I also doubt he knew the realities of supermax. I won't debate the merits of supermax for Ted but even by prison standards there is an extreme level of isolation that is particularly psychologically damaging.
I honestly would not know how to handle knowing a family member was there, regardless of the severity of their crime. For me it would be much worse than knowing they were executed by firing squad or some maximum security prison where they can play paper chess with their cell mate all day.
guy was extreme end of the loner spectrum, probably into personality disorder range, and didnt mind solitude at all, the lack of freedom was probably what bothered him. he did maintain a ton of correspondence and probably ended up forming more relationships in a supermax than he ever had his entire previous life, by quite a bit.
I honestly would not know how to handle knowing a family member was there, regardless of the severity of their crime. For me it would be much worse than knowing they were executed by firing squad or some maximum security prison where they can play paper chess with their cell mate all day.