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Look Back: The 1954 riot at the Missouri State Penitentiary
Date: 9/15/2010 Album ID: 1076938
Photos by Post-Dispatch archive
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On Sept. 22, 1954, two inmates lured a guard into their cell, jumped him and took his keys. This was the beginning of what would be the worst riot ever at the penitentiary. Four inmates were killed, thirty-four inmates were wounded and four guards were injured. The prison closed in 2004. It had been there since 1836.
Buildings of the Missouri State Penitentiary on fire on the evening of Sept. 22, 1954, shortly after the beginning of the deadliest riot at the institution. Post-Dispatch photographer Lloyd Spainhower took this picture while flying his own plane over the prison. Reporters who were rushed to Jefferson City on the newspaper's DC-3 (called the Weatherbird) wrote that they could see the fire from almost 50 miles out. Four inmates were killed, including one at the hands of fellow inmates. Three others died of gunshot wounds when state troopers opened fire on rioters. Four guards and 30 inmates were injured, including 19 inmates who were wounded by gunfire. Seven inmates later were found guilty of murdering Walter Lee Donnell, who was targeted because he had testified against his former robbery-gang friends in St. Louis. The riot began shortly after 6 p.m., when ringleaders overpowered two guards, passed their keys to other inmates to free many more prisoners, then headed for Donnell's cell in Death Row. They captured Clarence Dietzel, the guard on duty there, and killed Donnell with a sledgehammer and knives made of steel parts. Hundreds of freed inmates rushed into the main yard, where they chased guards but soon encountered the heavily armed Highway Patrol reinforcements. The troopers opened fire upon the rioters. The state closed the prison in 2004. The Jefferson City Convention and Visitors Commission conducts scheduled tours of the remaining buildings of the prison, including cellblocks and the old gas chamber. For reservations and tickets, call the commission at 1-866-998-6998 or go to the website missouripentours.com. (Lloyd Spainhower/Post-Dispatch)
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Walter Lee Donnell, 30, who was murdered by fellow inmates. Donnell had been sent to prison from St. Louis, where he testified against his robbery cohorts. Riot ringleaders targeted Donnell and another inmate for being stool pigeons, or prison informants, but couldn't get into the cell of their other intended victim. The partial information at right is from his conviction in 1950 for robbery in Jasper County, in far southwest Missouri. St. Louis Circuit Attorney Edward L. Dowd tried to arrange for Donnell to serve a year in the city workhouse for his cooperation in the St. Louis case, but Jasper County prevailed in revoking his parole from its case, and he was sent back to the penitentiary. Dowd helped get Donnell the protection of confinement in Death Row, but it wasn't enough to stop a gang that concocted a riot to work its vengeance. (Post-Dispatch)
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Members of the 138th Infantry of the Missouri National Guard prepare to leave St. Louis on the evening of the riot to assist guards and state troopers. (Edward Burkhardt/Post-Dispatch)
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Highway Patrol troopers armed with pump shotguns gather for the final push about 8 a.m. Sept. 23, 1954, the morning after the riot began. The 400 holdouts surrendered quickly. The riot lasted about 14 hours. (Post-Dispatch)
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Col. Thomas E. Whitecotton (left), state superintendent of prisons, confers with Lt. Gov. James T. Blair (center) and Missouri Penitentiary warden Ralph Eidson on the morning of Sept. 23, 1954, with the riot still underway. Whitecotton resigned on Nov. 23, 1954, and returned to his position as a Highway Patrol captain, from which he had been on leave. Eidson, a former Camden County sheriff, resigned in December 1955. Blair was elected governor in 1956, replacing fellow Democrat Donnelly. (Post-Dispatch)
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While state troopers armed with shotguns close by, guards watch inmates head for the evening meal on Sept. 23, 1954. None of them received breakfast that day. (Jack January/Post-Dispatch)
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This is another aerial view of the penitentiary, taken on Sept. 23, 1954, after the riot had ended. The numbering lists the buildings destroyed by fires: (1) vehicle license-plate factory, which was staffed by inmates; (2) Gardner Hall, which included the prison theater and the Protestant chapel; (3) school building for inmates; (4) clothing building; (5) shirt factory; and (6) clothing factory. Prisoners made their own uniforms and civilian clothing for inmates scheduled for release. (Lloyd Spainhower/Post-Dispatch)
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About 100 St. Louis police officers rushed to the prison on the night of the riot to assist guards and state troopers. This unit, armed with shotguns, are the officers still on duty at the prison on Sept. 24, 1954, the day after the riot ended. Lower left is their commander. Lt. Walter Eitzman. (Edward Burkhardt/Post-Dispatch)
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Highway Patrol Sgt. W.L. Hutchings views some of the weapons that guards and troopers found in a thorough sweep of the prison after the riot ended. In addition to shivs, or knives that inmates fashioned from metal pieces, guards found hammers, crow bars and other heavy hand weapons. They didn't find any firearms. (Post-Dispatch)
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Gov. Phil Donnelly (left) walks by the charred windows of the prison school with warden Ralph Eidson the day after the riot ended. Donnelly, a Democrat, quickly blamed Republican legislators for cuts in the prison budget. In 1954, Republicans controlled the House and Donnelly's fellow Democrats controlled the Senate. Donnelly appointed a special committee, the State Penal Institutions Survey Committee, which on Jan. 2, 1955, reported that conditions were bad, and that guards were underpaid and too few in number. (Jack January/Post-Dispatch)
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Inmates clean up under the watch of guards and troopers on Sept. 24, 1954. (Jack January/Post-Dispatch)
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Troopers with shotguns watch inmates being moved on Sept. 24, 1954. (Post-Dispatch)
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The ruins of the license-plate plant on Sept. 24, 1954, when authorities took reporters and photographers on a tour of the prison. The plant made all the vehicle license plates in Missouri. (Post-Dispatch)
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Fire gutted the prison school. Because of the riot, firefighters could not reach the fires until the next morning. (Post-Dispatch)
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Six of seven inmates who were accused of murder in the killing of Walter Lee Donnell are bound together in handcuffs for their arraignment on Oct 29, 1954, in the Cole County Courthouse in Jefferson City. The inmates are, from left, Don William Delapp, William H. Hoover, Jackie Lee Noble, Rollie M. Laster, Paul E. Kenton and James W. Stidham. Not shown is fellow defendant Joseph M. Vidauri. All seven were convicted and received life sentences. Laster was sentenced to death, but the sentence was reduced to life. (Ken Gouldthorpe/Post-Dispatch)
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