prison tours somerset

160-year-old Lansing prison opening for tours this fall

LANSING, Kan. (KCTV) — The limestone facade of the old Lansing Correctional Facility looms imposingly. From Kansas City, the state prison is the first of three historic prisons , including the United States Federal Penitentiary (USP) in Leavenworth. Lansing, originally known as the Kansas State Penitentiary, is the oldest of them all.

Now, the Civil War-era state prison will be open for tours to the public, thanks to a partnership with the Missouri Department of Corrections and the Lansing Historical Society and Museum. The two signed on the dotted line this month, more than a year after the idea first formed.

It began when State Senator Jeff Pittman was sitting in the Budget Committee of the State Senate. A new prison had opened right behind the historic structure. They were discussing demolishing the old one at a price tag of $10 million. It was costing too much to maintain. Pittman suggested an alternative that he thought could cost less while also preserving it.

Also Read: Former Kansas state penitentiary in Lansing to be transformed into museum

“So I worked across the aisle, got some consensus, and stopped the demolition. And I said, give us a year, and we can find somebody we think that could take this over and really do a great job with it,” Pittman recounted.

They found their partner in the historical society, whose small museum sits at the end of the road leading into the prison.

“It took someone in his position to get this all going because anybody just walking in and saying to the warden, ‘Hey, we want to save this,’ that wasn’t a possibility,” said Debra Bates-Lamborn, the president of the Lansing Historical Society and Museum.

The state committed $500,000 to stabilize the roof and walls and get the project going but the hope is to eventually make it self-sustaining with admission covering the costs. Pittman and Bates-Lamborn saw a success story at the penitentiary museum in Jefferson City, Missouri.

“I looked at the numbers, and they bring in about a million dollars a year in revenue, just a little under that,” said Pittman. “I realized we can do that and more because our stories here have just a bit more impact, have a little bit more color, have a little bit more notoriety.”

WATCH: There’s an audience for prison tours. Hear why boosters for Lansing’s transformation say it will be a draw:

Some of the stories behind the walls that span more than a century are well-known. It housed the men who killed the Clutter family. Their murder was the subject of the Truman Capote book In Cold Blood, which was later turned into a movie. Johnny Cash performed there in 1970.

Other stories are less well-known. Back in the 1930s, their warden was kidnapped by a throng of inmates in an attempt to escape.

“He was kidnapped about two days before he was set to retire. I mean, that’s a heck of a way to go,” said Bates-Lamborn.

The warden survived. The inmates were eventually caught.

The kidnapping and escape is one of the stories that will be featured, but Pittman added that the story will also include the apprehension of the men. He said some of the experience will include a look into the life of the prison guards.

WATCH: Tours will include a focus on the life of prison guards:

That’s the serious side of the historical tours, but Pittman’s trip to Jefferson City also opened his eyes to another draw: paranormal tours. That’s coming soon too. They also plan to promote the site as a place for filming. The Discovery Channel is planning a visit for a 2-hour special at the Kansas State Penitentiary to air on Halloween.

The first big event public event is a car show inside the walls of the old prison, inside the courtyard. “Behind the Walls” car show is scheduled for Saturday, September 28, 2024, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

They don’t have a firm date for the first tour but are selling raffle tickets this weekend for a chance to be in the first group of ten. They will be open Sunday from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. for purchases. Raffle tickets are $25 each.

WATCH: State Senator Jeff Pittman discusses the possibility of paranormal tours at the old Kansas State Penitentiary:

Also read: armed robbery leads to police chase through kansas city, kcpd says.

Copyright 2024 KCTV. All rights reserved.

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During Ukraine’s Incursion, Russian Conscripts Recount Surrendering in Droves

More than 300 have been processed in a prison in Ukraine, providing the country with a much-needed “exchange fund” for future swaps of prisoners of war.

Russian prisoners of war in their bunk beds inside a Ukrainian prison cell on Friday in northern Ukraine. Credit...

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By Andrew E. Kramer

Photographs by David Guttenfelder

Reporting from northern Ukraine

• Aug. 17, 2024

They were lanky and fresh-faced, and the battle they lost had been their first.

Packed into Ukrainian prison cells, dozens of captured Russian conscripts lay on cots or sat on wooden benches, wearing flip-flops and, in one instance, watching cartoons on a television provided by the warden.

In interviews, they recalled abandoning their positions or surrendering as they found themselves facing well-equipped, battle-hardened Ukrainian forces streaming across their border.

