Tales from the Morgue: Perversion in the prisons

Homosexuality Problem Charged

Probe May Extend To State Prison

By ERNEST C. HELTSLEY

A Tucson man claimed in Superior Court yesterday that homosexual problems are so bad at the Arizona State Prison, guards once fired warning shots at him as he ran to escape fellow inmates.

After hearing the accusations, vising Judge Lloyd C. Helm of Cochise County ordered an investigation which could extend to the prison.

Joseph A. Reynolds, 21, who was given a 6-to-8-year prison sentence for robbery a year ago this month by Judge Helm, was in court here yesterday seeking to be freed on bond pending his appeal of the conviction.

In speaking for Reynolds. Atty. Ralph Seefeldt contended his client has been "subjected to cruel and inhuman punishment because of the situation that prevails at the prison."

"He had just as soon be shot as be subjected to this kind of treatment," Seefeldt said of Reynolds. "He tried running, but the guards fired shots at him."

Judge Helm said later. "I know his (Reynolds') main concern is getting away from the prison, but we can't overlook these claims. I ordered his detention in the Pima County jail until a determination is made on what action to take."

He said he will meet with the Deputy County Atty. Ronald Crismon and defense attorney Seefeldt this morning to get a statement from Reynolds under oath before proceeding further.

Reynolds also is serving a concurrent sentence of 1 to 3 years of unlawful wearing of a mask stemming from the robbery charge. At the time of sentencing he gave a Tucson address as 1302 W. Hadley St.

He and another man were convicted of a 1967, robbery of the Airport Shell Station at 6470 Nogales Hwy., taking $240 in cash and trading stamps. A third man was sentenced as an accessory to that robbery.

Inmates Back Sex Perversion Claim

By ERNEST C. HELTSLEY

Reports of sexual perversion and mistreatment of prisoners at the Arizona State Prison have evoked responses from several inmates and other persons, including the mother of convicted murderer Charles Schmid.

Superior Court Judge Lloyd C. Helm, who started his own investigation of claims by one prisoner, said Schmid's mother, Mrs. Katherine Lab, complained of mistreatment of her son.

"His treatment at the prison is worse than death," she wrote the judge from Cochise County. Helm said she was not specific.

Prison officials early in June reported Schmid spent three days in the infirmary with a minor leg cut caused by a piece of coping saw blade he and another prisoner had been using in hobby work.

He is on death row for the killings of three Tucson girls.

After a personal visit to the prison, the judge said that 15 or more prisoners, including at least one woman, are willing to talk about the alleged homosexual activity there. The penal institution houses more than 1,700 prisoners.

Helm said he has received six letters and some telephone calls since stories appeared in the Arizona Daily Star. Yesterday two more names of prisoners willing to tell what they know were given to Helm.

A file on one other inmate who has sought release on claims that he was mistreated and forced to commit unnatural acts has been turned over to the judge by Atty. Gordon Alley at a meeting with Helm and Pima County Atty. William J. Schafer III, representing the state.

Alley appeared at the meeting for his law partner, Ralph Seefeldt, who represents a 21-year-old inmate whose testimony in court before Judge Helm on June 25 triggered the investigation.

Whether there will be an investigation of the prison by the state or by a "one-man grand jury" may be disclosed in a resumption of June 25 hearing at 9 a.m. today before Helm.

Joseph A. Reynolds, who is seeking release from prison pending an appeal of his robbery conviction, told the court through his attorney that he has been shot at by prison guards as he ran to elude fellow prisoners bent on forced perverse acts.

On Helm's order, Reynolds is being held in the county jail partly for his own protection pending the outcome of the case.

New Bureau To Probe Prisons

Convict Charges Sexual Perversion

An investigation of the extent of sexual perversion in the Arizona State Prison and possible preventive measures was handed over yesterday to the newly created State Dept. of Corrections.

Superior Court Judge Lloyd Helm said he will turn over all information he has gained in his inquiry into the problem bared in court before him by an inmate on June 25.

He took under advisement a request by the inmate, Joseph A. Reynolds, 21, of Tucson, to be released on bond pending an appeal of his robbery conviction. Reynolds claims his punishment has been "cruel and unusual" because of the situation existing at the penal institution.

The delay was made because Reynolds' attorney is on vacation. Reynolds, through his court-appointed lawyer, Ralph Seefeldt, told the court on June 25 he was shot at by guards as he attempted to escape fellow prisoners.

Helm, of Cochise County, cautioned that should a bond be set for Reynolds it should be substantially high since he has made an attempted escape from the prison, and that Illinois authorities have a hold order on him.

The judge also said that Warden Frank Eyman and his assistant have told him they are "reasonably certain" they can assure the safety of the defendant (Reynolds) and prevent recriminations in the event he is returned there.

"The court feels there undoubtedly are undesirable practices going on in the prison. This is true in most prisons throughout the country," said the judge.

He told of receiving several letters and telephone calls from inmates, former inmates, and interested persons since the Arizona Daily Star's reporting of the claims.

At State Penitentiary

Perversion Investigator Named

Keith E. Edwards, a career corrections official now retired at Sun City, was appointed yesterday as special consultant to probe reports that sexual perversion is rampant at Arizona State Prison.

State Dept. of Corrections Director Allen Cook announced the appointment of Edwards, a choice over "quite a number of men who wanted the job."

