SANTA FE, N.M. —A former inmate who survived one of the deadliest prison riots in U.S. history recalled the gruesome scene during a recent interview with Action 7 News.
On Feb. 2, 1980, New Mexico and the nation watched in horror as the prison devolved from an organized correctional facility into a slaughterhouse of sheer terror.
In 1980, Gary Nelson, a convicted bank robber, escaped from another state prison. When police caught him in New Mexico, prison officials held him in Cell Block Two in Old Main.
Full story: Inmate recalls grisly 1980 New Mexico prison riot