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O. B. Ellis Unit (E1, previously Ellis I Unit〔"(Inmate escapes Ellis I prison )." ''Associated Press''/''Austin American-Statesman''. June 10, 1989. B6. Retrieved on August 22, 2010. "Authorities were searching for a state prison inmate serving time for burglary convictions who apparently escaped from the Ellis I Unit on..."〕) is a Texas Department of Criminal Justice prison located in unincorporated Walker County, Texas, north of Huntsville. The unit, with about of space, now houses up to 2,400 male prisoners.〔"(Ellis Unit )." Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Retrieved on 2014-01-08.〕 Ellis is situated in a wooded area shared with the Estelle Unit, which is located away from Ellis.〔Ward, Mike. "(Hunt is on for escaped killer )." ''Austin American-Statesman''. June 29, 1999. A1. Retrieved on November 27, 2010.〕 ==History== The unit opened in July 1965.〔 It was named after Oscar B. Ellis, a former prison director of Texas.〔"(1995 Annual Report )." Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Retrieved on July 21, 2010.〕 George Beto designed the unit himself, making it to be the strictest prison in the system, and Jim Estelle, the following prison director, continued the course of action Beto established.〔Turner, Allan. "(Author revisits Texas prisons brutality case )." ''Houston Chronicle''. Saturday December 10, 2011. Retrieved on December 19, 2011.〕 From 1965 to 1999 the unit housed the male death row.〔"(Death Tow Facts )." Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Retrieved on May 7, 2010.〕 Michael Berryhill, an author, said "You had the toughest convicts, and the general philosophy was you needed the toughest warden. Wallace Pack was assigned to keep the lid on Ellis. The inmates in the prison were restless. There were work stoppages and strikes, and with Judge Justice's opinion, there was an air of expectancy that the brutality and terrible conditions would end."〔 In April 1981, Eroy Brown, a prisoner who had been convicted of armed robbery and burglary, drowned Wallace Pack, the warden, and shot Billy Moore, the unit's farm manager, during a struggle for Pack's gun. Brown said that they were planning to kill him since he was going to expose a prison theft scheme. Thirty-five of thirty-six jurors voted in Brown's favor.〔 After a prisoner named Rodney Hulin fatally injured himself at the Clemens Unit, he was transferred to the Hospital Galveston Unit and then the Ellis Unit. Hulin died in the Ellis Unit in 1997.〔Berryhill, Michael. "What Really Happened To Rodeny Hulin?" ''Houston Press''. August 7, 1997. (7 ). Retrieved on January 17, 2010.〕 In November 1998,〔''Texas Department of Criminal Justice''. Turner Publishing Company, 2004. (103 ). ISBN 1-56311-964-1, ISBN 978-1-56311-964-4.〕 six condemned men were absent from their cells for several hours and then coordinated an escape attempt.〔"(Prisoners at new Death Row unit face increased isolation Inmates caged 'like animals waiting for slaughter,'activist says )." ''Fort Worth Star-Telegram''. February 28, 2000. 1 News. Retrieved on May 7, 2010.〕 One of the men, Martin Gurule (TDCJ# 999063〔"(Offenders No Longer on Death Row )." Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Retrieved on August 22, 2010.〕),〔 successfully escaped and was later found dead in a location near the prison grounds.〔Staff and Wire Reports. "(Death-row inmates take officer hostage Warden negotiates with prisoners )." ''The Dallas Morning News''. February 22, 2000. Retrieved on May 7, 2010. "He was later found dead near the prison, but his escape hastened the decision to house death-row inmates at Terrell Unit, prison officials have said."〕 TDCJ officials said that he drowned on the day of his escape.〔Winingham, Ralph and Matt Flores. "(Officials say Gurule died day of escape )." ''San Antonio Express-News''. December 5, 1998. 1A. Retrieved on May 9, 2010.〕 According to the TDCJ, the prison escape attempt had hastened the agency's decision to move death row inmates to a new location.〔 Six months after the escape attempt, the TDCJ decided to move the death row.〔 In 1999 the male death row was relocated to the Polunsky Unit (originally known as the Terrell Unit) in West Livingston, Texas.〔〔"(West Livingston CDP, Texas )." U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved on May 9, 2010.〕 The death row transfer, which began in March 1999 and took ten months, was the largest transfer of condemned prisoners in history and was performed under heavy security.〔 In 2011 the Ellis Unit furniture and wood plant was moved to the Lewis Unit.〔Ward, Mike. "(Prison industry programs a victim of economic recession )." ''Austin American-Statesman''. Sunday September 4, 2011. Retrieved on September 23, 2011.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Ellis Unit」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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