One thing that Keith Raniere should have learned by now about prison is that things can always get worse.
Having been found guilty on Wednesday – after a mere 5 hours of jury deliberations – on all seven counts he was facing, The Vanguard was probably looking forward to just going back to the Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC) and crying himself to sleep.
Well, that’s not quite how things turned out for the once exalted leader of the NXIVM criminal enterprise.
Instead of being returned to one of the cellblocks where he had been housed during his trial, Raniere was moved to the Suicide Watch Unit at MDC.
It is not known whether he was placed in the Suicide Watch Unit. It could be because he displayed suicidal tendencies when he returned to MDC or it could just be standard MDC protocol for prisoners who have just been convicted of crimes that could result in a lengthy sentence.
Either way, he’ll be there for several days.
Remember how bad the Special Housing Unit (SHU) unit at MDC sounded: e.g., isolated in a cell for 23 hours per day – and limited commissary, food, phone calls, visitors, etc.?
Well, that’s a whole lot better than what The Vanguard has been facing since he returned to MDC.
The Suicide Watch Unit
The Suicide Watch Unit includes a series of isolation cells that are bereft of any amenities.
Approximately 8’ by 10’, each cell contains a metal sleeping platform without any mattress, pillow, sheets or blankets.
It also has an all-in-one sink-toilet unit that has a very limited water supply.
There is no toilet paper in the unit but residents can request a few sheets from the prisoners who have been assigned as Observers (Each occupied cell in the Suicide Watch Unit has its own Observer).
The solid door on each cell is made of reinforced steel – and has a 4” slot that can be opened by an Observer to pass through a tray of food (Those who are housed in the Suicide Watch Unit get the absolute minimum amount of food required by Bureau of Prisons regulations).
There is also a thick window in the door that allows an Observer to see the prisoner at all times.
And the lights in Suicide Watch cells are on 24/7.
Let’s see…is there anything else?
Oh yeah, I almost forgot…
Prisoners who are placed in the Suicide Watch Unit are stripped of all their clothing.
But, of course, leaving a prisoner naked in a cell would be “cruel and unusual punishment”.
So, the BOP gives each prisoner in a Suicide Watch cell a Safety Smock.
Safety Smocks
Safety Smocks are meant to prevent a prisoner from harming themselves.
Regular prison garb can easily be fashioned to create ropes or nooses.
And zippers can be swallowed by prisoners or used to slash their wrists.
But aside from causing prisoners to look like Ninja Turtles – which apparently does not constitute “cruel and unusual punishment” – Safety Smocks keep those who are in the Suicide Watch Unit safe and sound.
Each Safety Smock costs about $300 – and weighs about 4.5 pounds.
Safety Smocks are made out of material that is impossible to tear by hand – and they’re too bulky to be fashioned into any type of rope.
Although they are also collarless and sleeveless, they do have a series of one-inch Velcro strips that can be used to close them and create openings for the head and arms.
Raniere in a Safety Smock…
OMG…What a week!
Frank Parlato 
Janine Morrison 
J.J. O'Hara 
Richard Luthmann 
Marie White 
Paul Serran
Please leave a comment: Your opinion is important to us!
The Smartest Guy in the World can figure out how to defeat the Safety Smock.
All he has to do is to… No, wait – he’s The Smartest Guy in the World. He doesn’t need me to tell him what to do.
Besides, he should sentence himself to two years minimum, the same term served by one of his prisoners.
Maybe by then he will figure out that prisoners serve time day by day and night by night, and some get about as much sex as they want, sometimes much more than they want. Remember, KAR, if you are in stir, homosexual sex is not homosexual sex – that’s for homosexuals. The rest of the male prisoners just have normal hetero sex, except with guys instead of girls. Comprende?
Just think of the Beatles “All My Loving” and everything will come out. All right.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TSpiwK5fig0
“All My Loving”
Close your eyes and I’ll kiss you
Tomorrow I’ll miss you
Remember I’ll always be true
And then while I’m away
I’ll write home every day
And I’ll send all my loving to you
I’ll pretend that I’m kissing
The lips I am missing
And hope that my dreams will come true
And then while I’m away
I’ll write home every day
And I’ll send all my loving to you
All my loving I will send to you
All my loving, darling I’ll be true
Close your eyes and I’ll kiss you
Tomorrow I’ll miss you
Remember I’ll always be true
And then while I’m away
I’ll write home every day
And I’ll send all my loving to you
All my loving I will send to you
All my loving, darling I’ll be true
All my loving, all my loving ooh
All my loving I will send to you
In some prisons to punish inmates and make it harder for them to commit suicide by deliberate choking on food they have concocted a tasty dish called Nutraloaf.
