NY- POLICE: SUSPECT GRABBED DETECTIVE'S GUN, SHOT & INJURED DETECTIVE, THEN KILLED SELF

5-27-2009 New York:

A three-hour standoff at the Dutchess County Sheriff's Office ended when the suspect shot and killed himself, police said.

In a press conference this evening, the Dutchess County Sheriff's Office said an investigation was ongoing into the standoff , which left one detective injured from a grazing gunshot. The detective was treated and released from Saint Francis Hospital.

The sheriff's office refused to release the name of the detective or the suspect, citing the ongoing investigation the office is conducting. The Journal learned the suspect was Ken-Tweal Catts, 30.

Suspect's background

Catts was a level-three sex offender. He was described as a black Hispanic who was six feet tall, 172 pounds with black hair and brown eyes, according to the New York State Department of Justice Web site.

His last reported address was a hotel in Hyde Park.

Catts entered a guilty plea on January 27, 2004 for first-degree sexual assault, a felony. Catts had told Dutchess County Court Judge Thomas J. Dolan that he touched a 17-year-old woman and forced her to touch him in an apartment building on Main Street in 2002. On March 11, 2004, he was sentenced to two years in state prison.

Struggle, shooting

Catts was brought into the Dutchess County Sheriff's Office for questioning in an alleged sexual offense case. He was scheduled to be arrested and arraigned, the sheriff's office said.

Two detectives were in the room for the interview, which was wrapping up, when a struggle ensued. Catts grabbed a detective's gun and fired, the sheriff's office said.

“While being prepared for arraignment, the suspect attempted to escape and struggled with a detective, gaining control of the detective’s weapon,” Sheriff Butch Anderson said in a prepared statement.

Undersheriff Kirk Imperati said the gun was a 40-caliber semiautomatic pistol.

The man then barricaded himself in an unoccupied office. About three hours later, Imperati said, members of the sheriff’s Emergency Services Unit heard a gunshot, entered the office and found the man dead on the floor.

Detective treated, released

The wounded detective was identified by sources close to the investigation as Matthew Burhans.

Imperati said a bullet grazed the detective on the side of his head. He was treated at Saint Francis Hospital and released.

Back to normal

Roads around the sheriff's office in the City of Poughkeepsie have been reopened after being closed much of the afternoon. Sheriff's office employees who had been cleared out of the building were let back in after the incident ended with the suspects' death. Correction officers, however, were being allowed in and out of the jail, which is adjacent to the sheriff's office.

Rare occurrence

The armed standoff at the Dutchess County Sheriff’s Office today was apparently unprecedented.

Those with years of experience in law enforcement cannot recall anything similar ever happening before in either Dutchess or Ulster counties.

A number of them were asked if they could remember a hostage situation or armed standoff in a local police station or town hall – where local court sessions typically take place.

Former Dutchess County Sheriff Fred Scoralick said in his 20 years as sheriff –1979-99, as well as all his years in county law enforcement stretching to 1962 -- he could not recall a similar event taking place.

“Not in the years I was there,” said Scoralick, a Town of Beekman resident.
Ditto for Ulster County Sheriff Paul Van Blarcum, who has been in county law enforcement for 33 years. He did, however, remember reading in the newspaper in the late 1980s of the shooting in upstate New York – possibly Onondaga County – of two police officers by a prisoner.

“In court, an inmate grabbed a gun from an officer and a couple of officers got shot,” Van Blarcum said.

Capt. Bob Nuzzo, commander of New York State Police Troop K in Millbrook, said that Wednesday’s armed standoff provoked no memories of anything similar during his 22 years on the force.

“Nothing that I can recall,” he said.

Captain Paul Lecomte of the Town of Poughkeepsie police said outside of the occasional suspect resisting arrest, he couldn’t remember in his 29 years on the force of an officer having his or her weapon taken by a suspect.

