Adams County jail inmate kills himself after arrest following 15-year manhunt

3-29-16 Colorado:

An inmate at the Adams County jail, who was arrested last month after 15 years on the run from charges in Ohio, committed suicide on Sunday, officials say.

David Lee Skelly, 40, was being held in lieu of $1 million bail when deputies found him unresponsive in his cell.

The county sheriff’s office said in a Tuesday news release that lifesaving efforts by guards and an ambulance crew were unsuccessful. Authorities did not say how Skelly took his life.

Skelly was arrested Feb. 26 in Westminster by police and U.S. Marshals outside his workplace, the Residence Inn, after trying to flee on foot.

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.

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

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

Southern Nevada inmate dies in cell at High Desert

8-11-15 Nevada:

A 44-year-old prisoner serving time in Southern Nevada died on Sunday, according to the Nevada Department of Corrections.

Larry Royal, committed from Clark County on June 19, died in his single cell at High Desert State Prison, the department of corrections said. His cause of death will be released by the Clark County coroner's office.

Royal was serving two consecutive sentences of 96 to 240 months each for attempted sexual assault and attempted lewdness with a minor. ..Source.. by Ricardo Torres

Convicted rapist Danny Cromeans found dead in prison cell at state's Supermax Unit

11-11-2014 Arkansas:

An inmate with a long criminal history in Columbia and Lafayette counties was found dead in his prison cell on Tuesday morning.

Danny Cromeans, 38, who was serving a life sentence for rape, used a bed sheet to hang himself in a single-man cell at the Supermax Unit of the Arkansas Department of Correction in Varner, spokeswoman Dina Tyler said.

Tyler said that Cromeans was last seen alive about 3 a.m. He was found dead at 6:08 a.m. Cromeans was being held at the Supermax unit due to disciplinary problems, Tyler said.

The Arkansas State Police will investigate Cromeans’ death, which is standard procedure in such cases.

Cromeans was sentenced July 19, 2002 by Lafayette County Circuit Court to life in prison for rape, and to an additional 240 months on a related kidnapping count.

In January 1996, Cromeans was sentenced by Columbia County Circuit Court to 10 years in prison on separate counts of residential burglary and criminal mischief first degree.

Kidnapping suspect found hanged in Mississippi jail

10-2-2014 Mississippi:

Bobby Allen Osborne, 40, a South Carolina registered sex offender arrested in June in the kidnapping of a 13-year-old Southaven girl, was found dead in the Lafayette County Detention Center in Oxford, Mississippi.

Officials said he apparently hanged himself in his jail cell, where he was being held on federal charges that he transported a minor across state lines for the purpose of engaging in illegal sexual activity.

Lafayette County Coroner Rocky Kennedy said Osborne's death Tuesday appeared "consistent with self-inflicted hanging," according to a report from the Associated Press. An autopsy will be performed.

The investigation and eventual arrest of Osborne, of Anderson, South Carolina, came after the girl's mother reported to Southaven police on June 23 that her daughter had run away from home.

State must do more to prevent prison suicides

All suicides mentioned occurred in DECEMBER a bad time for inmates.

1-6-2009 Michigan:

A new administrator charged with improving Michigan's dysfunctional prison health care system has a lot on her plate in 2009, but looking into prison suicides must become an immediate priority.

Three state prisoners committed suicide within one week during late December -- as many as committed suicide in all of 2007. The Michigan Department of Corrections must ensure that prison staff are trained to spot signs of dangerous depression and know when to make appropriate referrals to mental health professionals. Ensuring such training and competence falls squarely on the department's health care quality assurance administrator -- a new position that reports directly to MDOC Director Patricia Caruso.

An estimated one in four of Michigan's nearly 50,000 inmates is mentally ill, increasing the risks of suicide. Those risks naturally increase during periods of stress, including the holidays, parole denials, initial incarceration, or following a return to prison.

Inmate found dead in Adams County hanged himself

8-15-2014 Nebraska:

An inmate found dead in the Adams County jail hanged himself, according to the County Attorney.

County Attorney Donna Fegler Daiss investigated the death of inmate Matthew Arterbrun in her role as county coroner. Arterbrun was found dead in his fail cell this past weekend. He was 39.

Arterburn was being held at the jail in Hastings, awaiting transfer to state prison.

Adams County Sheriff Gregg Magee says the county had been waiting on paperwork to make the transfer. Arterburn had been convicted on child pornography charges. ..Source.. by Brent Martin

Death of suspected Georgia child molester ruled a suicide

8-15-2014 Georgia:

ATLANTA — Investigators say the death of a man accused of repeatedly raping and molesting unconscious girls appears to have been a suicide.

Documents released this week under Georgia's open records law show the Georgia Bureau of Investigation determined that Matthew Coniglio died of asphyxiation in an apparent suicide inside a Savannah jail. The agency found no evidence of foul play.

Law enforcement officials accused Coniglio of recording himself raping and molesting girls who appear to be unconscious. Authorities found 56 cassette tapes in his Pooler home.

Charged with possessing child pornography, the 46-year-old suspect apparently hanged himself inside a cell on April 20. He died without giving investigators information that might help them identify the victims.

