Fatal Jealousy: The True Story of a Doomed Romance, a Singular Obsession, and a Quadruple Murder by McEvoy Colin & Olanoff Lynn

Author:McEvoy, Colin & Olanoff, Lynn [McEvoy, Colin]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Published: 2014-01-28T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 14

Having spent more than fifteen years behind bars, Ballard didn’t find life at Northampton County Prison all that different from what he was accustomed to. But to the prison staff, Ballard was an abnormality. The 819-bed facility had certainly hosted its fair share of accused murderers before—even mass murderers—but Ballard’s history of five vicious attacks frightened county prison officials.

Upon Ballard’s entry into the jail, Warden Todd Buskirk issued a memorandum outlining the jail’s special policy for dealing with the five-time murderer. Ballard was to be escorted by four guards—one a supervisor—every time he left his cell. A five-guard detail would be necessary when he took showers.

His cell would be searched during each of the day’s three shifts. All guards would now carry Tasers for their own protection, something they had never done before.

Ballard didn’t see what the big fuss was about. Other accused murderers were allowed to roam the halls without guard escorts. One fellow inmate who had shot two people had even climbed a razor-wire-topped fence in an attempt to break out of the prison while Ballard was there. So why should Ballard be viewed as the prison’s biggest threat?

“They were just fucking terrified of me,” he later said. “Like I’m fucking public enemy number one.”

Everything Ballard drew was confiscated, including a picture of a female prison employee, who was later questioned about why Ballard would be drawing pictures of her. In a separate incident, while trying to choose a book from the jail’s book cart, someone recommended to him The Devil in the White City, the true story of serial killer H. H. Holmes, who lured victims to their deaths around the time of the 1893 World’s Fair. The mere fact that Ballard possessed the book later drew red flags among the prison staff.

Authorities seemed to take a particular interest in Ballard’s reading material. The state police seized two other books that he had left behind at the Allentown Community Corrections Center on June 26: Angel of Darkness, a true crime book about one of the world’s most prolific serial killers, Randy Kraft, who was suspected of murdering 67 people, and The 48 Laws of Power, a Machiavellian how-to book on obtaining power. The laws include “never put too much trust in friends” and “crush your enemy totally.” Both would later be among the items submitted as evidence for his trial.

Ironically, Ballard was able to use the prison’s fear of him to obtain additional benefits from the staff. As incentive for staying in line, Ballard was allowed two visits a week instead of the usual one. He also eventually persuaded prison officials to forgo one of his three daily cell searches—the one during the 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. shift—so he could get a full night’s sleep.

But despite the Tasers and additional restrictions, Northampton County Prison officials continued to feel uneasy housing Ballard. County officials requested that he instead be housed in one of the state prisons. In mid-July, he was transferred to State Correctional Institution–Frackville, a

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