PA- Inmate hangs himself in cell

5-4-2005 Pennsylvania:

An Allegheny County Jail inmate hanged himself in his cell early Tuesday, hours before he was scheduled to plead guilty to charges that he taped himself having sex with children.

Timothy Elkin Walker, 34, of Brookline, used pieces of his sheet and shoestrings to commit suicide, according to Warden Ramon Rustin and the county coroner's office. He died shortly after 4 a.m., the coroner's office said.

Walker's hanging comes despite new procedures put in place after Eugene DeLuca, a Chicago-area hit man who had been sentenced to life in prison without parole, hanged himself in his jail cell Jan. 12. Rustin said after that suicide that he ordered guards to check cells every half hour. Walker gave no indication that he planned to kill himself, Rustin said. ..News Source.. by The Tribune Review

TX- Principal dead of apparent suicide

4-24-2005 Texas:

ANGLETON — Angleton High School Principal Marcus Cloud, 38, was found dead in a Waller County roadside park Friday night, the victim of an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Cloud’s death came hours after Hempstead Superintendent Mona Chadwick informed Angleton officials of allegations Cloud had engaged in improper conduct with a Hempstead student when he was a principal there, Superintendent Heath Burns said at an emergency meeting of the Angleton ISD school board Saturday.

The allegations initially were made Thursday evening, Chadwick said.

“There were allegations of improper conduct with a student,” Chadwick said. “There was nothing in there that said they had sex.”

Chadwick said the Hempstead Police Department is investigating the charges. The department is closed on the weekends and calls rolled over to the Waller County Sheriff’s Department

IL- Accused sex offender's death ruled a suicide

9-12-2008 Illinois:

PEKIN - A Tazewell County Coroner's Jury ruled Thursday that the death of an accused child molester was a suicide.

Brad A. Mason, 48, of 1506 S. Capitol St., Pekin, was found dead against the door inside his detached garage about 10:40 a.m. July 23. An autopsy and toxicology reports indicated that he died of carbon monoxide toxicity with a level of 81 percent in his blood stream, said Tazewell County Coroner Dennis Conover. He said 35 percent saturation is typically enough to kill most people.

Pekin police detective Rick Von Rohr said Mason had hooked a drier hose up to the tailpipe of his car and then placed the other end inside the car. His body was found against a regular-size entryway door at the back of the garage as if he were trying to leave the garage and collapsed, Von Rohr said.

Inside the car were pictures of loved ones, a cell phone, a one-hitter cannabis pipe and other personal keepsake items, said Von Rohr.

Von Rohr said that he was notified on July 22 that a 15-year-old girl had told her boyfriend that Mason was fondling her. The boyfriend went to Mason's home and confronted him and yelling ensued. Mason forbid the boy to return to the house.

The girl then told her mother, Mason's girlfriend, that Mason had been touching her. The woman filed for an order of protection and then left the home to stay with a family member, said Von Rohr. Officers were dispatched to the home on July 23 to serve the order of protection on Mason, which would have required him to leave the home. The girlfriend was there and told police she could not open the garage door.

Von Rohr had arrived to search the home. When the girlfriend retrieved the garage door opener from the house and opened the door, officers found Mason. The car key was still in the on position but the car had run out of gas. The small detached garage, he said, would have filled quickly with fumes.

Von Rohr said neighbors last saw Mason at about 10 to 10:30 p.m. on July 22 when he backed his car into the garage - which they said was unusual because he never parked the car in the small garage.

While investigating in the house, detectives found three messages on the answering machine. The last message was from Mason, left at 12:01 a.m., which said, "I didn't do what she said. I love you forever. Don't go into the garage. Let someone else go in." Von Rohr said Mason sounded very upset on the message.

Von Rohr said he never had the chance to question Mason or his 15-year-old accuser. He had not been charged with any crime. Mason's death closed the case, he said. Mason had no previous record of sexual abuse, said Von Rohr. ..News Source.. by Sharon Woods Harris

UK- Sex abuse accused commits suicide

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IN- Coach found dead hours before assistant's arrest

9-2-2008 Indiana:

PETERSBURG, Ind. - Pike Central High School's football coach was found dead in his home Tuesday, hours before a former assistant in his program turned himself in to state police in an investigation over text messages sent to a 17-year-old student.

Marty Deputy, head football coach and teacher at Pike Central High School, was found dead about 6:40 a.m. EDT at his home in southern Indiana's Gibson County, said Chief Deputy Coroner David Knowles. He said the death had been ruled a suicide, but declined to discuss the manner in which Deputy died.

Knowles said a note was left, but he declined to discuss its content.

Tuesday afternoon, Luke Musselwhite, 26, a former assistant football coach at the school, surrendered at the Pike County Jail in Petersburg and was arrested on charges of disseminating harmful material to a minor and contributing to the delinquency of a minor, state police said. The Jasper man was released on $2,500 cash bond.

Musselwhite could not be reached for comment Tuesday night. A man who answered the phone at the number listed for the only Musselwhite in Jasper said he did not know how to contact him.

Musselwhite resigned from his teaching position shortly before the start of the school year, state police said.

State police said Musselwhite was accused of sending more than 200 text messages, including several that were sexual in nature, to a 17-year-old female Pike Central student during October and November.

State police spokesman Sgt. Todd Ringle said Tuesday night that two teachers had been under investigation, but he could not identify the second one.

It was not clear how long Musselwhite had been Deputy's assistant.

Deputy, 31, was in his fourth season as head football coach at 650-student Pike Central in Petersburg and had compiled a record of 3-29, including a current streak of 17 straight losses. He previously was an assistant coach for one year at Jasper High School and one year at Pike Central. He also taught English and Bible literature at Pike Central.

Students at the high school and middle school were dismissed early after administrators learned of Deputy's death, and the school's football game Friday against Heritage Hills was canceled.

School was scheduled to reopen Wednesday. Grief counselors were expected to be available. ..News Source.. by Chicago Tribune