Nutraloaf (also known as Meal Loaf, prison loaf, disciplinary loaf, food loaf, lockup loaf, confinement loaf, seg loaf, grue or special management meal)[1] is a food served in prisons in the United States and Canada[citation needed] to inmates who have misbehaved; for example, assaulting prison guards or fellow prisoners.[2] It is similar to meatloaf in texture, but has a wider variety of ingredients. Prison loaf is usually bland, perhaps even unpleasant, but prison wardens argue that nutraloaf provides enough nutrition to keep prisoners healthy without requiring utensils to be issued.[
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nutraloaf
I found this:
My brother is a Sherrif and he calls this stuff shitloaf. I didn’t know each state has their own version! Awesome!
To be honest I don’t see him as a suicide risk at this point. Maybe later, when any possible appeals have been raised and refuted.
He would certainly be at risk in some sectors of the general prison population, where pedophiles and rapists are targets.
He might well end up in a specialist sex offenders unit.
This is the only photograph of Vanguard’s parents known to exist.
Paul – I just cracked up completely!🤣🤣🤣 BTW, there was a British childrens’ programme called Bod when I was young. Bod reminds me of someone….
https://www.doyouremember.co.uk/memory/bod
LMAO!!!!
Good stuff Paul thanks for the laugh!
Keith: come clean on KRISTIN SNYDER!
Previous video footage of you known to the public shows your admission to having people killed in the past. Why has this matter not been further revisited by the authorities? This needs more public attention. Aside from Kristin, what about the other “lost” women of NXIVM?
Agree. Unless Pam and Barbara Jeske were the only ones who knew about them, we need to learn the facts on the shady deaths.
It could be worse for Vangone. His food could be laden with garlic. 😁
BTW, a British woman tried to avoid jury service because she had children. The Judge was not amused. I wonder how Judge Garaufis would have dealt with her.
https://mol.im/a/7168719
I will gladly give him a rope. A bullet, whatever he needs to end it.
It sounds to me like the Suicide Watch Unit actually leads to more suicides than it prevents.
It saves money. Who can be against that?
If Raniere is suicided in prison, even by his own hand, he becomes a martyr to his deluded followers.
The same is true for Julian Assange.
One can kill a man but not a martyr.
Raniere is already a marty to his deluded followers. I’d rather save the tax dollars.
Yep. Excellent point.
However, after all the arrests, ruined lives, and prison time to be handed out, one can only hope most of his closest followers have a bitter taste in their mouths at this point.
This is certainly as far from “Executive Success” as you can get.
LOL. That is like the complete opposite of being a martyr.
Martyrs are remembered because they stood up to tyrants or injustice and we’re killed for them.
Suiciding yourself in prison because you wanted to have a slave pods of gullible people servicing your every material and sexual whim and you’ve been exposed and the jig is up, isn’t anywhere close to the definition.
A person can be killed and it is made to look like suicide.
For example when a person falls from a height the question is was it a murder where he was pushed, was it accidental or was it a deliberate suicide?
It is best that Raniere die of natural causes.
Shadowstate,
You made a very historically accurate relevant observation.
We only hope Raniere makes it past 2 years by then most of his followers will have moved on to something or someone else.
Shadowstate,
I could not possibly agree with you more.
Suicide watch:
First the prison officials will strip you naked and give you an oversized padded poncho to wear.
Then the prison officials will have a fellow inmate sit outside your cell watching you and depending on your crime the inmate may in fact torment you verbally and spit in your food.
You will have no social contact other than your watcher.
I doubt the prison even gives them books to read because the paper can be wadded up into a ball and lodged in the throat by an inmate to asphyxiate .
Inmates must go crazy after few weeks.
Imagine the boredom and no sun light except a crappy ultraviolet light on at all times.
I find it kind of disturbing writing it all out on my phone.
None of this information presented by Krclaviger sounds like cruel or unusual punishment to me.
Can’t say Raniere does not deserve it though.
Now Raniere will experience what Dani went through.
Let’s see if Raniere is as tough as Dani.
That’s a wrap. When Mr. Shadow and niceguy agree, I know I’m right. LOL
As much as I hate to say it, Dani had books, a bed and toilet paper. That doesn’t make what happened to her OK in the least.
I think if someone is locked up, especially under severe circumstances, they should have something to read. As far as stuffing paper down the throat, there are observers there. I mean, anyone could choke on simple food, no? Or do they restrict the food to mush?
Obviously I don’t know enough on this topic.
