Inside the death chamber - Behind-the-scenes look at where Indiana prisoners are sent to die
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Straps and cuffs are shown on a gurney in the Indiana State Prison death chamber in Michigan City.
MICHIGAN CITY - It's where the worst of the worst offenders in Indiana are sent to die by lethal injection.
As inmates file up and down what's known as “Main Street” at the Indiana State Prison in Michigan City, they pass an 80-year-old brick building known as the D.O. or District Office. That's the official name, but what it's really known as is the “death house” or “the chamber.”
Behind the locked doors of the chamber, the gurney stands idle. Thick leather straps and cuffs are in position, ready to be used to bind the next death-row inmate who has run out of appeals. It is rare to be allowed access inside this area, especially because prison officials consider it a “sacred space.”
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The Execution Room at Indiana State Prison.
“When I say sacred, I don't mean a holy place. It's a place where we as humans are asked to carry out the execution of another human being,” Superintendent William Wilson said.
As close as anyone typically ever gets to the death chamber is the witness viewing room. During an actual execution, the blinds open for a only a matter of moments on a window to a world that exposes them to the doomed prisoner's final moments and last breath.
As he walked through the death chamber, Wilson said, “During one of my first executions, the offender took the time to apologize to us for having to do this. I thought that was a very compelling moment.”
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A clock decorates a wall in the Indiana State Prison death chamber.
As the clock in the death chamber ticks down to that midnight hour when most executions are scheduled to take place, phones near the gurney provide constant contact in case word comes of a stay.
“When you hang up that phone and nod your head, the process starts. That's the beginning of the end of a person's life. It's a tremendous responsibility,” according to Mark Levenhagen, a former superintendent at Michigan City.
He is currently in charge at the state corrections facility at Westville. Levenhagen was superintendent when the most recent execution occurred last December when Matthew Wrinkles was put to death.
“ ‘Thou shalt not kill' is one of those commandments, and yet I accepted responsibility and moved through that process,” Levenhagen said.
Levenhagen's first role in any execution came back in 2005 with the Alan Matheney case. Matheney was the St. Joseph County man executed for bludgeoning his wife to death in Mishawaka in front of the couple's children while he was out on a prison furlough.
“I have a 23- to 24-mile drive to my home. I remember that first one I did, I got home and don't remember driving home. It's one of those things no one can prepare you for,” Levenhagen said.
In the lengthy stretches of time when the death chamber is not in use, a team of 25 to 30 Department of Correction workers from all across the state gather there regularly to practice. They are the execution team. In the chamber, the IV tubing runs from the gurney through a wall separating inmate from executioner.
“There are no medical staff involved in the execution process because it goes against their oath of ‘do no harm,' ” Levenhagen explained.
From the guards who bring the prisoner to the “watch cell” adjacent to the gurney hours before the death sentence is carried out, to the superintendent in charge, a highly selective process goes into choosing the execution team.
“We don't want anybody on the team who is going to be a cowboy type. We don't want those types of people,” Levenhagen said.
More than 60 men have died in the room that is currently still being used to administer the death penalty in Indiana. Fourteen of them have died by lethal injection, the rest by electrocution. The wiring, switch box and levers for the electric chair are all still intact in the death chamber.
“So the chair is definitely part of the history of this place, and it's by no means defunct. If we had to use it tomorrow, we could take it out of the case and take it to the chamber and hook it up,” Levenhagen said
The chair is now on display as an artifact in a prison conference room. It was built almost 100 years ago with wood from the state prison gallows. The last time it was used was in 1994. After that, the state legislature mandated the move to lethal injection.
Currently, 14 men sit on death row.
“Generally, as a final act of brotherhood, they will refuse their meal on the day of an execution,” Levenhagen said.
Currently, no executions are scheduled in Indiana, but Wilson, the prison's superintendent, knows that could change at any moment.
http://www.southbendtribune.com/arti...ws01/101129410
Inside Death Row with Trevor Mcdonald
Ok im new to the forums here so bare with me this might have been posted although I searched and found nothing.
This is a short 50 minute Documentary behind Indiana State's death row and max security prison. I found this to be a great view. I find its neither anti or pro death penalty but if I were to chose which it is, it leans more towards the pro death penalty, although the host Trevor Mcdonald is anti death penalty. Once again I thought it was a great watch and I'm posting it here for your viewing pleasures.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxBuDGl5NN0
and here's the link.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxBuDGl5NN0
Trevor McDonald's Documentary on Indiana State Prison
Watched this on Youtube the other night. Pretty fascinating and I'd highly recommend it.
One of the most interesting things is Indiana's death row. There are not a lot of men on the row--12 at the time of filming. What is interesting is the degree of freedom the men are given.
Large cells. One entire wall is jail bars. Ability to communicate freely with other inmates. TVs. Video games. And...cats. Of all things. At least two of the guys shown have cats.
It has to be unique in the freedoms allowed to inmates on death row.