Family member IDs inmate who died Tuesday

8-14-2014 North Carolina:

Local officials were still mum on details two days after an Onslow County Jail inmate was found dead of an apparent hanging this week.

Dana Scott Hill, 39, of Jacksonville, died Tuesday in Jacksonville, according to his obituary. A family member as well as an acquaintance of Hill’s, neither of whom wanted to be identified, confirmed that Hill was the inmate who died on Tuesday in the jail.

Hill was in custody after being charged Aug. 7 with three charges of statutory rape, three charges of indecent liberties with a child, statutory sex offense and crime against nature. Hill had a court date set for Aug. 13, according to the North Carolina Court System.

Vinelink, an online system that allows users to check an individual’s custody status, had Hill listed on Wednesday as “out of custody” for “other reasons.” Officials at the Onslow County Jail confirmed Hill was no longer under their custody on Thursday but confirmed no other details.

Florida inmate found dead in cell

8-14-2014 Florida:

An inmate has been found dead inside a cell at the Pinellas County Jail hours before he was scheduled for sentencing in a sexual battery case.

The Pinellas County Sheriff's Office says detention deputies found 38-year-old Larry Kobielnik hanging in his cell early Thursday.

Officials say medical staff and Pinellas County Fire Rescue crews tried to revive Kobielnik, but he was pronounced dead a short time later.

The sheriff's office says Kobielnik was being held in a single person cell in the maximum security section of the jail.

An investigation of his death is underway.

Man accused of sex assault pronounced dead

8-6-2014 Nebraska:

Christopher Taylor, who tried to kill himself in the Lincoln County Jail six days earlier and had clung to life since, passed away at 11:15 a.m. Wednesday.

Taylor, who was accused of child sex assault, was pronounced dead at the intensive care unit of the Great Plains Health medical center in North Platte, where he'd been since he was removed from a cell in the Lincoln County Jail on the night of July 31.

Taylor, 43, was unconscious when officers found him around 8 p.m. He went by ambulance to the medical center.

Taylor was charged July 30 with sexual assault of a child after police went to the 2200 block of West 17th and talked to the alleged victim and her mother. The girl and her mother said Taylor sexually assaulted the girl the day before, according to the police report.

The girl was further interviewed at the Bridge of Hope intervention center, where it was determined that probable cause of guilt existed to charge Taylor, police spokesman John Deal said.

Deal said Taylor was the mother's boyfriend.

New York man convicted in child pornography case dies after being found unresponsive in prison cell

5-5-2014 Arizona:

TUCSON, Arizona — A New York state man sentenced to 37 years in prison in a child pornography case has died after being found unresponsive in his prison cell in Arizona.

The federal Bureau of Prisons says an autopsy will determine the cause of death of Benet Schmidt of Cohoes, New York, who died Sunday, a day after he was found unresponsive at the federal prison in Tucson.

According to the U.S. Attorney's Office in Shreveport, Louisiana, Schmidt pleaded guilty in April 2012 to engaging in a child-exploitation enterprise.

The office says dozens of people were convicted in the case stemming from an online child-porn bulletin board known as Dreamboard. ..Source.. by The Republic

County inmate dies from what authorities say is apparent suicide

6-3-2013 Florida:

SEBRING- A Highlands County Jail inmate Scott Alexander Wilkie, 37, died early hours Monday from what appears to be an apparent suicide, a Highlands County Sheriff's Office news release adds.

Wilkie was found unresponsive in his cell at approximately 2:20 a.m. Monday, the news release adds.

He was taken by emergency responders to a local medical facility where he was pronounced dead.

"Detectives responded to the jail and began a death investigation, which is the normal procedure under these circumstances," the news release states. "At this time the death looks to be an apparent suicide however the District 10 Medical Examiner is conducting an autopsy and an official cause of death will be forthcoming."

Once the death investigation is concluded, the sheriff's office's Internal Affairs Unit will begin an administrative review, the news release adds.

The mandatory review will evaluate all policies, standard operating procedures and protocols "to ensure a thorough assessment of the circumstances, immediate care and response provided to the inmate in this case. "

Sheriff Susan Benton said the family has been notified and "we are saddened for their loss.

She has personally known him since he was in middle school.

"One of our retired deputies spent much of his time as a school resource deputy helping Scott to get through some very difficult times as a youngster. As always, we will ensure a thorough review of the circumstances surrounding his death at which time the report will become public record." ..Source.. by Highlands Today

Accused ‘rough sex’ killer found dead in Weber County jail cell

11-15-2012 Utah:

An Ogden man facing trial in the alleged rough sex-turned-slaying of his girlfriend was found dead in his Weber County jail cell.

Weber County Sheriff’s Lt. Mark Lowther said Thursday that Jeffery Dean White, 43, was found by jail staff "unresponsive in his cell" at 9:11 p.m. Wednesday. Jail medical staff responded but declared White dead a short time later.

Lowther said the cause of death appears to be hanging. He said White was housed in the maximum security cell alone. White was not under any kind of suicide watch, Lowther said.

