00:00:05
SAM DOUGLAS: In the United
States of America,
00:00:08
some of the world's
most infamous criminals
00:00:11
are behind bars.
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Held in a Nevada prison was
killer and one-man crime
00:00:17
wave Anthony Williams.
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- He was extremely dangerous.
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LINA HAJI: He had
no problem being
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violent, murdering,
attacking, assaulting
00:00:31
people his entire life.
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SAM DOUGLAS: Williams
was a high-ranking member
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of the notorious
white supremacist
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gang the Aryan Warriors.
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HECTOR BRAVO: One
of the most feared prison
00:00:43
gangs in the Nevada
correctional system.
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They have no issue
executing extreme violence
00:00:49
on other inmates.
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MICHAEL DICKERSON: Anthony
Williams killed somebody
00:00:52
when he was in prison,
grabbing the body
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and pulling it out of the cell
into the middle of the tier,
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and they can all
see what's happened.
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- During the attack, Thurgood
suffered 52 stab wounds.
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This is what happens.
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They're making
an example of him.
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It was barbaric.
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They then celebrate his death.
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These are sick human beings.
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SAM DOUGLAS: Covering
himself with more tattoos
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as he racked up offenses,
Williams' appearance
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was meant to terrify.
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LINA HAJI: There's
no going back.
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He's in this 110%.
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He wants to be feared.
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PAUL LOPEZ: He shows no
mercy to any of his victims,
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and he never has.
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He has a black soul
and a dark heart.
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[theme music]
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SAM DOUGLAS: Located 40
miles northwest of Las Vegas
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is High Desert State Prison.
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Nevada's largest
correctional institution
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can hold around 4,000 inmates.
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GARY MODAFFERI: High
Desert is very imposing.
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It's daunting.
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Barbed wire, there are
guards with guns, gun towers.
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It's meant to send
a message, if you're here,
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you're staying here.
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RICK CHILDRESS: I have
spent time in High Desert.
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It's a big, big prison,
and it's very intimidating when
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you roll through those gates.
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- Full of inmates who a lot
of them are extremely violent.
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The guards are
outnumbered dramatically.
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- They shot at us a lot,
the COs did, with live rounds.
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PAUL LOPEZ: There's been a long
list of violence coming out
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of that prison that's
been documented,
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including inmate murders
and officer-involved shootings.
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- It's a tough place,
no doubt about it.
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SAM DOUGLAS: One
of the toughest in there
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was inmate Anthony Williams.
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- As a society, we
can't have an individual
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like Anthony Williams walking
the streets because it puts
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the entire public in danger.
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HECTOR BRAVO:
Williams would have
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been viewed in prison as a
dominant figure and somebody
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not to be messed with.
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PAUL LOPEZ: His
entire life, he's
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committed a variety
of different types of crimes,
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and it's not going to change
just because he's in prison.
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Animals like
Williams aren't going
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to stop committing crimes
or hunting just because you
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put a cage around them.
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SAM DOUGLAS: Anthony Williams
was born in Las Vegas in 1982.
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Not much is known
about his childhood,
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but what is known is that
it wasn't a good one.
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MICHAEL DICKERSON: What
he said is his childhood,
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quote, "sucked."
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That he was in and out
of foster care.
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His mom was a drug addict.
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GARY MODAFFERI: His
father lived in the south,
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had separated from his
mother at an early age.
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He had half brothers in the
south, but for some reason,
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they weren't connecting.
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So he never had that
family love that we
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would all want and expect.
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LINA HAJI: A child
who has no guidance
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and is lacking in role
models and parental figures
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is really learning
early on that he or she
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has to fend for themselves.
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It kind of sets them
up to view the world
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as a very scary place.
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And to develop without
anybody protecting you,
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it can result in anger,
but the child might
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not know that they are angry.
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They might think that
this is normal for them.
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They don't know any other way.
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GARY MODAFFERI: Anthony,
he ran wild as a child.
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From the time he was 12, he
was drinking and drugging,
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and it got worse
in his late teens
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when he started using meth.
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SAM DOUGLAS: To pay
for it, Williams
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would turn to petty crime.
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- He was in and out of juvenile
detention and things like that,
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so he was being bred
for it very young.
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That's it, in a nutshell,
when it comes to most of us.
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We don't have
our parents around--
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the streets are
our family, and we start
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all doing drugs and crime.
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And from a young age, we're
going and we're being put away.
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Just pain that somebody
would feel when they get
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put in jail, it's nonexistent
to us because that pain,
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who are we even mourning
not being around?
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It doesn't matter because we
don't have anything out
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there anyway.
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SAM DOUGLAS: Anthony
Williams' criminal offenses
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continued to spiral.
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RICK CHILDRESS: He started
off with burglaries,
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like most of us.
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You're stealing basically to
eat, to survive, to have money,
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and there's a lot of us
that had to do that since we
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were 15 years old.
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And it can stunt your growth
in life, for sure.
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SAM DOUGLAS: When
he was 19, Williams
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was convicted
in 2001 of burglary,
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landing him his first
spell in an adult prison.
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Over the next
decade of his life,
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he would bounce in and out
of the penitentiary.
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PAUL LOPEZ: Williams had
an extensive criminal history.
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He's what we refer
to as a habitual criminal.
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His crimes started
out relatively minor,
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but they escalated
over the years.
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MICHAEL DICKERSON: In 2006,
he's convicted of a conspiracy
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to commit larceny
from a person.
