Search

GDPR Compliance

We use cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website. By continuing to use our site, you accept our use of cookies, Privacy Policy, and Terms of Service.

From cannibal killer bludgeoned with crowbar to ‘hit’ on infamous Strangler…sick murderers who died by ‘prison justice’

Published on April 18, 2025 at 07:29 AM

THEY were monsters who committed unspeakable crimes – murderers, rapists, and serial killers whose names became synonymous with evil.

But for these, justice didn’t end with a .

Mugshot of John Mansfield, convicted of murder.
On April 13, John Mansfield, a convicted murderer was killed by another inmate
Photo of Ann Alfanso.
Mansfield stabbed his neighbour Ann Alfanso around 20 times in August 2006
Exterior view of HMP Whitemoor, a maximum security prison.
He was killed in HMP Whitemoor, where he was serving his prison sentence

Instead, they met their own brutal fates at the hands of fellow inmates.

On Sunday, murderer , 63, was discovered dead after a fellow inmate at attacked him.

Mansfield was sentenced to life behind bars for a string of offences – the most vile was the killing of his neighbour, Ann Alfanso, in August 2006.

Ann, who suffered from , was found by her carer lying in a pool of blood at her home in Whalley Range, .

She had been stabbed around 20 times in the head and neck in the frenzied attack.

While incarcerated at HMP Full Sutton near , Mansfield was handed a second life sentence for stabbing another prisoner with a broken plate.

After Mansfield's death, cops confirmed that a 44-year-old fellow inmate had been arrested in the murder investigation.

Here, we look at other chilling stories of killers who were themselves killed behind bars.

Subhan Anwar

Subhan Anwar’s crime shook the nation. In 2008, the 25-year-old tortured and murdered his girlfriend’s two-year-old daughter, Sanam Navsarka.

The child was locked in a cupboard for days, beaten with belts and subjected to brutal acts that left her with over 100 injuries.

Mugshot of Subhan Anwar, convicted of manslaughter.
Subhan Anwar tortured and abused his partner's daughter, Sanam Navarska
Photo of Sanam Navsarka.
Sanam suffered more than 100 injuries after being brutally beaten and locked in a cupboard for days

Anwar’s actions were so vile that even hardened criminals in prison couldn’t stomach it.

He was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2009 but his life behind bars was short-lived.

While at in , two fellow inmates took matters into their own hands. In February 2013, Anwar was found dead in his cell after being bound with bedsheets and strangled.

The attackers, Gary Smith and Lee Newell, were both serving life sentences themselves.

Stephen Strutt

Mugshot of Stephen Strutt.
Convicted murderer Stephen Strutt was killed in prison in July last year

Stephen Strutt’s life sentence stemmed from a horrific revenge attack that left Warren Glover, 33, dead.

In 2020, Glover was viciously beaten by a group that included Strutt and the victim's ex-girlfriend. The chillingly calculated attack was revenge for text messages that Glover had sent his former lover.

Strutt was convicted and handed a life sentence in 2021.

Strutt was incarcerated at HMP Dovegate in , where, in July 2024, just three years into his sentence, he was fatally attacked by a fellow prisoner.

The inmate approached him in the yard and stabbed him multiple times. Strutt was rushed to the hospital, but his injuries were fatal.

His killer was arrested and held in custody, though the full motives behind the murder are still under investigation.

Sidonio Teixeira

Photo of Victor Castigador.
Victor Castigador, pictured, murdered child killer Sidonio Teixeira
Exterior of HMP Long Lartin prison.
Teixeira was murdered at HMP Long Lartin in June 2016

Sidonio Teixeira’s crime was as harrowing as it was unforgivable.

In 2008, he was sentenced to life imprisonment for the brutal murder of his three-year-old daughter and the attempted murder of his nine-year-old son.

Teixeira was serving his sentence at the notorious in when he became the target of another inmate’s wrath.

Victor Castigador, a fellow prisoner, launched a brutal attack on Teixeira in the prison workshop in 2016. Using a sock filled with a stone, which he stole from the prison aquarium, Castigador delivered crushing blows to Teixeira’s skull.

The attack left Teixeira with catastrophic head injuries and he died shortly after the assault.

Castigadortold detectives “I’m wrong to kill somebody, but it’s my job” adding that “you have to punish evil.”

The killer, who was already serving life for burning two security guards to death in 1989, was given a whole life sentence for Teixeira's murder.

Jeffrey Dahmer

Jeffrey Dahmer in an orange jumpsuit in court.
Jeffrey Dahmer was one of the most prolific serial killers in American history
Mugshot of Christopher Scarver.
He was killed by Christopher Scarver just two years after his sentencing

’s name will forever be associated with some of the most depraved crimes in modern history.

Known as the “,”; Dahmer was responsible for the brutal murders of, many of whom he dismembered, sexually assaulted, and in some cases, cannibalised.

His case shocked the world, turning him into a household name synonymous with . In 1992, Dahmer was convicted and sentenced to 15 consecutive life terms in prison.

In November 1994, just two years after his sentencing, Dahmer was attacked by fellow inmate at Columbia Correctional Institution in Wisconsin.

Dahmer was left unsupervised while he, Scarver, and Jesse Anderson, convicted for killing his wife, were cleaning the bathrooms.

Armed with a metal bar, Scarver and Anderson to death. Scarver later claimed that he was acting on the orders of God, believing Dahmer was an “abomination.”;

In the attack, Scarver, who was already serving life for a 1990 murder, received two additional life sentences.

Another inmate, Osvaldo Durruthy had tried to kill Dahmer by slashing his throat five months before the fatal attack.

