Former C-U activist commits suicide in jail

5-25-2011 Illinois:

URBANA — A former homeless activist who was sentenced to prison Monday for sexually molesting a young child apparently killed himself in the Champaign County jail early Tuesday.

Sheriff Dan Walsh said in a prepared release that Jesse Masengale, 24, who last lived in Urbana, was found hanged in the shower room of the satellite jail on Lierman Avenue in east Urbana about 3:30 a.m. He had been an inmate there for eight months and had shown no indication of self-harm, Walsh said. He apparently used a piece of cloth torn from a bed sheet.

Correction officers provided emergency medical care, and Mr. Masengale was taken to Carle Hospital where he was pronounced dead at 4:19 a.m.

Hours earlier, Mr. Masengale had been sentenced to 30 years in prison for molesting an 8-year-old girl who was the child of a woman with whom Mr. Masengale had a relationship.

He pleaded guilty in April to two counts of predatory criminal sexual assault, admitting to sex acts that occurred with the girl in an Urbana home between November 2009 and September 2010.

Judge Tom Difanis imposed sentences of 15 years on each count. Because the charges alleged separate acts, the sentences had to be served one after the other.

Assistant State's Attorney Duke Harris said the girl and her mother submitted emotionally charged victim impact statements for the judge to consider that touched on the girl's fear of Mr. Masengale and the sense of betrayal that both mother and daughter felt.

The girl had told her mother of the abuse in September and the mother immediately reported it to Urbana police. Mr. Masengale was arrested Sept. 20 and had been in the county jail since. Harris said he had no other criminal convictions.

Mr. Masengale was represented by Urbana attorney Bob Auler, who called friends of Mr. Masengale's from the Catholic Worker House in Champaign to testify on his behalf Monday.

Auler described Mr. Masengale as an example of a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. He said Mr. Masengale had readily admitted his criminal behavior but had a kind-hearted side ministering to those less fortunate. Auler said Mr. Masengale was "shattered" by the sentence. He knew at the time of his guilty plea that prison was the only option.

A Paxton native, Mr. Masengale was active in helping set up a tent city for homeless people in late May 2009 in the back yard of the Catholic Worker House, 317 S. Randolph St., C.

The tent city brought much attention to the plight of the homeless but was short-lived at that location because of zoning violations and complaints from neighbors. The community eventually transformed itself into an advocacy group known as Safe Haven.

After stays at a Mahomet campground, a couple of Champaign churches, and Restoration Urban Ministries, 1213 Parkland Court, C, Safe Haven disbanded about a year later because organizers and supporters said the its members lost energy and didn't have the "human or financial capacity" to establish a more permanent community.

The last suicide at the Champaign County jail happened in June 2009. Three suicides in 2004 prompted Walsh and the county board to contract for professional mental health counseling for inmates.

Walsh said Mr. Masengale apparently acted alone.

"In accordance with normal procedure, following being sentenced to a lengthy prison term on Monday, Mr. Masengale was interviewed by mental health professionals and there was no indication of any concern of self-harm. Mr. Masengale was housed in an open dormitory-like setting with about 30 other prisoners and had no significant problems while at the jail," Walsh said. ..Source.. by Mary Schenk

Teacher Charged With Sex Assault Committed Suicide

5-24-2011 Conneticut:

A teacher whose body was found in Beseck Lake in Middlefield on Friday after being arrested on sexual assault charges committed suicide, according to the medical examiner's officer.

Jeffrey M. Francis, 23, of Durham, died of asphyxia due to submersion.

Members of Francis' family contacted state police around 9 p.m. on Thursday to say he had been missing for several hours. They said he had left his home earlier that day and was expected to return shortly thereafter, state police said.

