Craig Wissink | World’s Most Evil Prisoners | Forensic Files

[ominous music] NARRATOR: The United States of America houses some of the most evil prisoners
the world has ever seen. Violence is part of everyday life for prisoners serving time.
And for Craig Wissink, there is no exception. - I've covered a lot of different people,
but few people have done things as brutal as Craig Wissink. - There's no turning back for him.
He's crossed that line into evil, and that's where he's going to remain. NARRATOR: Along with an accomplice,
he attempted to rob an innocent family with devastating consequences. - They put the shotgun to the door,
and they shot him in his chest. And they blew his back out. - He made a plan. It turned out to be a deadly plan.
NARRATOR: Behind bars, Wissink targeted a correctional officer in his pursuit of terror.
- He took a fire extinguisher, and he beat her repeatedly. - He just got more violent and dangerous.
He became evil. NARRATOR: Unrestrained, he remains a danger to anyone who crosses his path.
- Wissink is not mentally stable, is on drugs, is a violent person. I think it's without question that over time, if he could,
he would kill again. - He was a monster that took my life away from me, my husband,
my kids's father away from me. - He was mismanaged. His mental health was ignored.
But that doesn't give him the right to kill. Just let him rot in itself. [theme music]
NARRATOR: The state of North Carolina currently houses over 30,000 inmates. [stirring music]
Bertie Correctional Institution, which opened in 2006, is home to 1,000 of its most dangerous felons.
NICK OCHSNER: Bertie Correctional Institution is in a rural part of northeastern North Carolina.
There's not a lot around. It's not in a big city, kind of in the middle of nowhere.
BRIAN SUDUL: Prison is the dirtiest place in the world. The smells, it's body odor.
If you're in the chow hall, it smells like a dish room. The smell of blood is awful.
It's something you'll never forget. The sounds of people assaulting each other, throwing chairs.
I used to walk out there and tell them to shut up. Quiet it down. LINA HAJI: Prison takes such a toll on anybody.
You have to be on your toes all the time. Where you are kept awake, essentially, by paranoia.
Your interactions with humans are very limited. You are constantly being told what to do.
Your senses are deprived. NICK OCHSNER: Bertie Correctional Institution has really a wide variety of inmates.
There are the medium security inmates. And then you have these more violent, dangerous,
maximum security inmates. NARRATOR: One of these prisoners was Craig Wissink. [stirring music]
LINA HAJI: He went from murdering somebody in a robbery to viciously attacking an innocent correction
officer in prison. NICK OCHSNER: Scalding her. Stabbing her. Bludgeoning her with a fire extinguisher.
You can reach no other conclusion than Craig Wissink is evil. - It was just so easy for him to take a life.
BRIAN SUDUL: Everybody's accountable for their own actions. He did not need to kill this poor girl
to get his point across. NICK OCHSNER: He showed a history of violence time and again.
What doesn't get more dangerous than that? [stirring music] NARRATOR: Craig Wissink was born on May 30, 1981.
[stirring music] NICK OCHSNER: We don't actually know a whole lot about Craig Wissink's past.
We know that he grew up in Arizona. And then we know sometime between May of 1981 and
the late 1990s, he finds himself in Fayetteville, North Carolina, on the other side of the country.
Fayetteville, North Carolina, is a really interesting place. I actually grew up there.
It's centered around Fort Bragg, one of the largest military installations in the world.
You have your mix of really nice homes and really nice neighborhoods. And then you have trailer communities,
where things go on inside there that the rest of the community may not be thinking about.
NARRATOR: Fayetteville has one of the highest crime rates in America. Its residents have a 1 in 25 chance
of becoming a victim of property theft or violent crime. LINA HAJI: In a lot of low socioeconomic populations,
you see this kind of generational criminality that is almost beyond their control.
They may not have adequate education or adequate sources of income. And so you see these crimes of necessity being committed.
NARRATOR: Little is known about Wissink's childhood, but at 17, he had his first run in with the law.
PAUL LOPEZ: He was arrested in Cumberland County for common law robbery. As a result, he was given the maximum term,
which was 10 months. LINA HAJI: As of the last few decades, the emphasis on youth offenders really has
turned to rehabilitation as opposed to punishment, and understanding that the brain is still developing,
and that a lot of these youths have hardships in their background and should be afforded a second opportunity.
[stirring music] NARRATOR: Wissink served five months in prison-- just half of his maximum sentence.
He was released in March 1999, still aged 17. He moved into a trailer in the Sunset Mobile Home
Park, Fayetteville. NICK OCHSNER: It existed in this no man's land. Right outside the city, but it's removed, so to speak.
You feel basically left alone from the rest of town. When you look at the kind of people living in a trailer
park, they're people trying to get by and make a living and have a cheap and affordable place to live,
