Discover the chilling world of Terre Haute Prison, home to some of the most dangerous prisoners in the United States. In this video, we countdown the Top 15 most dangerous prisoners currently held at the infamous Terre Haute facility, a high-security institution known for housing violent criminals and notorious individuals.
15 – Raymond “Shrimp Boy” Chow
An organised crime-boss of Chinese origin, Chow became the leader of the Ghee Kung Tong, a Chinese fraternal association based in San Francisco, California, sometime in 2006.
Reportedly bestowed by his grandmother, his nickname, “Shrimp Boy”, was earned during his days growing up on the streets of Hong Kong.
Chow’s life of crime began at the age of seventeen, when he took part in an attack on a rival gang member.
One year later he became involved in the Golden Dragon Massacre, a mass-shooting that took place inside a restaurant of the same name in Chinatown, San Francisco.
Chow’s first conviction for a crime came in 1978, for an armed robbery and he received an 11-year sentence, served at San Quentin.
After release from prison, Chow setup an escort service, however his life of crime overtook and he ended up back in prison, convicted of 28 counts of assault with a deadly weapon, attempted murder, mayhem, and illegal possession of a firearm.
After another 3-year stint, he left prison and tried to renounce crime, working in various grocery stores and even trying his hand at bodyguard work.
He soon fell back into his own ways and began his rise to infamy, joining Ghee Kung Tong and ascending to the top leadership position in 2006.
After a number of high-profile murders, Chow, was arrested by the FBI and was found guilty on all 162 counts.
These included murder in aid of racketeering, racketeering conspiracy, conspiring to murder another rival, receiving and transporting stolen liquor across state lines, and money laundering.
He was sentenced to two life terms plus an extra twenty years and had his conviction upheld by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in 2019.
14 – Manuel Flores
Flores, whose real name is Juan Garza, was an American murderer and drug lord who was executed by the United States federal government for three drug-related murders.
Flores was also responsible for at least five other drug-related murders in Texas and Mexico.
The son of Mexican migrant workers, Flores was born in Texas and sold fruit door to door while living in Michigan, also working in fields over the years.
His first victim, Gilberto Matos was a bodyguard of 32-year-old Erasmo De La Fuente, a smuggler who worked with Garza and an attempt on Fuente’s life resulted in the death of Matos.
His second victim was his original target, who was executed in an assassination attempt with Fuente shot twice at point blank range.
His third victim, Thomas Rumbo, was executed by Flores after his consignment of drugs was seized by federal agents.
Garza was arrested in November 1992, after running low on money, later indicted by the federal government on multiple drug trafficking charges and three counts of murder.
He was later found guilty on all counts and was also found guilty beyond reasonable doubt, of four unsolved murders in Mexico.
All appeals agenised the resulting death sentence failed, and he was executed on June 19th, 2001, just eight days after domestic terrorist Timothy McVeigh.
13 – Chevie Kehoe
The oldest of eight sons, Kehoe was born to Kirby and Gloria Kehoe, and was named after his father’s favorite brand of automobile.
Raised with increasingly extreme anti-government and white supremacist beliefs, Kehoe formed a plan to bring down the United States government.
He began building a self-styled “Aryan People’s Republic” militia, and his crimes began when he kidnapped and robbed Malcolm and Jill Friedman, a Jewish couple who owned a store where he was employed.
In January 1996, Kehoe and another accomplice, Daniel Lewis Lee went to the home of William Frederick Mueller, a gun dealer, and later killed him and his family.
Kehoe and his brother Cheyne were next involved in one of the most famous shootouts on American television, when dashcam footage caught their attack on Ohio State Highway Patrol trooper, John Harold Harker.
Kehoe was eventually arrested on a Utah ranch during a June 17, 1997 raid after being tipped off by Keho’s accomplice.
Kehoe pleaded guilty in Ohio state court to felonious assault, attempted murder, and carrying a concealed weapon, but was found guilty of murdering the Mueller family.
He picked up three sentences of life in prison without the possibility of parole and initially served his time at the notorious ADX Florence facility before being transferred through numerous other prisons.
As of 2022, he is held at the Terre Haute.
12 – Robert Merritt
Involved in a violent criminal enterprise led by drug kingpin Kaboni Savage, in 2013, Merritt was convicted of participating in a racketeering conspiracy and the murders of six individuals.
On October 9, 2004, at Savage’s direction, Merritt and his cousin, Lamont Lewis, firebombed the home of federal witness Eugene Coleman’s family in Philadelphia.
Merritt threw gasoline-filled cans with lit cloth fuses into the occupied row house, causing a fire that killed six people aged between 15 months and 15 years.
