Trenton State Prison
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The New Jersey State Prison (NJSP), formerly known as Trenton State Prison, is a state men's prison in
Trenton, New Jersey Trenton is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of New Jersey and the county seat of Mercer County, New Jersey, Mercer County. It was the federal capital, capital of the United States from November 1 until D ...
operated by the
New Jersey Department of Corrections The New Jersey Department of Corrections (NJDOC) is the government agency responsible for operations and management of prison facilities in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The New Jersey Department of Corrections operates 9 correctional facilitie ...
. It is the oldest prison in New Jersey and one of the oldest correctional facilities in the United States. It is the state's only completely maximum security institution, housing the most difficult and/or dangerous male offenders in the inmate population. NJSP operates two security units and provides a high level of custodial supervision and control. Professional treatment services, such as education and social work, are a priority at the facility. The Bureau of State Use Industries operated the bedding and clothing shops that were once located in Shop Hall at the facility. These industries have been relocated to
South Woods State Prison South Woods State Prison is a state prison for male offenders located in Bridgeton, Cumberland County, New Jersey, United States. It is operated by the New Jersey Department of Corrections. History In the 1990s state officials planned to open a ...
. NJSP also housed New Jersey's
death row Death row, also known as condemned row, is a place in a prison that houses inmates awaiting execution after being convicted of a capital crime and sentenced to death. The term is also used figuratively to describe the state of awaiting executio ...
for men and
execution chamber An execution chamber, or death chamber, is a room or chamber in which capital punishment is carried out. Execution chambers are almost always inside the walls of a prison#Security levels, maximum-security prison, although not always at the same p ...
until the state abolished
capital punishment Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence (law), sentence ordering that an offender b ...
in 2007. One notable inmate is
Jesse Timmendequas On July 29, 1994, in Hamilton Township, New Jersey, seven-year-old girl Megan Nicole Kanka was raped and murdered by her neighbor, Jesse Timmendequas, after he lured her into his house; Timmendequas had previously been convicted of child molest ...
, who was formerly on death row for the rape and murder of 7-year-old
Megan Kanka On July 29, 1994, in Hamilton Township, New Jersey, seven-year-old girl Megan Nicole Kanka was raped and murdered by her neighbor, Jesse Timmendequas, after he lured her into his house; Timmendequas had previously been convicted of child molest ...
. This crime inspired the passing of
Megan's Law Megan's Law is the name for a federal law (and informal name for similar state laws) in the United States requiring law enforcement authorities to make information available to the public regarding registered sex offenders. Laws were created ...
, which requires communities to be notified when a convicted sex offender moves into their area.