Town of LaGrange Supervisor Jon Wagner, a retired detective with the Poughkeepsie town police, said he also could not recollect a situation mirroring Wednesday’s at the sheriff’s office. Wagner had a 22-year career with the town police, beginning in 1981.

“I can’t recall .... and I was a hostage negotiator,” Wagner said.

Evacuation

The incident unfolded inside the sheriff's office. Outside, police cars and other emergency vehicles responded, necessitating the closing of the street.

"We have a dangerous person in the building. It's a contained situation," Sheriff's Deputy TJ Hanlon said during a 2:15 p.m. press conference. The press conference was held at the intersection of High Street and North Hamilton Street, about two blocks from the jail at 150 North Hamilton St.

City of Poughkeepsie Capt. Steven Minard, acting chief because Chief Ron Knapp is on vacation, said city police were assisting the sheriff's office.

The sheriff's hostage negotiation team was deployed, but when asked if there was a hostage, Hanlon declined comment at the time.

Residents in the area were not being allowed into their homes, Hanlon said. One woman was arrested when allegedly she ignored police who tried to stop her.

Standoff drew police, crowds

City of Poughkeepsie Police Department Mobile Command Unit, emergency services from the city and town of Poughkeepsie, as well as the sheriff's emergency service unit were on the scene. Members of the FBI were observed as well.

Poughkeepsie Mayor John Tkazyik was there, as weredozens of bystanders on the road. Police tape blocked sidewalks.

"It has the potential to be a very serious situation," Tkazyik said earlier in the afternoon.

Tkazyik said there was no immediate threat to the public or the neighborhood.

Tasha Vailes 36, of the Bronx, was at the jail visiting her brother.

“They kicked everyone out of the visiting room, then they told them to get out of the building,” she said, noting she had come all the way up from New York City and only got to see her brother for 15 minutes. ..Source.. by PoughkeepsieJournal.com

Dead man was convicted sex offender

5-7-2009 Isle of Man:

A MAN found dead in Douglas on Tuesday was a convicted sex offender.

The body of Bernard Alan Jenkinson was discovered in a flat at 13 Belmont Terrace, at 9am.

In 2007, he was jailed for two and a half years for subjecting a 16-year-old girl to a terrifying indecent assault in May that year. ..Source.. by iomToday.co.im

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Sex offender died from self-inflicted stab wounds

7-28-2009 Isle of Man:

A CONVICTED sex offender died from multiple self-inflicted stab wounds, an inquest heard.

Bernard Alan Jenkinson was found dead at his home in Belmont Terrace, Douglas, by police on May 5.

Mr Jenkinson had suffered various injuries but the cause of death at that time was unknown.

His body was identified by Detective Sergeant Cathryn Bradley.

She knew him through her work as a police officer and had cautioned him for a breach of notification requirements under the Sex Offenders' Act.

An inquest into his death heard Mr Jenkinson had a history of falling and fitting and was known to have overdosed and self harmed. It was noted at that time there was a risk of accidental death if he self harmed while drunk.

In 2007 Mr Jenkinson was convicted of indecent assault on a 16-year-old girl and sentenced to two-and-a-half years' custody.

He was released on March 13 but failed to keep an appointment with probation on April 30. Probation officer John Robertson called round to his flat but got no response. He tried again the next day and left a letter. When he still hadn't heard from Mr Jenkinson on May 2, Mr Robertson alerted police.

Mr Jenkinson had arranged to see a friend at the end of April but failed to attend and didn't contact her, the inquest heard. When police called to the flat on May 5 the door was locked and the keys were inside.

The unemployed 48-year-old was dead on the bed. He had sustained several injuries, there were blood stains in the flat and a knife on the bed.

The incident may have taken place over an extended period of time, but there was no sign of a disturbance.

Three penetrating wounds to the neck which caused damage to his trachea and bleeding into the airways were the central factor in Mr Jenkinson's death. He also had two stab wounds to the abdomen and cuts on his left wrist.