Following his conviction, Merritt was sentenced to life imprisonment on September 19, 2014 and is currently at Terre Haute.
11 – Brian David Mitchell
Initially ending up in juvenile hall at the age of 16, Mitchell had a history of drug and alcohol abuse in his adult life.
Mitchell began going by the name “Immanuel,” claiming to be a prophet of God who experienced visions and was later excommunicated from the church he was a member of.
In the early hours of June 5, 2002, Mitchell broke into the home of Ed and Lois Smart in the Federal Heights neighborhood of Salt Lake City, where they lived with their six children.
He abducted 14-year-old Elizabeth Smart from the bedroom she shared with Mary Katherine, Elizabeth’s nine-year-old sister.
After holding smart in captivity for nine months, she was finally rescued after being seen by a member of the public.
After eight years in police custody, Mitchell finally went to trial on November 8th, 2010 where he was found guilty of kidnapping and transporting a minor across state lines.
He was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole and his partner in crime, Wanda Barzee, was sentenced to concurrent terms of 15 years in Terre Haute.
10 – James Rosemond
Convicted in 2012 for running a multimillion-dollar cocaine distribution operation that spanned the United States.
Authorities claimed he used music equipment cases as a method to transport drugs and money across state lines.
In 2014, Rosemond was convicted for orchestrating a murder-for-hire plot against Lowell Fletcher, a gang member associated with G-Unit, following a feud involving his son.
Rosemond was further implicated in the 1994 ambush and shooting of Tupac Shakur at Quad Recording Studios in New York City, yet never faced charges.
Rosemond received life imprisonment without parole in connection with the drug trafficking and murder-for-hire convictions and remains at Terre Haute.
9 – Zaid Safarini
The leader of a four-member team of militants affiliated with the Abu Nidal Organization, Safarini helped seize a plane while it was on the ground, demanding the release of Palestinian prisoners held in Cyprus and Israel.
The flight crew, trained for hijacking scenarios, escaped, leaving the plane immobilized and after a 16 hour standoff, the hijackers opened fire on passengers and detonated grenades.
After the gunfire had subsided, 20 people were dead with Safarini and his accomplices captured by Pakistani authorities shortly after the hijacking.
Safarini was extradited to the United States in 2001 to face punishment for his involvement in the death of Americans on the plane.
Safarini pleaded guilty to multiple charges, including air piracy resulting in death, murder, and hostage-taking with him being sentenced to 160 years in Terre Haute.
8 – Mohamad Shnewer – The Terre Haute Terrorist
Implicated in the 2007 plot to attack the United States Army Base at Fort Dix, New Jersey, Shnewer was part of a group of five men who were later dubbed the “Fort Dix Five.
The group was reportedly radicalized and motivated by jihadist ideologies, as evidenced by recordings of their conversations and videos they viewed.
The group planned an attack on Fort Dix, a U.S. Army base, with the goal of killing as many soldiers as possible.
The plan involved using automatic weapons to storm the base and carry out a mass shooting, with Shnewer being the groups main ring-leader.
The FBI became aware of the group in January 2006 after a store clerk reported a suspicious video depicting the men firing weapons and shouting militant slogans.
In 2008, Shnewer was found guilty of conspiracy to kill U.S. military personnel and other terrorism-related charges and was sentenced to life imprisonment without parole at Terre Haute.
7 – Robert Gregory Bowers
Another American Domestic Terrorist, Bowers was responsible for the 2018 Pittsburgh synagogue shooting, the deadliest attack on the Jewish community in U.S. history.
Bowers entered the synagogue armed with an AR-15-style assault rifle and three handguns during Shabbat services.
During the attack, he reportedly shouted antisemitic remarks while being motivated by deeply entrenched antisemitism and white supremacist ideologies.
Bowers was wounded in a gunfight with police and surrendered at the scene and later faced 63 federal charges, including hate crimes, obstruction of religious exercise resulting in death, and using a firearm to commit murder.
In June 2023, Bowers was convicted on all charges and it became one of the rare instances in which the federal government pursued the death penalty at Terre Haute.
6 – Len Davis – The Terre Haute Cop
Former New Orleans police officer Davis became infamous for one of the most egregious cases of police corruption in U.S. history.
Davis was part of a group of corrupt officers involved in extortion and drug-related activities in New Orleans during the 1990s.
He accepted bribes and used his position to protect drug dealers and facilitate their operations.
In October 1994, Davis ordered the murder of Kim Groves, a 32-year-old mother of three after she filed a civil rights complaint with the Internal Affairs Division of the NOPD.
