WARDEN ELBERT V. NASHF February 7, 1945 Thomas Whitecotton, former captain of the Missouri Highway Patrol, accepted the position of Warden of the Missouri State Penitentiary. His mission? “clean up” the penitentiary. A year later, Missouri formed the Department of Corrections. Whitecotton, became its new director. Together with Missouri Governor Phil Donnelly, the two decided to take control of Missouri prisons. MSP prisoners rioted in September 1954. The Missouri Highway Patrol and local law enforcement entered the prison to quell the riot, before all the buildings were burned. on the ground. Following the riots, four inmates lay dead, 29 injured and four guards attacked. Administrators estimated the damage at more than $5 million. Warden Whitecotton resigned his position and less than a year later, Governor Donnelly appointed James D. Carter as the new warden of prisons in March 1956. The warden appointed former highway patrolman Elbert V. Nash as the new warden of the state penitentiary. Missouri. Nash, a former World War II veteran, school teacher and highway patrolman, eagerly accepted the job. Mr. Nash had every intention of making the penitentiary a safer, more productive, and less violent institution. Director Nash oversaw the state executions of; Thomas Moore, Sammy Aire Tucker, Ronald Lee Wolfe, and Charles H. Odom. I mention these executions because, as a correctional officer, I have seen my share of death. It goes with the job. It is never easy to watch a man die or find him after he has killed himself. Director Nash knew these men personally. He spoke to them, listened to their pleas for mercy and watched them die in court. In the 1960s, the MSP embraced another wave of violence. Halfway through the paper… the group described the Director's behavior as “normal,” but it was far from normal. After the party, Elbert Nash shook hands and walked across the street to his house with his wife. Depressed, emotionally distraught, with the media crucifying his moral character, Mr. Nash went into his bedroom, put a gun to his head and pulled the trigger. It was over. The media and politicians had finally gotten their pound of flesh. Director Nash killed himself. They could do whatever they wanted. According to the book “Somewhere In Time” by Laurie A. Stout, a few days later, Representative Peter J. Rabbitt (Yes, Peter Rabbitt) of St. Louis, issued a comprehensive report stating that Warden EV Nash was “totally lacking in ability administrative". The enemies were trying to destroy the director of the penitentiary and, in my opinion; they succeeded. If I am right, and I hope I am not, may God have mercy on their souls.