The Dark World of Jessie Con-ui | World’s Most Evil Prisoners | Forensic Files

SAM DOUGLAS: In the United States of America, some of the world's most infamous criminals
are behind bars. Locked up and heavily guarded in a maximum security prison is the vicious killer Jessie Con-ui.
- He is one of the most dangerous, violent prisoners in the Bureau of Prisons. He has the track record to prove it.
- You could just sense evil on different inmates. He would have been one of those inmates.
SAM DOUGLAS: Con-ui got involved with a faction of the notorious Mexican Mafia. - He's killed for this gang.
He's killed a friend for this gang. He not only thinks he's above the law when he's in society,
he thinks he's above the law when he's in prison. PAUL LOPEZ: He actually stabbed an inmate,
then assaulted another inmate using a metal food tray. SAM DOUGLAS: He committed a crime
so atrocious it sent shock waves throughout the entire US prison system. FRANK MARCELL: The murder case of Officer Williams ranks
as one of the most horrific murders of prison history. - Jessie Con-ui was laying in wait to strike,
attacking him, punching him, kicking him, stabbing him. - This was the worst thing I've ever seen in my entire career.
- He's willing to kill you because you looked at him the wrong way. - Con-ui is going to murder whoever he needs to murder.
VITO MARAVIGLIA: He had no regard for human life. He had no regard for anything or anyone.
[theme music] SAM DOUGLAS: Near the city of Scranton, Pennsylvania, is the US penitentiary, Canaan.
It holds around 1,500 inmates. FRANK MARCELL: It's a level three prison. It's the next stop before maximum security.
All the inmates in that prison are either facing 25 to life, many murderers within their high-profile inmates.
BRIAN SUDUL: My name is Brian Sudul. I was a lieutenant at USP Canaan. Stressful, stressful.
Dangerous, gang-ridden, the Major League of corrections. You're responsible for staff members,
and you're responsible for every inmate and their safety. You have to ensure that they're breathing every day.
That's why we have standing counts, so we know every inmate is alive. It's no joke.
FRANK MARCELL: The prisons are run by the prison administrators, but there's no doubt about it
that the inmates have a lot to do with that. You may have one officer on a yard with several hundred inmates, so you can't fool yourself.
The inmates have a large control of that. BRIAN SUDUL: You have to assume every inmate is dangerous.
No matter how hard they work for you, no matter how decent they speak to you, they can cause some serious damage.
They are inherently dangerous, and they aren't your friend. SAM DOUGLAS: One of the most shocking crimes ever committed
against a corrections officer occurred at Canaan by inmate Jessie Con-ui. FRANK MARCELL: You can't doubt how serious of an individual
he is. Wherever he's housed, correctional officers have to be on their toes. I think they have to expect anything.
VITO MARAVIGLIA: Someone like Con-ui has that kind of mindset where he's just willing to kill anybody.
- He is inherently evil to his core, in his soul. VITO MARAVIGLIA: Pretty much his whole life
he's been violent. If given the opportunity, I don't think there would be any doubt that he would attempt to kill again.
SAM DOUGLAS: January 17, 1977, Jessie Con-ui was born in Manila, the capital of the Philippines.
He grew up in one of its largest slums. JIM HAMILL: Jessie Con-ui had a sister and two brothers.
When Jessie Con-ui was a little boy, his family struggled because they didn't have running water,
and they had to rely on a local church to support them for their needs. - His father would often abuse his mother, which the children
sometimes would hear. Ultimately, the father left when he was pretty young. LINA HAJI: Even though he's only three,
there's some research that indicates that children can make memories as early as the age of three,
so witnessing domestic violence can certainly result in developmental problems, problems with impulsivity, depression,
anxiety, embarrassment, shame. So there's already a potential for negative outcomes
by him witnessing his father beating on his mother. - The family had a pretty tremendous loss
at a young age for Jessie. He was only about four and a half when his younger brother, who he was very close with,
passed away. His mom then met a gentleman who became his stepfather. So quite the tumultuous time in Jessie's life.