History

The New Jersey State Prison is a complex that consists of three separate but interconnected physical plants from three different eras of prison construction that took place on the property. The three sections are the 1798 Penitentiary House, the 1832 Fortress Penitentiary, and the 1982 contemporary prison facility. The 1798 Penitentiary House, which was the first state prison in New Jersey and the third in the nation after the
Walnut Street Jail Walnut Street Prison was a city jail and penitentiary house in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from 1790 to 1838. Legislation calling for establishment of the jail was passed in 1773 to relieve overcrowding in the High Street Jail; the first prison ...
in Philadelphia and Newgate in New York City, is also the oldest building still in operation as part of an active, working prison in the United States. This allows NJSP to lay claim to being the oldest continuously operating state prison in the US. The only surviving portion of the 1798 Penitentiary House is the original Front House, which functioned originally as the living quarters for the Keeper of the State Prison, the four Assistant Keepers (the first 4 men who served in the capacity of what are known today as State Correction Officers), the Armory, administrative office space on the first floor and a row of cells for the confinement of disruptive prisoners in the basement. Since the Penitentiary House stopped housing prisoners within a few years after the 1832 Fortress Penitentiary opened, the
Auburn Correctional Facility Auburn Correctional Facility is a state prison on State Street in Auburn, New York, United States. It was built on land that was once a Cayuga village. It is classified as a maximum security facility. History In 1816, assemblyman John H. Bea ...
can lay claim to having the oldest continuously operating cell house in the US. After completion and the relocation of the Penitentiary House inmates to the new
John Haviland John Haviland (December 15, 1792 – March 28, 1852) was an English-born American architect who was a major figure in American Neo-Classical architecture, and one of the most notable architects working from Philadelphia during the nineteenth ce ...
-designed Fortress Penitentiary compound in 1836, the 1798 facility alternately served as Mercer County's jail facility during construction of their
workhouse In Britain and Ireland, a workhouse (, lit. "poor-house") was a total institution where those unable to support themselves financially were offered accommodation and employment. In Scotland, they were usually known as Scottish poorhouse, poorh ...
in Titusville, and then as the state arsenal until 1929, when all
National Guard National guard is the name used by a wide variety of current and historical uniformed organizations in different countries. The original National Guard was formed during the French Revolution around a cadre of defectors from the French Guards. ...
equipment and services that were based there were transferred to the newly completed ANG base at
Sea Girt Sea Girt is a Borough (New Jersey), borough situated on the Jersey Shore, within Monmouth County, New Jersey, Monmouth County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 1,866, an increase ...
, at which time control of the empty compound was returned to the prison. In 1930, all of the Penitentiary House buildings were demolished, with the exception of the Front House, which was remodeled into a residence for the Keeper of the State Prison, a use for which it is still designated today. The cleared land on which the Penitentiary House cell houses and shop buildings had stood previously were enclosed in a 22 foot high reinforced concrete wall and opened as the Big Yard in 1930. This new, large recreation yard eased the cramped conditions inside the walls of the main compound, which up until that time had limited space to devote to outside recreation. The second oldest portion of New Jersey State Prison, the Fortress Penitentiary, was constructed between 1832 and 1836, when the inmates from the Penitentiary House next door were moved over. The 1832 facility was constructed on a contiguous plot of land already owned by the State and controlled by the Penitentiary House, under the supervision of the Keeper of the State Prison, and made use of inmate labor during the four years of construction. Consequently, the 1836 Fortress Penitentiary compound is considered to be an addition to the existing State Prison on the property. This assertion is valid because the two compounds coexisted on the same property and were managed and controlled by the Keeper as a prison complex in which the same inmate population worked and were housed. As the State Prison is operated as a unified complex composed of separate distinct compounds today, this conclusion is defensible. In his 1917
master's thesis A thesis (: theses), or dissertation (abbreviated diss.), is a document submitted in support of candidature for an academic degree or professional qualification presenting the author's research and findings.International Standard ISO 7144: D ...
, published as "History of the Penal, Reformatory and Correctional Institutions of New Jersey" the late Dr. Harry Elmer Barnes, a noted American historian, published a history and analysis of the state prisons, reformatories and penal institutions of New Jersey up to that time. His work was an analysis of the application of the various penal philosophies and their successes, failures and changes from 1798 to 1917. He separated the Penitentiary House and the 1832 Fortress Penitentiary into two "systems" in this work. The term "system" as used by Barnes was at that time used as "paradigm" is today — his "First Prison System in NJ" as applied to the Penitentiary House and "Second Prison System in NJ" as applied to the 1832 facility did not describe two separate prisons nor did it indicate two separate prison agencies. This was a history and description of New Jersey's transition away from the "congregate system" of confinement, wherein all persons regardless of age, sex or mental state were simply confined in the Penitentiary House, to the "Pennsylvania system" of confinement, which consisted of keeping prisoners confined in single cells, completely isolated from other prisoners and the Keepers. The authority and management of the State Prison as an agency did not change – The Keeper as the agency head supervised the Penitentiary House, oversaw and contributed inmate labor to the construction of the Fortress Penitentiary between 1832 and 1836, and supervised the transfer of all inmates from the old to the new compound in 1836 and continued on in the new compound. This construction, transfer and continuation of operations from one side of the property to the other provides a link between the old and new compounds, and demonstrates that the New Jersey State Prison has existed and continuously operated in the same location since 1798. Thus, Dr. Barnes described a change in penal theory and practice, not the abolition of the old buildings and governing agency and the substitution of a new one. No break in operation or management occurred. The 1832 facility was expanded several times throughout the 19th Century with new construction adding wings in the years between 1859 and 1907, and larger Shop Hall buildings as well. In 1895–96 when 6 Wing was constructed, the original walls were extended to the corners of the old Penitentiary House compound to enclose that wing as well as the newer Shop Hall building, which heretofore had been outside the main walls. The carrying out of death sentences in the state was moved from county jails to NJSP in 1907, when the first execution was carried out using the new
electric chair The electric chair is a specialized device used for capital punishment through electrocution. The condemned is strapped to a custom wooden chair and electrocuted via electrodes attached to the head and leg. Alfred P. Southwick, a Buffalo, New Yo ...
, built by Carl Adams of Trenton, in the shops of his Adams Electric Company. The last such electrocution took place in 1963. In 1979 the Death House (8 Wing), along with the old hospital wing were demolished to make way for a new Gymnasium. Ground was broken for the contemporary facility in 1979, and it was completed in 1982. No additions have been made since that time. The following is inscribed over the original entrance to the prison:
Labor, Silence, Penitence. The Penitentiary House, Erected By Legislative Authority. Richard Howell, Governor. In The XXII Year Of American Independence MDCCXCVII That Those Who Are Feared For Their Crimes May Learn To Fear The Laws And Be Useful Hic Labor, Hic Opus.