Bruising to the frontal scalp, abrasions to the nose, a split lip, a neck and rib injury were consistent with a fall.

He had been dead for a number of days but there was no evidence to suggest the involvement of any third party.

There was no toxicology evidence that alcohol or drugs were involved.

Coroner Michael Moyle said: 'I am sure that the Isle of Man Constabulary would have carried out a full and proper investigation into this matter.'

He described the scene as 'a somewhat unusual sight'.

Foul play was initially suspected but in light of the post-mortem evidence, the fact that the flat was secure and evidence of previous self harm indicated Mr Jenkinson was the 'author of his own misfortune'.

But Mr Moyle said that despite the number and nature of the wounds he wasn't convinced Mr Jenkinson intended to take his own life.

He said; 'In the circumstances, while I am satisfied Mr Jenkinson did cause the injuries, a more appropriate verdict is an open verdict.' ..Source..

DE- State trooper charged with sexual extortion commits suicide in Smyrna

5-27-2009 Delaware:

Delaware State Police Cpl. Joshua A. Giddings, 32, apparently committed suicide at his Smyrna home Tuesday, May 26. Giddings was arrested May 11 after an investigation revealed he engaged in sexual relations with a woman he had arrested in exchange for not taking her to court.

Delaware State Police reported that emergency personnel were dispatched at about 6 p.m., to a home in the unit block of Wheeler Circle in Smyrna after receiving a report of an unresponsive man.

The man was found in the shed at the residence. He was unresponsive. Emergency personnel pronounced him dead at the scene.

He was identified as Joshua A. Giddings.

Foul play is not suspected, police said. The incident is a suspected suicide, but the investigation is continuing by the Smyrna Police Department.

PREVIOUS STORY:

Delaware State Police Cpl. Joshua A. Giddings, 32, who was assigned to Troop 9 in Odessa, was arrested by the DSP May 11 after an investigation revealed he engaged in inappropriate sexual relations with a 39-year-old New Castle woman while he was acting in his official capacity as a trooper March 19.

Delaware State Police Superintendent Col. Thomas F. Mac Leish held a press conference regarding the incident Monday, May 11.

“The charges against Mr. Giddings represent a very serious breach of the trust that is so vital to the relationship between the citizens and the police in a free society,” he said. “I am repulsed by the actions of which Mr. Giddings is accused.

“Those actions are in no way representative of the men and women of the Delaware State Police, both uniformed and civilian, who go to work every day with the singular goal of providing high quality law enforcement services to the residents and visitors of our state,” MacLeish said. “As public servants empowered with a great deal of authority, I firmly believe, as do my fellow troopers, that these actions cannot and will not be tolerated.”

The arrest of Giddings, a seven-year veteran patrol trooper of the DSP, culminates an investigation by DSP of alleged misconduct brought to the DSP’s attention by the woman.

The woman alleged that she and Giddings engaged in a sexual act while he was in the process of arresting her.

Information was provided and the investigation later substantiated that on March 19 at approximately 8:06 pm, Giddings was working in a patrol capacity when he was dispatched to JC Penney’s at the Christiana Mall for a report of a female shoplifter in custody.

The investigation determined that Giddings arrested the woman for a single count of shoplifting and for capias charges from a local court related to traffic offenses. The woman and Giddings agreed that if the woman performed a sexual favor that Giddings would not take her to court to face the shoplifting charges and capiases. Instead, he issued her a criminal summons to appear at a later date in court.

With the woman under arrest and detained in the police car, Giddings drove to a nearby secluded area and engaged in a sexual act with her. Giddings took her home in the police car.

Once DSP was notified of this allegation, an investigation was immediately launched and Giddings was suspended with pay and benefits. During the investigation, detectives secured a clothing item belonging to the victim, which was found to contain traces of seminal fluid. Consequently, detectives later obtained a search warrant to obtain DNA from Giddings.