SAM DOUGLAS: Con-ui's mother's new partner was an American serviceman she met while running a barbecue
stand outside a US Air Force base in Manila. When he was nine, Con-ui's family relocated to America,
settling in the city of Rome, New York, but the fresh start soon turned sour for him.
- That was a very difficult time frame for him to adjust to the English language.
He struggled there and was picked on by kids in school. From a developmental standpoint,
he had a lot of uphill battles because of that move from the Philippines to the United States.
LINA HAJI: When we hear stories like that, we're thinking, wow, what a chance at the American dream.
His life is going to be great now and all for the better. And while that's plausible, we also
have to remember that for a child to be taken out of their environment, as horrible
as that environment may be, there's still familiarity and comfort in that environment.
Con-ui is drastically uprooted. He was ostracized, and he was bullied. The ramifications of that are just
kind of reinforcing that he doesn't have a place in the world that seems to potentially
have a negative effect on him in childhood as well as later on in life. SAM DOUGLAS: When Con-ui was 16,
his family moved again, this time across the country to Phoenix, Arizona. - Con-ui, now he's being uprooted again.
So this is him having to start from scratch and fit in and avoid being bullied. SAM DOUGLAS: Con-ui didn't react well.
PAUL LOPEZ: He was experimenting with drugs, skipping school to the point he was expelled.
He was having a lot of problems at home with his stepfather at the time, and as a result of them having constant confrontation,
Jessie was, well, kicked out. SAM DOUGLAS: While his older brother joined the Air Force
and went on to have a decorated career, Con-ui drifted into crime. - Jessie tried to enlist in the military.
However, he was rejected. JIM HAMILL: Over the course of his young life, Jessie Con-ui faced a lot of adversity,
but every time he possibly had a chance to right himself, there wasn't something there to help him find the right path.
And that only led to a path of self-destruction, drug use, violence, and by the time he was 19,
he found himself in the prison system. SAM DOUGLAS: In 1996, Con-ui was convicted of two counts of theft
and sent to the Arizona State Prison Complex in Winslow. - That's when he first got to know
the New Mexican Mafia, which was a gang that he idolized. SAM DOUGLAS: The New Mexican Mafia came from the original
Mexican Mafia prison gang that grew out of the Californian penitentiaries in the 1950s.
BRIAN SUDUL: Race plays a big thing in prison, so people have to understand that.
If you think the race stuff on the street is bad, go to prison. VITO MARAVIGLIA: The Mexican inmates,
they needed protection from the black and white inmates. They grouped together to protect themselves.
SAM DOUGLAS: The Californian Mexican Mafia grew to become one of America's most powerful
criminal organizations. An offshoot developed in Arizona with their own distinctive tattoo.
It was this gang that became known as the New Mexican Mafia. FRANK MARCELL: As the prison systems in Arizona grew,
the New Mexican Mafia were recruiting quite heavily, mainly because they had rivalry with what
we call the old Mexican Mafia taking over the Hispanic population, taking over the drug
activity within the prison. SAM DOUGLAS: Despite being Filipino in origin, Con-ui affiliated with the New Mexican Mafia
while serving his sentence in Arizona. FRANK MARCELL: The Arizona Mexican Mafia wanted
to increase their numbers. That was their game plan from the beginning. They were a little more loose on the recruitment.
That's the way it goes down inside a prison system. Those that are strongest, survive.
Those that are weak are used. - What gangs provide is a sense of false support and a sense of belonging, and that's
why you see a lot of adolescents who are kind of astray in life join gangs. For some of these youths, joining a gang
is their only sense of identity. SAM DOUGLAS: Locked up in Winslow prison at 19,
Con-ui quickly gained a reputation for trouble. - He developed a plan to stab four inmates.
However, before he could carry the plan out, a prison informant notified jail staff of the plan.
Ultimately, the plan was foiled. JIM HAMILL: Jessie Con-ui was eventually convicted of making threats.
You could tell even at that point that Jessie Con-ui was not by any means a model prisoner.
SAM DOUGLAS: Just eight months later, Con-ui was back in trouble with prison authorities.
PAUL LOPEZ: While in Winslow state penitentiary, Con-ui assaulted an inmate using a metal food tray.