Troopers found Francis' car near Lake Beseck, just off King Road, and his body was recovered by state police divers about 1:10 p.m. He was pronounced dead at the scene, state police said. ..Source.. by HILDA MUÑOZ

Mesquite pastor accused of West Virginia sex assault commits suicide

5-22-2011 West Virginia:

As a Sunday school class of children sang “Jesus Loves Me” down the hall, the congregation of Mesquite’s Open Door Baptist Church huddled in the sanctuary and learned their senior pastor had hanged himself in a West Virginia jail cell.

The swift fall of Matthew D. Jarrell — “Brother Jarrell” — left the church in shock and mourning. A beloved pastor for seven years, the 41-year-old father of four was arrested on a sexual assault charge Thursday and pronounced dead just after 12:30 a.m. Sunday.

“All of us at our best are sinners,” proclaimed youth minister Danny Reynolds, banging the pulpit several times during his morning sermon. Later he said, “It’s not time to throw in the towel.”

But in the pews, many wept. And later that morning, the church’s interim leader appealed to the heavens to help his church through its suffering.

“We all need a little touch of God this morning,” associate pastor Rik Parcell told his flock.

Some church members said they believed Jarrell, who lived on a ranch in Terrell, was in Pennsylvania last week for a Baptist convention. Instead he was near Charleston, W.Va., on Thursday morning when a sheriff’s deputy pulled him over to ask about a brutal attack.

A 36-year-old woman had phoned police and told them she’d just escaped from a man who offered her a ride home from a bar, then drove her to a secluded area and sexually assaulted her.

Jarrell first denied but then later confessed to having sex with the woman, according to a criminal complaint. The Kanawha County Sheriff’s Department said the pastor had another sexual assault charge pending from a 2007 incident in San Antonio.

Some members of Open Door, a church with several hundred members and a fixture on South Belt Line Road since the mid-’60s, said they never knew about the 2007 charge. Parcell said he knew but that Jarrell had given him a reasonable-sounding explanation, so he didn’t do further research.

He said Jarrell was known to church members as a problem-solver. “He’s helped nearly everyone in this church,” Parcell said.

The new allegations and the suicide left the interim leader “dumbfounded,” along with his congregation.

The church is going to keep moving forward, according to Parcell, and will search for a new pastor and support Jarrell’s wife.

One sermon on Sunday was themed “what to do after your heart is broken,” and while no sermon directly addressed the pastor’s death or alleged crimes, they were surely on the minds of every worshipper.

“We want to honor Brother Jarrell and his family,” said Joe Scott. “We’re in grief mode right now.”

Beside him, his wife, Tina, a member since 1977, was teary-eyed. “We’re still going to go on as a church and heal and grow,” she said.

And Vernon Allred, a member since 1996, called Jarrell’s suicide “heartbreaking.”

“But we loved him as a man,” Allred said, “and we’re going to go on as a church.”

“We didn’t worship him; we worship Jesus Christ.” ..Source.. by FRANK L. CHRISTLIEB and JANA J. MARTIN

Broadway Flop IN MY LIFE's Oscar-winning Composer Brooks Commits Suicide

5-22-2011 New York:

Oscar-winning songwriter Joseph Brooks, famous for writing "You Light Up My Life," who has been awaiting trial on sex assault charges for two rapes, a sodomy case and two sexual assaults has committed suicide, reports the Associated Press.

The wire service reports that he was found in his Manhattan apartment and that "Police say Brooks was found Sunday with a plastic dry-cleaning bag around his head and a towel wrapped around his neck. There also was a helium tank with a hose attached. An autopsy will determine the cause of death. Police say a suicide note was found but they didn't reveal its contents."

Brooks, 71, allegedly seduced the women through Craigslist web postings and lured them to his upper East Side apartment with with promises of parts in his next movie. He purportedly boasted about his Oscar and offered to show it to them at his pad.

