Famous prisoners who passed away in custody

American organized crime boss James "Whitey" Bulger was head of the Winter Hill Gang in Boston, and went on the run after being tipped off about his impending arrest. He remained at large for 16 years before being caught and later found guilty of murder. Bulger was beaten to death by numerous inmates while serving a life sentence.

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Charles Manson (1934–2017) -

A name synonymous with one of the most heinous crimes of the 20th century, Charles Manson died a far less violent death than those whose murders he encouraged. The cult leader succumbed to respiratory failure, brought on by colon cancer, in a hospital located near the prison where he was serving a life sentence.

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John Gotti (1940–2002) -

After several high-profile trials resulted in acquittals, Mafia boss John Gotti was nicknamed the "Teflon Don" because nothing ever stuck. Eventually a jury did find him guilty and Gotti was sent down for life. Ten years into his sentence, the convicted mobster succumbed to cancer. He died in a prison hospital facility.

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Fred West (1941–1995) -

While on remand (pending trial) in prison charged with multiple murders, English serial killer Fred West asphyxiated himself. He'd been arrested with his wife Rosemary, who was eventually found guilty and handed down a whole life tariff, meaning she herself will die behind bars.

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Harold Shipman (1946–2004) -

Harold Shipman, an English doctor, is estimated to have murdered 284 mostly elderly people, making him one of the most prolific serial killers in modern history. While serving a whole life tariff, the so-called "Dr Death" took his own life four years into his sentence.

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Jack Ruby (1911–1967) -

Jack Ruby, the man who gunned down Lee Harvey Oswald, President John F. Kennedy's assassin, died of cancer in hospital after being transferred there while awaiting a new trial, his original conviction and death sentence having been overturned on appeal. Ironically, Ruby passed away in the same hospital as his victim Oswald, whose victim Kennedy also died there.

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Peter Sutcliffe (1946–2020) -

English serial killer Peter Sutcliffe was infamously known as the "Yorkshire Ripper." Convicted of murdering 13 women and attempting to murder seven others, Sutcliffe spent time in several prisons and Broadmoor, a maximum-security psychiatric facility, before eventually dying from diabetes-related complications in a general hospital.

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Jeffrey Epstein (1953–2019) -

American financier Jeffrey Epstein took his own life while serving a sentence for a string of offences against minors. He was found hanged in his cell.

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Jeffrey Dahmer (1960–1994) -

Jeffrey Dahmer was one of America's most notorious serial killers. Having been found guilty of killing 17 men, Dahmer was serving a life sentence when he too was beaten to death, on this occasion by a single inmate.

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Phil Spector (1939–2021) -

Once venerated by the entertainment industry as one of the world's most innovative music producers, Phil Spector's Wall of Sound came crashing down after he was tried and convicted of murdering an actress. Spector was serving 19 years for the crime when he died in a general hospital from COVID-19 complications.

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Hermann Göring (1893–1946) -

Top Nazi Hermann Göring cheated the hangman at Nuremberg by taking his own life the night before he was due to be executed after being found guilty of war crimes.

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Rudolf Hess (1894–1987) -

Rudolf Hess was serving a life sentence in Spandau Prison in Berlin when he was found dead in his cell. An autopsy concluded that he'd taken his own life. However, rumors persist that Hess, Adolf Hitler's deputy, was murdered.

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Richard Loeb (1905–1936) -

Richard Loeb, together with Nathan Leopold, was convicted of murdering a 14-year-old student in Chicago. Both were sentenced to life imprisonment plus 99 years. While in prison, Loeb was attacked and killed by a fellow inmate. Nathan Leopold was eventually released on parole.

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Ronald Kray (1933–1995) -

The Kray Twins, Ronald and Reginald (1933–2000), were English gangsters who terrorized London's East End in the 1960s. For their crimes, both were imprisoned for life. Ronnie died behind bars in Broadmoor hospital. His twin was later released on compassionate grounds after being diagnosed with cancer.

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Richard Ramirez (1960–2013) -

Richard Ramirez, the American serial killer dubbed the "Night Stalker," was sentenced to death after being convicted of, among other offences, 13 counts of murder and five attempted murders. While on death row Ramirez was transferred to a hospital, where he died of complications secondary to B-cell lymphoma.

