23 Jan 08

On Shanks (Part 4)

“How common are shankings in the prison system?” I asked.
“Common and taken for granted. I seen a guy get stuck in the chow hall. He was hit three times in the back before he even realized what was happening. He got up, ran out of the door, and the guy with the blade was chasing him. As the guy ran away, the guy that was sitting across from him reached over to his tray, said, ‘I guess he’s not gonna be eating that,’ picked up his hamburger and ate it.”
“That’s cold. What about disposing of shanks and bodies?”
“There’s no disposing of bodies because everybody’s accounted for. They can hide the bodies for a little while, but come count time they realize something’s wrong. There was a body at Cimmarron Unit they didn’t find right away. The reason they found him was he was in the bathroom and the blood ran out from under the door.”
“And disposing of shanks?”
“They usually try to throw them on a roof, or bury them, or throw them over a fence.”
“I’ve heard about people leaving the shank inside the victim.”
“Yeah, especially if it’s made out of Plexiglas and the blade part of it breaks off.”
“Where on a prison yard are you most likely to get shanked at?”
“In your cell. They’ll kill you and stuff you under the bottom bunk.”
“Do the murderers usually get caught?”
“Most of them have to brag about it. Sometimes someone will see you do it, or you’ll get caught on camera.”
“Is that why gangs like the Aryan Brotherhood, the Mexican Mafia, and the Mau Maus send torpedoes in? To take the fall for the higher-ups?”
“The problem with that is when the prison starts threatening the torpedoes with the needle, they start talking. To get out of the death penalty the torpedoes will give the shotcallers up.”

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