John Gideon Perry
John Gideon Perry was 39 when he died on March 14, 1989, while being held at the old Harrison County Correctional Center in West Virginia. The sheriff's office says other prisoners beat him and strangled him in his cell that day. In 2020 warrants were obtained against three men in connection with the death, and the defense has disputed how he was asphyxiated, saying another prisoner may have applied a sleeper hold. In 2022 one of the men, Charles Bruce Franklin, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, and Perry's family members who attended the hearing said they supported the plea agreement. According to WV News reporting, key blood evidence in the case cannot currently be located.
Cause of death, as reported: Killed by another person in custody (disputed). Sheriff's Detective Sgt. Dixon Pruitt says other inmates beat and strangled him, while the defense disputes how he was asphyxiated and says another inmate may have used a sleeper hold.
Reported by: Harrison Sheriff's Detective Sgt. Dixon Pruitt (the agency that held him); Charles Bruce Franklin's guilty plea (court); defense lawyers; prosecutors.
News reports (4)
- 3 WV prison inmates to be charged in 1989 Harrison County Jail slaying
- Defendant facing malicious assault charge in deadly 1989 Harrison County West Virginia jail attack waives probable cause hearing
- Testimony in West Virginia inmate cold case homicide: Victim brought to Harrison 'in order to put him in a position to be killed'
- 1 of West Virginia's most notorious inmates pleads guilty to 1989 jail slaying in Harrison County, West Virginia