Death row

Prior to the 2007 repeal of the death penalty, the death row for men and execution chamber was in the Capital Sentence Unit (CSU) at the New Jersey State Prison. This unit was first established in 1907. The first
execution by electrocution The electric chair is a specialized device used for capital punishment through electrocution. The condemned is strapped to a custom wooden chair and electrocuted via electrodes attached to the head and leg. Alfred P. Southwick, a Buffalo, New Y ...
occurred on December 11, 1907.Historical Data on Capital Sentence Unit at New Jersey State Prison


. New Jersey Department of Corrections. May 18, 2005. Retrieved on March 21, 2016.
In 1999 death row inmate Robert "Mudman" Simon, who was convicted of killing a police officer, died during a fight. The lethal injection chamber at the prison was never used, and the death penalty was repealed in December 2007.Amick, George.
Amick: After Georgia debate, looking back on repeal of New Jersey's death penalty


. '' Times of Trenton''. October 10, 2011. Retrieved on March 21, 2016.
Therefore, the final execution to take place at the prison was a January 22, 1963 electrocution. The former lethal injection room now serves as an office. Within the prison are different zones with the red list zone holding high security risks. It is where prisoners who are incredibly powerful, have class A felonies, or have enough wealth or connections to beat their charges are kept.


Notable inmates

*
Sundiata Acoli Sundiata Acoli (born January 14, 1937,"Who is Sundiata Acoli?"
SundiataAcoli.org.
as Clark Edward Squire) i ...
, a former member of the Black Panther Party and the Black Liberation Army who was sentenced to life in prison in 1974 for murdering a New Jersey state trooper. *
Max B Charley Wingate (born May 21, 1978), better known by his stage name Max B (short for Max Biggaveli), is an American rapper and singer. He is best known for his solo ''Public Domain'' and ''Million Dollar Baby'' series of mixtapes, and introduc ...
(2009–present) Rapper/former member of Byrdgang. Refused a 10-year plea deal hoping to beat the charges and return to rapping. Sentenced to 17 to 20 years for first-degree aggravated manslaughter. *
Anthony Balaam Anthony Balaam (born July 9, 1965), known as The Trenton Strangler, is an American serial killer who raped and murdered four prostitutes between 1994 and 1996 in Trenton, New Jersey, luring them with sex-for-drugs encounters. Balaam was captured ...
, serial killer who murdered four sex workers. * Richard Fran Biegenwald (1940–2008), serial killer who killed at least nine and is suspected in at least two other murders. Operated in
Monmouth County, New Jersey Monmouth County () is a county located in the central portion of the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is bordered to its west by Mercer and Middlesex Counties, to its south by Ocean County, to its east by the Atlantic Ocean, and to its north ...
in the early 1980s. *
Rubin Carter Rubin "Hurricane" Carter (May 6, 1937 – April 20, 2014) was a Black American middleweight boxer who was wrongfully convicted and imprisoned for Murder (United States law), murder, until released following a petition of Habeas corpus in the ...
(1957–1966, 1967–1985), boxer wrongly convicted of murder. He was released in 1985 and went on to become an activist for the wrongly convicted. * Ricardo Cepates (1971–present), Honduran immigrant who raped multiple women and young girls in
New Brunswick New Brunswick is a Provinces and Territories of Canada, province of Canada, bordering Quebec to the north, Nova Scotia to the east, the Gulf of Saint Lawrence to the northeast, the Bay of Fundy to the southeast, and the U.S. state of Maine to ...
between 2001 and 2003. *Vernon Collins (1950–present),
Baltimore Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...
narcotics hit man; the inspiration for the character
Wee-Bey Brice Roland "Wee-Bey" Brice is a fictional character in the HBO drama ''The Wire'' played by Hassan Johnson. Wee-Bey is a trusted soldier and third-in-command of the Barksdale Organization. Character storyline Wee-Bey dropped out of school in sixth g ...
of ''
The Wire ''The Wire'' is an American Crime fiction, crime Drama (film and television), drama television series created and primarily written by the American author and former police reporter David Simon for the cable network HBO. The series premiered o ...