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Then he's arrested again in
2010 for battery and burglary,
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and he's convicted of battery.
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It was also reported
that throughout his life,
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he didn't really have a job.
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He was only employed
for six months back
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in 2006 for a construction
company,
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and that's the only time
he had full-time work.
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He had, as he
reported, a daughter
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that lived with her
mother, and that's
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basically his background.
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PAUL LOPEZ: You can't
control where you come from,
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but you can control
decisions about where
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you're headed in life.
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And Williams has made
a series of bad decisions.
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SAM DOUGLAS: By 2013, Williams
made another criminal decision,
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trying his hand at a different
kind of offense, forgery.
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GARY MODAFFERI: The stealing
of personal identification
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information, usually
credit cards or other types
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of identification.
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He and his confederates
were establishing
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what are called forgery
labs, which are essentially
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high-tech methods by which
you could reproduce
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identification and perpetuate
forgery-type crimes,
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including credit card
fraud, bank account fraud,
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things like that.
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LINA HAJI: When you assess
people for psychopathy,
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one of the traits
of a psychopath
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is what we refer
to as criminal versatility.
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This isn't just a petty
criminal anymore.
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Williams is now holding
positions of power.
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The forgery
laboratory seemingly
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was not only his idea,
he was in charge of it.
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This is interesting
because this
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is an individual who probably
grew up feeling very lonely.
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His mother was
addicted to drugs.
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His father was largely absent.
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He bounced around from
foster home to foster home.
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But now he's
starting to realize
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that he can
interact with people
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in a way that can benefit him.
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This is how he's
going to earn money.
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This is how he's
going to earn respect,
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and this is how he's going to
advance in the criminal world.
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SAM DOUGLAS:
On the criminal scene,
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Williams had acquired
the nickname Mugsy,
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and in 2015, the law caught
up with him again when
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he was convicted
of multiple forgery
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charges and possession of a
firearm by a prohibited person.
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Sentenced to serve
between 24 and 60 months,
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he was sent to Nevada's
notorious High
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Desert State Prison.
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- It's mostly a level 5,
the highest level of security,
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but they do have some medium
and minimum housing units.
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It's known as one of the two
most violent prisons in Nevada.
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- It is a very, very
dangerous place.
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SAM DOUGLAS: Rick
Childress spent six
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and a half years in prison.
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RICK CHILDRESS: My criminal
history is a lot of auto theft.
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I started very
young stealing cars.
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I started getting busted at 18,
19 years old stealing cars.
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I turned 20 in prison.
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I turned 30 in prison.
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SAM DOUGLAS: Rick
was at High Desert
00:10:35
when Anthony Williams
arrived there.
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RICK CHILDRESS: I
didn't trust him.
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I didn't trust Mugsy
right off the bat at all
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when I first met him.
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The way he slinks
around and looks and--
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like, his movement
threw me off.
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But getting to know
Mugsy, he's actually
00:10:52
a very decent person to know.
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SAM DOUGLAS:
Anthony Williams and
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Rick had something in common.
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They were both members
of the Aryan Warriors.
00:11:04
PAUL LOPEZ: The Aryan Warriors
are a white supremacist prison
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gang that operate throughout
the Nevada penal institutions.
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HECTOR BRAVO:
The Aryan Warriors
00:11:15
have a reputation for being
one of the most violent
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and feared prison gangs in the
Nevada correctional system.
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Reason being is
they have no issue
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executing extreme
violence on other inmates.
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RICK CHILDRESS: I'm a member
of the Aryan Warriors.
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I'm still in good standing.
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I'm not active in any crime
side of anything like that.
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I just-- I still have
people that I consider
00:11:44
my brothers that are in prison
that I care deeply about,
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and I care what
happens to them.
00:11:50
We are more into the Viking
and the Odin religion
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than we are behind the
swastikas and things like that.
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I have friends of all races.
00:12:08
In prison, segregation is
for avoidance of issues.
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They try to call us
a white supremacist group,
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but we're far from that.
00:12:19
It's just what the news
media has called us.
00:12:23
And having the word "Aryan"
in our name doesn't help.
00:12:26
SAM DOUGLAS: But others
have a different opinion.
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PAUL LOPEZ:
The beliefs of the gang
00:12:30
are rooted in white supremacy.
00:12:34
However, the fundamental
reason for their existence,
00:12:37
make no mistake, is power
and control and profit--
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running the criminal
enterprise within the prison.
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MICHAEL DICKERSON:
The way that it
00:12:49
would work for Anthony
Williams and
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for the majority of members
of the Aryan Warriors
00:12:55
is that they would
come into prison,
00:12:57
and then they would
be asked to tip up
00:13:01
into the gang, which
means, hey, do you want
00:13:04
to join the Aryan Warriors?
00:13:07
A white inmate who's identified
by the Aryan Warriors to tip
00:13:10
up is somebody who
they've already vetted.
00:13:14
RICK CHILDRESS: There's
paperwork that you come with
00:13:16
or that you can get
from your lawyer.
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It shows all the crimes
that you've been
00:13:21
charged with and convicted on.
00:13:23
It shows the circumstances
of your case,
00:13:26
and we'd like to look at that.
00:13:29
Nobody wants to be around
somebody who has hurt a child
00:13:32
or they have beat
their spouse so badly
00:13:35
that it sent them to prison.
00:13:37
Hurting a pet or arson can
even be a red flag for us.
00:13:41
We don't want you around us
if you're a firebug, you know.
