Suspected child molester died by hanging in East Bay jail

6-24-2016 California:

MARTINEZ — An inmate at the Contra Costa County jail in Martinez who died in a shower has been identified as suspected child molester Alexander Legaspi, authorities said Friday.

Legaspi, 57, of Bay Point, was found unconscious in a shower of the Martinez Detention Facility with a bed sheet tied to the shower frame Thursday. Legaspi was originally arrested July 6, 2015 on suspicion of 15 counts of child molestation.

A deputy found him about 7:15 a.m. after being notified by another inmate, spokesman Jimmy Lee said Thursday Medical staff responded. The deputy gave Legaspi CPR, but he was pronounced dead at the scene.

An autopsy was conducted Friday morning and the cause of his death was deemed to be by hanging, authorities said. Per county protocol, the Contra Costa District Attorney’s Office is investigating the death, along with the Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Office. ..Source.. by Angela Ruggiero

Alleged Child Molester Commits Suicide While in Custody

2-22-17 California:

Big Bear, California – San Bernardino Sheriff’s Department has released a statement stating that Richard Harold Todd, a 60 years old resident of Big Bear City, was taken into custody on suspicion of child molestation.

Todd was apprehended on Tuesday, February 21, 2017 at 1:20 p.m, without incident, when a search warrant was served on a residence located in the 300 block of East Country Club Blvd. He was then booked at Big Bear jail for Sexual Molestation of a Minor, Possession of Child Pornography and Possession of an Illegal Assault Rifle.

The jail deputy discovered Todd hanging in his cell on Wednesday, February 22, 2017 at 4:20 a.m. The deputy promptly cut the shoelaces, from which he was hanging, then proceeded to call for medical aid. The medical responders pronounced him dead on scene, Todd was housed alone in his cell at the time of the incident.

Sheriff’s Homicide Detail responded and are conducting the investigation. Riverside County Coroner will conduct the autopsy to determine the cause of death. ..Source.. by Ty Steel

Clare County Jail inmate found dead

1-22-17 Michigan:

State police from the Mt. Pleasant post are investigating the death of a Clare County Jail inmate.

John Engel, 54, of Harrison was found dead in his cell by deputies and corrections staff at roughly 9:30 a.m. Saturday, Clare County Undersheriff Dwayne Miedzianowski said.

It appears Engel committed suicide, the undersheriff said.

Deputies contacted state police and turned the investigation over, Miedzianowski said.

Engel was in jail awaiting transfer to the Charles Egeler Reception and Guidance Center at the state prison in Jackson, where male prisoners are taken before being placed.

Bristol police investigating murder; suspect identified as a neighbor with pending sexual assault case

1-10-17 Connecticut:

BRISTOL — A woman was found slain in her home Monday evening, and the suspect in the case committed suicide in a Hartford motel hours after the killing, police said.

At about 7:14 p.m., police responded to 66 Timber Lane when a family member found 59-year-old Gale McIntyre, the homeowner, dead. The manner of death appeared suspicious, as she apparently died of blunt trauma. Police declined to elaborate on McIntyre’s injuries.

Police said the suspect in McIntyre’s death — 44-year-old Robert Newman — was found dead in a Hartford motel at about 11 p.m. Police said he hanged himself. Newman was a neighbor of McIntyre, residing at 87 Timber Lane.

Newman was identified as a possible suspect as officers were interviewing residents in the Timber Lane neighborhood.

“Some neighbors expressed some concern about him,” said Detective Lt. Kevin Morrell.

No place to be sick: When jail cell becomes a death chamber

12-14-16 Washington:

Olympia makes no effort to regulate Washington’s jails, the state’s psychiatric hospitals of last resort

Jimi Johnson had been bouncing between the emergency room and jail for months before he was booked for the final time.

At 27, Johnson’s schizophrenia was feeding him hallucinations that only grew worse inside his Shelton jail cell. He downplayed them in a last letter to his grandmother – the voices, he wrote from solitary, were “not that BAD!!” Then, on April 23, 2013, he strangled himself with a bedsheet looped over his Mason County Jail bunk.

