Green Haven Correctional Facility
Encyclopedia
Green Haven Correctional Facility is a maximum security prison
in New York
, United States
. The prison is located in the Town of Beekman
in Dutchess County
. The New York State Department of Correctional Services
lists the address as Route 216
, Stormville, NY 12582. This prison housed New York's death row during the time the state briefly had the death penalty (but never used it) in the post-Furman era. New York's electric chair "old sparky
" was moved here from the Ossining prison. Inmates and correctional officers at Green Haven were featured in the PBS
FRONTLINE program A Class Divided.
It was originally a federal prison and now houses maximum security inmates.
The first was of Donna Payant
on May 15, 1981 who disappeared while working at the prison and was later found in a garbage dump 20 miles away, sexually violated and strangled to death. The condition of her body was similar to that of victims of serial killer Lemuel Smith
who was an inmate at the prison. A bite mark on Payant's chest also matched the teeth pattern of Smith. It was determained that Smith had sexually assaulted and strangled Payant in the prison chaplain's office before putting her in a trash bag and throwing her body out with the trash.
On January 31, 2007, a Correction Officer in Tower One was found dead due to an apparent gunshot wound to the head. Fire and police were dispatched around 10:30 p.m., when they found the hatch to the ladder blocked, they used a Beekman Fire Department ladder truck to break in and get access. The tower was closed for investigation, and the death was deemed a suicide
.
's campaign pledge. In 2004, in People v. LaValle
, the New York Court of Appeals
struck down the statute as unconstitutional under the New York Constitution (at the time, only two individuals were under a sentence of death). Although several individuals were sentenced to death, none were executed, and the Court of Appeals later commuted the sentence of the final individual under a sentence of death in New York (People v. John Taylor, 2007). In 2008, Governor Paterson
ordered the lethal injection equipment removed.
, which seeks to reduce rates of recidivism and offer prisoners college education and tutoring, operates at multiple prisons including Green Haven.
Prison
A prison is a place in which people are physically confined and, usually, deprived of a range of personal freedoms. Imprisonment or incarceration is a legal penalty that may be imposed by the state for the commission of a crime...
in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The prison is located in the Town of Beekman
Beekman, New York
Beekman is a town in Dutchess County, New York, United States. It is part of the Poughkeepsie–Newburgh–Middletown, NY Metropolitan Statistical Area as well as the larger New York–Newark–Bridgeport, NY-NJ-CT-PA Combined Statistical Area. The population was 11,452 at the 2000...
in Dutchess County
Dutchess County, New York
Dutchess County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York, in the state's Mid-Hudson Region of the Hudson Valley. The 2010 census lists the population as 297,488...
. The New York State Department of Correctional Services
New York State Department of Correctional Services
The New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision or NYSDOCCS is the agency of New York State responsible for the care, confinement, and rehabilitation of approximately 63,000 inmates at 71 correctional facilities funded by the State of New York. The department employs...
lists the address as Route 216
New York State Route 216
New York State Route 216 is a short state highway located entirely in Dutchess County, New York, United States. At in length, it connects NY 52 and NY 55 between the hamlets of Stormville at the east end and Poughquag at the west...
, Stormville, NY 12582. This prison housed New York's death row during the time the state briefly had the death penalty (but never used it) in the post-Furman era. New York's electric chair "old sparky
Old Sparky
Old Sparky is the nickname of the electric chairs in Arkansas, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, New York, Texas, and Virginia. It was the nickname of the long-retired electric chair at the now-closed West Virginia State Penitentiary in Moundsville, West...
" was moved here from the Ossining prison. Inmates and correctional officers at Green Haven were featured in the PBS
Public Broadcasting Service
The Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television network with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. Its headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia....
FRONTLINE program A Class Divided.
It was originally a federal prison and now houses maximum security inmates.
Notable inmates
- Ronald DeFeo, Jr.Ronald DeFeo, Jr.Ronald Joseph "Butch" DeFeo, Jr. is an American murderer. He was tried and convicted for the 1974 killings of his father, mother, two brothers and two sisters...
, tried and convicted of killing his parents and four siblings at their home in Amityville, New YorkAmityville, New YorkAmityville is a village in the town of Babylon in Suffolk County, New York, in the United States. The population was 9,441 at the 2000 census.-History:...
. The case inspired Jay AnsonJay AnsonJay Anson was an American author whose most famous work was The Amityville Horror. After the runaway success of that novel, he wrote 666, which also dealt with a haunted house...
's novel The Amityville HorrorThe Amityville HorrorThe Amityville Horror: A True Story is a book by Jay Anson, published in September 1977. It is also the basis of a series of films released between 1979 and 2005...
. - James McBratneyJames McBratneyJames McBratney was an Irish American who is believed to have been involved in the kidnapping of Emanuel "Manny" Gambino in October 1972 and Lucchese crime family caporegime Francesco Manzo and Gambino crime family mafioso Vincent D'Amore.-Biography:James McBratney a.k.a...
, a convicted bank robber kidnapped Emanuel GambinoEmanuel GambinoEmanuel 'Manny' Gambino was the nephew of infamous Mafia leader Carlo Gambino and an organized crime figure in New York. He was kidnapped from outside his home in Queens, New York, by a group of gangsters...
