Wisezah Buckman was sentenced to death by the State of North Carolina for the murder of four people during a prison escape attempt
According to court documents Wisezah Buckman was attempting to escape from Pasquotank Correctional Institution in 2017 along with other inmates including Mikel Brady. During the attempt four prison workers would be murdered: prison sewing plant manager Veronica Darden, prison maintenance worker Geoffrey Howe and correctional officers Justin Smith and Wendy Shannon
Mikel Brady was convicted and sentenced to death
Wisezah Buckman would be convicted and sentenced to death
Wisezah Buckman Now
| Offender Number: | 1120630 |
| Inmate Status: | ACTIVE |
| Probation/Parole/Post Release Status: | INACTIVE |
| Gender: | MALE |
| Race: | BLACK/AFRICAN AMERICAN |
| Ethnic Group: | NOT HISPANIC/LATINO |
| Birth Date: | 11/12/1987 |
| Age: | 35 |
| Current Location: | GRANVILLE CI |
Wisezah Buckman Case
Following a month-long trial, Wisezah Buckman, was sentenced to death in Dare County Superior Court on Nov. 2 on first degree murder charges for the killings of four Pasquotank Correctional Institution employees during a failed 2017 escape attempt.
Buckman was charged in the case along with Seth J. Frasier, Mikel Brady and Johnathan M. Monk. Other than Buckman, the only other defendant to be tried thus far is Brady, who was convicted in 2019 and sentenced to death.
According to the Coastland Times, Buckman’s defense teams plans on appealing both the verdict and the sentence.
On Nov. 3, District Attorney Jeff Cruden released the following statement.
In a trial that began on October 4, 2023, a Dare County jury yesterday returned sentences of death for defendant Wisezah Buckman in the murders of Justin Smith, Wendy Shannon and Geoffrey Howe. The same jury returned a sentence of life, without the possibility of parole in the murder of Veronica Darden. The trial was presided over by Senior Resident Superior Court Judge Jerry R. Tillett.
District attorney Jeff Cruden stated: “There are no winners in this case. The families of the victims had to relive again the brutal slayings of their loved ones, but they have been resolute from the beginning to ensure that justice is served in each case. I am especially proud of my prosecution team, Assistant District Attorney’s Kim Pellini and Alexis Massengill and Legal Assistant Hannah Gilroy. Their tireless effort, coupled with the exemplary work from the law enforcement community, ensured that the jury would have the information they needed to make this difficult decision. I commend the jurors for their willingness to serve and trust in the justice system to return the ultimate punishment for the murder of another human being.”
Buckman sentenced to death for 2017 killings of Pasquotank prison workers
Wisezah Buckman News
One of four suspects charged in the deadly 2017 Pasquotank, North Carolina prison break was given the death penalty Thursday after a jury convicted him last month.
Wisezah Buckman was found guilty of four counts of first-degree murder. Five years ago, Buckman and three other inmates tried to break out of the Pasquotank Correctional Institution. Four prison workers were killed after the inmates violently attacked them.
None of the inmates succeeded in escaping.
Buckman’s trial was originally planned for March 2020 but got pushed back because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Dare County court clerk tells 13News Now that Buckman was convicted in October, following a nearly month-long trial. On Thursday, he was sentenced to death for three of the murder convictions, and life without parole on the fourth conviction.
He is the second inmate to be convicted for his role in the deadly prison break attempt. Another inmate, Mikel Brady, was also sentenced to death after being found guilty of four counts of first-degree murder back in 2019.
