On the clear autumn morning of September 22, 1991, a violent and calculated uprising erupted within the maximum-security unit of Montana State Prison in Deer Lodge. In the ensuing chaos, which lasted four hours, five inmates were targeted and murdered by their fellow prisoners. One of the men who lost his life that day was Ernest Holliday, a 38-year-old male inmate who had been placed in protective custody for his own safety.
The riot became one of the deadliest in the state's history, exposing a volatile situation within the prison walls and culminating in a brutal end for the men housed in what should have been a secure area.
The disturbance began around 10 a.m. when a group of inmates in an exercise yard managed to cut through a wire fence. They stormed the maximum-security building through a door that had been left open, quickly overpowering guards, taking five of them hostage, and seizing control of the unit. The rioters, armed with homemade weapons like sharpened broomsticks and mop handles, then turned their attention to the inmates in D Block, the protective custody section. These men, including Holliday, were targeted because they were believed to be informants or were otherwise considered vulnerable.
The violence inflicted upon the protective custody inmates was savage. According to witness accounts and official reports, the five men were beaten, stabbed, and in some cases, hanged. An attacker was reportedly heard yelling "Die, die, die" as Holliday was strangled with electrical cords. When a tactical unit finally stormed the cellblock with tear gas to rescue the unharmed hostages, they found a scene of destruction and death. Warden Jack McCormick confirmed that the five inmates were already dead when officers entered the building. The unit itself sustained severe fire and water damage during the rampage.
The investigation into the riot and murders identified two main instigators: Douglas Duane "Doug" Turner and William Gollehon. Turner was a prolific serial killer, already serving three consecutive life sentences for the 1987 murders of three people in Glendive when he was just 16 years old. He and Gollehon, another convicted murderer, had also killed another inmate together in 1990. They were seen as the leaders of the murderous rampage during the riot, personally participating in the beatings and killings of the five men.
In the aftermath, numerous inmates were charged for their roles in the uprising. Douglas Turner was convicted of five counts of deliberate homicide under the felony-murder rule, as well as kidnapping, for his part in the riot. He received five concurrent life sentences for these murders. This was in addition to a death sentence he had received for the 1990 inmate murder. Gollehon also received life sentences for the riot killings. In total, Turner was convicted of nine murders throughout his life.
Subsequent investigations and lawsuits revealed that prison officials had ignored warnings from inmates about a pending riot, and a judge later ruled that the state was negligent in its operation of the maximum-security unit. The court found that the riot could have been prevented if the staff had followed their own policies. In the years that followed, the state of Montana paid out settlements to the families of the slain inmates, including a $60,000 payment to the parents of Ernest Holliday.
Douglas Turner never faced his execution date. On July 8, 2003, at the age of 31, he was found hanging in his maximum-security cell at Montana State Prison, having committed suicide before the state could carry out his sentence. The riot of 1991 remains a dark chapter in the history of Montana's correctional system, a brutal event that cost Ernest Holliday and four other men their lives and led to significant legal and operational changes within the prison.
