Boyd H. Spikerman, a 32-year-old man known to friends and his fraternity brothers as "Spike," had a gift for making people laugh. He was kind, hilarious, and a fan of "Saturday Night Live" and Steve Martin. After studying criminal justice at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville and bartending his way through school, he embarked on a career in federal law enforcement.
In the summer of 1983, he became a Correctional Officer with the Federal Bureau of Prisons, a role that seemed a natural fit for his studies and his character. He was assigned to the Federal Correctional Institution (FCI) in Oxford, Wisconsin, beginning a new chapter of public service.
His promising career was cut tragically short just six months later. In the pre-dawn hours of Sunday, January 29, 1984, Officer Spikerman was on duty in the Juneau housing unit at FCI Oxford. At around 5:00 a.m., he was ambushed by at least two inmates. The attack was sudden and overwhelmingly violent. One inmate, Matthew Granger, bludgeoned Officer Spikerman with a fire extinguisher while another, Scott A. Fountain, held him down. He was also stabbed multiple times with a prison-made knife. The assault was so brutal that medical examiners later determined either the blunt force trauma or the stab wounds would have been independently fatal.
A fellow officer discovered Spikerman's body in the unit office at approximately 5:13 a.m., lying in a pool of blood. The last contact anyone had with him was a telephone call just 25 minutes earlier. The investigation began immediately, and clues quickly pointed toward the perpetrators. Investigators found blood on the doorknob of the cell assigned to Granger and Fountain. Other inmates would later testify that they had heard Granger and Fountain discussing their plan to kill a correctional officer and later boasting about their involvement in the murder. A bloody blue sweatshirt was also recovered from a bathroom stall.
The motive behind the senseless killing was a chilling desire for status within the prison's brutal social hierarchy. The investigation revealed that the inmates had plotted to murder a staff member to impress and gain recognition from the Aryan Brotherhood, a notorious prison gang. One of the inmates reportedly wanted to kill a guard as a prerequisite for joining the white supremacist group. Granger was already a member. The attack was not a spontaneous act of rage but a calculated bid for infamy.
The subsequent legal proceedings brought the killers to justice, though the process was complex. Matthew Granger and Scott A. Fountain were charged with murder and conspiracy to commit murder. A third inmate, who allegedly acted as a lookout, was acquitted of the charges. After a series of legal maneuvers, including a withdrawn guilty plea, Scott Fountain was tried and convicted by a jury. Evidence presented at trial showed that he had restrained Officer Spikerman while Granger carried out the deadly assault. Both Matthew Granger and Scott Fountain were ultimately convicted of murder and received life sentences. Fountain’s sentence was life plus an additional 150 years for the conspiracy.
Years after his death, Boyd Spikerman’s sacrifice has not been forgotten. He is honored as one of the Bureau of Prisons' fallen heroes. His name is engraved on Panel 13, E-12 of the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in Washington, D.C. During a 2018 memorial service, Acting Assistant Attorney General John P. Cronan spoke of the debt owed to those who protect the justice system. "Today we honor Officer Spikerman's memory, his life and his service to our country, and his loved ones," he said. "He is not forgotten, and he never will be." For those who knew him, the memory is more personal; they remember a kind and funny friend who was just beginning his life's work.
