DOC: Some Pa. death row inmates now housed at SCI-Somerset

Mar. 1—SOMERSET, Pa. — Part of Pennsylvania's death row has been relocated to SCI-Somerset, The Tribune-Democrat has learned.

Pennsylvania Department of Corrections officials confirmed that 44 state-designated "Capital Case" inmates — more than 40% of the statewide total — were transferred Jan. 17 from SCI-Phoenix because additional space was needed to separate inmates who cannot be housed together for security reasons.

The change is a "long-term" move for SCI-Somerset, said Maria Bivens, press secretary for the state DOC.

"SCI Somerset was selected because it had the adequate space for the housing needs of the Capital Case Unit inmates without a lot of physical modification," said SCI-Somerset public information officer Christie Schenck, who works under SCI-Somerset Superintendent Ken Hollibaugh.

All of the inmates are being housed in cells that are part of the same housing unit, which is in place for Capital Case inmates, Schenck said. By Department of Corrections policy, they are housed separately from general population prisoners.

'Second unit' needed

A Capital Case unit continues to operate in the eastern half of the state, at SCI-Phoenix in Montgomery County, Bivens said.

"For security reasons, we needed to separate certain CCU inmates and open up a second unit in a different facility," Bivens said.

The move reflects a shift back to the state relying on two prisons to house its male death row inmates.

SCI-Greene near Waynesburg and SCI-Phoenix both housed many of the state's Capital Case inmates for years, before they were all housed at the latter prison a few years ago, Bivens said.

State prison inmates on death row receive the same types of privileges as their general population peers receive — assuming their behavior does not move them into "disciplinary" status, DOC guidelines show.

Those in the standard "Phase 1" — or non-disciplinary — status receive a minimum of 42.5 hours per week of exercise and recreation outside their cells, as well as counseling, mental health treatment and meetings with clergy-type spiritual leaders, although those sessions are restricted to their death row inmate-only Capital Case Unit, according to the guidelines.

Capital Case inmates also have access to a mini-law library in their unit and can visit with family, friends and attorneys under supervision, regulations show.

Edmiston, Padilla

Pennsylvania has averaged approximately 100 death row inmates in the past few years, at a point when executions have been suspended by Gov. Josh Shapiro and his predecessor, former Gov. Tom Wolf.

Among the inmates now housed at SCI-Somerset are a number of well-known convicted western Pennsylvania murderers.

Among them is Stephen Edmiston, 65, the only living Cambria County homicide convict still on death row.

Edmiston was convicted of raping and murdering a 2-year-old child who was taken from her Clearfield County home in 1989. The child's body was found in Reade Township two days after the murder, prosecutors said at the time.

Former Gallitzin resident Miguel Padilla is also serving two death sentences at SCI-Somerset. Padilla was convicted of killing three people in 2005 after being denied entry into an after-hours club in Altoona.

The list also includes former Allegheny County resident Richard Baumhammers, the state's execution list shows.

Baumhammers, 58, is serving five life sentences for a 90-minute killing spree that targeted ethnic and racial minorities in 2000 across the Pittsburgh area. Five people were killed and a woman was left paralyzed before he was captured in Ambridge.

'Small population'

SCI-Somerset opened in 1993 with 10 housing units, which sit on 240 acres of Somerset Township land.

The prison has 585 full-time employees, according to the DOC website. As of last month, the 2,045-inmate-capacity prison housed 1,782 inmates, the DOC's system-wide population report shows.

Bivens said that the move to add death row inmates to SCI-Somerset did not require the prison to add more employees inside the unit.

"While the term Capital Case or death row is startling, it is important to remember that these inmates are really not different from our general population inmates," Schenck said, noting that the unit houses a "very small population" within the prison.

"SCI Somerset as well as the DOC in general is always committed to maintaining high standards of safety/security for its staff, the communities these institutions are housed in, as well the inmates that are housed within the same," she said.

The change comes as officials at both state prisons in Somerset Township, SCI-Somerset and SCI-Laurel Highlands, are seeking to fill vacant jobs, including nurse aides and corrections officer trainees.

With staffing issues a lingering concern and overtime costs well over budget in 2023, prison officials were able to get state guidelines changed to amend age and residency requirements that were viewed as barriers to recruiting workers. A job fair is scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday at SCI-Somerset.

State Rep. Carl Walker Metzgar, R-Somerset, expressed concern when informed Friday about the recent inmate transfers.

While SCI-Somerset's population has included convicted murderers for years, the medium-security lock-up has never served as a housing unit for Pennsylvania's death row — and Metzgar questioned whether it was designed with that intent.

"My No. 1 priority is the safety of the (corrections officers) and other staff," Metzgar said, adding that inmates on death row "have nothing to lose. My concern would be that this (decision) increases that danger level."

"I have questions about this," he said, "and I'll certainly be reaching out to the Department of Corrections to get some answers."