The Haunted West Virginia Penitentiary at Moundsville
Hey guys, this is the West Virginia State Pen in Moundsville, one of the most haunted locations in the United States. Why? Because it was ranked as one of the top 10 most violent correctional facilities, according to the US department of Justice. 998 inmates were killed in this facility. Over 47 inmates committed suicide unable to bear the atrocities in here. Allow me to give you a tour of the inside, the electric chair, the mysterious shadow man, the racist water coolers, 5 by 7 cells where 3 people slept in and even devil worship. Today it is a very scary place but when it was in operation, the West Virginia Pen was hell on earth.
This is the Old Sparky, the electric chair that took 9 lives some of them considered innocent by the public. An electrician would come early in the day and wire one of the 3 buttons and he is the only one who knew which one worked at the time. Now when the time came, all the three buttons were hit at the same time. If you were sitting in that chair, and an officer hits that button, 1700 volts is going to go through your body. It is going to induce heart attack and you would die. Then it is going to pause. Then it will deliver another 800 volts. Then it will pause one more time and will deliver another 1800 volts into your body. Now the first 1700, that did the job. The last 2 were to make sure that your brain is completely cooked. You can also see a phone right next to Old Sparky. If all of a sudden the governor decided to change death to life in prison that call would have been made on that phone. However, this phone never rang in this facility. }
This was not the only method of execution. Right here, was a building called the death house, the gallows where 85 men were killed by hanging. It was torn down shortly after the death penalty was abolished in 1965. But long before the death house, the wagon gate served as the gallows where people were hung in public. They did have several botched executions. In 1931, an inmate by the name of Frank Hyer was set for hanging. Frank Hyer was a large man, and they made that rope a little bit too long. So when Frank dropped, he was completely decapitated by the noose. His body fell straight to the ground, and his head bumped off and rolled right at the feet of the public. To this day, dozens of people have reported seeing a headless ghost walking around, hunched over as though searching for its head. Could this be the spirit of Frank Hyer or does it belong to R.D WALL? Who is RD Wall? He was another inmate who was decapitated by 3 other prisoners for snitching. Whoever this headless ghost is, its serving Afterlife with No Parole in this place.
This is the lockup unit where guys were locked in the cells 22 and a half hours a day. That's half an hour shower, and an hour of recreational time. The first cell belonged to a guy named Red Snyder, leader of the Aryan Brotherhood. He was stabbed 37 times in the chest in this cell and died. This Cell, Cell number 17 had a devil worshiper, he not only made these drawings but took the authorities to the court all the time. He did that to claim his right to sacrifice goats and chickens in the cell. He was denied but he was able to use human blood of the inmates. He also had a group of followers who took part in these rituals. At one point, this facility became the hub of devil worship, so much so that Charles Manson wanted to be transferred here. In his request letter, he used a pretext of moving closer to his family. It was common knowledge that this was not the real reason and he wanted to partake in satanic worship and his request was promptly denied.
One of the strangest apparitions ever captured on camera is the Shadow man. It was first captured right here by this door that says cafeteria. Paranormal experts around the world say that this is the best piece of evidence that proves the existence of ghosts. People have tried to debunk this multiple times, but the shadow man has been captured at least half a dozen times in different parts of the facility. Who is this trapped soul and why does he appear on the walls of this pen? Perhaps he is not just a trapped soul but his body may also be trapped in the walls.
You see, torture was extremely common in this facility. Inmates were bound in a device called the Kicking Jenny and were whipped with leather straps. The straps were dipped in water, then in sand. This whipping would go on until the officer ran out of strength or if the victim died. Only 50% of the torture victims survived. One inmate John G. Roberts was whipped until his skin and most of his flesh was completely peeled off from his body. He lays buried under the walls of this pen. It is quite possible that John G. Roberts is the shadow man that wants his body to be recovered and buried with proper rituals.
I am Praveen Mohan, I hope you liked this video. Thanks for watching, Please do subscribe and I'll talk to you soon.