Two years later, it happened again.

Like Johnson, 31-year-old Brandon Dahl found himself locked up alone after a string of strange, minor crimes. Having been badly beaten during a purported “attitude adjustment” delivered by other inmates, Dahl tried suicide on Sept. 15, 2015.

Human remains found in woods after family dog discovers femur bone

12-23-16 Mississippi:

PEARL RIVER COUNTY, MS (WLOX) - Skeletal remains were discovered off George Mitchell Rd. in Pearl River County on Monday after a family dog dragged a femur bone out of the woods.

Coroner Derek Turnage said this is not the first time this dog has found human remains in the woods.

The black lab brought part of a skull out of the same area of woods on Aug. 19. Turnage said the area was thoroughly searched after the skull was discovered, but no other remains were found.

This time, search crews were able to have more success with the help of a bloodhound named Bo.

Pearl River County Emergency Operations Director Danny Manly said the owner of the lab contacted the sheriff’s department Monday morning, and deputies worked with members of the county’s search and rescue team to scour the area.

Grand jury deems prison death suicide, finds no wrongdoing

11-28-16 Nebraska:

A Lancaster County grand jury has determined a 33-year-old inmate at the Lincoln Correctional Center committed suicide in January and found no wrongdoing in his death, according to reports filed last week.

Charles Gipson was found unresponsive in a prison shower around 1:30 p.m. Jan. 13 after an inmate notified a caseworker, the grand jury's report said.

Prison staff found him him lying on his side, fully clothed with a bedsheet bound with a prison-issued belt around his neck, the report said.

Attempts to revive Gipson were unsuccessful.

Inmate Who Committed Suicide in County Jail is Alleged Child Molester from Bay Point

6-24-16 California:

The man who committed suicide in the Contra Costa County Jail in Martinez this week is an alleged child molester from Bay Point, according to the Office of the Sheriff.

The deceased inmate has been identified as 57-year-old Alexander Legaspi of Bay Point. Legaspi was originally arrested by the Office of the Sheriff on July 6, 2015. He was being held on 15 felony counts of child molestation; his bail was set at $22,000,000, the Sheriff’s Office said.

On Thursday at about 7:15 a.m. during morning recreation time, an inmate notified a Deputy that there was an inmate passed out in the shower.

The Deputy immediately responded and found Legaspi slumped over inside the shower. A bed sheet was tied to the shower frame.

Convicted rapist’s death at Maine State Prison ruled suicide

3-10-16 Maine:

The Office of the State Medical Examiner recently determined Donald Riley, 67, hung himself Feb. 11.

A Waterville man who died at the Maine State Prison last month committed suicide by hanging, the state medical examiner has determined.

Donald Riley, 67, who used the middle names Edwin and Edward, died at 2:15 p.m. Feb. 11 at the prison in Warren, according to the Maine Department of Corrections.

On Tuesday, a spokesman for the Office of the State Medical Examiner, which performed an autopsy, provided the manner and cause of Riley’s death.

Arrested pastor dies by suicide

6-28-16 Georgia:

A former Jeffersonsville, Indiana pastor arrested in Frankfort for attempting to have sex with a minor committed suicide Monday in Marietta, Ga. The Cobb County Medical Examiner’s Office told The State Journal Brown died of asphyxia from hanging himself.

The Attorney General’s Office Cyber Crimes Unit arrested the former pastor David James Brown, 46, when he drove to Frankfort earlier this month and attempted to arrange a sexual encounter with an investigator posing as a minor.

Given Brown’s death, Franklin County Attorney Rick Sparks dismissed the case with prejudice Tuesday.

First Christian Church had released a statement when Brown was charged saying it was “a sad day for our church,” and they had placed Brown on temporary administrative leave and he was “relieved of all his ministerial duties pending further investigations.”

Brown had been a senior pastor at the church for a little over a year and met the minor on the KIK messenger app.