The physical evidence obtained by detectives from the victim’s clothing and the DNA sample obtained from Giddings were sent to the Delaware Office of the Chief Medical Examiner for comparison. The two samples matched the DNA profile of Giddings and supported the allegation brought forth.

Arrest warrants were obtained and Giddings was informed of the arrest warrant. He voluntarily turned himself in May 11 to investigators at Troop 2 in Newark.

He was charged with sexual extortion – felony, receiving a bribe – felony, and official misconduct – misdemeanor, and upon arraignment, was issued an $8,000 unsecured bond.

Because of the arrest, Mac Leish has placed Giddings on suspension without pay and benefits with the intent to dismiss him from the division.

Mac Leish stressed that Giddings is an aberration and will be held accountable for his actions, both criminally and internally within the DSP.

“I share the same frustration as my fellow troopers and colleagues as we collectively try to comprehend why someone would choose to violate the public’s trust and tarnish the uniform so proudly worn by Delaware State Troopers for more than 86 years,” he said. “I will ensure a thorough review is completed surrounding the facts and circumstances of this incident to determine whether any measures can be taken to ensure this type of transgression does not happen again.”

Mac Leish said the investigation is ongoing. ..Source.. by Smyrna/Clayton Sun-Times

CA- Football playing sex offender found dead in SoCal

5-18-2009 California:

PASADENA, Calif.—A convicted sex offender and suspected killer who brought a coach's suspension when he was allowed to play on the Pasadena City College football team has been found dead of a gunshot wound to the head, authorities said Wednesday.

Darryl Stephens, 24, died May 18 at Arrowhead Regional Medical Center in Colton, officials said. He was found a day earlier in an Upland apartment.

An autopsy had not determined if the gunshot wound was self-inflicted, San Bernardino County coroner's spokeswoman Sandy Fatland said Wednesday.

Authorities had been seeking Stephens as a suspect in the killing of Darron Henderson in an unincorporated area near San Bernardino on May 5, sheriff's spokeswoman Jodi Miller said.

Henderson had been trying to stop a fight when Stephens shot him, Miller said.

"Homicide investigators learned that (Henderson) was intending to stop a disturbance, he was acting as a peacekeeper in a fight between two men," she said.

Pasadena City College coach Kenny Lawler remained on paid administrative leave eight months after he allowed Stephens to play on the team despite his being a registered sex offender who wore a government-issued GPS ankle bracelet.

The college released a statement at the time saying the school "does not condone the recruitment of players who have a record of sexual offenses."

Stephens had been convicted of assault with intent to commit rape, according to the Megan's Law Web site. ..Source.. by MercuryNews.com



CA- Pasadena football player found dead in apartment, was suspected of murder

5-19-2009 California:

A convicted sex offender who once played on Pasadena City College's football team while wearing a government-issued GPS ankle bracelet has been found dead in an Upland apartment and was suspected of a recent murder.

Authorities found Darryl Stephens, 24, in an Upland apartment Sunday suffering from a gunshot wound to the head.

He died Monday at Arrowhead Regional Medical Center in Colton, according Deputy Coroner Andrew Avery of the San Bernardino County Sheriff-Coroner Department. An autopsy is planned but has not been scheduled, Avery said.

Stephens was a suspect in the May 5 murder of Darron Henderson in an unincorporated area near San Bernardino on Third Avenue north of 41st Street, authorities said.

"Stephens was wanted for the murder of Henderson," said Jodi Miller, a spokeswoman for the Sheriff's Department.

Henderson, 30, of Rialto was trying to stop a fight between two parties when Larry Caldwell , a transient who once lived in Pasadena, pulled out a gun, according to sheriff's statement.

Stephens then took the gun from Caldwell and shot Henderson, according to the statement. Henderson died at the scene.

Caldwell was arrested Sunday in Rialto, according to a sheriff's statement.

Police are still investigating both the deaths of both men, said Jodi Miller of the sheriff's department.

