A killer bank robber somehow strangled an inmate in another cell with a bedsheet while locked up in the countrys most secure prison.
Ishmael Petty, 56, will face trial for allegedly murdering cocaine dealer LaMarcus Hillard, 40, about 9.15am on September 19, 2020, inside the infamous ADX Florence.
News of the murder only emerged after the Department for Justice said it was seeking the death penalty for Petty.
ADX Florence is widely-regarded as the worlds most secure prison for Americas most monstrous criminals.
It remains a mystery how Petty allegedly managed to kill Hillard in a facility where inmates spend 23 hours a day in a cell moulded from a single piece of concrete, only being allowed out for an hour of solo exercise.
The remorseless killer has been in the Colorado supermax since he murdered his cellmate in federal prison in 2002 and not behaved any better since.
Petty almost killed two prison library staff in 2013 when they delivered him books, and allegedly managed to murder Hillard inside the notorious jail.
Hillard died as a result of ligature strangulation in his own cell while Petty was outside, in bizarre fashion that has not been fully explained publicly.
Part of his autopsy report explained the ligature was fashioned out of twisted bedsheet and he was found bound at the hands and feet with plastic sheeting over his head while being strangled by an inmate in an adjacent room.
The ligature was reportedly fed through a food slot.
Hillard was jailed for 20 years in in January 2003 for possession of cocaine with the intent to distribute in Hinds County, Mississippi.
ADX Florence in the Colorado mountains is the most secure prison in the US
Then in February 2008 he was jailed for an additional 20 years for manslaughter in Sunflower County, Mississippi.
He was moved to ADX Florence on December 4, 2007, two years after the only other murder ever committed at the supermax prison.
The Trump Administration announced on Thursday it would seek to execute Hillard if he was found guilty of the federal murder charges.
Attorney General Bondi has authorized the United States Attorney for the District of Colorado to pursue capital punishment in this case, the Justice Department said.
The intent to seek the death penalty notice was made after a grand jury indicted Petty on first-degree murder and murder by a federal prisoner serving a life sentence charges.
Petty was first locked up for an elaborate armed bank robbery in Mississippi in 1998 where he wore a police officers uniform and made off with $200,000.
He then murdered his 71-year-old cellmate at United States Penitentiary Pollock in Louisiana in 2002 and was jailed for life.
Cocaine dealer LaMarcus Hillard, 40, was murdered about 9.15am on September 19, 2020, inside ADX Florence
Pettys notorious attack on prison staff came on September 11, 2013, when he set an ambush for two library workers, Ralph Smith and Brianne Smith, and case manager Deedee Mcevoy when they delivered him books.
He managed to get into a secure airlock between his cell and the rest of the jail and stuffed his bed with scraps of paper to make it look like he was sleeping.
Then he hid behind the door armed with a shank he made by rubbing a toothbrush against the concrete wall to sharpen the end.
Petty was wearing homemade body armor fashioned out of cardboard boxes and began his attack by flinging hot sauce into the eyes of one of the librarians.
The dangerous inmate attacked the other librarian and though Mcevoy entered the fray with their baton, Petty overpowered them both and took their batons.
Petty claimed at his sentencing that the only reason Ralph, who took the worst beating, wasnt killed was because he decided to let him live.
He said as he raised the baton to deliver a kill shot to Ralphs head, Brianne put up her arm to block it in a way that reminded him of girl trying to save her father.
The only reason that Mr Smith, Ms Smith, and Ms Mcevoy are alive today is she raised her arm. Thats what got me out of that zone, he told the court.
Petty asked the sentencing judge to give him the maximum 60 years for the crime. He initially only got 36 years but Justice officials said he was now serving all 60.
I deserve another life sentence. I was undercharged, he said.
Only two inmates have ever been murdered inside ADX Florence
This was despite him fighting three counts each of assault, resisting, and impeding a federal employee all the way to trial.
Mcevoy was commended for her outstanding bravery in jumping into the fight to defend the two librarians.
