By Joe Rogalsky,
Delaware State News
DOVER - A security "slippage," combined with inmate Scott A. Miller's emotional stress, led to the convicted rapist taking a prison counselor hostage and raping her July 12, Commissioner of Correction Stanley W. Taylor said Wednesday.
Mr. Taylor made his comments as he released a Department of Correction internal affairs investigation into the incident at the Delaware Correctional Center near Smyrna.
He cited a "diminution of practices" at the facility, which led to secured doors being unlocked and inmates allowed to walk into office areas unescorted or accompanied only by unarmed personnel as procedures that violated department policy and contributed to the July 12 incident.
"These are significant changes to the overall plan that occurred over time," said Mr. Taylor, who did not see the report until late last month.
"These things disturbed the level of security that was in the original design of this facility."
Mr. Taylor said he has implemented several measures to tighten security, some of which reinforce existing procedures, and plans further moves. He said no disciplinary actions have been taken, but could be forthcoming.
Gov. Ruth Ann Minner, after reading the report at 3 a.m. Wednesday, decided to establish a task force to independently investigate security measures at DCC.
Miller, a convicted rapist sentenced to 699 years, left a counseling session and walked to DCC's mess area at about 10:20 a.m., according to the report. He later told his victim, counselor Cassandra Arnold, that he went to the area to kill Sgt. William Faust. Miller thought Sgt. Faust unfairly had him fired from his prison food-serving job.
Miller left the mess area and walked down a hallway toward an administrative office suite, behind Ms. Arnold, who did not detect him. After taking Ms. Arnold hostage, Miller said he did not kill Sgt. Faust because he thought the sergeant had noticed him.
As Ms. Arnold walked through a secure sliding door, which can be opened only by a control officer, the report says Miller followed.
Sgt. Lachelle Green, who was the door control officer that day, left the door open for Miller to walk through, behind Ms. Arnold.
Mr. Taylor said Sgt. Green resigned several days after the incident and was not interviewed in the report.
Mr. Taylor speculated that Sgt. Green could have thought Ms. Arnold was escorting Miller and left the door open, instead of closing it immediately after Ms. Arnold passed through.
"The control officer should have been certain they were together or kept the door closed until she was sure they were together," Mr. Taylor said.
"There should be escorts. Inmates should be escorted by security personnel. Movement should be restricted."
After going through the sliding door, Mr. Taylor said, Miller was able to go through a second door leading to the administrative area. That door is not a sliding door but should have been locked. Instead it was often left slightly ajar because the administrative staff thought the sliding door would keep inmates out of the area.
"The administrative staff would open the door and leave it (ajar)," Mr. Taylor said.
"Administrative staff could come and go without having to contact the control officer to let them out. They did not see a problem with that behavior."
Once inside the administrative office area, Miller hid in a bathroom. When Ms. Arnold noticed him, he took her hostage, holding a shank to her neck and threatening to kill her.
Late into the nearly seven-hour standoff, he raped her. Shortly after the rape, a member of the facility's emergency response team shot and killed Miller to end the standoff.
Miller's wife divorced him in June, according to the report. A July 3 visit with her and his children ended when he became abusive, the report said.
After his ex-wife and children did not attend a scheduled July 9 visit, Miller phoned his ex-wife and said he would give her a "birthday present she would never forget," the report said. Though her birthday was redacted from the report, Mr. Taylor said it is near July 12.
"The change in the mindset of Miller is not a small part of this story," Mr. Taylor said.
"He's upset. He is feeling his life fall apart. He is not going to see his wife or children anymore. He feels the staff is out to get him. I am not saying he is right, but that is what is going on in his mind.
"He is out to make someone pay, he is out to punish his wife. When you add that to an environment where practices have slacked, that creates the opportunity for something to happen."
Mr. Taylor insisted that low staffing levels did not contribute to the July 12 incident. The report showed the building had 22 of its normal allotment of 23 correctional officers on duty at the time of the incident. Seven of the 22 had been frozen, meaning they were working a second eight-hour shift.
Responsibility for the security lapses lies with the officers and personnel working in DOC, Mr. Taylor said. He said he and DOC prisons chief Paul Howard were not aware of security problems at DOC.
Thomas Carroll, DOC's warden, was not responsible, Mr. Taylor said, though the warden has people under him who should have known and dealt with the breaches.
Mr. Taylor also defended Mr. Carroll's decision to refuse Miller's request to talk to him during the hostage negotiations, saying granting such a request went against agency training.
Mr. Taylor said former DCC deputy warden Larry McGuigan, who transferred to Webb Correctional Facility in Wilmington on May 17, had opportunities to correct the problems. That does not mean Mr. McGuigan will face disciplinary measures, he said.
"The deputy warden position is in charge of that operation," Mr. Taylor said.
"The deputy warden position is officed in that immediate area. The are reports there of the deputy warden being aware of that practice and not effecting its change. That is different from my prejudging of what has to become a disciplinary investigation of what has come from an internal affairs report."
Capt. Clyde Sagers was the ranking officer at DCC when Mr. McGuigan transferred May 17. Capt. Sagers was on vacation for the two weeks leading up to July 12, but was on duty the morning of the incident.
During that time, Ms. Arnold e-mailed him about security lapses at DCC. The message was forwarded to Staff Lt. David Pierce, who was filling in while Capt. Sagers vacationed. Last week DOC promoted Lt. Pierce to deputy warden at DCC. Staff Lt. Gregory Fuller was the shift commander when Miller took Ms. Arnold hostage.
Mr. Taylor did not have the staffing information available during the news conference releasing the report, but supplied the information via e-mail Wednesday evening.
DCC supervisors will use the report to determine whether officers or other staff should be disciplined, Mr. Taylor said. The specific punishments will not be made public, he said. He added he did not know if he could even say whether his agency took disciplinary action without consulting an attorney.
To tighten security, Mr. Taylor said, he has issued a series of directives. Included are policies requiring the door to the administrative area be locked at all times, banning inmate access to the area and a mandate that correctional officers escort inmates at all times. The door already was required to be locked, but Mr. Taylor said he wanted to emphasize the rule.
DOC will seek funds in next year's state budget to establish a "shakedown unit," Mr. Taylor said, to conduct searches of all DCC buildings and inmates. Currently, officers do shakedowns in addition to other duties.
Counselors will be given the same radios as correctional officers to improve communication, Mr. Taylor said. An additional officer will be assigned to the building where the incident took place to "hopefully to get a better eye on what is going in this area," Mr. Taylor said.
Read the report To view the full text of the Department of Correction report, go to newszap.com.
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Staff writer Joe Rogalsky can be reached at 741-8226 or jrogalsky@newszap.com