As a result of that, he had to attend a disciplinary hearing, to which he pled guilty to the charge of assaulting
another person with a weapon. LINA HAJI: It's very interesting because you will sometimes see inmates
come into prison with no history of violence and, all of a sudden, start to commit violent crimes.
Now, with Con-ui, we have to remember that he could have had a predisposition to violence,
as evidenced by his father who used to beat his mother. He also had a very, very harsh, disciplinarian stepfather.
He also had turned to drugs, which can be an increased risk factor towards violence.
So Con-ui may have been predisposed to commit violence, and then his affiliation with the gang just fostered that.
SAM DOUGLAS: Con-ui's transgressions added to his sentence in prison. But in December 2001, after being in for six and
a half years, he was released. - Jessie Con-ui does get out of prison, but with the understanding that he does
have to get on the right path. And so he does get gainfully employed. He does find drug and alcohol treatment.
SAM DOUGLAS: Con-ui got a job as an assistant manager at a drug store. He was also regularly drug-tested
and had 34 consecutive clean tests over a year. - It does seem like there might be some hope,
but he is also still tied in heavily with leadership within the New Mexican Mafia.
SAM DOUGLAS: The New Mexican mafia's criminal activities stretch beyond prison onto the streets.
This meant there was another reason for Con-ui to stay clean. - There was a strict policy, believe it or not,
amongst the leadership of the gang, that no drugs to be used whatsoever. - But they're still involved in doing gang business,
dealing drugs, extortion. SAM DOUGLAS: While, publicly, Con-ui gave the appearance of toeing the line,
he was heavily involved in the gang, working for a man named Carlos Garcia. PAUL LOPEZ: Garcia was a made member
of the New Mexican Mafia. Garcia was using Con-ui and two of his associates to basically run errands for himself
in the gang such as general tasks, collecting money, delivering drugs. - Garcia's influence on Con-ui is
very typical of gang culture. You see kind of older, more seasoned members who take younger members under their wing.
This is seemingly for protection and brotherhood and nurturance and guidance, but it's under the guise
of manipulation. It's really what it is. So for Con-ui, he could be viewing Garcia
as this is my friend, this is somebody who wants me to do well, but really, Con-ui
is just serving a purpose, which is furthering the interests of the gang. PAUL LOPEZ: What Con-ui didn't know
is that Garcia was lying to him and was keeping all the money for himself. He also told Con-ui that he would not
be able to be a made member of the gang because they weren't currently accepting any new membership
into their ranks. However, that was-- that was a blatant lie. SAM DOUGLAS: In fact, it was Garcia
himself who was playing a dangerous game with the gang. - It was imperative that members of the gang
keep in contact with leadership, and Garcia was not doing that. He stopped attending meetings, and he developed a secret plan
to move to Texas. And as a result, the gang leadership greenlit his murder. VITO MARAVIGLIA: The New Mexican Mafia is known
to be a very violent gang. They consider themselves as blood in, blood out, which means you have to kill somebody
to get in the gang, and the only way you leave is if they kill you. - And this was Con-ui's opportunity to prove himself.
SAM DOUGLAS: Con-ui was told if he helped to take out Garcia, he could become a made member of the New Mexican Mafia.
- Con-ui, he's not only willing to go above and beyond for his gang. He's willing to turn on one of the people that actually took
him under his wing via murder. SAM DOUGLAS: Garcia was paranoid, so it was Con-ui's job to lure his mentor out into the open
where he could be killed. - Con-ui contacted Garcia and said he was having a problem with his partner.
VITO MARAVIGLIA: The guy said to him, well, I have an extra apartment. You can come stay at one of them.
I'm at the laundromat. You can come by. I'll give you the key. So now they knew where he was.
PAUL LOPEZ: When they met there, while Con-ui distracted Garcia, two of his associates
shot Garcia in the back several times. [gunshots] Garcia was able to flee, however,
was soon caught up to by Con-ui and one of his associates, where they finished the job, killing him.
[gunshot] LINA HAJI: Now we're really starting to see Con-ui's true colors. He's capable of a lot more than we thought.