I am not advocating for Raniere – just any prisoner in that position.
They restrict food to mush.
See my comment on Nutraloaf.
OCountyDreams,
I meant , “None of this information presented by Krclaviger sounds like cruel or unusual punishment to me.”, as sarcasm.
I was being slightly sarcastic.
Prison is supposed to be for punishment and rehabilitation.
Eventually most prisoners are released back into society.
How much more disturbed do they become after going through suicide watch?
If you aren’t considering suicide, before suicide watch you definitely will be considering suicide after…….
Nobody of course is advocating for Raniere.
How fair is suicide watch environment/experience if someone is convicted of non-sexual and nonviolent crimes?
It’s not the crime they committed, it’s the time they are sentenced.
Finally. Somebody copies Raniere, instead of the other way around: https://behindmlm.com/companies/onecoin/konstantin-ignatov-wants-out-of-prison-requests-pre-trial-release/
Curious if the case of Kristen Snyder will be reopened. From the Frank Report:
“Sources told Artvoice/Frank Report that Snyder was in no condition to drive 130 miles from her home in Anchorage to Seward where she allegedly broke into a shed, stole a 16-foot kayak, carried it to shore, and paddled out into the glacial waters. They wonder if she might have been kidnapped to stop her from saying more about Raniere. Raniere later claimed Snyder never committed suicide but faked her own death to escape a drug ring she cheated – and was living in British Columbia. No evidence was offered to prove that claim. Later, Raniere claimed to have photographs that proved Snyder was in the Grand Canyon with Clifford months after her supposed death. He never released the photos.”
Supposedly she was pregnant by Raniere and ordered out of the intensive she was taking. People know more about this.
Was Barbara in NXIVM at the time?
Surely Nancy, Lauren, Michele. Allison, Clare, and Sara know what happened.
Secrets are hard to keep.
Remember Kristen when one of them attempts to befriend you or bring the best of NXIVM back.
Kristen and Gina. Both deaths stink to high heaven of something other than suicide.
Kind’a like Vince Foster’s suicide.
BB and the rest of the NXIVM 9 were in when Kristen committed suicide.
Thank for sharing that tidbit Scott!
OCD – Frank may have something in the pipeline regarding Kristen.
https://deadline.com/2019/06/investigation-discovery-the-lost-women-of-nxivm-1202635465/
Frank – He’s not a woman, but please tell us there will be due diligence done on John Natalie’s death? I’d be shocked if Keith’s hands are clean.
Good to see that Frank is involved in that documentary.
Good to see you not breaking character and being a dick to Gina’s best friend.
Orange County Dreams,
I don’t have a strong opinion one way or the other on whether or not her disappearance was suicide or murder. I have given it some thought.
I just have few reasons I believe that it was suicide.
1.) It’s not unusual that Steward’s body was never found.
In waters that stay permanently cold a human body may not surface. To maintain brevity I will not go into a lengthy explanation. My brother and saw seeing a Spring floater in Port Washington Long Island Ny. It was reported to the police before we had a chance to call it in. No cells back then.
A sport fisherman had died the previous fall and his body gained enough buoyancy to float to shore. The water had warmed up enough.
In another personal story a priest from the Protestant church we belonged to drown when his canoe flipped in freezing March waters. He had to be fished out by Scuba divers .
Below is a PDF chart regarding dead bodies floating and water temperatures.
http://www.pawsoflife.org/Library/Trailing%20Water/body_float_info.pdf
2.) I believe Steward was an outdoors person and fully cognizant of the inherit risks of being in Kayak in freezing waters. I do not think it was an accident. I believe it was premeditated.
3.) Breaking into a boat house for a kayak seems pretty illogical on at least on surface for a murder cover up, however for a suicide not at all. She may have wanted to get far from shore as not to be found after death. She may have wanted to die in a place she found inner peace on the water. People sometimes go to a comforting out of the way place to commit suicide.
4.) Keith used deceit and lies to cover up the other pregnancy.
My personal belief is that Raniere as has been reported in his own words tried to break people. He enjoyed it fully.
The anonymous writer on the John Tighe website allude to Gina Hutchinson being driven to suicide. Mark Vicnte spoke about Allison Mack and the fact that Raniere was trying to break her. Raniere tried and failed to break Dani.
I believe Raniere drove Steward in the end to commit suicide. I am fairly certain that none of the inner Nxivm members will ever tell the truth.
Side theory regarding Gina Hutchinson’s death.