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John du Pont (1938–2010) -

Heir to the vast du Pont family fortune, John du Pont (in center of photograph) was serving a sentence of 13 to 30 years for the murder of champion pro-wrestler Dave Schultz when he was found unresponsive in his prison cell. The cause of death was chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

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Klaus Barbie (1913–1991) -

Nazi war criminal Klaus Barbie, known as the "Butcher of Lyon" for having personally tortured prisoners, died of natural causes in prison four years into his life sentence for crimes committed as Gestapo chief in the French city during the Second World War.

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James Earl Ray (1928–1998) -

James Earl Ray, the man convicted of the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., died in hospital of complications caused by hepatitis C while serving a 99-year prison sentence. Doubts about whether Ray was in fact the trigger man have circulated for decades, with even King's widow, Coretta Scott King, believing someone else was the shooter.

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Bobby Sands (1954–1981) -

Sentenced to 14 years imprisonment for firearms offenses, Bobby Sands, a member of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA), began a hunger strike in protest against the removal of Special Category Status, previously granted to all prisoners serving sentences in Northern Ireland for Troubles-related offences. Sands died of starvation after 66 days. His passing and those of nine other hunger strikers was followed by a surge of IRA recruitment and activity.

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Myra Hindley (1942–2002) -

In a 1960's criminal case that still reverberates around Great Britain, Myra Hindley and Ian Brady were convicted of a series of child killings known as the Moors murders. Both were found guilty and received whole life tariffs. After being transferred from her prison cell, Hindley died in hospital from bronchial pneumonia.

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Ian Brady (1938–2017) -

Ian Brady outlived his partner in crime by 15 years. He was incarcerated in a high security hospital where he tried to end his life by going on hunger strike. He eventually died of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

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Albert DeSalvo (1931–1973) -

Albert DeSalvo, the American serial killer who confessed to being the "Boston Strangler," was serving a life sentence behind bars when he was found stabbed to death in the prison infirmary. An inmate associated with the Winter Hill Gang was tried for his murder but later acquitted.

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Ivan Milat (1944–2019) -

Ivan Milat, the Australian serial killer known as the "Backpack Murderer," whose killing spree shocked the entire nation, died of cancer in the hospital wing of a correctional center while serving a life sentence. Milat is seen laughing as he leaves the Supreme Court after representing himself in his unsuccessful appeal against his conviction.

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Gavrilo Princip (1894–1918) -

The assassin of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, Bosnian Serb Gavrilo Princip was serving 20 years in prison when he died of malnutrition and disease. The killing of the archduke set off a chain of events that led to the outbreak of the First World War.

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Roger Kibbe (1939–2021) -

Known as the "I-5 Strangler," American serial killer Roger Kibbe was serving several life sentences for at least eight murders when he was strangled by a fellow prisoner, apparently to avenge Kibbe's victims.

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Ulrike Meinhof (1934–1976) -

A founding member of the Red Army Faction in West Germany in the early 1970s, Ulrike Meinhof took part in a series of bombings, assassinations, kidnappings, and bank robberies as co-leader of the splinter group, the Baader-Meinhof gang. She was found dead in her cell after taking her own life while on trial for murder.

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Andreas Baader (1943–1977) -

The group's other figurehead, Andreas Baader, also ended his own life while imprisoned, having shot himself using a firearm smuggled into his cell.

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Slobodan Milošević (1941–2006) -

Slobodan Milošević, the former President of Serbia and later President of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, was the first sitting head of state charged with war crimes. Indicted at The Hague for genocide, Milošević died in his cell of a heart attack during the trial.

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Lee Roy Martin (1937–1972) -

Lee Roy Martin, an American serial killer dubbed "The Gaffney Strangler," was serving time for murder at a correctional institution when he was stabbed to death by a fellow inmate.

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Thor Christiansen (1957–1981) -

Danish-American serial killer Thor Christiansen was tried and convicted for the murders of several young women in the Isla Vista area of California. Sentenced to life in a maximum security prison, Christiansen met his own end after being stabbed by an inmate who was never identified.

Sources: (History) (Ranker) (The Sun)

Famous prisoners who passed away in custody

Convicts who passed way in jail or prison hospital

10/12/24 | StarsInsider

LIFESTYLE Crime

Prison is not the safest of places. Killers and other serious offenders serving time in correctional institutions may have been taken off the streets, but being behind bars is no guarantee that their own lives will be spared. In fact, numerous convicted felons have died at the hands of fellow inmates. Others have taken their own lives, or succumbed to illness and disease. Few mourn their demise, with many of those sent down ranked among the most notorious convicts in criminal history.

So, who are those that drew their last breath while incarcerated? Click on and read through this roll call of notorious prisoners who died behind bars.