or they're people like Craig Wissink, who are out of prison and need somewhere to live that they can
afford on very little money. NARRATOR: Living just 6 miles away from Wissink was
25-year-old Jonathan Pruey, where he lived with his 28-year-old wife Jennifer. JENNIFER LEACH: My name is Jennifer Leach,
and I was John Pruey's wife. I met John at a bar-- [laughs] --a country bar. I felt so excited.
It was love at first sight, really. I mean, he was so handsome and he was so nice.
And we just danced all night long. He asked me for my phone number, and we started dating.
NARRATOR: Jennifer and John married in September 1994 and soon welcomed a baby together.
Along with Jennifer's child from a previous relationship, they became a family of four.
In order to be around them, John quit a career in the army and became an electrician.
JENNIFER LEACH: John was so kind-hearted. He was a great husband. He was a great father.
He was just happy, you know. He loved basketball. He loved family time. He was very protective over his kids and everything.
John made me feel so safe. NARRATOR: The family moved into a trailer on Cumberland
Road, Fayetteville. [stirring music] JENNIFER LEACH: We used to do just a lot of family
stuff together. It was starting to be safe. NARRATOR: Craig Wissink was still living
on the other side of town. He was now 19 and had been out of jail for over a year.
NICK OCHSNER: Wissink was living in a trailer owned by one man who was also living at the trailer.
Wissink had his 15-year-old runaway girlfriend living with him. And then a third man named Lawrence Ash
was also living there. So there's four people inside this small trailer. NARRATOR: Another one of Wissink's friends
told them that he knew of a local man who he believed dealt in marijuana. The man was Jonathan Pruey.
NICK OCHSNER: The friend tells Wissink that Pruey has got about $1,000 to $1,500 and a pound to a half-pound
of marijuana in his trailer. But more importantly, he says, Pruey doesn't have a gun.
NARRATOR: Wissink and his friend hatched a plan to rob Jonathan Pruey and steal the cash.
Wissink persuaded his roommate, 17-year-old Lawrence Ash, to conduct the robbery with him.
NICK OCHSNER: Wissink was seen by his girlfriend getting a shotgun from someone else
and telling that person he planned to rob a drug dealer. JENNIFER LEACH: John had marijuana,
and he would give some marijuana to his close friends and whatnot. They thought John was a big drug dealer when
he was only an electrician. LINA HAJI: Wissink is young, he's impoverished. He's living in a trailer park with some friends.
It's a way to get money very quickly without having to put in any effort. [stirring music]
NICK OCHSNER: Wissink is clearly desperate at this point. He doesn't know what to do.
He doesn't know how to get money, but he knows he needs money. And so his answer is to turn to violence.
[stirring music] NARRATOR: Around 10:00 PM on June 27, armed with the shotgun, Wissink and Ash
put their plan into action. PAUL LOPEZ: Wissink stole a car from a friend of his mother.
He then contacted his girlfriend. And he told her that he had some things to take care of,
and he would be back later. NICK OCHSNER: Wissink and Ash were both dressed in black.
One of them was wearing a hockey mask, like Jason in the horror films. The other had a green camouflage mask.
LINA HAJI: It's just a couple of unsophisticated criminals deciding to put on some masks and rob somebody.
It's also interesting, is they told many, many people what they were planning on doing.
It's just, hey, this is what we're going to do. We're going to rob a drug dealer, throw on some masks,
get the money, and that'll be that. PAUL LOPEZ: Wissink and Lawrence Ash then took the stolen car and drove to Cumberland Road, which
is where Jonathan Pruey lived. NARRATOR: For Jennifer Pruey, that evening at a home with her husband, Jonathan, was like any other.
JENNIFER LEACH: My parents came and picked the girls up. It was like 10:30 at night.
We were just having family time. I had put my pajamas on, and I was sitting in a chair.
And John was laying across the couch playing video games. [knocking] Somebody knocked on our front door,
and John looked up because nobody ever uses our front door. We were like, who's knocking at our door?
So John got up. He went to look out the window. And that's when they kicked the door in.
NARRATOR: Panicked, Jonathan quickly slammed the door shut. Outside stood with Wissink and Ash,
their faces disguised by their masks. PAUL LOPEZ: At the doorway, a struggle ensued.
Lawrence Ash was trying to force entry into the residence passed the doorway, while Jonathan
was holding it from the inside, trying to prevent him from entering. During this altercation, one of the intruders--
it's not sure which one, whether it's Wissink or Ash-- fell and actually landed just inside of the residence.
JENNIFER LEACH: John had got a punch in and had busted one of their noses. I ran and grabbed the phone, and I was calling 911.
I was so shocked and panicked and in trauma. NARRATOR: With one intruder already inside the trailer,
the second remained outside with the risk of entering at any moment. NICK OCHSNER: In an attempt to stop the second man
from getting into the house, Pruey presses himself up against the door. NARRATOR: Then the unthinkable happened.