00:13:45
I don't want to sleep
around somebody who
00:13:46
sets fires, things like that.
00:13:49
So we all want to know
what you're there for.
00:13:52
SAM DOUGLAS: Anthony
Williams had already
00:13:55
been accepted
into the Aryan Warriors
00:13:57
during his previous
stints in prison.
00:14:01
MICHAEL DICKERSON: The
individual that is asked to tip
00:14:04
up, who isn't just going to be
any run-of-the-mill inmate,
00:14:07
they'd be expected
to do acts of violence
00:14:10
or anything that's ordered.
00:14:11
They may be asked
to run a tier,
00:14:14
in charge of running the drug
trade that they're doing there,
00:14:17
any gambling operations that
they have going on on the tier,
00:14:21
and taking that
money and making sure
00:14:23
that it gets where
it needs to go
00:14:25
and that the higher-ups
are getting it.
00:14:28
LINA HAJI: We
think of gangs, and
00:14:30
we think, OK, maybe
these are just
00:14:32
kind of violent, angry thugs.
00:14:34
But that's not what
these gangs are.
00:14:36
These are crime syndicates
bringing in a ton of money,
00:14:40
and they are typically
extremely well organized.
00:14:44
SAM DOUGLAS:
Anthony Williams was
00:14:46
steadily climbing the hierarchy
of the Aryan Warriors.
00:14:54
RICK CHILDRESS: He hadn't
committed any major acts
00:14:57
yet besides, you know,
just normal assaults,
00:14:59
things like that.
00:15:01
But I do know that he
had that unit, though,
00:15:03
so he was in control of all
the white population inside
00:15:07
of that building, basically.
00:15:11
He was coming up.
00:15:12
He was a big up and comer.
00:15:15
SAM DOUGLAS: In his
block, Williams
00:15:17
was cellmates with a man
named Tarik Goicoechea,
00:15:20
also known as Torque.
00:15:23
- Tarik Goicoechea
was somebody who
00:15:26
was really just kind of coming
in to the Aryan Warriors
00:15:30
at that time.
00:15:31
- He's Armenian,
but he's screaming, "Nine
00:15:34
generations of Aryan blood."
00:15:37
He had no fear.
00:15:38
He wasn't a fearful man.
00:15:41
Put those two men
together in the same cell
00:15:43
for that long, Torque and
Mugsy, you're asking for it.
00:15:47
When something like Andrew
Thurgood comes along--
00:15:54
PAUL LOPEZ: Andrew Thurgood was
a 26-year-old Las Vegas native.
00:16:00
His father described
him as being
00:16:02
both charming and artistic.
00:16:08
At High Desert in 2016, he was
serving a three-year sentence
00:16:12
for a crime for attempted
possession of a stolen
00:16:16
vehicle in Clark County.
00:16:20
- It was three
years, but Nevada
00:16:23
is like a 12 to 36 months.
00:16:25
So they call it
a three-year sentence,
00:16:27
but really, you're
out in a year.
00:16:30
He was doing very,
very small time,
00:16:32
and he went in with
a chip on his shoulder.
00:16:35
He was a young man.
00:16:37
He probably thought he needed
to be a little tougher.
00:16:41
You know, somebody
wants to fight you,
00:16:42
you got to fight them.
00:16:48
LINA HAJI: Thurgood
and Williams
00:16:50
seemingly crossed paths.
00:16:52
It's not exactly
clear what happened,
00:16:54
but there was a conflict
that erupted between the two.
00:16:59
HECTOR BRAVO: Andrew Thurgood
was an inmate who stood up
00:17:02
for another older inmate,
and that's what got
00:17:04
him involved in the conflict.
00:17:06
People absolutely have
to consider what they
00:17:08
get involved with in prison.
00:17:10
It's a jungle in there.
00:17:11
It's a alpha male dominated
environment of predators.
00:17:16
It's not necessarily
common for inmates
00:17:19
to stick up for other
inmates due to
00:17:21
they know the repercussions,
such as they can get killed.
00:17:28
SAM DOUGLAS: There may have
been another reason Thurgood
00:17:31
gained Williams' attention.
00:17:33
MICHAEL DICKERSON:
Andrew Thurgood,
00:17:35
from what we gathered
through our investigation,
00:17:37
he had been associating with
another white prison gang known
00:17:42
as the Outlaw Nazi
Skinheads, or ONS,
00:17:46
and that's a prison
gang that is
00:17:49
a rival of the Aryan Warriors.
00:17:51
PAUL LOPEZ: The Outlaw Nazi
Skinheads are a prison gang
00:17:54
primarily operating in Nevada.
00:17:56
They're a white
supremacist gang,
00:17:58
and that's their ideology.
00:18:00
- Most of the juvenile
offenders in Nevada,
00:18:04
if they're white, they're going
to become Aryan Warriors or
00:18:07
ONS, one or the other.
00:18:10
Andrew Thurgood, he
might have been ONS.
00:18:13
It's hard to put
your thumb down on that,
00:18:15
and I never really asked.
00:18:18
SAM DOUGLAS: On the morning
of February 1,
00:18:21
2016, 26-year-old
Andrew Thurgood called
00:18:24
his fiancée from prison.
00:18:26
He told her he was
concerned for his safety.
00:18:30
- He said that he
felt he was going
00:18:33
to be attacked on that day.
00:18:35
He referred to him as the dubs.
00:18:36
W meaning the Aryan Warriors.