That surprised White’s Ogden defense attorney, James Retallick. "That’s rather baffling," he told The Salt Lake Tribune, insisting that testimony offered during bail hearings clearly indicated that White was unstable.

"There were concerns about his mental stability and that he might hurt himself," Retallick said, adding that he wanted to know how his client got hold of the towel that he apparently used to hang himself. "I’m not sure where the disconnect in communicating [his mental state] may have been."

Initially, bail for White had been set at $1 million cash only. At his video arraignment, that was reduced to a $250,000 bond. "That still was pretty steep for his family," Retallick said, so White had remained behind bars.

However, Lowther disputed that jailers had reason to believe that White was suicidal.

"I have been in contact with the jail administration. Mr. White’s conduct and behavior during booking did not indicate a risk of suicide," Lowther said. "I [have reviewed] other paper work [and] at this time can find no indication that the jail was notified of any concerns of suicide that were discussed during court proceedings outside of the jail.

"I also can find no indication at this time that Mr. Retallick contacted the jail with any concerns that Mr. White may harm himself," Lowther added.

However, he stressed that the matter would be investigated by the Weber County Attorney’s Office. The State Medical Examiner’s Office also was to conduct an autopsy. ..Source.. by bob mims

Convicted child sex offender commits suicide

10-2-2012 Ohio:

ORIENT, Ohio — News Center 7 has learned that William Rose, convicted of sex crimes involving children, committed suicide early Tuesday while at the Orient Center near Columbus.

There were no details immediately available about how the death occurred, authorities said.

Rose was at the correctional reception center, a part of the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction, before being transferred to the prison where he had been assigned to serve his sentence.

Inmates are processed through one of three reception centers, based on their gender and county of commitment, according to the ODRC. Male inmates from 63 counties across southern Ohio are processed through the center at Orient.

The 44-year-old convicted of raping three children was sentenced Sept. 28 in Shelby County Municipal Court to 27 years in prison. He was ordered to serve three, nine-year sentences consecutively — one for each of his victims.

Judge James Stevenson also fined Rose and classified him a Tier 3 sexual offender.

Rose, arrested May 29 for videotaping his sexual encounter with a 12-year-old girl, was released that same day, then arrested nine days later on charges accusing him of committing child sex crimes.

He had been indicted on four counts of rape, two counts of pandering obscenity and two counts illegal use of a minor in nudity-oriented material. He admitted to three counts of rape. ..Source.. by Springfield News-Sun

Man responsible for 1994 murder commits suicide

8-28-2012 Iowa:

A man who kidnapped, raped and murdered a Johnston woman in 1994 has killed himself in prison, authorities said.

Jerry Lee Proctor, 42, hung himself Friday at maximum-security Anamosa State Penitentiary, the Iowa Department of Corrections said. An autopsy was being conducted to confirm the cause of death as asphyxiation.

The body of Patricia Howlett, 38, a mother of two, was found in November 1994. She had been raped and beaten. Her throat had been slit and her body set afire in a softball complex north of Des Moines.

Proctor was arrested over a year later before being convicted of first-degree murder and beginning his life sentence in 1997.

Investigators later tried to tie Proctor to other killings, but he denied involvement. He also denied killing Howlett.

Corrections Department spokeswoman Lettie Prell said Proctor was housed in a close security unit, which requires a higher level of supervision than the general population. Prell said she did not know what materials Proctor used to hang himself, or why guards didn’t thwart the suicide.

Prison employees responded quickly, she said, got Proctor down and got him to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead 45 minutes later. ..Source.. by DesMoinesRegister.com

Cobb jail inmate dies

7-18-2012 Georgia:

A Cobb County inmate recently given three life sentences died Sunday night after he was found unresponsive in his cell, the Cobb County Sheriff’s Office announced Monday.

Robin Tracy Harrington died Sunday. Credit: Georgia Department of Corrections

Robin Tracy Harrington, 37, was in the Cobb County Adult Detention Center when sheriff’s deputies found him unconscious around 10:30 p.m., and staff and medical personnel started resuscitation efforts, the news release said.

Harrington was transported to WellStar Kennestone Hospital, where he was pronounced dead an hour later.

Cobb Sheriff Neil Warren said there was no evidence of foul play.

Harrington had been in the facility since being returned from the state prison system Dec. 1, 2011 to face charges of rape, aggravated sodomy, aggravated assault with a weapon and burglary. A DNA match led investigators to Harrington in a 2003 rape case, the AJC reported in 2010.

He was convicted and sentenced Thursday to serve three life sentences plus 20 years, authorities said.

“Any time there is a death of an inmate in custody, it is a tragedy for both the family and the staff of the Sheriff’s Office,” Warren said. “My thoughts and prayers are with Mr. Harrington’s family.”

Harrington’s criminal history included convictions for armed robbery, robbery, aggravated assault of a peace officer and fleeing/eluding police, according to the Georgia Department of Corrections website.

An investigation of the man’s death is being conducted by the Sheriff’s Office Inspectional Services Division, with assistance from the GBI and the Cobb County Medical Examiner’s Office, the sheriff’s office said. ..Source..