NICK OCHSNER: A shotgun blast goes through the door and hits Pruey. He falls to the ground, bleeding.
[stirring music] JENNIFER LEACH: And they shot him in his chest. And they blew his back out.
It happened so fast. I remember hearing the impact of it, because I could hear the "oof. " It just didn't--
it didn't register at first. NICK OCHSNER: Wissink and Ash get back in their car.
They speed off. A neighbor who lives near Pruey actually tries to chase after them, but can't keep up with the car.
As they're speeding away, Wissink and Ash throw their masks out of the car. NARRATOR: Jennifer, along with her neighbors,
anxiously waited for the ambulance to arrive. JENNIFER LEACH: It just seems like it took
forever for them to get there. I remember hearing my neighbors yelling, John, stay with us.
NARRATOR: When they arrived, the paramedics rushed to Jonathan's side while also checking over Jennifer.
JENNIFER LEACH: They wanted me to go to the hospital because they were scared that I was
about to have a stroke because my blood pressure was so high. NARRATOR: Jennifer was taken to the hospital
while paramedics attended to Jonathan in the trailer. JENNIFER LEACH: And I remember being at the hospital,
and my sister coming and taking the rag and going like this to my hair. His flesh and stuff was in my hair,
you know, blood and everything. And she was wiping it out of my hair. NARRATOR: Following the medical checks,
Jennifer waited on news of her beloved husband. JENNIFER LEACH: I remember being in the room,
and I could hear the ER doors. And I kept asking, is that John? Is that John? Is that John?
You know, because I was expecting him to come. NARRATOR: As the night dragged on, Jennifer continued to wait.
After the robbery and shooting, Wissink and Ash had driven 15 minutes back to their trailer.
PAUL LOPEZ: Wissink contacted his girlfriend and requested she meet him at her residence.
When she arrived, she saw Wissink was burning clothing items and shoes that she recognized
that he and Lawrence Ash were wearing the last time that she saw them. Wissink had a large laceration to his nose area
and appeared to be agitated. He told his girlfriend that he needed to get out of town
and requested her to accompany him. [stirring music] NARRATOR: Wissink and his girlfriend
immediately departed for Arizona, heading to his mother's house-- a 30-hour drive away.
NICK OCHSNER: They make a few stops along the way. At the first stop, Wissink sees a friend.
Wissink tells his friend that he just shot someone and thinks he's dead. He asks the friend for some money to get away.
PAUL LOPEZ: On another stop, he told his girlfriend that he and Lawrence Ash had robbed Jonathan Pruey.
He then told his girlfriend that he heard a shot and saw that Lawrence Ash had fired
a round through the front door of Jonathan Pruey's house with a shotgun. LINA HAJI: We tend to call it impression management.
By telling people different versions of the story, he's playing into what he thinks people
would want to hear from him. He's panicking. NICK OCHSNER: Another stop, Wissink goes to his trunk
to get a change of clothes. And his girlfriend notices the shotgun that he had borrowed a few weeks earlier
wrapped in sheets in the trunk. [stirring music] NARRATOR: At the hospital, in the early hours of the morning,
Jennifer was given news about her husband, Jonathan. JENNIFER LEACH: They finally told
me that John hadn't made it. He didn't make it. My whole world just crumbled. It was just like the world--
my stomach, my heart was ripped out of me. I just couldn't believe it. They gave me some meds to calm me down.
His body was still at the house. And they wouldn't let me see him because it was considered a homicide.
NICK OCHSNER: The autopsy of Pruey found a 1-inch gash in his chest. It found three other wounds as well.
And the autopsy specifically found metal pellets throughout his back muscles and a piece of plastic
from a shotgun cap. Pruey died from that shotgun blast. [stirring music] NARRATOR: The following day, Wissink and his girlfriend
continued their drive to his mother's house in Arizona, where they planned to hide out.
His partner in crime, Lawrence Ash, remained behind in Fayetteville at the trailer park.
NICK OCHSNER: The day after the murder, Ash goes to a friend and confesses that he and Wissink
had attempted to rob Pruey and ended up killing him. Ash suggests to the friend that the friend
call in and report Wissink as the gunman in this murder. And then the two of them, Ash and his friend,
could split the reward money. But the plan goes a little haywire when the friend actually ends up
telling police that it was both Wissink and Ash involved in that murder. Two days after Pruey's death on June 29,
Ash is taken in for questioning and arrested. NARRATOR: Once in custody, Ash pinned
the murder all on Wissink. When he told police Wissink had fled to Arizona, officers worked to track him down.
PAUL LOPEZ: Approximately a week later, police arrested Craig Wissink and his girlfriend
at his mother's house in Arizona. NARRATOR: Wissink was questioned by police, where he gave his version of the events.
NICK OCHSNER: Wissink tells police him and Ash approached the door and tried to get in,
but then Pruey bars the door. And that's when Wissink says he runs off the porch
and hears a shotgun blast fired by Ash. Wissink tells police that he then says to Ash, why did you do it?