Defendant stands convicted of a cowardly and brutal assault on defenseless staff at ADX, US Attorney John Walsh said at the time.
The defendant... ambushed and brutally assaulted two staff librarians, using his much greater size to injure the older of the two severely and permanently.
Only the courageous intervention of a third staff member prevented the defendant from killing that librarian.
Federal prosecutor Colleen Covell told the court the US Attorneys Office initially decided not to pursue the case as Petty was already jailed for life, but was convinced by prison officials.
Inmates need to know there are consequences for their actions, Mcevoy said in her testimony.
Pettys attack on the jail staff was a major plot point in History Channel docuseries Prison Chronicles last year.
Inside ADX Florence as it was in 1995
The inside of a cell in the supermax prison in 1995
Bondi on her first day in office lifted a Biden-era moratorium on federal executions, and has said she would seek the death penalty whenever possible.
The Justice Department last week announced that it would seek the death penalty for Luigi Mangione in the killing of UnitedHealthcare boss Brian Thompson.
Donald Trumps administration carried out 13 federal executions during his first term, more than under any president in modern history.
He signed an order on his first day back in the White House compelling the Justice Department to not only seek the death penalty in appropriate federal cases, but also to help preserve capital punishment in states that have struggled to maintain adequate supplies of lethal injection drugs.
Federal executions were halted under the Biden Administration after then-attorney general Merrick Garland ordered a review of capital punishment protocols.
Biden converted to life in prison the sentences for 37 of the 40 federal death row inmates during his final weeks in office.
ADX Florence is spread across nearly 50 acres in Fremont County, Colorado , close to the community of Florence, a little more than 100 miles south of Denver
ADX Florence houses little over 300 of the worst of the worst prisoners in the US and is impossible to escape alive.
It opened in 1994, built 5,000ft above sea-level and houses high-profile prisoners such as drug lord Joaquin El Chapo Guzman, shoe bomber Richard Reid, Unabomber Ted Kaczynski, Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnev, and 9/11 conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui.
The facility is spread across nearly 50 acres in Fremont County, Colorado, close to the community of Florence, a little more than 100 miles south of Denver.
The jals was designed by two leading architecture firms in Colorado Springs, and cost $60 million to build in 1994.
Prisoners spend 23 hours a day in their 7ft-by-12ft reinforced concrete cells that are completely soundproof and designed to limit opportunities to self-harm, although an inmate did take his own life in 2013 after hanging himself with a bed sheet.
Cells have no windows, only small skylights, in a bid to prevent prisoners from figuring out their location in the complex and prevent any breakouts.
The one-hour that inmates get to spend outside, they spend it in a small cage surrounded by high walls covered in barbed wire and gun towers while wearing leg-irons, handcuffs and belly chains.
Each inmate has access to a small radio, and are rewarded for good behavior with a TV which has limited channel access.
Drug lord Joaquin El Chapo Guzman has complained in letters about his treatment at the hands of prison staff at ADX Florence
Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev (pictured) is another of the inmates
An unnamed former prisoner at ADX told Vice in 2019 that inmates routinely attempt self-harm in order to have human contact with doctors and nurses.
The cell is furnished with a concrete stool that cannot be moved, a concrete desk, a concrete bed with a thin foam mattress as well as combination sink and toilet.
The staff-to-inmate ratio is higher than at most US prisons. Headcounts take place six times a day. Prisoner meals are slid through holes in the steel doors.
They are allowed to shower three times a week, afforded one 15-minute call a month to relatives while letters to loved ones are limited in length.
Visitors must be approved by US Attorney Generals office. Those visits can be traumatic for all concerned.
The facility is surrounded by 12-foot razor-wire fencing and its 1,400 steel doors, motion detectors, and cameras are all remote-controlled.
To date there have been no known successful escapes from the facility.
And even if they breached the fencing, they would struggle to get away: the area is filled with watchtowers, sharpshooters, pressure pads, laser beams, and guard dogs ready to stop any prisoner brave enough to attempt to flee.