United States Department of Justice - Federal Bureau of Prisons, U.S. Government
End of Watch: Saturday, October 22, 1983
Age: 51
Tour of Duty: 19 years
Badge Number: Not available
Cause of Death: Stabbed
Date of Incident: October 22, 1983
Weapon Used: Edged weapon; Shank
Suspect Info: Sentenced to life
Correctional Officer Merle Clutts was killed when he was stabbed by an inmate with a homemade prison shank at USP Marion in Marion, Illinois, at 10:15 a.m.
The suspect, a former leader of the Aryan Brotherhood, was being escorted back to his cell after having a shower when another inmate slipped him a shank. The suspect then ran down the tier and attacked Correctional Officer Clutts, whom he had a vendetta against. By the time the officers got the suspect off Correctional Officer Clutts and got him to safety, he had been stabbed 40 times. Two other officers were also injured.
The suspect was convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison, where he died in May 2019. Prior to Officer Clutts' murder, the suspect had murdered three fellow inmates. One of the three shot and killed Officer Henry W. Jennings of the Hartford, Connecticut, Police Department on May 25, 1964.
Just eight hours later, Correctional Officer Robert Hoffmann would be murdered in the same prison in an unrelated incident.
Correctional Officer Clutts was a United States Army Korean War veteran and had served with the Federal Bureau of Prisons for 19 years. He was survived by his wife, two sons, and a daughter.