State Correctional Institution – Huntingdon

The State Correctional Institution at Huntingdon^[1] (SCI Huntingdon) is a close-security correctional facility in Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania, in the Appalachian Mountains. SCI Huntingdon is the oldest state correctional facility in continuous operation in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

State Correctional Institution at Huntingdon

Location	Smithfield Township, Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania, US
Security class	Close security
Opened	1889
Managed by	Pennsylvania Department of Corrections
Website	pa.gov/agencies/cor/state-prisons/sci-huntingdon

History

The facility was opened in 1889^[2] and was modeled after the Elmira Reformatory in New York and was called the Huntingdon Reformatory for Young Offenders. SCI Huntingdon was used for "defective delinquents" until 1960, after that it became a maximum-security prison, housing Capital Case inmates until 1995. SCI Huntingdon is now a close-security institution.

Notable inmates

• George Feigley, sex cult leader, served part of his sentence at SCI- Huntingdon,^[3] from 1983 to 1998.^[4]
• Kermit Gosnell, abortion provider and convicted child murderer^[5]
• Joseph Kallinger, who had initially been held at the state prison at Huntingdon until he attacked another inmate with a razor-studded belt.^[6]
• William Dean Christensen, serial killer known as "America's Jack the Ripper".^[7]
• Norman Johnston Escaped from SCI-Huntingdon August 2, 1999 and was captured three weeks later. He was convicted for the 1978 murders of four teenagers to cover up a family burglary ring which were portrayed in the film "At Close Range" starring Sean Penn. ^[8]
• Cosmo Dinardo, 20-year-old serial killer that murdered four young men on his family's 90 acre Solebury Township farm in 2017^[9]
• Luigi Mangione, held at SCI-Huntingdon while awaiting his hearing for extradition to New York.^[10]

See also

• List of Pennsylvania state prisons
• State Correctional Institution - Smithfield

References

1. "SCI Huntingdon | Department of Corrections | Commonwealth of Pennsylvania". www.pa.gov. Retrieved December 13, 2024.
2. "Huntingdon". Department of Corrections.
3. Kestler, Barbara (2008). "Music From the Old Prisoner's Head". prisoners.com. Archived from the original on July 23, 2010.
4. Feigley, George. "Revenge Of The Clowns". Archived from the original on November 19, 2006. Retrieved July 13, 2023.
5. Hessler, Carl Jr (October 20, 2018). "Detective in spotlight as true crime film 'Gosnell' opens". AP NEWS.
6. "Triple Murderer Joseph Kallinger Dies in Prison". Associated Press.
7. "10 killings linked to Pa. inmate". Associated Press. February 17, 1985. Retrieved September 29, 2022.
8. "Killer Captured Nearly 3 Weeks After Prison Escape". Chicago Tribune.
9. "The Untold Tale of Cosmo DiNardo's Descent Into Murder and Madness". February 25, 2020.
10. "Inside SCI Huntingdon Prison, Where Luigi Mangione Is Being Held". December 11, 2024.

External links

• PA Department of Corrections - SCI Huntingdon

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