Stephens made news in Pasadena in September when he was found to be playing on the Pasadena City College football team while wearing the bracelet. He had previously been convicted of assault with intent to commit rape in concert with another using force or fear.

The incident was first reported in the PCC Courier, the school's newspaper.

Pasadena City College placed its head football coach, Kenny Lawler, on paid administrative leave and launched an internal investigation into the incident.

Lawler was hired in 2006, becoming PCC's first African-American head football coach.

Prior to coming to PCC, Lawler was an assistant football coach at Mt. San Antonio College and at Boise State University. ..Source.. by Ben Baeder, Staff Writer

Timeline of Ireland's Catholic abuse scandals

Only the highlighted one is counted:

March 1999 Ireland:

Key steps in Ireland's struggle to confront child abuse committed by Catholic officials.

_ June 1994: Irish Catholic priest Brendan Smyth pleads guilty in Northern Ireland to 17 counts of assaulting five girls and two boys in Belfast. His order, the Norbertines, spent decades shuttling him among Irish and American parishes and harboring him from British arrest.

_ November 1994: Irish Prime Minister Albert Reynolds resigns and his government collapses amid claims his attorney general colluded with church authorities to delay the British extradition demand for Smyth.

_ July 1995: Former altar boy Andrew Madden becomes first in Ireland to speak publicly about abuse by a priest, says Dublin archdiocese paid him euro35,000 ($45,000) to keep quiet. Case spurs hundreds of alleged victims to pursue civil lawsuits against church authorities.

_ January 1996: Irish Catholic leaders tells bishops to report "without delay" all suspected sex abuse cases to police. Some bishops don't.

_ July 1997: After serving prison term, Smyth is extradited to Ireland and pleads guilty to 74 counts of sexually abusing 20 boys and girls between 1958 and 1993. Dies of a heart attack in prison one month into 12-year sentence.

_ January 1998 — Payne is convicted in Dublin on 14 counts of sexually abusing eight boys aged 11 to 14. Serves four years in prison.

_ March 1999: Rev. Sean Fortune commits suicide in prison while awaiting trial on 66 charges of molesting and raping boys in Ferns diocese. One victim, Colm O'Gorman, launches support group One in Four.

_ April 1999: Groundbreaking documentary series "States of Fear" exposes abuse of children in church-run workhouses, reformatories and orphanages since the 1940s.

_ May 1999: Prime Minister Bertie Ahern issues "long overdue apology" to all those abused in church-run institutions.

_ May 2000: Ireland authorizes Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse under direction of High Court Justice Mary Laffoy.

_ April 2002: Ferns Bishop Brendan Comiskey becomes first — and only — Irish church figure to resign because of a failure to stop pedophile priests.

_ December 2002: Ireland establishes board to pay compensation to people abused in church-run institutions. Claimants must renounce their right to sue.

_ September 2003: Laffoy resigns, says Ireland's Education Department is blocking the probe.

_ April 2004: Vatican diplomat Diarmuid Martin becomes Dublin archbishop. Pledges full cooperation with police in exposing past cover-ups of abuse.

_ October 2005: Probe finds church, police and state authorities did too little to stop sexual abuse of hundreds of children by 21 priests in Ferns.

_ December 2005: Redress Board says more than 14,000 people filed claims for compensation for reported childhood abuse in church-run institutions.

_ December 2008: Board says it has paid nearly 12,000 abuse victims an average of euro64,230 ($84,000) each, about 2,000 claims remain.

_ May 20, 2009: Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse unveils 2,575-page report into thousands of child abuse cases in Catholic-run institutions beginning in the 1930s until the last institutions closed in the 1990s. ..Source.. by AP

Missing man had been arrested on sex charges

5-19-2009 United Kingdome:

A MAN found dead near train tracks is a former junior school headteacher who had been arrested on suspicion of seriously sexually assaulting a child, it emerged last night.

Paul Powell's body was discovered by railway workers close to train tracks behind the old Cattle Market, in Norwich, on Saturday.