“We ran into a birch grove and hid,” said Pvt. Vasily, whose small border fort was overrun on Aug. 6 — at the outset of a Ukrainian incursion into Russia that was the first significant foreign attack on the country since World War II. The New York Times is identifying the prisoners by only their first names and ranks for their safety if they are returned to Russia in a prisoner exchange.

The fighting marked a significant shift in the war, with Ukrainian armored columns rumbling into Russia two and a half years after Russia had launched an all-out invasion of Ukraine.

Russia’s border, it turned out, was defended thinly, largely by young conscripted soldiers who in interviews described surrendering or abandoning their positions. Private Vasily said he had survived by lying in the birch forest near the Russian border for three days, covered in branches and leaves, before deciding to surrender.

“I never thought it would happen,” he said of the Ukrainian attack.

The Russian military command had, by all signs, made the same assumption, manning its border defenses with green conscripts, some drafted only months earlier. Their defeat and descriptions of surrendering in large numbers could increase Ukraine’s leverage in possible settlement talks and lead to prisoner exchanges.

It could also resonate inside Russia. The losses of young, drafted Russian soldiers during wars in Afghanistan and Chechnya stirred widespread discontent at home.

For the bloody trench fighting inside Ukraine, the Russian Army deploys older soldiers mobilized from their civilian jobs, volunteers and prisoners, who agree to a tour of duty in exchange for their freedom, should they survive. Conscripts are barred by law from being deployed outside Russia. But stretched for manpower, or blind to the risk, the military used them to guard the border.

In Russia, conscripts represent the bottom rung in a two-tiered military that took shape in the post-Soviet period. They are drafted after high school and typically serve a year performing menial tasks, like shoveling the snow at bases deep in Russia. Contract soldiers are volunteers, better paid, and they bear the brunt of wars in Syria and Ukraine.

Ukrainian officials say they have captured hundreds of young conscripts over the past week and a half, in what President Volodymyr Zelensky has praised as a move replenishing Ukraine’s “exchange fund” for the swapping of prisoners.

The prison in northern Ukraine, where the conscripts interviewed on Friday were held, has processed 320 prisoners of war so far, 80 percent of them conscripts, according to the prison warden, who asked not to be identified by name for security reasons; the numbers could not be independently verified. After processing, prisoners are sent west, farther from the fighting.

On Friday, the prison held 71 prisoners of war, packed into basement cells, where they are safeguarded from potential airstrikes, the Ukrainian military says.

They wore hand-me-down track suits, T-shirts and shorts that their captors had provided. Some had shrapnel or gunshot wounds. Wide-eyed, and appearing to be disoriented, they watched as guards escorted journalists into the cells for interviews.

The prison provided access for several media outlets, including The Times, whose journalists identified themselves, and asked permission for interviews and to take photographs. The detainees were interviewed after being captured, and in the presence of guards, so their accounts could not be independently verified. The guards did not intervene, and were some distance from the prisoners during the conversations.

The prisoners described being stationed at platoon strength, about 30 men, in concrete or earthwork fortifications spaced a mile or so apart along the border. There, they had faced a sudden, ferocious attack and quickly gave up the fight.

Ukrainian soldiers, independent military analysts and Russian military bloggers have also reported a quick rout along the border.

Pvt. Igor, a slender 21-year-old who was drafted in December, said Ukrainian artillery fire had picked up a few days before the incursion. “We reported to commanders, but they didn’t react,” he said. “They said, ‘Well, there’s nothing we can do about it.’”

On the day of the attack, bombarded by artillery, he tried to hunker down in the fortification, but it caught fire.

He and others ran for a nearby forest, he said. From his group of 12 who had tried to dash to safety, five survived, he said.

The position had only one recoilless rifle, he said, and it could not shoot at Ukraine’s American-provided Bradley infantry fighting vehicles as they attacked because it was pointed in the wrong direction.

Pvt. Sergei 20, from the region of Tatarstan in the Volga River valley, said his platoon leader had led the 28 soldiers from his fort on a chaotic retreat. They holed up in a village house, but Ukrainian soldiers found them. All surrendered.

The platoon leader, he said, had yelled out a window: “‘There are conscripts here. We want to surrender.’”

Some lamented being sent with inadequate training to a battlefield that has evolved into a complex mixture of exploding drones, electronic jamming and the use of finely honed tactics for storming trenches and fortifications.

Pvt. Dmitry 21, from the Komi region in northern Russia, said that when their radios stopped working on the day of the attack, he assumed it was because of Ukrainian jamming. Without orders, the soldiers realized they were overmatched and tried to retreat, but were captured. “They said we might see a sabotage group, maybe 10 guys, not an army,” he said.

