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Byron Hadley

Byron Hadley (born 1921) was an American correctional guard who served as the Captain at Shawshank State Prison in Maine. Hadley was an impatient, impulsive, and cruel man who was known to beat inmates to death for disobeying him. This was demonstrated in 1949, when Hadley brutally battered Frank Medrano for crying, which would cause his death due to the doctor leaving earlier in the night.

While complaining to his co-workers that the IRS would take most of the $35,000 ($332,360 today) left to him by his recently deceased brother, inmate Andy Dufresne asked if Hadley trusted his own wife. Offended, Hadley nearly threw Dufresne off the roof of the prison before he continued, saying that the IRS couldn't infringe on any spousal gift under $70,000 ($664,721 today). In return, Dufresne asked Hadley to give three beers to Ellis Boyd Redding and his gang, which Hadley obliged. Additionally, Hadley paralyzed Bogs Diamond, the leader of the Sisters prison gang, during a beating for repeatedly attacking and raping Dufresne. Dufresne worked for Hadley, doing his taxes, before Hadley recommended him to Warden Samuel Norton.

In 1965, after Dufresne revealed proof of his innocence to Norton, as well as the source of his claims, Norton had inmate Tommy Williams shot by Hadley under the pretense of an escape. When Dufresne escaped in the months after, he sent proof of Hadley and Norton's corruption. Hadley was arrested by the police, allegedly bawling as he was taken to the police car. He was sentenced to life with the possibility of parole after 20 years.

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