"I knew him and I knew what he could do," said Cook, himself an Arizona retiree from the corrections field after 30 years before heading the newly created department in June.

Edwards will be paid $50 a day to investigate complaints from inmates, ex-convicts and their relatives that some guards have forced or allowed prisoners to engage in homosexual and other irregular activity, Cook said.

The special consultant has spent more than 49 years in penal systems, both federal and state, in Oregon, Washington, California.

Before retiring in 1965, Edwards conducted prison investigations for the California Dept. of Corrections.

The investigation will include interviewing a number of officials in and out of the prison and inmates themselves. When the probe is finished, Cook said, a report will be sent to Gov. Jack Williams and Cochise County Superior Court Judge Lloyd C. Helm. At that time the contents will be released to the public.

Asked how long the probe will take, Cook said, "I have no idea, but we're going to get the answers. It might be two weeks, or it might be four weeks. I don't know."

He said that Warden Frank Eyman has pledged "100 per cent" cooperation. "He wants the answers just as much as we do."

Judge Helm requested the investigation after a 21-year-old inmate's lawyer told of alleged homosexuality at the prison while the judge was visiting in Pima County Superior Court on June 25.

Homosexual Problems 'Major'

State Prison Study Cites Overcrowding

PHOENIX (AP) ─ A report released Tuesday to the State Department of Corrections concluded that "more than a usual amount of homosexual activity has been prevalent recently in the Arizona State Prison."

Retired federal prison inspector Keith E. Edwards made the study, and Gov. Jack Williams released it to the press.

Edwards said overcrowding and a disruption of segregation procedures caused by construction apparently were major factors in the problem at the prison.

"They have a major homosexual problem among the inmates and the facilities have been insufficient to control it," Edwards reported. "As a result this problem at the Arizona State Prison is as great as can be found in any other correctional institution."

Edwards praised prison administrators for doing the best they could with the facilities and what he said was a very low pay scale for personnel.

"I could find no evidence whatsoever that any employe was personally involved in any homosexual activities in the institution," Edwards said.

He said charges made to this effect were "absolutely false."

"I would say that the narcotics traffic at the institution is at an absolute minimum under the circumstances," Edwards wrote in reply to some statements that there was a large narcotics traffic at the institution.

Edwards said there probably were two or more inmate strongarm gangs in the prison, but the administration had taken steps to end this.

"The leaders of these gangs have now been removed from the general population and their followers are under close surveillance to detect any activities in the future," he reported.

"The charge that women had been brought into the institution for illegal sex purposes was wholly false," Edwards concluded in dismissing another charge.

The director of the new department of correction, Allen Cook, appointed Edwards to make a study of prison conditions after an inmate made a number of allegations to Superior Court Judge Lloyd C. Helm. The inmate told of homosexuality involving both inmates and employes at the prison.

Edwards said that normally 10 to 15 per cent of those in prison have homosexual tendencies, and this would amount to 240 at the Arizona prison.

Isolation Of Homosexuals Proposed

Pay Hike Recommended For State Prison Staff

Ex-Official Submits Report To Governor

By ERNEST C. HELTSLEY

A 20-per cent pay raise for virtually all Arizona State Prison employes and construction of a new facility to isolate homosexual inmates is "the only real solution" to the admitted perversion activity there.

Keith E. Edwards, a career corrections official who came out of retirement to investigate the prison, made these and other recommendations in a report released to the Arizona Daily Star yesterday by the governor's office.

While Edwards conceded there were about 240 homosexuals in the prison, built to accommodate half the inmates it now has, the Florence institution has no more than its share of sexual deviates compared to other institutions across the country.

The investigator started his probe in August on a request by Judge Lloyd C. Helm of Cochise County. Helm was holding court in Tucson on June 25 when an inmate's attorney charged there was rampant homosexuality and certain prison irregularities involving both prisoners and employes.

Edwards praised the prison administration as "very capable," but said it "is working under very serious handicaps. They have a major homosexual problem among the inmates and the facilities have been insufficient to control it.

"A temporary solution would be to rearrange the inmate housing assignments so that more homosexuals will be segregated from the rest of the population," he said. He added the administration has taken these steps.

For permanent solutions, Edwards recommended construction of a permanent two-floor, 150-bed unit for homosexuals.

Another possible long range solution would be creation of an intermediate institution to house inmates too experienced for juvenile detention, but too young, immature, or inexperienced for the existing adult prison

Salaries for prison employes "are entirely inadequate." Nearly every employe should receive a salary increase of 20 per cent. He cited as an example a correctional officer's top salary of $450 a month.

The recommended raise would bring the pay up to $540, still probably less that other law enforcement personnel in major cities in Arizona.

"The only thing that keeps the prison in any semblance of order," Edwards wrote, "is its very capable administrators. However, they need help very badly. This help should be given them now and not after some costly or bloody incident.

He said there were two or more "inmate strongarm gangs in the prison who were preying upon the weaker inmates . . . The leaders of these gangs have now been removed from the general population and their followers are under close surveillance . . ." Strong measures have been taken against the leaders, the report said.

"I could find no evidence whatsoever that any employe was personally involved in any homosexual activities in the institution," Edwards said. The charges to this effect were "absolutely false."