He's capable of manipulation. He's the one that lured Garcia to the scene. He's the one that actually executed the shot.
Prior to this that we know of, he had never murdered anyone, so now we're seeing a side of Con-ui that is probably
going to only get worse from here, because he's crossed a lot of lines that there is no coming back from.
SAM DOUGLAS: Right as Con-ui escalated his involvement with the gang and became a made member,
the police began to zero in on the New Mexican Mafia and their criminal activities.
PAUL LOPEZ: Law enforcement had created a task force, and they were closely monitoring all activities
of the New Mexican Mafia. And in fact, they were able to develop an informant inside the gang.
Now this confidential informant set up several staged meetings where he was able to create conversations
where gang members were talking with Con-ui about drug trafficking and even talking
about the murder of Garcia. SAM DOUGLAS: Recorded conversations incriminated Con-ui being involved in Garcia's murder.
They also suggested he and other members were plotting more killings, so police had to move
quickly to prevent them. VITO MARAVIGLIA: The police set up some drug deals with the gang, where Con-ui was involved
in picking up the drugs and bringing them to another dealer. - However, he was picking them up from undercover
police officers. They followed him, and then he would deliver the narcotics, unfortunately for him, to a different set
of undercover police officers. SAM DOUGLAS: Con-ui was arrested. PAUL LOPEZ: Con-ui faced conspiracy
federal narcotics charges and was also arrested for the murder of Garcia. SAM DOUGLAS: Con-ui did not admit to murdering Garcia,
but pled guilty to the drugs charges. - Con-ui received an 11-year sentence. He was sent to federal prison.
SAM DOUGLAS: In 2008, Con-ui was four years into serving his sentence for the drugs
offenses when his trial for the murder of Carlos Garcia came around. Just before it started, he then changed his plea to guilty.
- The only way he was going to admit to the murder was they wanted to give him the death penalty then,
but they offered him 25 years to life. And he agreed to take that penalty and admitted at that time he committed the murder.
SAM DOUGLAS: This meant Con-ui could still be paroled with good behavior, but he didn't seem
to pay much attention to that. - While Con-ui was serving time in Victorville federal prison
in California, his cell was searched by an officer, who subsequently found contraband.
Con-ui followed the officer out of the cell and threatened him at that point by saying,
be careful who you're [bleep] with because you just might get hurt. After a disciplinary hearing within the prison,
he was found guilty of threatening another person. SAM DOUGLAS: Con-ui was transferred
to Pollock state penitentiary. PAUL LOPEZ: While Con-ui was serving time in Pollock in Louisiana, he actually stabbed
an inmate with a shank. However, the inmate survived that incident. SAM DOUGLAS: As a result, Con-ui was moved again.
This time, he went to the federal prison in Coleman, Florida. VITO MARAVIGLIA: I was working at Coleman federal prison
at the time. I investigated crimes in federal prisons. I also worked on identifying gang
members and any kind of problematic inmates that we might have. Con-ui, before he went to the yard,
I actually interviewed him. And his attitude during the interview was very disrespectful.
I remember thinking about him, because he's got such a history, that I felt he was dangerous
and that he would kill somebody. SAM DOUGLAS: In Florida, Con-ui had no fellow members
of the New Mexican Mafia with him, but he was still an unsettling presence in the prison.
VITO MARAVIGLIA: We had a small group of Asian inmates, and he used to hang around with them.
I don't even think the guys around him liked him. I think they were just afraid of him.
He's willing to kill you because you looked at him the wrong way, and you could see that in him.
He was feared. He was feared. He was not with us long, maybe a couple of months,
and he got into trouble. He threatened an officer at the prison where I was. LINA HAJI: Con-ui now has a sense of bravado.
He's murdered someone close to him. He's in prison. And now he thinks that the rules don't apply to him.
VITO MARAVIGLIA: I know the staff didn't like him because, you know, he was just an all around bad guy.
You know, we felt that he would carry out his threat with that officer. With his past history of assaultive behavior,
I felt like that should have been enough to transfer him to the ADX, the lockdown prison.