Both Wissink and Ash point the finger at each other. - I don't believe this murder was intentional.
I don't believe it was calculated. I don't believe this was a murder stemming from some kind of psychopathic rage or serial killer tendency.
I think this was a robbery gone wrong. NARRATOR: Ultimately, both men were charged with first degree murder
and held within the North Carolina prison system. [stirring music] PAUL LOPEZ: The stolen vehicle Wissink used
was located by law enforcement. They also located a disassembled shotgun. JENNIFER LEACH: I think Wissink killed
John because he's an evil man. They could have left when my husband was fighting them,
but they did not. He chose to put the gun against the door and shoot. [stirring music]
NARRATOR: Wissink's trial took place four years later at the Cumberland County Courthouse, Fayetteville.
He was now 22. JENNIFER LEACH: When the trial finally came, it was too traumatic for me.
I couldn't go, I just couldn't-- I couldn't bear being there. PAUL LOPEZ: The most damaging evidence
was the testimony against Mr. Wissink by his girlfriend and friends that he'd been in contact with before and after the incident.
NICK OCHSNER: Him and Ash were tried separately. They're both convicted of his murder.
Both of them were sentenced to life in prison without parole. LINA HAJI: Although it appears that he didn't plan out
this murder, he ended up killing somebody during the commission of a robbery, which, in this state,
equated first degree murder. NARRATOR: For Jonathan Pruey's wife, Jennifer, her husband's death has had
a profound effect on her life. JENNIFER LEACH: Months later, after I got out of the hospital and everything, it took me down the wrong road.
I couldn't deal with it. I ended up going into drugs. I have PTSD from it and depression.
John was the love of my life. I felt like a part of me died when he died. [stirring music]
NARRATOR: Wissink was sent to Central prison in Raleigh as a convicted murderer.
He returned to a life of incarceration, but this time with a life sentence to his name.
LINA HAJI: He was sent to a maximum security prison, which is probably extremely jarring for somebody who doesn't seem
to have a very violent history, doesn't seem to be gang-affiliated, or somebody that's
entrenched in violent crime. NARRATOR: While in prison, Wissink tried to turn things around and found himself a new hobby--
pencil drawing. NICK OCHSNER: In 2005, he got fourth place in an art competition, and a few years
later, he actually got first place for a work of art. Maybe Wissink was reforming.
Maybe there was some hope here. BRIAN SUDUL: In my former state institution, we had a craft program, where they made wood crafts, paint.
And they actually sold this stuff. Craftsmanship is some of the stuff-- was just beyond stuff
you can find in the free world. Story writing, essay writing competitions. I knew a Mexican Mafia member that was a knitter.
He knitted everything. I saw a knitted teddy bear about 6 foot long. LINA HAJI: When you're in prison,
art can be seen as kind of a safe space to express yourself, emote, and not have
to use verbal communication. It's very easy to be a person serving life to be angry and vengeful and rageful
and to engage in drug use. But Wissink has made a decision that that is not the route
that he wants to take. BRIAN SUDUL: I would promote that. I want them up there painting.
Because if they're painting, they're not selling drugs, they're not stabbing inmates.
They want to continue doing their time like this and having a purpose. NICK OCHSNER: As Wissink appears to be reforming,
he's moved from central prison in Raleigh, that maximum security facility, to Nash Correctional,
a medium security facility. NARRATOR: Wissink's good behavior didn't last. By 2013, he had developed a drug habit.
LINA HAJI: Drugs are smuggled into prison through either staff or visitors. It can be through actual in-person visits.
They can smuggle in contraband through the mail. BRIAN SUDUL: Inmates take drugs in prison
to continue their addiction, to pass time, to escape reality of their situation.
Drugs are distributed in prison through inmates. They either go get it directly from the dealer,
or a dealer will give it to his friend. Through this friend, give it to this guy.
It's like a human trucking operation. LINA HAJI: It's not uncommon for offenders
to enter prison without an addiction and leave prison with an addiction. There's a very good chance that even though Wissink
was a model inmate during his first nine years, that his mental health was declining
and that he took to substances as a way to cope. He could have developed symptoms of depression,
symptoms of anxiety. [stirring music] NARRATOR: At Nash Correctional, Wissink was reunited with an inmate friend
he had met nine years before when he first began his sentence. NICK OCHSNER: The two old friends,
both serving life sentences, reconnect by walking laps around the prison, spending time together.
That friend would say that this Wissink in 2013 is not the same man that he remembered.
The happy, Bible-reading, pleasant-to-be-around friend. Instead, that friend would say that Wissink
had turned sour almost. He was always high on drugs, it seemed. He was always in a frown.
LINA HAJI: All of a sudden, we start to see a different Wissink. And the only difference that we see