While the Ukrainian forces took full advantage of the element of surprise and what both sides described as a weak and disoriented Russian defense, the Ukrainian advance has bogged down away from the border against better prepared Russian forces.

Conscripts are still being caught, however. This past week, the Ukrainian news media published a video said to show more than 100 conscripts lying face down in a field, reportedly filmed by the S.B.U., Ukraine’s domestic intelligence agency. The videos could not be independently verified.

For Mr. Zelensky, the influx of prisoners of war eases what had become a simmering domestic problem. The distraught families of Ukrainian soldiers held in Russia have staged weekly protests in Kyiv, the capital, to draw attention to their detained loved ones. Russia does not disclose the numbers of Ukrainians it has captured, but was assumed, before the incursion, to have more Ukrainians than Ukraine had Russians.

The haul of new prisoners has cheered these families.

That includes Tetyana Vyshnyak, whose son served with the Azov regiment and was captured and sentenced to 22 years in a Russian prison. There had been little hope of his release, given Russia’s advantage in the number of prisoners of war.

“For all of us, this is a great chance and hope that our loved ones will be exchanged,” Ms. Vyshnyak said in an interview.

Valeria Subotina, a former press officer with the Azov regiment, spent 11 months in Russian captivity before an exchange in 2023. “It’s incredibly difficult to go on living when your friends and loved ones are in captivity,” she said. “I hope the operation in the Kursk region can change this.”

Yurii Shyvala contributed reporting from northern Ukraine, and Stas Kozljuk from Kyiv, Ukraine.

Andrew E. Kramer is the Kyiv bureau chief for The Times, who has been covering the war in Ukraine since 2014. More about Andrew E. Kramer

Our Coverage of the War in Ukraine

News and Analysis

Russian troops defending a pocket of territory in Russia’s Kursk region were at risk of becoming encircled, military analysts said, after Ukraine bombed bridges  that are the only routes for resupply or retreat.

President Volodymyr Zelensky wants to hold Russian territory as leverage in future peace talks . But Russians who know President Vladimir Putin expect him to lash out.

Ukraine’s incursion into Russia has not shifted the overall course of the war, but it has offered a rare chance to puncture the Kremlin’s narrative  that Russia is steadily heading toward victory.

Summer Camps During War: As the once carefree summers of Ukrainian childhood and young adulthood are forever altered by war, traditional camps have taken on a more patriotic tone .

Ukraine’s Sports in Tatters : Facilities have been battered. Coaches are in short supply. Children have moved abroad. Ukraine faces a long hard road toward  rebuilding its athletic programs.

A ‘Love Crisis’ for Ukrainians: While the pursuit of love might seem secondary to dealing with the horrors and privations of the war, many Ukrainians say they need romantic relationships to help them cope .

How We Verify Our Reporting

Our team of visual journalists analyzes satellite images, photographs , videos and radio transmissions  to independently confirm troop movements and other details.

We monitor and authenticate reports on social media, corroborating these with eyewitness accounts and interviews. Read more about our reporting efforts .

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Ex-N.J. cop sentenced for drunken crash that killed 2 passengers

• Updated: Aug. 15, 2024, 11:01 a.m.
• | Published: Aug. 15, 2024, 10:49 a.m.
• Anthony G. Attrino | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

A former Edison police officer was sentenced Wednesday to 15 years in prison for a high-speed, drunken driving crash that killed his two passengers last year in Somerset County.

Amitoj Oberoi , 30, pleaded guilty on June 18 to two counts of first-degree vehicular homicide for the crash in Franklin Township that killed Carlos Perez-Gaytan, 24, of Somerset, and Victor Cabrera-Francisco, 20, of North Brunswick.

Superior Court Judge Jonathan W. Romankow sentenced Oberoi, of Franklin Township, to two concurrent terms of 15 years in prison on two counts of first-degree vehicular homicide. Oberoi was also sentenced on a motor vehicle offense of driving while intoxicated.

Oberoi is required to serve 85% of his sentence before he becomes eligible for parole.

Amitoj Oberoi, left, appears in a Somerset County courtroom during a pre-trial detention hearing on Sept. 8, 2023. Amanda Brown | For NJ Advance Me

The crash occurred at 6:22 a.m. on Aug. 27, 2023, when an intoxicated Oberoi veered off Route 27, clipped trees and lampposts before striking a utility pole, authorities said.