But the Bureau of Prisons didn't agree with me. SAM DOUGLAS: Con-ui wasn't sent to the Super maximum security
prison in Florence, Colorado. Instead, he was transferred to the high security prison Canaan penitentiary in Pennsylvania.
- Con-ui was a ticking time bomb in the prison. It just was a matter of when he would go off
and where he would be. - So we're here overlooking the United States penitentiary at Canaan.
This is just outside of the small town of Waymart, and it houses a considerable number of inmates
and employs quite a few people here in the area, both as service folks, but obviously
corrections officers as well. SAM DOUGLAS: Brian Sudul served as a lieutenant correctional
officer at Canaan. - My job was pretty much just to ensure everything during the day was completed, overseeing officers
in the housing units, ensuring their safety, safety of inmates alike. SAM DOUGLAS: Brian didn't know much
about Con-ui when he arrived at Canaan in October 2011. Today, Brian can barely bring himself to speak his name.
- I never met the inmate until he was placed in the special housing unit. He came down the chute for being
drunk when he got sanctioned. That's normal. Inmates drink all the time. You get caught with a little bit of hooch,
you go to the hole for a couple of weeks, you come back out. This was his first offense at Canaan.
He was cleared to go back to the compound. SAM DOUGLAS: Con-ui kept a much lower profile than he
had at his previous prisons. BRIAN SUDUL: This guy was a nobody. He was a loner gang member on a California Mexican Mafia yard.
He had-- he had no friends. [chuckles] They allowed him to stay there. Well, I didn't know his prior behavior in other institutions.
I didn't know about his past behavior because I never looked at it, because he never
caused me any kind of concern or grief to where I did have to go and look at his past behavior.
The problem is, is that those quiet inmates, we don't really look into them. That's what you do as a staff member.
You don't go messing with the inmates that are doing their time. We want them to just do their time.
SAM DOUGLAS: February 25, 2013, 34-year-old correctional officer, Eric Williams,
arrived for his evening shift. He had been working at Canaan for the last year and a half.
JIM HAMILL: What I know about Eric Williams is that he was dedicated to his community,
wanting to serve in this capacity as a federal corrections officer too. So he was very well liked by those he worked with, but also
by so many in the community. BRIAN SUDUL: Eric had a ton of friends. Eric and I are from the same valley.
We did a lot of the same activities. He was already prior law enforcement. He was a police officer on the street before he did this.
He was a hard worker. He was a really good officer. SAM DOUGLAS: Eric Williams had a good reputation
amongst inmates as well and was known to not have a problem with any particular prisoner.
VITO MARAVIGLIA: I think he had done some prison ministry even before coming to the Bureau of Prisons
and trying to help inmates, so he was known to be a nice guy. BRIAN SUDUL: Eric was very mild-mannered.
He wasn't quick to excite. Even when stuff was going on, he was still even. That's what you want in a correctional officer.
When he spoke to inmates, very even. - Being a correctional officer is such a horrifically stressful job.
We have to remember that these individuals are choosing to risk their lives every day, every time
they enter their workplace. That's not a normal job for everybody else. But on top of that, correction officers are verbally abused,
if not physically abused, all day, all the time. It's extremely stressful. There's very little sunlight.
There's lack of windows. It's very loud. It smells horrific. You know that you're dealing with individuals
who have done horrific things. So correction officers actually tend to have a lot of mental health issues
as a result, understandably so when you consider that they are spending the majority of their life in such
a toxic, stressful environment. SAM DOUGLAS: Eric Williams and other correctional officers
had been searching cells as part of a crackdown on inmate-made weapons. - We were having a lot of contraband issues,
and the warden wanted more searching, getting these weapons off the compound. VITO MARAVIGLIA: Shanks are a very large problem
in the prison systems basically because they're easy to hide and they're easy to make.
And they're usually filed-down pieces of metal. They're made to be sharp, sometimes even hard plastic or
Plexiglass, any hard substance that they can kind of file down to make a point. - They cut this material.
They rip metal off somewhere. They take it to a sidewalk. If you ever go on a recreation yard, I would walk around,
and you'd see the lines on the concrete from where they were sharpened on them. Looked like somebody's playing hopscotch.