00:18:39
MICHAEL DICKERSON:
Something might
00:18:40
happen because the Aryan
Warriors are
00:18:43
after him because of his
association
00:18:46
with the Outlaw
Nazi Skinheads and
00:18:49
his behavior of disrespecting
the Aryan Warriors.
00:18:54
PAUL LOPEZ: His fiancée, she
asked him not to get involved.
00:18:58
And he said he wasn't
going to start a fight,
00:19:00
but he would walk
into a cell with somebody
00:19:03
and defend himself
if he had to.
00:19:05
LINA HAJI: When you're
in danger in prison
00:19:09
and there's a gang hit on you,
it's absolutely terrifying.
00:19:17
I've seen inmates
go to great lengths
00:19:20
to avoid being in the same
space as these gang members.
00:19:25
I've seen inmates cut
themselves severely to get out
00:19:29
and go to outside hospitals.
00:19:31
I've seen inmates commit
other crimes in order
00:19:34
to go to the hole, because
they'd rather be in confinement
00:19:38
and segregation
where they are safe
00:19:40
than be in general population.
00:19:42
Because conflict
in prison with a gang
00:19:45
means either a very
serious physical assault,
00:19:48
or it means death.
00:19:51
SAM DOUGLAS: Yet, just hours
after talking to his fiancee,
00:19:55
Thurgood decided to meet
with Williams and Goicoechea
00:19:59
in their unit.
00:20:03
- They have Andrew
Thurgood come
00:20:05
over from another
wing, the D wing,
00:20:08
and somehow he gets in there.
00:20:10
The other inmates had described
him as maybe a little reckless.
00:20:15
Maybe he put himself
in a situation
00:20:17
that wasn't safe at all.
00:20:20
SAM DOUGLAS: Prison CCTV
showed Andrew Thurgood
00:20:24
walking into cell B11 along
with Williams and Goicoechea.
00:20:32
MICHAEL DICKERSON: There is
some conflicting information
00:20:35
of how they got him over there.
00:20:37
It could have been that they
said, we're going to fight.
00:20:41
But what we know happened is
that those three men walk in.
00:20:46
RICK CHILDRESS: Thurgood,
he was the aggressor also.
00:20:51
Maybe he had had enough of it.
00:20:52
Maybe they were giving
him too much of a problem
00:20:56
or too hard of a time.
00:20:59
You make a very bad decision to
go into the cell of two known
00:21:05
bangers for a gang, you know.
00:21:07
LINA HAJI: Now,
for somebody who's
00:21:09
not in a correctional
setting, it's
00:21:12
a little easy to say, well, why
did he go ahead and face them.
00:21:15
But what Thurgood understood
is that to not stand up
00:21:19
for yourself and to show fear
in prison, you're just as much
00:21:23
of a dead man as if you
confront your attackers.
00:21:27
So he might as well have
taken the opportunity
00:21:30
and taken the chance
of potentially
00:21:32
surviving an attack
because they were
00:21:35
going to get him either way.
00:21:39
SAM DOUGLAS: After the three
men walked into the cell, what
00:21:43
exactly happened
is uncertain, but
00:21:45
there is no doubt about what
happened six minutes later.
00:21:51
PAUL LOPEZ: You then
see Williams on video
00:21:54
dragging Thurgood's lifeless
body out of the cell
00:21:59
and puts him basically
in the middle of the day room
00:22:04
on display.
00:22:05
Now that not being
good enough, I
00:22:07
guess, Tarik then exits the
cell, takes over for Williams,
00:22:12
and drags him further
into the day room
00:22:16
area so he is clearly
more on display,
00:22:20
not just to the inmates,
but to staff as well.
00:22:24
SAM DOUGLAS: As correctional
officers arrived,
00:22:27
Williams and Goicoechea
shook hands and embraced.
00:22:32
GARY MODAFFERI:
They immediately
00:22:34
submitted to the authority
of the prison guards.
00:22:37
There was no fight.
00:22:38
There was no acting out
after that occurred.
00:22:42
It was like, this
is done, period.
00:22:47
SAM DOUGLAS: The men
were cuffed and shackled.
00:22:50
Williams, in his
identification photo,
00:22:52
looked pleased with himself.
00:22:55
Andrew Thurgood
had clearly been
00:22:57
beaten and stabbed many
times, but he started moving.
00:23:02
RICK CHILDRESS: Andrew
Thurgood's still alive,
00:23:05
but he's been stabbed
somewhere over 50 times all
00:23:09
over his body.
00:23:10
He is clearly in immense pain.
00:23:16
PAUL LOPEZ: Several officers
were around Thurgood,
00:23:18
but nobody is providing any
sort of life-saving measures.
00:23:24
He's just laying there.
00:23:26
MICHAEL DICKERSON:
Writhing in pain.
00:23:29
It is so apparent that this
is incredibly devastating
00:23:35
to his entire
nervous system, and
00:23:37
what he's feeling is
pain all over his body,
00:23:39
because that's where he
was stabbed, all over.
00:23:42
Meanwhile, Anthony Williams
and Tarik Goicoechea,
00:23:45
they don't have any
injuries on them.
00:23:48
They have some spots
of blood on their shoes and
00:23:53
their clothing,
and that's that.
00:23:56
PAUL LOPEZ: After 12 minutes,
correctional officers
00:23:59
are seen on closed
circuit television,
00:24:01
picking up Thurgood
to his feet and assisting
00:24:04
him to the infirmary.
00:24:06
Thurgood complained that
he couldn't breathe.