between the first Wissink and the second Wissink is that now he started to use drugs.
NARRATOR: As Wissink's drug usage got a hold over him, his behavior began to change.
- And in a four-year period, from 2013 to 2017, he gets six infractions for fighting,
interfering with staff, possession of banned substance, and possessing an electronic device, a cell phone.
Wissink moved back to a maximum security prison in October of 2015, but then moved back down to a medium
security prison the next year. NARRATOR: That prison was Bertie Correctional Institution, a men's prison in Windsor,
North Carolina. NICK OCHSNER: The issues at Bertie Correctional Institution are the same issues that plagued
the entire North Carolina prison system at that time. There's a lack of staffing.
There's generally low morale. There are starting to be red flags and warning signs popping
up about the conditions, the dangerous conditions for staff working inside North Carolina prisons.
NARRATOR: 35-year-old Wissink arrived there in October 2016. He immediately started displaying
signs that he wasn't stable. NICK OCHSNER: Wissink told the staff that he was having homicidal thoughts
and asked for help with his mental health, but no one took that seriously. They didn't do anything, and he remained in medium custody.
BRIAN SUDUL: Any time an inmate makes homicidal accusations, they have to be thoroughly investigated.
He needs to go down to special housing, or whatever, wherever they have to segregate him.
An investigation should be completed on those accusations. LINA HAJI: What's so unfortunate is
when an inmate tells you that they have homicidal ideations, mental health doesn't typically treat
that as a mental health issue. They treat it as a security issue. So you see this kind of often getting
passed back and forth between mental health and security. This is your problem. No, this is your problem.
[stirring music] NARRATOR: The following year, in April 2017, Wissink requested to move bunks.
BRIAN SUDUL: Inmates may request to move because they were not getting along with their cellmate, or they want
to go live with a friend of theirs or another member of the gang that they're in.
NARRATOR: Wissink's request to move bunks was denied. BRIAN SUDUL: Anytime you tell an inmate no,
you can just see the dejection on their face. When I ran the special housing unit,
I didn't allow inmates to move. If I moved every inmate because they wanted to move,
it would be like playing musical chairs. My staff, they have other things to do.
It's just not possible. NARRATOR: One of the correctional officers who often supervised Wissink was 29-year-old
Sergeant Megan Callahan. NICK OCHSNER: Megan Callahan became a corrections officer at Bertie Correctional Institution in January of 2012.
She was later promoted to sergeant in 2016. Her friends describe her as an upbeat person
who loved and was committed to her job, always smiling, very nice, and outgoing.
NARRATOR: On April 26, Wissink was disciplined by Sergeant Callahan for failing to follow a direct order.
BRIAN SUDUL: It's very common for inmates to disrespect staff. Probably viewed her as this weak, timid female.
Mouthing off to her, and he caught himself a write up. NARRATOR: Wissink was not about to let this go lightly.
NICK OCHSNER: At about 5:30 PM, Craig Wissink is angry. His request to move bunks has been denied.
He's been disciplined by Sergeant Callahan. And so what does he do next? Wissink set a fire in a common area in the dormitory.
[stirring music] BRIAN SUDUL: I've had inmates take a piece of tin foil, and then they mate the ends of it with the battery,
and then they just touch that tin foil to some paper and they'll set it on fire.
Maybe a contraband lighter. Some staff member that smokes might have dropped a lighter.
NARRATOR: Wissink set the fire inside a trash can, and the emergency alarm was triggered.
NICK OCHSNER: Around the same time that Wissink sets the fire in this common area,
he's also heating up water in the microwave. He's basically laying a trap to lure
Sergeant Callahan into this common area to attack him. LINA HAJI: This could have been something that had been
brewing for a very long time. And when he was told by correction officers he was not going to be moved to a different bunk, that
could have triggered some anger in him that he hadn't really seemed to have displayed before.
NICK OCHSNER: Sergeant Callahan and two other officers respond to go put it out.
Another of the officers goes into the dorm area but stops at the doorway. Sergeant Callahan rushes in with a fire extinguisher,
drags the trash can with this fire into a bathroom to try to put it out. That's when Wissink throws that hot water on her face.
[stirring music] He then stabs her with a sharp piece of glass, a glass shank. But that's not enough.
He grabs that fire extinguisher, and he starts beating her over and over again in the head
from behind. NARRATOR: Despite there being around 60 inmates nearby when the attack was happening, none of them
came to help Sergeant Callahan. Eventually, Wissink was secured by correctional officers.
A member of staff called 911. NICK OCHSNER: Despite the efforts by medical staff and
local first responders, Sergeant Callahan succumbed to her injuries. She has burns on her face and parts of her upper body