It's the life we live. It's the danger. Everybody's got one. If you're not thinking everybody's got one,
you're in the wrong place. SAM DOUGLAS: While correctional officers finished up the search of cells in other blocks,
Eric Williams was by himself in C1 block where Con-ui's cell was located. VITO MARAVIGLIA: Eric Williams, at the time,
he was working alone in general population, so the inmates were free to move around.
At that time of the night, they were getting ready to lock the inmates in their cells.
And he probably was going up to the upper tier, walking up the stairs to start locking the cell doors.
JIM HAMILL: For Jessie Con-ui, this was premeditated, and he was laying in wait to strike.
- That dude was waiting for him at the top of the steps. Eric was knocked down the stairs,
and Eric flew ass over teakettle down the steps. And when Eric hit the bottom, his radio came off,
and he had no communications to me whatsoever. He had no way to call me for help, nothing.
SAM DOUGLAS: Con-ui immediately went after Eric Williams with two homemade knives.
JIM HAMILL: Eric Williams, it was such a hopeless situation for him, taken by surprise.
He was overmatched by Jessie Con-ui's physicality, attacking him, punching him, kicking him, stabbing him.
- Stabbed him hundreds of times, bashed his head off the floor like he was a piece of meat.
SAM DOUGLAS: After his continuous onslaught on Eric, Con-ui decided to take a breather.
- Jessie Con-ui stopped, left to get a drink of water and take a break, and then return to the brutalization,
horrific display of evil and violence on Mr. Williams. VITO MARAVIGLIA: For him to walk off and
get a glass of water and then come back and continue the assault like he did, it shows a total disregard for human life.
The officer was no longer a threat to him. JIM HAMILL: It was 11 minutes without any intervening
from those standing by. Those prisoners didn't help, and they could have potentially stepped in
to save Eric Williams' life. - There's a duress button in their cells, but not one of them pushed that button.
I was a unit over, not even 50 yards away from Eric being killed. SAM DOUGLAS: Eric was just left there
until another officer doing his rounds came across his colleague unconscious. He immediately radioed for help.
- [sighs] Well, we responded. That radio transmission-- I still can hear him now screaming for help.
Found Eric unresponsive in the middle of the floor, and he was beaten. His head trauma was the worst thing I've
ever seen in my entire career. And my first thing was to get him out of there. SAM DOUGLAS: Somehow, Eric Williams
still had a faint pulse. As officers rushed Eric to the medical unit, Brian saw that the prisoners were currently in their cells,
but none of them were secured. He feared a potential prison riot. BRIAN SUDUL: The doors weren't locked yet.
The unit was still open. When I got in there, I yelled, I'm going to kill one of you mother--
[bleep] You know, I played it off like it was just to scare them, but no, I really meant it.
I have 39 lives to protect. If you come out, you're going to lose yours. We went around, and we locked the doors.
I remember being at Con-ui's cell and seeing him through the door, and he kind of just
melted into the darkness as I pushed up against the door, and they locked it. I didn't see him hurt.
I didn't see him nothing. I didn't see no weapons. I didn't see no blood. I didn't see anything.
I was just concerned with getting these doors locked to take danger away. Because once the danger is away, I can calm it down.
SAM DOUGLAS: When he reached the prison's trauma room, Eric Williams was remarkably still alive,
but he succumbed to his grave injuries and died soon after. FRANK MARCELL: The sequence of events
that took place with the murder of Officer Williams, I think it has to go down as one of the more horrific,
violent killings that has probably ever been recorded in a correctional setting.
LINA HAJI: This attack was so brutal. It involved over 200 stabbings being stomped in the face.
This was sadistic. This was torturous. Absolute hell for this poor officer. I can't imagine what he went through.
That really highlights how dangerous Con-ui is. SAM DOUGLAS: Officers had no idea who committed the crime
and searched the cell block looking for inmates who showed signs of having been in a frenzied struggle.
JIM HAMILL: They discovered Jessie Con-ui with injuries to his hands, indicating that he was the aggressor,
but he also was found with a shank as well. - Inmate Con-ui, he admitted to the officer that he
had attacked Officer Williams. BRIAN SUDUL: So I got to the cell. Con-ui was standing there.
