Samuel Norton (1907-1966) was an American official who served as the Warden of the Shawshank State Prison from before 1949 to 1966. Despite having a veneer of religious devotion, Norton was a highly corrupt man who allowed his right-hand man, Captain Byron Hadley, to brutalize or even kill inmates.
Later, he exploited Andy Dufresne into becoming his accountant, as Dufresne was the vice president of a bank in Portland, Maine before his framing for the murder of his wife Linda Dufresne and lover Glen Quentin. He laundered money for Norton, ensuring a very comfortable life for Norton when he retired. When Dufresne found out from inmate Tommy Williams that career criminal Elmo Blatch killed his wife, Dufresne told Norton, who threw him into solitary and orchestrated the murder of Williams.
Vengeful, Dufresne escaped from his cell with Norton's clothes, shoes and books, before cleaning out the laundering account at the banks across Portland, which held $370,000 ($3.5 million today). He also mailed proof of Norton's corruption to a local news agency, which prompted the police to arrest Hadley and Norton. Though Hadley was successfully arrested, Norton initially tried to make a final stand with his revolver, before changing his mind and committing suicide.