Groves had witnessed Davis assault a man in her neighborhood, and to prevent her complaint from moving forward, Davis conspired with a hitman, Paul Hardy.
Unfortunately for Davis, he was under FBI surveillance for his involvement in drug-related corruption at the time and both men were arrested shortly after the murder.
Davis was sentenced to death, becoming one of the first-ever instances of a police officer receiving a capital sentence at Terre Haute.
5 – Marvin Charles Gabrion
Responsible for the 1997 murder of Rachel Timmerman in Newaygo County, Michigan, Charles Gabrion had a troubled past, with a criminal history including fraud, assault, and sexual violence.
Known for his manipulative and violent behavior, he had been involved in multiple illegal activities before his murder conviction.
The attack was notable for its brutal details, legal complexity, and the fact that he received a federal death sentence in a state that does not even allow the death penalty.
Rachel’s 11-month-old daughter, Shannon, was also reported missing and has never been found, with Gabrion suspected of her disappearance and possible murder.
Gabrion is currently on death row at Terre Haute, awaiting execution.
4 – Jurijus Kadamovas – The Terre Haute Russian
Between late 2001 and early 2002, Kadamovas and his accomplices, including Ilya Kurganov, carried out a plot to kidnap wealthy individuals of Russian descent in California.
Victims were held hostage, and their families were contacted to pay ransoms, often in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Despite collecting ransom money in some cases, Kadamovas and his accomplices killed the hostages to eliminate witnesses.
Among the victims was Anatoly Antonov, a prominent Russian businessman living in California.
The scheme unraveled after one of the victims went missing, prompting an investigation that linked Kadamovas and his associates to the disappearances.
Kadamovas and his accomplices were arrested in January 2002 after authorities gathered sufficient evidence, including bank records, phone calls, and physical evidence from crime scenes.
In 2007, Kadamovas was convicted on multiple counts, including five counts of kidnapping resulting in death.
Sentenced to death for his crimes, his accomplice, Ilya Kurganov, also received a death sentence.
3 – Louri Gherman Mikhel
The associate of Jurijus Kadamovas, Mikhel helped to murder Meyer Muscatel, Nick Kharabadze, Alexander Umansky, Rita Pekler, and George Safiev.
They lured victims under the guise of business opportunities, subsequently abducting them and demanding ransoms from their families.
Regardless of ransom payments, the victims were murdered, their bodies were disposed of in the New Melones Reservoir near Yosemite National Park.
Mikhel, alongside his accomplice was handed a death sentence in March 2007, however this was later commuted to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole by Joe Biden in December 2024.
2 – Alejandro Enrique Umañ – Terre Haute “Wizard”
Alejandro Enrique Ramirez Umaña, known as “Wizard,” is a documented member of the MS-13 gang.
On December 8, 2007, in Greensboro, North Carolina, Umaña fatally shot brothers Ruben and Manuel Garcia Salinas in a crowded restaurant, perceiving their conversation as disrespectful to his gang.
Following his arrest, Umaña faced multiple charges, including conspiracy to participate in racketeering, two counts of murder in aid of racketeering, and related firearm offenses.
In April 2010, a federal jury convicted him on all counts. Subsequently, the same jury unanimously recommended the death penalty, marking the first instance of an MS-13 member receiving a federal death sentence in the United States.
Chief U.S. District Court Judge Robert J. Conrad Jr. formally imposed the death sentence in July 2010.
1 – Dylann Storm Roof – The Terre Haute Shooter
Dylann Storm Roof is an American white supremacist responsible for the racially motivated mass shooting at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina, on June 17, 2015.
Roof, then 21 years old, entered the historically Black church during a Bible study session and opened fire, killing nine African American parishioners, including senior pastor and state senator Clementa C. Pinckney.
Roof had meticulously planned the attack, leaving behind a racist manifesto outlining his white supremacist ideology and hatred toward African Americans.
He expressed his belief in segregation and aimed to incite a race war. After the shooting, Roof fled the scene but was apprehended the following day in Shelby, North Carolina.
In 2017, Roof was convicted on 33 federal charges, including hate crimes resulting in death, obstruction of religion, and firearms offenses.
He was sentenced to death, becoming the first person in U.S. history to receive a federal death sentence for a hate crime.
He also pleaded guilty to state murder charges and received nine consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole.
Despite his sentencing, Roof has shown no remorse for his actions and attempted to appeal his conviction and death sentence, arguing that his legal representation failed to align with his white supremacist beliefs.
However, his appeals have been denied, and he remains on federal death row at the United States Penitentiary in Terre Haute, Indiana.
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