Warden Wallace Pack, 55, was killed at the Ellis I Unit in Huntsville, Texas, on April 4, 1981, when a prisoner gained control of an officer’s pistol and shot both Pack and Officer Billy Moore. The prisoner, Eroy Brown, was tried twice; the first trial ended in a mistrial, and at the second trial a jury acquitted Brown of capital murder after accepting his testimony that he feared for his life during a struggle. Prosecutors had argued Brown acted out of anger over a denied furlough request. Brown remained in custody on an unrelated burglary and a separate federal robbery conviction.

Pack’s death and Brown’s acquittal provoked wide controversy and intense scrutiny of the Texas prison system, with defense claims that Brown had been the victim of aggressive prison officials. Are there still records, reporting, or firsthand accounts that shed more light on events inside the unit that day?