00:24:09
At that point,
medical staff provided
00:24:11
advanced life-saving
techniques.
00:24:13
However, Thurgood lost his
battle and unfortunately died.
00:24:19
SAM DOUGLAS: The weapon
used to kill Andrew Thurgood
00:24:22
was never recovered.
00:24:25
- Investigators at the prison
speculated that it was likely
00:24:29
flushed down the toilet.
00:24:35
SAM DOUGLAS: The autopsy showed
Andrew Thurgood was beaten and
00:24:39
stabbed 52 times in total
while he was in the cell
00:24:43
with Williams and Goicoechea.
00:24:45
- The kid bled out, and it's
terrible and it's sad.
00:24:49
And I'm sure, you
know, he has a mother,
00:24:52
and that's a very
sad thing for her.
00:24:56
I don't know exactly
the beef between them,
00:24:59
but there's very few
things in my mind
00:25:01
I could think that that kid
could have done that didn't
00:25:04
just warrant getting
hell kicked out of him
00:25:06
instead of killing him.
00:25:10
Torque and Mugsy, they were
putting on an exhibition
00:25:12
when they drag Andrew
Thurgood out of that cell.
00:25:15
It was to show the rest
of the population,
00:25:20
this is what happens.
00:25:21
They were making
an example of him.
00:25:24
When you look
at it, it was nasty.
00:25:28
PAUL LOPEZ: To drag him out
in the middle of the day room
00:25:30
and then celebrate, these
are sick human beings,
00:25:35
if you even want
to call them that.
00:25:38
Andrew Thurgood, his father
said he wasn't a saint,
00:25:42
but he didn't need
to die that way.
00:25:43
I would agree with
Thurgood's father.
00:25:46
Thurgood was in jail
for stealing a car,
00:25:49
and he met his fate at the end
of a knife at 52 stab wounds.
00:25:54
So whatever he did, he
did not deserve that.
00:25:58
- When you come
into prison, they
00:26:01
put you in what we
call the fish tank,
00:26:03
but it's a classification unit.
00:26:05
They figure out who you are.
00:26:08
Then after you leave the fish
tank, you go to the max unit
00:26:12
while they kind
of see how you hold
00:26:14
yourself in the population.
00:26:16
Now, the max unit
is a terrible place
00:26:19
for this because right
off the bat,
00:26:22
you're being thrown
to the wolves.
00:26:24
There's better places to put
these young offenders that
00:26:27
are doing a year if they got
any notion that they're tougher
00:26:32
than they actually are.
00:26:34
Like Andrew Thurgood, it can
cost you your life very easily.
00:26:37
LINA HAJI: Williams
went above and beyond
00:26:40
to murder him in an extremely
violent manner
00:26:43
and then brought his
body out for all to see,
00:26:46
and knowing that it was
captured on video camera.
00:26:50
So what this tells me is
that Williams didn't care.
00:26:54
Williams is extremely
dangerous because thus far,
00:26:58
as we look at his life, there's
nothing that deters him.
00:27:02
There's no kind of attempts
at rehabilitation.
00:27:05
There's no indications
of empathy or remorse.
00:27:08
There's no indication that
additional prison time
00:27:12
or being in the box or being
separated from his gang
00:27:15
members, nothing, no
consequence that he's
00:27:19
experienced thus
far has stopped
00:27:21
him from continuing to escalate
in all of his violent crimes.
00:27:28
SAM DOUGLAS:
In a surprise to many,
00:27:30
in the years immediately
following Thurgood's death,
00:27:33
Williams and Goicoechea faced
no charges for his killing.
00:27:39
MICHAEL DICKERSON:
The way it works
00:27:41
in Nevada is that their
investigations into prison
00:27:44
crimes go and are submitted
for prosecution to the attorney
00:27:48
general's office.
00:27:50
The attorney general is
a separate prosecuting agency
00:27:53
from the Clark County
District Attorney's office.
00:27:57
This is something that
was out of my hands.
00:28:00
SAM DOUGLAS: Emails later
obtained by news media
00:28:03
showed that a top prosecutor at
the attorney general's office
00:28:07
was reluctant to bring
charges against the pair,
00:28:10
arguing that it
was just as likely
00:28:12
that Thurgood was the aggressor
in coming to their cell.
00:28:17
RICK CHILDRESS: I
think Mugsy and Torque
00:28:19
weren't prosecuted
right away because you
00:28:22
can claim self-defense.
00:28:23
He came into my home,
invaded my house,
00:28:27
and I stood my ground.
00:28:29
Neither one was talking.
00:28:32
Mugsy, he wasn't going
to talk about it to anybody.
00:28:34
That's obvious.
00:28:36
That's sort of a good way
to get a life sentence.
00:28:38
I think he probably
felt like he might
00:28:40
have gotten away with it.
00:28:43
SAM DOUGLAS: To add insult to
injury, with no charges brought
00:28:46
against Williams
for the attack on Thurgood,
00:28:49
he was released from
prison in May 2018.
00:28:53
PAUL LOPEZ: Clearly, the family
was upset after the murder
00:28:56
of Mr. Thurgood.
00:28:58
They filed a lawsuit against
the department of corrections,
00:29:03
stating that they did
not provide medical care
00:29:05
in a quick and efficient
manner because Mr. Thurgood was
00:29:09
allowed to lay
on the floor bleeding
00:29:10
with 52 stab wounds
for 12 minutes.
00:29:14
SAM DOUGLAS:
The lawsuit would later
00:29:17
be settled for an undisclosed
amount in April 2020.
