, and both received an additional 50 to 150 year sentence (killing of a federal official was not a capital offense at the time.
Following this incident, (along with another corrections officer, Robert L. Hoffman, being murdered the same day), USP Marion went into a permanent lockdown, which remains in effect today.
Silverstein was subsequently moved to USP Leavenworth in Leavenworth, Kansas, with his security recorded as "no human contact." Silverstein was placed in a cell located underground. In 2005, when USP Leavenworth was designated to become a medium security facility, Silverstein was moved to the ADX in Florence, a supermax facility in Colorado.
References
- ^ ""UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. CLAYTON FOUNTAIN, THOMAS E. SILVERSTEIN, and RANDY K. GOMETZ, Defendants-Appellants"". Project Prisoner. Retrieved 2006-10-28.
- ^ ""Life Inside USP Marion"". Marion Daily Republican. Retrieved 2006-10-28.