and that stab wound from the glass shank. She ultimately dies from blunt force trauma to the head.
[stirring music] Sergeant Callahan was murdered with the very thing she brought in to help save other people.
She brought this fire extinguisher in to put out a fire. She ended up being killed with it.
LINA HAJI: From what we know, it doesn't appear that he had some kind of long-lasting revenge
plot towards her. And yet, the way that he attacked her was so brutal and so grotesque.
I mean, it was so up close and personal. You would have thought that this is somebody that Wissink had absolutely loathed for years.
NICK OCHSNER: He'd already told prison staff he was having homicidal thoughts, and then he was triggered.
And in the span of 30 minutes, we see him going from angry about being disciplined,
angry about not being able to move bunks, to taking that anger out on the person inside the prison he
blamed for his anger. BRIAN SUDUL: It just goes to the unpredictability of an inmate's behavior.
He did not have the disciplinary history of a possible killer. But one bad day turned him into a killer.
NARRATOR: The murder of 29-year-old Megan Callahan sent shock waves around North Carolina.
[stirring music] NICK OCHSNER: The reaction from the community to this tragic incident, people were stunned.
REPORTER: An American flag was draped over the casket of Sergeant Megan Callahan today.
Hundreds gathered to pay their final respects at her funeral at Edenton United Methodist Church.
NICK OCHSNER: Sergeant Callahan's family, understandably, was devastated about her death.
I also think they had questions about how this could happen in the first place. What breakdowns led to their loved one dying?
[stirring music] NARRATOR: Wissink was charged with murder on the day of the killing, but it took another seven years
for his trial to take place. Now aged 42, he was tried at the Northampton County Superior Court.
NICK OCHSNER: Originally, the prosecutor in this case was going to seek the death penalty against Craig Wissink,
but that capital case changed to seeking life without parole. In court, on the stand, Sergeant Callahan's mother
gave an emotional statement. But in there, she actually said she forgives Wissink
for killing her daughter. LINA HAJI: Sergeant Callahan's mother did not want the death penalty.
She is somebody who believed in forgiveness. She didn't want to live with that hatred and that bitterness
that she saw in the man who took her daughter's life. NARRATOR: Wissink was found guilty
and given his second sentence of life without parole. BRIAN SUDUL: I have no pity for him.
I don't believe his sentence was appropriate. I don't know if the intent was there,
but he built up the intent during the assault. As soon as he used the weapons, that was it.
He should suffer the same fate. NARRATOR: In order to make sure Wissink could never
murder a member of staff again, he was placed in the most restrictive of environment available.
NICK OCHSNER: Wissink was transferred to the supermax prison, US Penitentiary Florence,
where he is serving the rest of his sentence in solitary confinement. BRIAN SUDUL: They have cells underground.
The inmates are locked up 23 hours a day. They get an hour of rec. Inmates kill each other there still.
That place was built to confine people, to confine the Aryan Brotherhood, the Mexican Mafia, killers, people that shouldn't
be around other people. NARRATOR: Although Wissink is locked away for life, the impact of his crimes continues to affect
the families of his victims. JENNIFER LEACH: It's been 25 years. I still love him, you know, like it was yesterday.
I miss his laugh, his hugs. I used to feel safe around him. It was difficult for my girls to grow
up without their father. On June 27, the night that he was killed, I always do something every year
to memorize him, whether it's going out to dinner, going to a park, or doing something.
[somber music] NICK OCHSNER: Sergeant Callahan's mom, she hoped that her daughter's death could
be used to draw attention to the dangerous conditions inside North Carolina's prisons and the need
to increase staffing levels, increase safety measures, and increase security for the staff
working inside these prisons. In the midst of this tragedy, she saw this as an opportunity
to try to create change. NARRATOR: Questions remain about whether the 29-year-old correctional officer's death
could have been prevented. LINA HAJI: Wissink is a testament to how drugs can affect somebody's judgment
and behavior and emotions. There is a clear decline in who he is as a person, and a clear decompensation of his mental health
after he started using substances in prison. NICK OCHSNER: Wissink could have been stopped when he told staff that he was homicidal
and wanted mental health treatment. He could have gotten the treatment he needed.
He could have been moved to the close custody facility. Craig Wissink could have been stopped from killing
Megan Callahan, but he wasn't. LINA HAJI: What kind of quality of life is Wissink going to live now that he's murdered
a correctional officer? He's going to be disliked by all staff for taking out one of theirs.
This is their prison that they run under their authority for the rest of his life.
Wissink has a target on his back now from everyone-- not just correction officers, but correction
officers and inmates. [theme music]