''. *
Richard Cottingham Richard Francis Cottingham (born November 25, 1946) is an American serial killer who was convicted in New York State of committing six murders between 1972 and 1980 and convicted in New Jersey of committing twelve murders between 1967 and 1978. H ...
(1946–present), serial killer from New Jersey who tortured, killed and dismembered at least six women and possibly many more from 1967 to 1980. *
Charles Cullen Charles Edmund Cullen (born February 22, 1960) is an American serial killer. While working as a nurse, Cullen murdered dozens—possibly hundreds—of patients during a 16 year career spanning several New Jersey and Pennsylvania medical centers ...
(1960–present), New Jersey's most prolific serial killer. Admitted to killing at least 35 people while working as a nurse in numerous New Jersey and Pennsylvania hospitals. * Jerome Dennis, serial killer who murdered five women and teenage girls. *
Bruno Hauptmann Bruno Richard Hauptmann (November 26, 1899 – April 3, 1936) was a German-American carpenter who was convicted of the abduction and murder of Charles Augustus Lindbergh Jr., the 20-month-old son of aviator Charles Lindbergh and his wife Anne Mo ...
, executed for the kidnapping and murder of
Charles Lindbergh Charles Augustus Lindbergh (February 4, 1902 – August 26, 1974) was an American aviator, military officer, and author. On May 20–21, 1927, he made the first nonstop flight from New York (state), New York to Paris, a distance of . His aircra ...
's toddler son. * Ralph Hudson (1920–1963), convicted of murdering his wife. He was the final person executed in New Jersey's history. * James Koedatich (1948–present), was sentenced to death for raping and murdering two women in two months in late 1982. His sentence was commuted to life imprisonment. *
Peter Kudzinowski Peter Kudzinowski (August 13, 1903 – December 21, 1929) was an American serial killer who was linked to at least three murders committed within a four-year span. An alcoholic, he confessed to his crimes while jailed for public intoxication ...
(1903–1929), serial killer who killed a man and two children. He was executed in 1929. *
Richard Kuklinski Richard Leonard Kuklinski (: April 11, 1935 – March 5, 2006), also known by his nickname the Iceman, was an American criminal and leader of a New Jersey-based burglary ring. He engaged in criminal activities for most of his adult life that b ...
(1935–2006), mafia hit man known as "The Iceman" who was connected to the
Gambino crime family The Gambino crime family (pronounced ) is an Italian American Mafia crime family and one of the "Five Families" that dominate organized crime activities in New York City, within the nationwide criminal phenomenon known as the American Mafia. ...
. * John List killed his entire family. Nicknamed "The Boogeyman of Westfield". * Frank Masini (1944–present), serial killer who murdered four elderly people. Active around
Ocean The ocean is the body of salt water that covers approximately 70.8% of Earth. The ocean is conventionally divided into large bodies of water, which are also referred to as ''oceans'' (the Pacific, Atlantic, Indian Ocean, Indian, Southern Ocean ...
and Essex County. * Robert O. Marshall (1939–2015), originally sentenced to death for hiring a hit-man from
Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...
to kill his wife, his sentence was commuted to life in prison. *
Caleb Lawrence McGillvary Caleb Lawrence McGillvary (born September 3, 1988), also known as Kai, is a Canadian man who first became known from the internet viral video "Kai the Hatchet-Wielding Hitchhiker", which featured him recounting a crime he witnessed while hitchhi ...
, known as Kai the Hatchet-Wielding Hitchhiker, was an internet sensation. However, McGillvary was arrested on murder charges on May 16, 2013, for the death of New Jersey attorney Joseph Galfy. In 2019 a jury found him guilty of first-degree murder and he was sentenced to 57 years in prison. *
Joseph Vincent Moriarty Joseph Vincent Moriarty (June 1910 – February 26, 1979), also known as Newsboy Moriarty, was an Irish American mobster in Hudson County, New Jersey who controlled the numbers game. Biography He was born in June 1910 in Jersey City, New Jer ...