I can't believe I said his name. I looked in the cell. There was a weapon in the sink, and he had a weapon.
So I told him, throw them in the sink and submit to restraints. And he goes, no.
He goes, I heard what you said down there, that I was going to kill one of these mother--
[bleep] I said, listen, man, it's all over now. There's cameras everywhere. You didn't come out the cell to fight,
so it's professional from here on out. He goes, you give me your word? I said, yep, I give you my word.
So he submitted to restraints. SAM DOUGLAS: The officers took Con-ui away from the block
to a special holding cell. BRIAN SUDUL: He starts talking, and he says, I had to do what I had to do because I
was tired of your people's disrespect. I looked at him, and I said, hey, I suggest
you choose to remain silent. VITO MARAVIGLIA: Whenever you have an inmate that's
involved in something like murdering an officer, they will move that inmate right away
to another federal prison. The prison itself doesn't want to get caught up in anything
where there's any kind of retaliation, or the inmate can say the officers are retaliating against me.
- Jessie Con-ui was transferred from USP Canaan to the federal corrections facility in Allenwood.
Not terribly far away, but it is a maximum security prison, which in hindsight, seems like the best place where he could
have been to prevent such a heinous attack that occurred at Canaan. SAM DOUGLAS: News of the tragic events at Canaan prison
broke out. JIM HAMILL: This really did end up being wall-to-wall coverage. The community was certainly plunged into shock and
disbelief that something like this could happen in the federal prison where a member of the community had
gone in for a regular work day and wasn't able to go home to their families. The horror, especially of how heinous the attack was too.
BRIAN SUDUL: He died doing his job. We all know that this can come from this job.
You don't expect it. Then I had to look at Eric's family in the face. [sobbing] Mr. and Mrs. Williams, the sweetest people
you'll ever meet. They didn't deserve this. SAM DOUGLAS: In the time following, Con-ui would claim Eric Williams regularly
disrespected him and ordered his cell to be shaken down without reason. - He says that Eric targeted him.
OK, I sent that shakedown crew around, not Eric. That's what you call disrespect-- you're
pretty weak. You're a pretty weak man. LINA HAJI: The attack was 11 minutes long.
It was extremely brutal. The disrespect is an excuse. It's the convenient prison excuse because everyone
will understand it. It's a bravado excuse so that other inmates will know you don't disrespect Con-ui.
But also, it appears that Con-ui actually enjoyed the murder, and disrespect was his way of making it appear more acceptable.
SAM DOUGLAS: In April 2013, a month after Eric Williams' murder, Con-ui was transferred to America's highest
security prison, the federal supermax in Florence, Colorado. VITO MARAVIGLIA: Inmates like him wouldn't even
be housed with other inmates. The inmates that go there are the most violent ones,
and they don't come out of their cells unless they're restrained. And that's a big thing when it comes to violent inmates,
because if they're restrained, they can't hurt nobody. We say they earned it. SAM DOUGLAS: It wasn't until four years later
that Con-ui stood trial for the murder of Eric Williams. At the federal courthouse in Scranton, Pennsylvania,
he was facing the death penalty. JIM HAMILL: So the guilt phase of the Jessie Con-ui trial
was over in just a matter of days because there was no defense, no witnesses were put on the stand, and the jury
convicted him pretty clearly. However, the next phase took quite a while, several weeks,
in fact, for the penalty phase, where the defense attorneys tried to convince jurors that there's a reason
to spare Jessie Con-ui's life. SAM DOUGLAS: Con-ui's attorneys cited his difficult childhood,
and he made a statement expressing remorse. - Con-ui, I think this is him mimicking what an appropriate
human response would be. He wants the world to view him as somebody who wishes he could take it back,
but I don't think that's actually the case here. I think at this point he's really not
pleading for actual mercy, and he's really not actually taking responsibility for his actions.
He's pleading for his own fate. JIM HAMILL: During the penalty phase of the trial,
prosecutors said to jurors that if a picture is worth a thousand words, then that video
of that vicious attack on Eric Williams was worth a million words. It was pretty tense inside the courtroom.
