Lucasville: 11 Days That Broke a Prison — The Inside Story

About this episode

The episode explores the 11-day Lucasville uprising of April 1993, detailing the events leading to the riot and its aftermath.

Host Christy takes listeners deep inside the 11-day Lucasville uprising of April 1993, where a dispute over mandatory tuberculosis testing ignited a larger explosion of tension inside Ohio’s Southern Ohio Correctional Facility. This episode walks through the buildup — overcrowding, staffing shortages, a new hardline warden, entrenched racial gangs, and grievances about brutality and medical care — that set the stage for one of the most violent prison riots in recent U.S. history. You’ll hear a blow-by-blow account of how L Block was taken, how inmate leadership formed, and how hostages were seized. The episode examines the gruesome Mud Pit killings, the role of inmate negotiators and spokesmen (including George Skates), and firsthand perspectives from survivors such as hostage Mike Hensley. Key moments covered include the dramatic signs and deadlines hung in windows, fires and smoke that masked movement, and the agonizing choice facing state negotiators: storm the block or risk more lives by waiting. The investigation and prosecution phase is explored in detail: FBI tunnel recordings (the so-called tunnel tapes), the large-scale interviews and plea deals that produced much of the…

People in this episode

Host: Christy

Topics covered

• prison riots
• Lucasville uprising
• inmate negotiations
• prison conditions
• criminal justice
• true crime

Keywords

• Lucasville
• prison riot
• Ohio
• inmate leadership
• FBI
• tuberculosis testing
• hostage situation
• Mud Pit killings
• negotiators
• criminal trials

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: FBI

Places: Ohio, Southern Ohio Correctional Facility

More episodes of Death Lies & Alibis

• Are We Live? The Voice Inside Lucasville · April 19, 2026 · 6 min
• Tunnel Tapes: Voices That Sent Men to Death Row · April 18, 2026 · 4 min
• 3:03 PM — When Lucasville Lost Control: Hostages, Survival, and a Fallen Officer · April 17, 2026 · 8 min
• Lucasville Riot: The Day Control Vanished — April 11, 1993 · April 16, 2026 · 2 min
• Missing at Closing Time: The Arthur Smith Case · March 22, 2026 · 25 min
• Wings Of Truth: The Abby Butcher Case · February 15, 2026 · 32 min