00:29:21
But back in 2018, Anthony
Williams, aged 36,
00:29:26
was a free man once more.
00:29:31
LINA HAJI: Now he's
thinking I'm invincible.
00:29:34
I'm untouchable.
00:29:35
Not only do consequences
not matter to me,
00:29:39
they don't even apply to me.
00:29:42
- When he's released,
well, turns out he doesn't
00:29:46
turn into a model citizen.
00:29:47
He's out there committing
a series of robberies.
00:29:52
- I think he started in, like,
Boulder City or something
00:29:55
and just went clear
across the valley,
00:29:57
robbing every place that
he could at gunpoint.
00:30:02
PAUL LOPEZ: On July 15, 2018,
he robbed an elderly female
00:30:06
of her purse and its contents.
00:30:09
He was acting as the getaway
driver in this incident,
00:30:12
and they ended up, Williams
and his co-conspirator,
00:30:15
using this credit card of
the victims at a gas station.
00:30:19
Five days later,
on July 20, 2018,
00:30:22
Williams was involved
in another robbery, this time
00:30:25
using a firearm, where
he robbed a business
00:30:27
employee of money
and a customer
00:30:30
of that business
of their car keys,
00:30:32
their car, and his wallet.
00:30:34
- He was extremely dangerous.
00:30:41
SAM DOUGLAS:
Williams' crime spree
00:30:43
was brought to an end
just days later
00:30:45
when he was
apprehended by police.
00:30:49
Now fully covered in tattoos,
his appearance had
00:30:52
become even more intimidating.
00:30:55
MICHAEL DICKERSON:
This is an individual
00:30:56
who has, on the back
of his head,
00:31:00
tattooed a picture of a police
officer being shot in the head.
00:31:05
He has "[bleep]
cops" tattooed on his
00:31:07
knuckles and on his forehead.
00:31:09
- This is who Williams is.
00:31:11
He has shown a lifetime
of disrespect
00:31:14
for authority, disrespect for
rules, disrespect for the law.
00:31:18
Tattooing his entire face
with gang symbols and
00:31:23
Aryan Warrior
symbols, it's showing
00:31:25
that there's no going back.
00:31:27
He's in this 110%.
00:31:30
He wants to be
feared, and that he's
00:31:33
110% committed to his gang.
00:31:38
SAM DOUGLAS: Williams was
committed to prison again when
00:31:42
a jury found him
guilty of robbery
00:31:44
charges with the use
of a deadly weapon,
00:31:47
and he would continue
to show his lack of respect
00:31:50
for authority.
00:31:54
MICHAEL DICKERSON:
By the time of sentencing,
00:31:56
our office had become
aware that he'd
00:31:58
made threatening statements
about one of our prosecutors
00:32:01
who was prosecuting that case.
00:32:03
This is Anthony Williams saying
on calls that he's hoping
00:32:06
that she gets hit by a bus.
00:32:08
He gets sentenced
in that case, and
00:32:11
the judge takes some
leniency on him of a sort
00:32:17
by not ordering that he have
life without the possibility
00:32:19
of parole.
00:32:22
- He was very upset
with the judge in court,
00:32:26
and he lashed out.
00:32:28
I wasn't there, but I read
through the transcripts.
00:32:30
It was quite a scene.
00:32:32
MICHAEL DICKERSON:
Anthony Williams
00:32:34
starts going off
on the judge and
00:32:37
saying threatening things
to the judge, calling the
00:32:40
judge names.
00:32:42
- Talking in the most
disrespectful
00:32:45
manner in open court
and essentially saying,
00:32:47
I don't care.
00:32:48
Give me whatever
sentence you want.
00:32:49
I hope you die.
00:32:51
MICHAEL DICKERSON:
So the judge there decided
00:32:53
to change his decision
right there on the spot
00:32:55
and sentenced him
to life without.
00:32:57
But ultimately,
that didn't last.
00:33:01
SAM DOUGLAS:
The Court of Appeals
00:33:03
of the Supreme Court
of Nevada decided
00:33:05
Williams needed
to be resentenced,
00:33:08
and he was later given
the chance of parole.
00:33:10
But he wasn't out
of the firing line yet.
00:33:14
Mike Dickerson
and the DA's office
00:33:15
were heading up
a task force cracking
00:33:18
down on the criminal activity
of the Aryan Warriors.
00:33:25
MICHAEL DICKERSON:
Through our investigation,
00:33:27
we're able to get
up on wiretaps
00:33:30
on a number of individuals.
00:33:32
We're hearing
orders being given
00:33:35
from leadership
in the prison to set up
00:33:38
hit teams to go kill people.
00:33:41
We ultimately were able
to prosecute 23 people
00:33:46
that we brought a racketeering
case against for a variety
00:33:49
of crimes.
00:33:50
We had everything from forgery
and drugs to multiple murders.
00:33:55
The majority of the murders
that we charged
00:33:57
were murders that
were occurring
00:33:58
on the streets of Las Vegas.
00:34:00
It was only one
that was in prison,
00:34:02
and it's Anthony Williams'
murder of Andrew Thurgood.
00:34:07
SAM DOUGLAS: Mike and his team
didn't buy the notion that it
00:34:11
could have been self-defense.
00:34:12
They were determined
that Williams
00:34:14
would finally be brought
to justice for this crime.
00:34:18
- We ultimately, through
our investigation,
00:34:20
we were able
to uncover a pretty
00:34:23
incredible letter that was
written by Anthony Williams.