Craig Wissink is a danger to anyone who crosses his path. After a robbery gone bad landed him in prison, Wissink committed more crimes behind bars.

World’s Most Evil Prisoners is a chilling exploration of the terrifying offenders sentenced to a lifetime behind bars. Locked away, yet still driven by their twisted desires, these inmates delve into acts of torture, abduction, and homicide. Prepare to confront the criminals from the darkest facets of humanity.

For More FilmRise Check Out Our Other Channels: FilmRise Television: https://www.youtube.com/@FilmRiseTelevision FilmRise Movies: https://www.youtube.com/@FilmRiseMovies Highway to Heaven - Full Episodes: https://www.youtube.com/@HighwaytoHeavenFullEpisodes

Brief Summary

Craig Wissink's violent crimes led to murder and a prison attack, highlighting systemic failures in mental health care and prison safety.

Key points

The Brutality of Craig Wissink. Craig Wissink's violent history and actions lead to a devastating robbery and murder.
The Tragic Night of the Robbery. Jonathan Pruey is shot during a robbery gone wrong, leaving his family shattered.
The Aftermath of Violence. Jennifer Leach struggles with the loss of her husband and the impact on her life.
The Brutal Attack. Wissink violently attacked Sergeant Callahan after being disciplined, leading to her tragic death.
Community Shock. The murder of Sergeant Callahan sent shock waves through the community, raising questions about prison safety.
Trial and Sentencing. Wissink was found guilty and sentenced to life without parole, despite his mother's forgiveness.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

He was a monster that took my life away from me.

A victim's emotional reflection on Craig Wissink's actions.

1:33WatchJan 26, 2026

Tension

85/ 100High tension

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