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"Huntsville's Death Chamber and What Happens There" Symposium
Name: "Huntsville's Death Chamber and What Happens There" SymposiumDate: February 9, 2016Time: 7:30 PM - 8:30 PM CSTEvent Description:Jim Willett, former prison warden of the historic Huntsville “Walls” Unit which houses the execution chamber, is the next guest lecturer of Tarleton State University’s ongoing Speaker Symposium.
The lecture, “Huntsville’s Death Chamber and What Happens There,” begins at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 9, in Room 176 of the College of Business Administration Building on the Stephenville campus. The event is free and open to the public.
Willett, current director of the Texas Prison Museum in Huntsville, oversaw 89 executions as warden of the Huntsville unit, nicknamed the “Walls Unit.” Huntsville is the oldest state prison in Texas, opening in 1849.
Willett spent 30 years with the Correctional Institutions Division of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. As a student at Sam Houston State University, Willett was hired part-time at Huntsville. After graduation, he was offered a full-time position and later was promoted to assistant warden, putting in 10 years at other Texas prisons.
In 1998, prison officials asked Willett to step into one of the highest-profile positions within the correctional system: senior warden of the “Walls” Unit.
In the years following, Willett oversaw one of the busiest periods in Texas’ execution chamber. During three years as senior warden, Willett stood by as 89 inmates were strapped to the gurney and the lethal injection administered.
Upon his retirement, Willett co-authored “Warden: Texas Prison Life and Death from the Inside Out” in 2005 with Ron Rozelle. The book chronicles his 30-year career, from his first night as a shotgun-wielding guard to the last man he accompanied to the death chamber.
In addition to publishing the book, Willett also served as narrator of the radio documentary “Witness to an Execution,” which aired on National Public Radio’s Morning Edition and won a Peabody Award in 2000.
For more information about the Speaker Symposium Lecture Series and upcoming presenters, visit www.tarleton.edu/speakersymposium.