James S. Chesser

Correctional Officer James Chesser was bludgeoned to death by two inmates while making his rounds of the death row cell block at the Central Prison. The inmates bound and gagged him and then beat him to death during an escape attempt. Both inmates were subsequently executed in February 1940 for their prior convictions. Officer Chesser had served the North Carolina Department of Corrections for six months after retiring from the US Army with 30 years of service.