There were family members, there were colleagues of Eric Williams in there, and they were all there with the hopes
that justice would be served and that Jessie Con-ui would be then sentenced to death.
SAM DOUGLAS: The jury was 11 to 1 in favor of the death penalty, but it had to be a unanimous decision.
Jessie Con-ui had escaped execution. He was sentenced to life without the possibility
of parole. BRIAN SUDUL: The Williams' family, their heart was cut out-- heart was cut out.
JIM HAMILL: Jessie Con-ui was sentenced to life in prison, which he had already been serving.
It was a lot of anger, a lot of heartbreak for the family members and the prison
colleagues of Eric Williams. They had fully expected there was enough evidence there to convince the jury.
But because he would face life in prison, it was as if nothing had happened. Nothing resulted from that loss of life.
SAM DOUGLAS: Determined his death wouldn't be in vain, Eric Williams parents fought for better safety measures
for correctional officers. In 2016, President Barack Obama signed into law the Eric Williams Correctional Officer Protection Act
that allows corrections officers to carry pepper spray. BRIAN SUDUL: A pair of cuffs and radio--
Eric had nothing to defend himself. Finally, officers have pepper spray. When you get into a fistfight with an inmate,
you have to understand you're fighting for your life. SAM DOUGLAS: Since pepper spray and more stab vests
have been introduced, injuries to correctional officers have fallen. BRIAN SUDUL: We are always going to be understaffed.
Now, in the penitentiaries, they put two officers in the units at 24/7. They did do that.
That helped. That helps because there's two guys in there now. You know, if it wasn't for the Williams' family,
we'd probably still be fighting. I just wish I could have done more. I wish I could have saved their kid.
SAM DOUGLAS: Double murderer Jessie Con-ui is still incarcerated in the Florence ADMAX prison.
FRANK MARCELL: It's the most maximum security prison in the United States. I toured that prison, and it's so secure it's unbelievable.
I think Con-ui is the only member of the New Mexican Mafia that is housed in Florence, Colorado.
I remember walking into a pod or a prison system, and you could just sense evil on different inmates.
Jessie Con-ui, he would have been one of those inmates. - I'm sure his traumatic childhood played a role in it,
but most humans with traumatic childhoods don't go on to murder two people. He had multiple opportunities throughout his life
to change the course of his path, and he chose otherwise. And the level of depravity--
Con-ui's actions were extremely evil, and that tells me that he likely too is an evil person.
VITO MARAVIGLIA: He had no regard for human life. He came across that way when you interviewed him.
He had no regard for anything or anyone. BRIAN SUDUL: Once you kill, you're a killer, that's it.
Whether it's staff or inmate, you don't belong or ever walk in the compound again.
He should never walk amongst living humans again. He should be left in his box for the rest of his life.
He is one of the most evil men I've ever met. [theme music]

Jessie Con-ui's loyalty to the New Mexican Mafia drove him to betray and murder his former mentor.

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.

Brief Summary

Jessie Con-ui's violent history culminates in the brutal murder of Officer Eric Williams, leading to significant changes in prison safety regulations.

Key points

Jessie Con-ui: A Dangerous Criminal. Jessie Con-ui, a notorious inmate, has a violent history and a disregard for life.
The Rise of the New Mexican Mafia. Con-ui affiliates with the New Mexican Mafia, a powerful gang in Arizona's prisons.
Murder Within the Gang. Con-ui is tasked with killing his mentor, Carlos Garcia, to prove his loyalty.
Con-ui's Arrest and Charges. Con-ui is arrested for conspiracy and murder after police set up undercover operations.
The Brutal Attack on Officer Williams. Eric Williams was brutally attacked by inmate Jessie Con-ui, leading to his tragic death.
Con-ui's Trial and Sentencing. Jessie Con-ui was sentenced to life in prison after a trial for the murder of Eric Williams.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

He's willing to kill you because you looked at him the wrong way.

Highlighting Con-ui's violent nature.

1:23WatchAug 3, 2025

Tension

85/ 100High tension

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