00:34:30
SAM DOUGLAS: Andrew
Thurgood had been
00:34:32
killed on February 1, 2016.
00:34:36
Williams had written
to a woman the day before.
00:34:43
- This letter is dated
January 31, 2016.
00:34:48
It's from Anthony Williams.
00:34:53
It says, "What's up,
sexy little mama.
00:34:55
Allow me to extend big-ass
Aryan warrior love and all
00:34:58
my respect to you full blast.
00:35:01
This is Mugsy, and I
was hoping by now
00:35:03
to have gotten
a letter and some pics
00:35:06
to see what you
look like, but nope.
00:35:08
So check it out.
00:35:10
I'm not going to be Kidd's
celly anymore after tomorrow
00:35:13
because I have
to handle something,
00:35:14
so I will be going
to the hole and then Ely.
00:35:17
So what's up?
00:35:18
You want to be
my pen pal or what?"
00:35:21
He's writing this girl
telling her, hey, look,
00:35:24
I'm not going to be this
other Aryan Warrior's cellmate
00:35:27
anymore because I have
to take care of some business.
00:35:30
Go kill Andrew Thurgood.
00:35:32
Which then he says,
I am going to be
00:35:35
sent to the hole, which is
administrative segregation
00:35:38
unit after somebody
commits an offense inside,
00:35:41
and then to Ely,
which at that time
00:35:43
was the maximum
security prison.
00:35:45
So that letter showed
that this was absolutely
00:35:49
premeditated murder.
00:35:50
PAUL LOPEZ:
Williams, as a result
00:35:52
of the Aryan warrior
investigation,
00:35:54
he was indicted
for racketeering.
00:35:57
He was also indicted
for murder and conspiracy
00:36:01
to commit murder with
a dangerous weapon
00:36:03
for the murder of Thurgood.
00:36:07
SAM DOUGLAS:
On September 11, 2019,
00:36:10
Anthony Williams appeared in
court with other gang members
00:36:13
to answer charges.
00:36:16
MICHAEL DICKERSON: We're here
at the Regional Justice Center
00:36:18
in Las Vegas.
00:36:20
What happened here
is that this is
00:36:21
where we prosecuted
the Aryan Warriors,
00:36:24
including Anthony Williams.
00:36:27
When the case first started,
all the Aryan Warriors
00:36:30
were really riled up in court.
00:36:32
I think, generally,
William's demeanor in court
00:36:34
was that of a hardened
criminal, somebody
00:36:37
who had been through
the system, who expected
00:36:41
people to respect him.
00:36:44
Williams reaction
to all this, I think,
00:36:46
initially was probably
surprise, surprise
00:36:49
that he was actually getting
prosecuted for the murder
00:36:53
that he committed
years earlier.
00:36:56
PAUL LOPEZ:
The prosecution was,
00:36:57
in fact, going to seek
the death penalty
00:36:59
for the murder of Thurgood.
00:37:02
MICHAEL DICKERSON:
When you look at a case
00:37:03
like this, somebody
who is already
00:37:07
in prison
for a litany of crimes
00:37:10
and then is committing
extremely violent crimes and
00:37:15
murder in prison,
to me, it shows
00:37:20
that there's no other
penalty that can be imposed.
00:37:24
Putting them
in prison for longer
00:37:25
is something that is going to
probably result in more murder.
00:37:30
SAM DOUGLAS: Williams
pleaded not guilty.
00:37:33
GARY MODAFFERI: My name
is Gary Modafferi,
00:37:35
and I was Anthony
Williams' defense
00:37:37
attorney with
another attorney that
00:37:40
was appointed by the courts.
00:37:42
I've been doing
this for 40 years.
00:37:44
It's really not the norm
to see such a young man
00:37:48
with so many prior felonies.
00:37:51
I mean, they had really
stacked up against him.
00:37:55
Anybody who is accused
of a death penalty crime
00:37:58
knows and worries about it.
00:38:01
I don't care how tough
you project yourself
00:38:04
or where you've been in life.
00:38:07
When you're facing a lawyer
across the aisle, who's
00:38:12
asking that you
be put to death,
00:38:14
the clients are put
in another lane for sure.
00:38:20
He was, from our perspective,
a non-problem client.
00:38:24
He was good.
00:38:25
He was good with us.
00:38:28
HECTOR BRAVO: Williams was
very polite and charming
00:38:32
to the defense team
during the trial, which
00:38:34
is very common for inmates to
switch up their appearance and
00:38:38
their personality in an attempt
to manipulate individuals and
00:38:43
get them to do what they want.
00:38:44
Because ultimately,
they were trying
00:38:45
to seek a sentence of life
without the possibility
00:38:48
of parole versus
the death penalty.
00:38:53
SAM DOUGLAS: Eventually,
Mike's prosecuting team
00:38:55
accepted a plea deal.
00:38:57
If Williams confessed
to Andrew Thurgood's murder,
00:39:01
they would not seek
the death penalty.
00:39:04
MICHAEL DICKERSON:
Ultimately giving that up
00:39:06
with him agreeing
to plead guilty and
00:39:09
spend the rest
of his life in prison
00:39:11
without ever having
the possibility of parole.
00:39:13
The reality
of the death penalty,
00:39:15
it is not very often imposed,
and even when it is imposed,
00:39:21
it's not very
often carried out.
00:39:24
SAM DOUGLAS:
By now, Williams had
00:39:26
risen to be one of the leaders
of the Aryan Warriors.
