Business Insider has been profiling inmates about life in prison, but every new story about life on the inside can bring new surprises.
Quorarecently asked inmates about what it's like to live with someone who has committed murder. The answers weren't what we expected.
They painted a picture of men besieged by troubled childhoods and substance abuse rather than blood-thirsty killers.
Dominick Whitaker, a man serving time in California for property crimes, roomed with several convicted murderers during his four-year stay at Calipatria State Prison.
He wrote a vivid description of life inside:
"My first cellie, was convicted of murdering his girlfriend and her brother during a bad drug deal. He used to have traumatic nightmares where he would wake up screaming in his sleep. It took me many months before I felt comfortable getting a full night of sleep, without sleeping with one eye open and both ears attuned to the slightest sound or movement. This is an experience that I will never forget, because you have to wonder if you're safe inside a 6 x 9 cage with a total stranger who has a prior violent past and has been convicted of murder. There is no one there to help or protect you at 3 am. You have to realize and understand that violence is always right below the surface in prison. It doesn't take much for it to turn into a tidal wave very quickly. I have seen some very violent confrontations with cellies over the most trivial things."
Quora user CJ Hinke wrote that he roomed with a murderer in Australia and said while "there were a few genuine psychos, nearly all killed while using alcohol or drugs. All were young and highly unlikely to kill again."
Click here, here, here, here, and here for the stories in Business Insiders' prison series.
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