One passenger was thrown from the car and pronounced dead at the scene while another had to be extricated from the vehicle and later died of his injuries. A front-seat passenger was treated for minor injuries and released, authorities said.

Investigators have said Oberoi’s blood alcohol level was over the legal limit when he lost control of the vehicle while speeding.

Oberoi’s attorneys did not immediately return a call on Thursday seeking comment.

Stories by Anthony G. Attrino

• Brother shot his twin sister, 911 caller told cops
• Cops investigating ‘swatting’ incidents falsely reporting murder, bomb in Jersey Shore hotel
• 2 charged with robbing N.J. motel customers at gunpoint

Anthony G. Attrino may be reached at [email protected] . Follow him on X @TonyAttrino . Find NJ.com on Facebook .

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Get ready for the 6th annual Tour de Trail Flight 93

BERLIN ― The September 11th National Memorial Trail Alliance is hosting the sixth annual Tour de Trail Flight 93 at 9 a.m. Sept. 7. The tour starts at Berlin Brothersvalley High School.

More: First 3 national parks, 9/11 National Memorial Trail alliance start connections

A representative from state Rep. Guy Reschenthaler's office, R-14, Peters Township, is attending and will be speaking before the riders start the course.

The ride starts at 9 a.m. and ends at 2 p.m. The course is out and back from Berlin High School. All the riders start at the back of the school, leave the gym and head to the Flight 93 site. There is a rest stop at the Shanksville Volunteer Fire Department. At 11 a.m. an interpretative ranger will give a 30-minute presentation about Flight 93 at the Memorial Plaza.

More: Meyersdale teen, instructor build flag to hang in Homeland Security Newark office

The alliance takes registration up to and including the day of the event, however, to guarantee a T-shirt, registration needs to be completed by the end of Aug. 21. Sign up at https://www.911trail.org/tour-de-trail-flight-93-memorial.html , said Jeffrey McCauley, president of the September 11th National Memorial Trail Alliance, in an email.

"This is a successful event for the alliance for many reasons. This will be the sixth year, and it draws many participants from outside of Somerset County who come to support the ride and stimulate economic development," said McCauley. "Additionally, the 30-minute presentation put on by the National Park Service "Flight 93 National Memorial Called to Action: The Flight 93 Story," is something that many participants listen to. Finally, this will be a great opportunity for the participants of this ride to utilize the new 911 Trail Development within the Flight of 93."

Madolin Edwards has been a journalist at the Daily American for 37 years, covering school boards, borough councils, sports and new stories. She was the Home and Family editor for 20 years, and was the primary editor and reporter for a variety of special projects, features and tabs. Contact the Daily American reporters at [email protected].

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Shepton Mallet Prison

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Frithfield Lane, Shepton Mallet, BA4 5FQ

Description

Built in 1610 following on Act introduced by King James I, which stated that all counties had to have their own ‘House of Correction’; Shepton Mallet was the oldest working prison in the United Kingdom...

Shepton Mallet Prison is a recently (2013) decommissioned Georgian jail where you can walk in the footsteps of our social history and listen whilst an ex prison officer shines a light on what life was like for both the incarcerated and those who guarded them through the ages.

Before closure it was a category C lifer prison holding 189 prisoners. Opened in 1646 in was expanded in 1790 with further building work undertaken in the 1820s and 1830s which included the installation of a treadwheel for those sentenced to hard labour. In 1930 the number of inmates had fallen and the prison was closed.

Following the outbreak of the second world war the prison was reopened as a military prison. It was initially used by the British Army and later by American forces who constructed a new execution bock to hang condemned prisoners. It was also used for the storage of important historical documents including the Domesday Book. It returned to civilian use in 1966.

Shepton Mallet prison is associated with many tales of paranormal activity and ghosts. One of the most popular stories is that of the White Lady. She is seen in several places, but A Wing is one of the main places she is seen or felt. Staff and prisoners would often complain of an icy wind moving through the wing, the sweet smell of perfume and shadowy figures.

She supposedly dates from the late 1700s, when she spent some time in the prison. During a lovers' tiff which escalated, she murdered her betrothed. Once found guilty and sentenced to death, she was housed in Shepton Mallet Prison. On the evening before her execution, she asked for her wedding dress to be brought to the prison, which they allowed. She wore it to bed that night, but in the morning the officers found that she had died during the night. No cause of death was ever found, so we are left to presume that she died of a broken heart. Perhaps this is why she still haunts the prison? 

More recently, in the early 1950s the Kray Twins were held here after deserting the British Army.