Mr Powell was a former headteacher at Loddon Junior School but he left following an investigation into a complaint made against him.

Police had been searching for the 45-year-old since officers went to his boat home at Oulton Broad after concerns were raised for his safety.

He had not been seen since Tuesday, May 5, and extensive searches of the waterways around Lake Lothing and the banks of the river from Oulton Broad to the sea had failed to locate him.

Mr Powell was arrested in February following a serious allegation.

A Norfolk police spokeswoman confirmed: “A 45-year-old man from the Lowestoft area was arrested on suspicion of a serious sexual assault of a child under the age of 13. He was released on police bail pending further enquiries.”

It is understood the alleged offence did not happen on a school premises.

An investigation was launched by British Transport Police after Mr Powell's body was discovered on Saturday at about 12.15pm.

His body was found in the undergrowth and police think he could have been there for some time.

Yesterday, police could not confirm if Mr Powell had been hit by a train and said they were waiting for post mortem results.

A Suffolk police spokeswoman said the death is being treated as unexplained, but there are not thought to be any suspicious circumstances.

Mr Powell offered to take leave from his post at Loddon Junior School in June 2007 while Norfolk County Council looked into a complaint made about him and other concerns raised about the school.

At the end of the month more than 50 parents signed a petition calling for his return and complaining that they had not been given enough information about the concerns raised by governors. Children at the school also started a petition in support of their headteacher.

By the start of the new term in September 2007 the board of governors and county council had finished their investigations and Mr Powell returned. But by the end of the month ill health caused him to leave work again. In June last year a letter was sent to parents saying Mr Powell would not be returning to the school.

Mr Powell was popular and credited with helping to improve the school after he took over in September 2006 at the end of a difficult period which saw four headteachers in two years and change from a middle to a junior school.

A Norfolk County Council spokesman said that Mr Powell took the decision to end his employment with the school. He said that the decision was made in the mutual interests of Mr Powell and the school on management grounds.

Beverley Hall, the current headteacher of Loddon Junior School, said: “This is tragic news, and the thoughts of the school community go out to his family.

“Clearly we still have some pupils and staff here who remember Paul from his time with the school, and we will be working to support them as appropriate following this news.” ..Source.. by TheJournal24.com

TX- Man charged in rape of San Leon girls found dead

5-23-2009 Texas:

GALVESTON — A man charged with the sexual assault of two San Leon girls was found dead, apparently by hanging, in his Galveston County jail cell Friday morning.

A sheriff’s office spokesman said it appeared Robert Bryan Dooley killed himself.

Dooley, 46, was arrested Tuesday on charges he raped two girls, ages 8 and 12. The convicted sex offender had moved to Galveston County from San Antonio to find work as a handyman after Hurricane Ike.

Sheriff’s Office spokesman Maj. Ray Tuttoilmondo said jailers found an unconscious Dooley in his cell about 1:30 a.m. Efforts to revive him were unsuccessful.

A note believed to have been written by Dooley was found in the cell. Dooley was the only prisoner in the cell, Tuttoilmondo said.

Dooley was in the one-man cell after medical staff decided he should be placed away from the general jail population, Tuttoilmondo said.

The medical examiner will determine the cause of death, but investigators suspect Dooley used a piece of cloth in the cell as a makeshift noose.

Tuttoilmondo said the sheriff’s criminal investigation division and the office of professional standards are investigating. As a matter of protocol, the Texas attorney general and the Galveston County district attorney also will investigate. ..Source.. by T.J. Aulds, The Daily News

MD- Suspected online rapist kills himself after police stand-off

7-24-2008 Maryland:

A 33-year-old Suitland man suspected of raping women he met on craigslist.org, a community and networking Web site, died July 23 after he shot himself during a police barricade in Hyattsville.

Mark Humphries, 33, of the 4100 block of Suitland Road barricaded himself for several hours yesterday in a Hyattsville apartment, located in the 4200 block of Oglethorpe Street, according to a police news release.