Brooks was the man behind the 2005 Broadway musical IN MY LIFE. The original book musical flopped, running 23 previews and 61 regular performances. In addition to writing the music, lyrics and book for IN MY LIFE, Brooks also directed the Broadway production. IN MY LIFE told how "a musician with Tourette's syndrome and a journalist with obsessive compulsive disorder meet cute at a grocery store-with some help from above- and begin an unlikely romance that proves that life's greatest affliction is the one they share-true love," as production notes described the show.

Brooks' "You Light Up My Life" is the most successful single record in the history of recorded music, selling more than seven million copies and staying at number one in the county for more than three months; total record sales of albums and singles of the song exceed 15 million. It received the Academy Award for Best Song when it was featured in the film of the same name (also written, produced and directed by Brooks), as well as winning the Grammy, Golden Globe, American Music, and People's Choice awards. In addition, Brooks has garnered numerous platinum and gold albums and singles, 21 Clio Awards (advertising's highest honor), the Golden Palm Award given at The Cannes Film Festival; 75 other advertising awards (he is a preeminent composer/lyricist and producer in the industry), and multiple ASCAP awards for pop and country music. Having conducted the New York Philharmonic, The London Philharmonic and the Royal Philharmonic orchestras, Brooks also composed the music and co-wrote the lyrics for Metropolis: The Musical, which was staged at London's Picadilly Theatre. ..Source..

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Joseph Brooks, 'You Light Up My Life' Songwriter, Found Dead in Apparent Suicide

Joseph Brooks, the Oscar-winning songwriter awaiting trial on sex crime charges, was found dead Sunday of an apparent suicide in his New York City apartment, police say. The 'You Light Up My Life' songwriter, 73, pleaded not guilty to rape, sexual abuse and other charges in 2009.

A police spokesman told reporters that at around 12:30 p.m., a friend found Brooks at his home with a plastic dry-cleaning bag around his head and a towel wrapped around his neck. A helium tank was nearby with a tube connecting it with the bag.

The friend, whose name has not been released, was at the Upper East Side apartment because the two had planned a lunch. The rep, Paul Browne, said an autopsy must be conducted before a cause of death can be determined.

A suicide note was found but its contents have not been revealed.

The composer (most famous for his 1977 Debby Boone hit 'You Light Up My Life,' which won an Academy Award and a Grammy) was charged in 2009 with 82 counts of sexual assault, and is currently awaiting trial. Brooks allegedly solicited "auditions" from starlets on the internet, doped victims with date-rape drugs and assaulted them.

His trial date had not been set and his lawyer and prosecutors have not commented on his death. ..Source.. by STaff

Former Yakima deputy dies in jail

5-22-2011 Washington:

YAKIMA, Wash. (AP) — Authorities say a former Yakima County sheriff's deputy who pleaded guilty in March to assault and rape has died in jail from an apparent suicide.

Chief of Detectives Stew Graham told the Yakima Herald-Republic Sunday that 37-year-old Sean Moore was found hanging in his cell Saturday night. Graham says authorities are investigating his death as a probable suicide.

Moore pleaded guilty March 11 to first- and second-degree assault as well as third-degree rape and burglary. He faced more than 10 years in prison. He resigned from the sheriff's office the day before his plea.

He was accused in October of entering the home of a woman he knew and assaulting her and a male friend. The woman reported that he returned later that same day and forced her to perform a sex act.

Moore had been kept away from the jail's general population and was alone in his cell.

An autopsy is set for Monday. ..Source.. by seattlepi.com

Sex assault suspect found dead at Cape camp

4-6-2011 Massachusetts:

A man accused of sexual assault at Camp Good News in Sandwich was found dead today from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound, authorities said.

It’s the same Cape Cod camp where U.S. Sen. Scott Brown spent summers as a boy. Brown said in his memoir “Against All Odds” that he was abused at a Cape “Christian” camp and after the book came out Camp Good News confirmed he had attended the summer getaway and apologized to the senator.

The dead man was identified as Charles “Chuck” R. Devita by attorney Mitchell Garabedian, who represents a client allegedly molested by the longtime camp employee. Devita, who is shown on the camp’s Web site, has not been identified by law enforcement officials.