, the son of Thomas GambinoThomas GambinoThomas "Tommy" Gambino is a New York mobster and a longtime Caporegime of the Gambino crime family who successfully controlled lucrative trucking rackets in the New York City Garment District.-Early life:...
and nephew of Gambino crime familyGambino crime familyThe Gambino crime family is one of the "Five Families" that dominates organized crime activities in New York City, United States, within the nationwide criminal phenomenon known as the Mafia . The group is named after Carlo Gambino, boss of the family at the time of the McClellan hearings in 1963...
patriarch Carlo GambinoCarlo Gambino"Don" Carlo Gambino, was a Sicilian mafioso who became Boss of the Gambino crime family, that still bears his name today. After the 1957 Apalachin Convention he unexpectedly seized control of the Commission of the American Mafia. Gambino was known for being low-key and secretive...
and murdered by John GottiJohn GottiJohn Joseph Gotti, Jr was an American mobster who became the Boss of the Gambino crime family in New York City. Gotti grew up in poverty. He and his brothers turned to a life of crime at an early age...
, Angelo RuggieroAngelo RuggieroAngelo Salvatore Ruggiero Sr. pronounced was a caporegime of the Gambino crime family and close friend of John Gotti.-Mob family roots:...
and Ralph Galione in a highly publicized mob execution - Robert Golub, convicted for the murder of 13 year old Kelly Anne Tinyes, who lived five doors away from his home. She was killed inside his home in Valley Stream NY on March 3, 1989. On March 3, 2009, this case was reopened.
- John GiucaJohn GiucaJohn Giuca was a student of criminal justice at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York, NY in 2004 when he was arrested in connection to the slaying of Fairfield University student Mark Fisher in 2003. Giuca was convicted under the Felony murder rule and was sentenced on October 19, 2005...
, whose trial has been the subject of intense media attention following his mother's undercover operation to expose juror misconduct. - John GottiJohn GottiJohn Joseph Gotti, Jr was an American mobster who became the Boss of the Gambino crime family in New York City. Gotti grew up in poverty. He and his brothers turned to a life of crime at an early age...
- Nicky Barnes
- Joey Gallo
Correction Officers' death
There have been at least two deaths of correction officers in the line of duty.The first was of Donna Payant
Donna Payant
Donna Payant née Collins was a New York state corrections officer who was murdered while on duty at Green Haven Correctional Facility....
on May 15, 1981 who disappeared while working at the prison and was later found in a garbage dump 20 miles away, sexually violated and strangled to death. The condition of her body was similar to that of victims of serial killer Lemuel Smith
Lemuel Smith
Lemuel Warren Smith , is a convicted serial killer and rapist from Upstate New York who was the first convict ever to kill an on-duty female corrections officer.-Trouble from the beginning:...
who was an inmate at the prison. A bite mark on Payant's chest also matched the teeth pattern of Smith. It was determained that Smith had sexually assaulted and strangled Payant in the prison chaplain's office before putting her in a trash bag and throwing her body out with the trash.
On January 31, 2007, a Correction Officer in Tower One was found dead due to an apparent gunshot wound to the head. Fire and police were dispatched around 10:30 p.m., when they found the hatch to the ladder blocked, they used a Beekman Fire Department ladder truck to break in and get access. The tower was closed for investigation, and the death was deemed a suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
.
Previous lethal injection facility
Capital punishment was reinstated in New York in 1995, fulfilling Governor PatakiGeorge Pataki
George Elmer Pataki is an American politician who was the 53rd Governor of New York. A member of the Republican Party, Pataki served three consecutive four-year terms from January 1, 1995 until December 31, 2006.- Early life :...
's campaign pledge. In 2004, in People v. LaValle
People v. LaValle
People v. LaValle, 3 N.Y.3d 88 , was a landmark decision by the New York Court of Appeals, the highest court in the U.S. state of New York, in which the court ruled that the state's death penalty statute was unconstitutional because of the statute's direction on how the jury was to be instructed...
, the New York Court of Appeals
New York Court of Appeals
The New York Court of Appeals is the highest court in the U.S. state of New York. The Court of Appeals consists of seven judges: the Chief Judge and six associate judges who are appointed by the Governor to 14-year terms...
struck down the statute as unconstitutional under the New York Constitution (at the time, only two individuals were under a sentence of death). Although several individuals were sentenced to death, none were executed, and the Court of Appeals later commuted the sentence of the final individual under a sentence of death in New York (People v. John Taylor, 2007). In 2008, Governor Paterson
David Paterson
David Alexander Paterson is an American politician who served as the 55th Governor of New York, from 2008 to 2010. During his tenure he was the first governor of New York of African American heritage and also the second legally blind governor of any U.S. state after Bob C. Riley, who was Acting...
ordered the lethal injection equipment removed.
Successes
- The Alternatives to Violence ProjectAlternatives to Violence ProjectThe Alternatives to Violence Project is a volunteer-run conflict transformation program. Teams of trained AVP facilitators conduct experiential workshops to develop participants' abilities to resolve conflicts without resorting to manipulation, coercian, or violence. Typically, each workshop...
was conceived at the prison in 1975 as a workshop.
Bard Prison Initiative
The Bard Prison InitiativeBard Prison Initiative
The Bard Prison Initiative is a program sponsored by Bard College to provide a liberal arts degree to incarcerated individuals in five different prisons in the U.S. State of New York. It currently enrolls over 200 students full time in liberal arts programs that end in associate and bachelor's...
, which seeks to reduce rates of recidivism and offer prisoners college education and tutoring, operates at multiple prisons including Green Haven.