Donald Harvey

Photo of serial killer Donald Harvey at his sentencing.
Donald Harvey was a hospital orderly who killed 37 patients
Mugshot of James Elliott.
James Elliot killed Donald Harvey in prison in March 2017

, the self-proclaimed “Angel of Death,”; was responsible for one of the most chilling series of murders in American medical history.

As a hospital orderly, Harvey was able to carry out his killings under the guise of mercy, poisoning or suffocating at least 37 patients between 1970 and 1987.

Some estimates claim the true number of his victims was closer to 87.

His crimes were discovered when he was caught attempting to murder a patient in 1987 and he was sentenced to life in prison for his heinous actions.

While incarcerated at Toledo Correctional Institution, another inmate, James Elliott, in his cell, beating him to death with a blunt instrument in March 2017.

Harvey succumbed to his injuries two days later.

Elliott, who had a history of violent behaviour, was later charged with murder and sentenced to 25 years in prison after pleading guilty.

James “Whitey”; Bulger

Mugshot of James "Whitey" Bulger.
James “Whitey” Bulger was convicted of 11 murders and a string of other crimes
James "Whitey" Bulger, in an orange jumpsuit and shackles, escorted by law enforcement.
Before his arrest, he was one of Boston's most notorious mobsters
Fotios "Freddy" Geas at a court proceeding.
He was killed by Fotios “Freddy”; Geas, a hitman serving a life sentence in 2018

’s life behind bars was as dangerous as the criminal empire he built.

As one of the most notorious mobsters in Boston’s history, Bulger’s rise to power was swift and brutal.

He was responsible for 11 murders and dozens of other criminal activities. Bulger was sentenced to life in prison for his crimes and transferred to the high-security USP Hazelton in West Virginia in 2018.

The 89-year-old was brutally beaten by fellow inmates Fotios “Freddy”; Geas and Paul DeCologero just hours after arriving at the facility.

The attack was that Bulger, 89, was left unrecognisable. His eyes had been gouged out.

The murder was attributed to Bulger’s role as a “rat”; – informing the FBI against fellow mobsters.

Geas, a former hitman, was already serving a life sentence, while DeCologero had a history of violent crimes.

The two inmates were later charged, with Geas receiving an additional 25 years for his role in the murder.

Albert DeSalvo

Black and white photo of Albert DeSalvo under arrest.
Albert DeSalvo, seen here minutes after he was arrested confessed to being the Boston Strangler
Collage of five black and white photos of women killed by the Boston Strangler.
Five of the thirteen women the Boston Strangler was accused of killing
Albert DeSalvo, alleged Boston Strangler, making jewelry in prison.
His prison murder still remains unsolved

Albert DeSalvo is forever linked to the infamous case, though his exact role remains a subject of intense debate.

DeSalvo confessed to the murders of 13 women in the early 1960s, but many questions remain about the veracity of his confessions.

Despite the lack of concrete evidence linking him to all of the killings, DeSalvo was convicted of other crimes, including a string of sexual assaults, and sentenced to life in prison in 1967.

DeSalvo’s life came to a brutal end in 1973 when he was found stabbed to death in the prison infirmary at MCI Walpole.

His murder remains unsolved, but many speculated that it was a targeted hit by fellow inmates who wanted to silence him.

In 2013, 50 years after the Boston Strangler's crimes, DNA evidence linked DeSalvo to his last alleged victim, 19-year-old Mary Sullivan.

Laron Williams

Black and white photo of Laron Williams.
Laron Williams was convicted of several murders and was sentenced to death

Laron Williams’ violent past caught up with him before he could face execution.

Convicted of the murders of a police officer and a priest, Williams was sentenced to death in Tennessee in the mid-1980s.

His crimes were heinous and his time on death row was marked by growing animosity from fellow inmates who despised him for his actions.

In 1985, Williams was beaten to death by other prisoners before he could be executed.

The attack was brutal and swift and his death underscored the dangerous and unpredictable nature of life on death row.

It was not the first time he had been attacked behind bars – he was set upon by a group of inmates in July 1985. Although the fight was broken up quickly, he sustained serious injuries.

Billy Chemirmir

Mugshot of Billy Chemirmir.
Billy Chemirmir targeted helpless elderly women in Texas
Miriam Nelson, victim of Billy Chemirmir.
Miriam Nelson was one of Chemirmir's innocent victims

was convicted of the murders of two elderly women, in Dallas, Texas, though he is suspected of killing up to 20 others.

Chemirmir's method involved with pillows before stealing their valuables.

He would often gain access to his victims’ homes by pretending to be a healthcare worker or maintenance person, only to overpower and suffocate them.

The ‘s killing spree came to an end in 2018 when he was caught trying to smother a 93-year-old woman who managed to escape and alert authorities.

Chemirmir was convicted in 2021 and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

However, just two years into his sentence, on September 19, 2023, he was found dead in his cell at the Texas State Prison.

He had been stabbed and beaten by his cellmate, Wyatt Busby, who was serving a 50-year sentence for the 2016 murder of a Houston man.

Before Chemirmir's death, he had allegedly made sexual comments about Busby's children.

Photo of Ann Conklin, a victim of Billy Chemirmir.
Ann Conklin was also brutally murdered by Billy Chemirmir
Prev Article

Ignore political propaganda, Tinubu has revived Northern projects – Matawalle

Next Article

Cheapest Easter days out whatever the weather this weekend – from FREE kids activities to £1 bank holiday outing

Related to this topic:

Comments (0):

Be the first to write a comment.

Post Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *