Federal prosecutors in Colorado are seeking the death penalty against two inmates accused of killing other convicts in the “Supermax” federal prison, marking the first time in a decade that the Colorado U.S. Attorney’s office has pursued the death penalty.
U.S. Attorney John Walsh will seek the death penalty for Richard Santiago, 51, and Gary Douglas Watland, 48, according to The Denver Post. Santiago is accused of beating and kicking an inmate to death in 2005, while Watland is charged with stabbing a prisoner to death in 2008.
The Supermax, formally known as the administrative maximum security facility at Florence, houses some of the worst of the worst of federal prisoners. Among its residents are several terrorists, Theodore Kaczynski, the “Unabomber,” and Robert Hanssen, an FBI agent turned traitor.
Colorado federal prosecutors last sought the death penalty against cousins William and Rudy Sablan, who were accused of stabbing their cellmate, then removing his organs and putting them on display to warn other inmates, The Post said. Jurors in separate trials sentenced them to life in prison instead.