He apparently took his own life with a gunshot to the head and was found in his vehicle outside the camp, a law enforcement source told the Herald.

The Cape and Islands District Attorney Michael O’Keefe and Sandwich Police Chief Peter Wack said today in a joint statement that the man was found dead from an apparent “self-inflicted gunshot wound.”

The suspect was recently accused of abusing a child who is now a grown man, they said. That probe will continue, despite today’s death.

The 43-year-old man left a couple of notes indicating he was going to take his own life, the source tells the Herald. The notes indicated that he was “tired of being accused” of molestation and also said goodbyes to loved ones, the source said.

Local and state police descended on the camp earlier this morning. A flatbed truck left the camp early this afternoon with a pickup truck on it.

Garabedian tells the Herald his client was supposed to meet with a state police investigator about today’s death. Garabedian said his client alleges he was repeatedly sexually assaulted at the overnight camp in 1985 by Devita.

Garabedian said three other people have now come forward today alleging they were also sexually assaulted at the camp — two from Devita and one from another man.

“Another individual has come forward alleging that he was molested by a different individual. I am currently investigating,” Garabedian said.

The attorney, who represented dozens of victims of pedophile priests during the Catholic Church sex scandal, said if the dead man is confirmed to be the alleged molester, the criminal case would end but he said he would likely continue to pursue the case civilly.

Garabedian said he has not spoken with Brown about the case.

O’Keefe this week launched an investigation into the latest allegation.

The camp has been in the news since Brown revealed this winter in his book that a camp counselor on the Cape molested him in the 1970s.

O’Keefe’s office began a probe into the allegations in Brown’s book but the investigation has been dropped and Brown has declined to pursue any charges. Brown said on the Howie Carr show today on WRKO (AM-680) that today’s death does not relate to his case.

“I have no evidence at all that the person who did it to me 42 years ago is number one even alive or number two is doing it again,” he said. “I’m moving forward in my own way at my own pace with my support system.”

A spokesman for the camp said in a statement today: “Camp Good News has been notified about a body being found. We are awaiting identification from the medical examiner before commenting.” ..Source.. by Dave Wedge And Joe Dwinell

Convicted sex offender from Iowa's Lee County used sheet to suffocate himself, official says

5-10-2011 Iowa:

CORALVILLE, Iowa — Iowa authorities say a 47-year-old inmate died from an apparent suicide at the prison system's medical and classification center in Coralville.

A news release sent Tuesday by prison spokesman Fred Scaletta (skuh-LEHT'-uh) says Robert Heather was discovered unresponsive in his cell a little after 5:30 p.m. Sunday. The release says Heather was in a sitting position on the floor. One end of a sheet was wrapped around his neck. The other end was tied to the top of a bunk bed ladder.

Attempts to revive Heather failed.

Although a crime in Heather's death is not suspected, it will be investigated. Scaletta says Heather was not on a suicide watch.

Heather was given 10 years after his conviction in Lee County for lascivious acts with a child. The term began April 28. ..Source.. by The Republic

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Former Southeast Iowa man serving time for sex crime commits suicide in cell

CORALVILLE – Robert W. Heather, 47, an inmate assigned to the Iowa Medical and Classification Center Reception Unit in Coralville, was discovered unresponsive at 5:32 p.m. Sunday in his assigned cell during a routine unit check.

Officers saw Heather, a former resident of Fort Madison and Burlington, in a sitting posi2tion on the floor with a bedsheet wrapped tightly around his neck and tied to the top of the bunk bed ladder.

Responding staff immediately removed the sheet from Heather’s neck, according to Fred Scaletta of the Department of Corrections. Emergency medical protocols, including CPR and automated external defibrillator, were implemented.

The local ambulance service was notified and upon arrival responders also were unsuccessful in attempts to revive Heather.

