- "You make any noise, anything at all, I'm gonna open you up like a bag, I'll watch you bleed out all over the floor. Now you nod if you understand me. Okay, state massacre, the carousel hit, I hear you were there."
"What if I was?... You're a goddamn lunatic." - ―Punisher and Dutton[src]
The Assassination of Dutton was arranged by Wilson Fisk in order to use the Punisher to kill his rival for taking control of Ryker's Island before assassinating the Punisher as well.
Background
- "Cut the shit fat-man. I known guys like you my whole life, killed most of 'em, you ain't never seen a throne you didn't want to sit in. So I'm here to make myself crystal clear, there's only room for one of us in this prison and it ain't gonna be you, not ever. Because I'm the Kingpin of this bitch."
- ―Dutton to Wilson Fisk[src]
Soon after being incarcerated at Ryker's Island, Wilson Fisk was approached by Dutton, a powerful drug dealer who ran most of the contraband in the prison. He warned Fisk that although he made a name for himself on the outside, it was Dutton who ran the prison.
Although Fisk had promised his lawyer, Benjamin Donovan, that he would keep his head down and stay out of trouble, he began to make allies such as Miguel Valdez and his brother and Stewart Finney.
When Finney brought Fisk a newspaper covering the trial of Frank Castle, Fisk noticed that the Punisher had targeted members of the Dogs of Hell, a group with whom Dutton had dealt with before. He began to formulate a plan to get Castle to the prison to kill Dutton.
Fisk asked Donovan to bribe a guard to get a message to Castle: change his plea to guilty and when in Ryker's, he could kill man connected to the tragedy that took his family.[1]
Assassination
Frank Castle, armed with a shiv given to him by Stewart Finney, entered Dutton's cell block and easily killed the men who were with him. He interrogated Dutton until Dutton told him all he know about the massacre in Central Park. Dutton confirmed that the three gangs, the Dogs of Hell, the Mexican Cartel and the Kitchen Irish were there to meet with a mysterious drug dealer known only as the Blacksmith. However, the Blacksmith did not show up, and the gangs, riled, attacked each other. Castle then fatally wounded Dutton.
The Punisher survives the brutal battle
Although Wilson Fisk had promised Castle that the guards would let him out of the cell block after he was done, he betrayed him. The guards left the cell block locked but opened the individual cells while Fisk thanked Castle for his help.
The prisoners, after finding Dutton, attacked Castle, but he was able to brutally take them all out. Eventually, guards in full riot gear entered to take Castle away.[1]
Aftermath
- "You want me on the outside so I step on every piece of shit I see. That way, nobody gets strong, and we, the city's yours for the taking."
"Something like that. Yeah." - ―Frank Castle and Wilson Fisk[src]
Wilson Fisk visited a chained Frank Castle and admitted that he had underestimated him. He told Castle that he was helping him escape so that Castle could eliminate the rival crime factions in New York City, so that when Fisk was released, the city would be his for the taking. At first Castle was furious at Fisk for setting him up and attacked him, but being wounded and chained, he was no match for the ferocious Fisk.
Eventually, Castle accepted Fisk's help, although he warned him that the next time the two of them met, only one would walk away. Fisk replied that he was counting on it.
Castle escaped while disguised as a guard.
Shortly thereafter, Dutton died of his injuries, while a gloating Fisk told him that there was only room for one Kingpin in the prison.[1]