My own theory regarding Gina Hutchinson is that the semi confession on the John Tighe website is truthful to a degree and that Barbara Jeske confided in somone outside of the inner circle and that someone left the anonymous semi-confession. Gina was driven to suicide. Barbara is dead and the anonymous writer has never once come forward since.
In short I believe Steward and Gina Hutchinson would be alive today if they had never had the unfortunate luck of crossing paths with Keith Raniere.
Do you have any theories regarding these suicides?
This sounds kind of cruel. Maybe it’s a routine precaution but it almost sounds like torture. Surely there’s another way to keep prisoners from killing themselves, that doesn’t involve such harsh conditions.
I am no fan of Raniere, but I doubt he is suicidal. I’m sure he is planning his appeal and plotting revenge on his enemies and lawyers.
I do wish him a very long sentence but this sounds kind of monstrous – especially for someone who spent over a year in pre-trial detention.
It’s standard procedure. Would you rather Raniere be tied to a table by his hands and feet while Bubba f*cks him in the a$$?
I would be willing to watch Raniere commit suicide. Are there tickets available? I’d rather pay my $25 for that show than Marc Elliot’s presentation. Alas, Raniere is such a coward that he would be a no-show for his own suicide.
Krclaviger,
I laughed out loud at your remarks regarding the suicide poncho(smock).
LOL thanks for a much needed laugh on Friday evening. Have a great weekend!
That’s one sporty looking Safety Smock!! It would be nice if iit had a “KAR” monogram. Oh well, guess that’s asking too much Pity though. Because of the recent press, I’d bet Keith gets some love letters and racy photos.
I don’t know how to feel about this because this is him incapable of accepting what he dished out. (locking Dani in a room with nothing to do) I wish he was capable of remorse and sorrow for what he has done but he is only feeling sorry for himself.
I hope that thing gets washed regularly. Mitey terrible if it doesn’t
No toilet paper?
That’s a lie cuz it’s a violation of civil rights.
A man has the civil right to wipe his ass after her shits.
It’s written in the Constitution.
Go back to chasing ambulances.
What the hell do you know? Shit, he has the right to ask for some toilet paper. Besides what does it matter, he’s up shits creek without a paddle.
Your impulse control boarder on KARs. If you read the post in its entirety, it says they can get past sheet of TP when taking a shit, but can’t have an entire roll.
KAR has a sink, he can always wash his hands. At least he doesn’t have to drink from a puddle as he has demanded others do.
Let him do it, but only after giving the others 24 hours with him.
Oh my schadenfreude, a Safety Smock.
This isn’t when inmates kill themselves.
It’s afterwards. Suicide watch is when they plan the deed.
Every inmate who stands to receive a long sentence goes on suicide watch. Very few actually go on to off themselves, but the ones who do go through changes at this point. They disconnect from friends and family, conversations with lawyers become more grave. Their behavior around other inmates becomes more reckless, they take chance they know can get themselves killed. Most often, they would rather have someone else do it then figure it out themselves.
Watch for stories about behavioral changes with Raniere after he gets out of SHU. They’re not hard to spot, you will hear about a fight or SHU detention over a bizarre infraction. That’s a sign they are developing the courage to go through with their plan.
I never thought Raniere would actually live to judgement. He must have seriously believed his lawyers were going to steer the trial his way. The fact this didn’t work out must be crushing him every moment of every day, he probably can’t think of anything else. It’s likely he’s talking to himself in his cell and has given up on basic hygiene. Expect him to look very different at sentencing, everything I’ve heard about the man suggests he’s fundamentally averse to the opinions of others. Actually receiving a long sentence will be the worst thing he’s ever experienced and likely result in a massive breakdown.
The other thing – Raniere might be looking to shave time off his sentence by cooperating with the government on charges related to Claire. Inmates on suicide watch tend to become desperate to make a deal especially when there’s no direct consequences for snitching. Watch for a delay in sentencing, this would likely represent investigators following up on information they receive from Raniere.
Thanks for this info. I believe he will desperately try to reduce his sentence, to the point of lying about who was involved. He knows no shame.
One thing to consider is that Clare Bronfman has had ample time to have cooperated with investigators and prosecutors and to have bargained on her own behalf. Since Raniere didn’t plea, he positioned himself at the rock bottom of any confessional chain versus his co-defendants. Bronfman and perhaps others might have already cut Raniere off from having much of anything new to say or try to use as bargaining chips.
Frank has reported that Bronfman is being investigated for more crimes, so she isn’t in a very good position. If Raniere can provide dirt on a lot of others, and he should be able to do that, he could get some kind of a deal. However, I believe the minimum sentence he can receive is 15 years. He will be over 70 when he gets out, IF he survives.