An autopsy by the state medical examiner has determined the cause of death to be asphyxia due to suffocation, according to Scaletta.

Although foul play is not suspected, the apparent suicide was not related to natural causes. Therefore, the death remains under investigation by IMCC security personnel.

Heather was serving a 10-year sentence for lascivious acts with a child from Lee County. The sentence began on April 28. ..Source.. by The Daily Gate CitY

Sex offender hangs self at Graterford Prison

5-3-2011 Pennsylvania:

A 64-year-old inmate at the State Correctional Institution at Graterford apparently committed suicide this morning by hanging himself in his cell, a prison official said this afternoon.

The inmate was identified as Albert Brown, of Philadelphia, said prison spokeswoman Jennifer Daneker.

She said Brown had been incarcerated since June 2, 1983. He was serving a 15-to-40 year sentence for involuntary deviate sexual intercourse and related crimes, Daneker said.

Medics were called to the prison on Creamery Road at 6:15 a.m., according to Daneker.

The medics tried without success to revive Brown. He was pronounced dead by prison medical staff at 7:03 a.m.

Montgomery County coroner Walter I. Hofman said Brown fashioned a noose by braiding a bedsheet and suspending it from a radiator pipe in the ceiling of his cell. Hofman ruled the death a suicide.

Brown, the coroner said, had a history of mental problems.

Brown is mentioned on Megan's List, a registration of Pennsylvania's sex criminals, as a "lifetime offender." ..Source.. by Bonnie L. Cook, INQUIRER STAFF WRITER

Suicidal inmate gave no sign of intentions, attorney says

5-3-2011 Wisconsin:

Rajib Mitra's lawyer said Monday that if Mitra had intended to kill himself in the Dane County Jail, he showed no signs of it during a meeting to talk about Mitra's appeal just hours before Mitra committed suicide on Friday.

Dane County investigators are trying to determine how Mitra, 33, gained access to a cleaning closet on the fourth floor of the Public Safety Building, where he was being housed in a pod that contained scores of other inmates, Sheriff's spokeswoman Elise Schaffer said.

Mitra was found about 5 p.m. Friday hanging from an overhead mechanical pipe in the cleaning closet. Schaffer said the sheriff's office is not disclosing what he used to hang himself or other details until an investigation is finished.

The Dane County Medical Examiner's Office ruled Mitra's death a suicide.

On Thursday, Mitra was sentenced to 6-1/2 years in prison by Dane County Circuit Judge Maryann Sumi for sexual exploitation of a child and possession of child pornography. The sentence was handed down just months after Mitra finished serving an eight-year federal prison sentence for jamming Madison police radios during Halloween weekend in 2003.

Mitra's lawyer, Assistant Public Defender Jon Helland, said the new sentence, which he and Mitra thought to be harsh, was coupled with extended supervision that would have barred Mitra from computers and required that he register as a sex offender.

But Helland said if Mitra felt the penalties were too burdensome, he never showed it.

"He was always the same with me," Helland said. "He didn't reveal much emotionally."

Schaffer said Mitra had been evaluated by jail mental health staff and was placed in an area where he would be around 40 or 50 other people instead of alone in a cell. But he was not on a suicide watch.

Helland said that he was "surprised but not shocked" that Mitra took his own life.

"To be pulled back in (to prison) when you thought you were out, that's harsh," Helland said.

Mitra was a 24-year-old UW-Madison graduate student in 2003 when he was charged in U.S. District Court in Madison with jamming Madison police radios. At the same time, he was dating a 16-year-old girl whom he had met in an Internet chat room.

When Mitra's computer and radios were seized as part of the radio jamming investigation, police found that portions of the computer's hard drive had been heavily encrypted, keeping police from discovering their contents until 2009.

Once decrypted, police found child pornography and sexually-oriented pictures of the girl. Mitra was convicted by a jury of the sexual exploitation and child pornography charges in January. ..Source.. by ED TRELEVEN