Sex offender hangs himself in jail

6-13-16 North Carolina:

A Gaston County sex offender has died after he was found hanging in his jail cell last week, less than three hours after his arrest.

John William Gluth Jr., 44, was charged June 7 for failing to report his new Gastonia address to the Sheriff's Department. He was given a $250,000 bond.

He didn't live to see his first court appearance.

Found hanging

"He was found hanging in his cell," said Darrell Griffin, assistant chief of the Gaston County Sheriff's Office. "He was unresponsive and not breathing."

Gluth died Friday at CaroMont Regional Medical Center.

Gluth went to his cell, alone, at 11:49 a.m. that day while other inmates congregated in a common area. A deputy doing routine checks found Gluth at 12:19 p.m., unresponsive and not breathing with a bed sheet tightened around his neck, Griffin said.

Lawsuit: New Orleans deputies called suicidal inmate ‘rapist and pedophile,’ left him alone for hours before jailhouse hanging

This post covers suicide of "Ryan Miller." The Other suicide mentioned is posted elsewhere.

2-13-2016 Louisiana:

A young man who hanged himself last year at Orleans Parish Prison had been called a “rapist and pedophile” by a ranking deputy at the jail and was left unsupervised for hours even after warning guards that he felt suicidal, a new lawsuit claims.

The wrongful-death suit, filed this week in U.S. District Court, claims deputies deprived Ryan Miller, 24, of Harvey, of mental health care at the lockup and gave him ample means to harm himself by leaving him unattended in an attorney visitation booth.

Miller, jailed last year on aggravated rape charges, was found dead shortly before midnight on March 23, nearly four hours after he told guards at the jail’s Templeman V building that he intended to harm himself.

Authorities have said Miller died of asphyxiation after wrapping a telephone cord around his neck.

The lawsuit describes Miller’s death as “a disturbing and completely avoidable” chapter in a long history of in-custody deaths at OPP, the decades-old jail that Sheriff Marlin Gusman closed last year when he opened the $150 million Orleans Justice Center. The lawsuit says at least 45 inmates have died in Sheriff’s Office custody since April 2006.

Man imprisoned for brutal home invasion, sexual assault found dead

2-13-2016 Wisconsin:

A Milwaukee man imprisoned for a terrorizing home invasion and sexual assault on the city's south side was found hanging in a cell at the Columbia Correctional Institution, authorities said Friday.

Prison staff brought down and unsuccessfully attempted to revive Julio Quiles-Guzman, 25, when he was found about 5 a.m., Thursday, according to a news release from the Columbia County Sheriff's Office.

Initial results of an autopsy Friday indicate Quiles-Guzman committed suicide, according to the release.

In January, 2014 Quiles-Guzman was convicted of first-degree sexual assault/use of a dangerous weapon and robbery with the of threat of force for the June, 2013 home invasion on S. Muskego Ave., according to court records and a criminal complaint.

He was sentenced to 42 years in prison and 18 years of extended supervision, according to the records.

According to the complaint, he and two other men forced their way into a couple's home and bound them at gunpoint in front of their 4-year-old son.

Sex offender hangs himself in jail

6-13-2016 South Carolina:

A Gaston County sex offender has died after he was found hanging in his jail cell last week, less than three hours after his arrest.

John William Gluth Jr., 44, was charged June 7 for failing to report his new Gastonia address to the Sheriff's Department. He was given a $250,000 bond.

He didn't live to see his first court appearance.

Found hanging

"He was found hanging in his cell," said Darrell Griffin, assistant chief of the Gaston County Sheriff's Office. "He was unresponsive and not breathing."

Gluth died Friday at CaroMont Regional Medical Center.

Convicted sex offender dies in Alabama prison suicide

6-20-16 Alabama:

An inmate convicted of first-degree sodomy in Madison County died after a suspected suicide at the St. Clair Correctional Facility, officials said.

Correctional officers found Brian Tyrell Smith, 39, hanging from a bed sheet in his one-person segregation cell during a routine security check at 8:40 p.m. Friday. Medical staff arrived to revive the inmate, but he was pronounced dead at 8:50 p.m.