It is now open as a tourist attraction offering guided tours, self guided tours, ghost tours, A Night Behind Bars, escape rooms and Prison Break. This is an immersive experience without gizmos or gimmicks – the jail is very much as it was when the last prisoners left in 2013.

In 2020 the prison was awarded the prestigious Trip Advisor Travellers Choice meaning that it is rated in the top 10% of worldwide attractions

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Shepton Mallet Prison Frithfield Lane Shepton Mallet Somerset BA4 5FQ United Kingdom

T: 01749 681862

E: [email protected]

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Facebook: @SheptonMalletprison

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Pentridge Prison - H Division Night Tours July 2024 - October 2024

Join us for an unforgettable experience as we take you on a journey through one of the most notorious chapters in Australian history.

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• Thursday August 22 6:30 PM
• Thursday August 22 8:30 PM
• Friday August 23 6:30 PM
• Friday August 23 8:30 PM
• Saturday August 24 6:30 PM
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Pentridge Prison

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About this event, led by an expert guide and featuring cutting-edge immersive audio technology, this 90-minute tour will transport you back in time to h division – we learn of melbourne’s criminal underworld and punishment systems that has become infamous over the decades., with the use of alternative lighting and narratives from our day tours, we’ll uncover even deeper and darker stories that emerged from this notorious high-security unit. step inside the cells and rock-breaking yards of h division and gain an intimate understanding of the harsh realities that both inmates and guards faced..

• Please arrive 15 minutes prior to your tour start time to avoid disappointment. Latecomers will not be granted entry and will not be provided a refund. Tour times may vary - please carefully check your tour time.
• Please be advised that this tour is exclusively for individuals aged 16 years and above.
• Tours run for 90 minutes.
• The first 30 minutes of the tour will be held outdoors, so it’s important to dress appropriately for any weather conditions.
• Tickets are non-refundable.
• Appropriate footwear is recommended.
• Tickets go on sale 2 weeks in advance of any date and are available until sold out.

IMPORTANT VISITOR INFORMATION:

• All tours start at the tour office, located in the Former Warders Residence. Meet here to find your National Trust tour guide. Warders can be found in the grassed courtyard area at the Clock Tower entrance at 1 Champ St, Coburg.
• Parking can be found under the shopping centre via Whatmore Drive. As you come out of this car park, make your way to the ground floor via the elevators. Make your way towards the south sliding doors next to Cobrick cafe; and walk towards the Clock Tower, which should be on your right-hand-side, and you will find the tour office in the grassed courtyard area.
• The parking area features multiple designated parking spaces for individuals with mobility disabilities. All tours have been equipped with ramps and other access points to ensure access for wheelchair users.
• Please arrive 15mins before allocated tour start time.
• In the instance of changeable weather, we recommend bringing a jacket and possibly an umbrella.
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Ghost Tours

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Shepton Mallet Prison is the most haunted jail in the world...come and investigate to see what lurks behind the high prison walls in the dead of night on our ghost tours!

You'll be met by your tour guides for the evening at the imposing gates, to be led to Visits for the start of your tour. Your guides have exceptional knowledge of the prison, in particular the ghostly tales, the legends and the spooky experiences that regularly occur. Guided by torchlight you will delve into the ghostly world of spirits – experience the strange silence that fills the grounds and the damp walls carrying only the faintest echo of what’s left behind.

Tour Overview

This is a tour without gimmicks – a true gritty look at what happened over the last 400 years.

You will be taken into the depths of this historic building and experience the darker side of the prison . You’ll listen in horror as you’re told of the sinister side of jail life – torture, murder and hangings; the last execution took place just 75 years ago. Everybody has their own tales to tell and own experiences to relate – what will you discover?

One of the most legendary spirits is the “White Lady”. This heartbroken murderess is known to sweep through the wing, bringing a cold wind in her wake, taunting prison staff and inmates alike for decades. Will you see her?

There are a number of unmarked graves within the walls of the prison where executed criminals would be buried. C Wing, the former female wing, is also considered by many to be one of the most haunted locations, and of special interest to many ghost hunters hoping to catch a glimpse of the hand of Ronnie Kray.

Ghost Tours run every Thursday evening at 6.30pm & 8.30pm and should be booked in advance due to the high demand. Please dress warmly, wear sensible footwear, bring a small torch, someone’s hand – and your wits!

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Mon-Sun: 10am-5pm

Shepton Mallet Prison, Frithfield Lane, Shepton Mallet, Somerset, BA4 5FQ

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