(1910?–1979), numbers racketeer. * Fred Neulander The Cherry Hill rabbi who paid Len Jenoff and drifter Paul Daniels $18,000 to kill his wife Carol on November 1, 1994. * James Allen Paul (1947–2000), sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of 47-year-old Virginia Vickory. Additionally believed to have murdered two others in Vermont and Connecticut for which he was not brought to trial. * Ahmad Khan Rahimi (2016–present), suspected perpetrator of the
2016 New York and New Jersey bombings On September 17–19, 2016, a series of three constructed bombs exploded and several unexploded devices were discovered in the New York metropolitan area alongside a shooting in Linden, New Jersey following a subsequent manhunt. The bombings an ...
. *
Richard Rogers Richard George Rogers, Baron Rogers of Riverside (23 July 1933 – 18 December 2021) was a British-Italian architect noted for his modernist and constructivist designs in high-tech architecture. He was the founder at Rogers Stirk Harbour + ...
, serial killer who murdered and dismembered at least two gay and bisexual men between 1992 and 1993. * Edgar Smith, convicted murderer * Leroy Snyder (1931–2001), serial killer who killed seven people within a year in
Camden, New Jersey Camden is a City (New Jersey), city in Camden County, New Jersey, Camden County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is part of the Delaware Valley metropolitan region. The city was incorporated on February 13, 1828.Snyder, John P''The Story of ...
. *
Elmer Edward Solly Elmer Edward Solly (September 5, 1945 – November 30, 2007) was convicted of manslaughter in 1970 for the death of two-year-old Christopher Welsh. Solly escaped from custody in 1974 and spent the next 27 years living under numerous pseudonyms ...
(1945–2007), convicted of manslaughter and best known for his escape from prison and twenty-seven years as a fugitive. *Steven Spader, convicted for the home invasion and murder of Kimberly Cates in
Mont Vernon, New Hampshire Mont Vernon is a town in Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 2,584 at the 2020 census, up from 2,409 at the 2010 census. Spelling It is not clear why the name of the community is spelled differently from the ...
. * Jerry Spraggins (1967–present), convicted for the 1983 sexual assault and murder of an elderly woman at her apartment in Montclair. Tried, but acquitted, for two similar deaths at that same apartment from 1981 to 1983. *
Jesse Timmendequas On July 29, 1994, in Hamilton Township, New Jersey, seven-year-old girl Megan Nicole Kanka was raped and murdered by her neighbor, Jesse Timmendequas, after he lured her into his house; Timmendequas had previously been convicted of child molest ...
(1961–present), who was sentenced to death for the rape and murder of seven-year-old
Megan Kanka On July 29, 1994, in Hamilton Township, New Jersey, seven-year-old girl Megan Nicole Kanka was raped and murdered by her neighbor, Jesse Timmendequas, after he lured her into his house; Timmendequas had previously been convicted of child molest ...
, which led to the passage of
Megan's Law Megan's Law is the name for a federal law (and informal name for similar state laws) in the United States requiring law enforcement authorities to make information available to the public regarding registered sex offenders. Laws were created ...
. *
Lloyd Woodson Lloyd R. Woodson (born January 31, 1966) is an American man whose arrest in central New Jersey on January 25, 2010, received national attention in the United States. Woodson was armed with a semi-automatic rifle and was wearing a ballistic vest a ...
, sentenced to 14.5 years in 2012 for attempted armed robbery (second degree), possession of a firearm for unlawful purpose, unlawful possession of a rifle, possession of a defaced firearm, possession of hollow-point bullets, and possession of high-capacity ammunition magazines. * Khalil Wheeler-Weaver, serial killer sentenced to 160 years in prison for killing three women and trying to kill a fourth.


References


Further reading

*A History of the Penal, Reformatory, and Correctional Institutions of the State of New Jersey: Analytical and Documentary, Harry Elmer Barnes, MacCrellish & Quigley Company, Trenton, NJ 1918 *Trenton State Gazette, Trenton Evening Times, Sunday Times Advertiser, various articles between 1890 and 1979.


External links


1952: The powder keg blows
{{Authority control 1836 establishments in New Jersey Buildings and structures in Trenton, New Jersey Capital punishment in New Jersey Execution sites in the United States Prisons in New Jersey