00:39:31
GARY MODAFFERI:
Anthony Williams
00:39:32
was critical in his mind
to maintain his stature
00:39:35
in the Aryan Warriors.
00:39:37
What stuck out to me
was his undying
00:39:40
loyalty to this organization.
00:39:43
I mean, it was unwavering.
00:39:45
- Because of the plea
deal that Mugsy took,
00:39:48
Torque only got 10 years.
00:39:50
MICHAEL DICKERSON: Anthony
Williams ended up taking
00:39:54
complete responsibility.
00:39:55
The idea that only one
of them committed this
00:40:00
is not one that I subscribe to.
00:40:02
But we know Anthony Williams
is an extremely violent
00:40:07
individual, and I have no
doubt that Anthony Williams
00:40:13
inflicted stab wounds
on Andrew Thurgood.
00:40:20
SAM DOUGLAS: Sentenced
to life without parole,
00:40:22
Williams, as he'd predicted
in his letter years before,
00:40:26
was finally sent
to Nevada's Ely prison.
00:40:30
MICHAEL DICKERSON: It was
the highest security prison
00:40:33
that we had in the state.
00:40:35
The most violent
inmates that posed
00:40:37
the biggest threat
to the system
00:40:39
would be within
Ely State Prison.
00:40:40
RICK CHILDRESS: Mugsy
seemed, by this point,
00:40:43
to be more comfortable
being in prison.
00:40:46
He understood, at this
point, he's not getting out
00:40:49
ever again unless he escapes.
00:40:51
Mugsy had written himself into
being a gang leader in prison
00:40:56
for the rest of his life.
00:40:59
- Some criminals actually
are comfortable in prison.
00:41:04
This is the environment that
they know how to navigate.
00:41:07
For Williams, he doesn't have a
problem serving time in prison.
00:41:11
And on top of that,
there's a likelihood
00:41:14
that he will continue to engage
in criminal activity in prison.
00:41:18
He has his people.
00:41:20
He has his gang.
00:41:22
This is the life he's going
to live until he dies.
00:41:29
PAUL LOPEZ: On July 30, 2024,
the White Pine County Sheriff's
00:41:33
office received a call
stating that there
00:41:35
was a large fight that was in
progress at Ely State Prison.
00:41:39
Nine inmates were
injured and transported
00:41:42
to nearby medical facilities
outside of the prison.
00:41:46
Three died from their injuries.
00:41:48
MICHAEL DICKERSON:
Aryan Warriors
00:41:50
were targeted by members
of the Sureños gang.
00:41:56
I had never heard
of there being
00:41:59
three inmates killed
in a single event
00:42:03
at a Nevada prison.
00:42:05
SAM DOUGLAS: The word
on the street
00:42:07
was that in retaliation
for a member being killed
00:42:09
in a Las Vegas
shooting, the Sureños,
00:42:12
a Mexican-American
gang, had ordered
00:42:15
their members at Ely
prison to attack any inmate
00:42:18
who was an Aryan Warrior.
00:42:22
Rick has been told
a version of what went down.
00:42:25
- They went after Mugsy,
who was the number one, and
00:42:29
Little Dog, his number two.
00:42:35
They had three treys
apiece strapped
00:42:37
around them, body armor.
00:42:39
I couldn't believe
they got Mugsy.
00:42:41
And for him to walk
out of the cell
00:42:43
and to see them wearing
their coats in the day room
00:42:47
should have been a red flag.
00:42:49
I've heard that
they called him over
00:42:50
and said, hey, look at this.
00:42:51
They have some drugs
over here or whatever.
00:42:54
And when Mugsy looked
down, they got him.
00:43:00
And they killed Little Sin.
00:43:03
Little dog was
the only one left,
00:43:05
and he strapped two
knives to his hands
00:43:08
and went out into the day
room and faced 13 guys
00:43:11
and put six of them
on helicopters before they
00:43:15
almost decapitated him.
00:43:19
SAM DOUGLAS: Whatever
the exact version of events,
00:43:22
Anthony Williams was killed,
age 41, a violent end
00:43:27
to a violent life.
00:43:28
LINA HAJI: It
sounds very harsh,
00:43:30
but we think of sayings like
"you reap what you sow,"
00:43:32
or "you live by the gun,
you die by the gun--"
00:43:35
it was pretty much
inevitable that
00:43:36
his time was going to come.
00:43:38
MICHAEL DICKERSON: I do not
believe that Anthony Williams
00:43:41
could have been rehabilitated.
00:43:42
That ship had sailed.
00:43:43
He'd been given
those opportunities.
00:43:45
There was no rehabilitation
to be had whatsoever.
00:43:49
HECTOR BRAVO: He
showed zero remorse
00:43:51
after killing Thurgood,
going out to the streets
00:43:54
and not reforming his life
but continuing a life of crime.
00:44:02
LINA HAJI: He did
horrific, evil things.
00:44:04
Was he a product of his
neglectful childhood?
00:44:08
Was he predisposed to violence?
00:44:10
We really don't know.
00:44:12
But what we do know is that
he made a conscious decision
00:44:15
in adulthood
to perpetuate crime
00:44:18
and to perpetuate violence.
00:44:20
In my opinion, that
certainly makes him evil.
00:44:24
PAUL LOPEZ: In my opinion,
he has a black soul and
00:44:27
a dark heart, and ultimately,
that cost him his life,
00:44:32
and he got what he deserved.
00:44:38
[theme music]