Smith was serving a 30-year prison sentence after being convicted in 2000.

The Alabama Department of Corrections is investigating the death. ..Source.. by Jonece Starr Dunigan

Prison death of Johnson County sex offender is ruled a suicide

7-6-16 Kansas:

The death of a convicted Johnson County sex offender at the Lansing Correctional Center in March has been ruled a suicide.

Leavenworth County Attorney Todd Thompson said Wednesday that there was no evidence of criminal activity in the March 14 death of Steven Paul Bradford.

There was also no evidence that anyone conspired to have Bradford hang himself, Thompson said.

Thompson made the announcement after reviewing a report by the Kansas Bureau of Investigation.

Bradford, 23, was serving a sentence of seven years and four months after he pleaded no contest to having sex with an 11-year-old girl in 2013. ..Source.. by Tony Rizzo

Lawsuit claims Department of Correction let Rikers Island inmate hang himself

2-5-16 New York:

The city Department of Correction let a Rikers Island inmate hang himself by ignoring a request to transfer the troubled man to suicide watch, a new suit alleges.

Fabian Cruz, 35, a convicted sex offender from Staten Island, killed himself in his holding cell New Year’s Day — hours after a psychologist recommended he be put under round-the-clock supervision, the Bronx Supreme Court suit says. Instead, Cruz was allowed to return to his cell — where his body was discovered in a routine check.

The suit seeks unspecified damages for Cruz’s mother and three children. Cruz had been awaiting a five-year sentence after pleading guilty to sexually abusing his girlfriend’s daughter.

The city Law Department said it would review the suit. ..Source.. by Ben Kochman, Reuven Blau

Suicide suspected in death of Worcester child-killer

5-24-2014 Massachusetts:

A Worcester man convicted of beating to death his 7-year-old son on Father’s Day in 2009 died yesterday — the third suspected suicide of a Bay State prisoner in less than three months.

Leslie Schuler, 41, was pronounced dead at 5:50 a.m. at Norwood Hospital — about 90 minutes after he was found hanging in his cell at MCI Cedar Junction in Walpole, according to the 
Department of Correction. ..Source.. by Erin Smith

Martinez: Inquest set for Discovery Bay child molester's in-custody death

11-15-15 California:

MARTINEZ -- Coroner's officials said they will hold a public inquest next month into a prisoner's in-custody death last June, the Contra Costa Sheriff's Office said Thursday.

Discovery Bay resident John Raymond Hansen, 54, died at Contra Costa Regional Medical Center on June 11, two days after Martinez Detention Facility staff found him unconscious in a housing module from an apparent hanging, authorities said.

Hansen was convicted of 10 felony counts of child molestation for sexually abusing three girls between the ages of 10 and 14 in Discovery Bay in 2006 though 2014.

There were other convictions for intimidating victim witnesses, and for assaulting a Contra Costa Sheriff's detective. According to court records, Hansen was drunk when he bit a detective on her hand when she was trying to interview him on the day of his 2014 arrest.

Gymnastics coach accused of child molestation found dead

9-20-15 Indiana:

An Indianapolis gymnastics coach who trained two members of the 2008 U.S. women's Olympics team was found dead of an apparent suicide in his jail cell, where he was being held on charges of child pornography and molestation, authorities said Sunday.

Marvin Sharp, 49, was found unresponsive at 8:17 p.m. Saturday in his cell at the Marion County Jail, sheriff's spokeswoman Katie Carlson said in a statement. She said foul play isn't suspected, but that she couldn't provide further information.

"A follow up investigation is being conducted by the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department, the Marion County Sheriff's Office and the Marion County Coroner's Office," Carlson said.

Sharp, who was the USA Gymnastics 2010 Coach of the Year, was arrested Aug. 24 on four local counts of child molestation and three counts of sexual misconduct with a minor.

Federal prosecutors, in a superseding indictment filed Sept. 14, also charged Sharp with nine counts of producing child pornography since 2002 involving six female students as young as 6 or 7 years old.