Humphries is suspected of nine rapes in Prince George’s County over the past several months, including a July 14 rape that occurred on Malcolm Road. Police say they suspect he met at least eight of his victims through craigslist.org.

Police arrived at the Hyattsville apartment at about 12:30 p.m. July 23 with a warrant for his arrest, and after several hours of a stand-off, they heard a gun shot. Humphries shot himself one time in his upper body, and was transported to a hospital for his injuries. He died at 10:30 p.m, according to police.

Police ruled his death a suicide, but will continue investigating the rapes.

“There might be other victims involved, and they’ll wrap up the investigation,“ Prince George’s County Police spokesman Stephen Pacheco said. ..Source.. by Elahe Izadi | Staff Writer

FL- 'North Dade Rapist' found hanged in jail cell

5-21-2009 Florida:

A man convicted of raping a slew of women and girls in North Miami-Dade apparently hanged himself in his jail cell early Wednesday.

Sedrick Williams, the convicted rapist who police say terrorized North Miami-Dade for more than a year, committed suicide in jail Wednesday, authorities said.

He apparently hanged himself.

His body was discovered about 4:45 a.m., said Janelle Hall, a jail spokeswoman.

Miami-Dade detectives are investigating the suicide, which is standard in all jail deaths.

The police department did not divulge how Williams hanged himself.

Williams, dubbed the North Dade Rapist, had already been sentenced to six life terms in connection with a series of attacks in 2002 and 2003.

The 34-year-old was awaiting trial on four cases involving a slew of sexual battery and armed burglary charges, Miami-Dade court records show.

For almost a year, starting on Christmas Day 2002, the North Dade Rapist terrorized northern Miami-Dade County, sneaking into his victims' homes through open windows or doors, and covering his face with a mask or a T-shirt. He used a gun, or sometimes a knife, to frighten his victims into silence during the middle-of-the-night attacks.

The youngest victim, a 7-year-old girl, was raped in front of her 8-year-old sister. DNA linked him to the crimes, Miami-Dade prosecutors said.

Williams was being held in a one-person safety cell at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center.

TGK corrections officers are supposed to check on inmates every 30 minutes, spokeswoman Hall said.

Williams is not the first high-profile inmate to hang himself in recent years while in custody of Miami-Dade corrections.

In May 2007, inmate Walter Choute -- accused of fatally shooting a Burger King manager during a robbery in North Miami -- committed suicide by slipping a bedsheet noose through the mesh of a vent over his toilet at the Metro West Detention Center. ..Source.. by DAVID OVALLE

NC- Sheriff: Inmate had been in fight (Jailed for Failure to Register as a Homeless Person)

5-19-2009 North Carolina:

MORGANTON - The inmate who apparently killed himself in jail on Thursday was recovering from injuries he received during a jail fight

Timothy Lee Hurd, 48, a Catawba County inmate at the Burke-Catawba District Confinement Facility, was pronounced dead just before 10 p.m. Thursday, said Burke County Sheriff John McDevitt, who also is the chairman of the board of directors for BCDCF.

Hurd was placed in a medical holding cell after being treated at a local hospital for fight injuries and to isolate him from other inmates.

Catawba County on May 12 charged Hurd with failing to register as a sexual offender.
McDevitt said some inmates "didn't like the fact he was a sex offender," and that's what led to the fight


When Hurd returned from the hospital he was given a bag with his belongings in it, McDevitt said. Hurd was able to take the bag with him in the cell, he said.

It was a string from that bag that Hurd apparently used to hang himself, said Maj.

David Pendley with the Burke County Sheriff's Office.

McDevitt said that at BCDCF as long as an inmate isn't combative or suicidal, he or she is allowed to keep shoe strings and that sort of thing. Hurd was not considered suicidal, McDevitt said. That's why Hurd was allowed to take the bag with him into the cell, he said.

Officers at the jail last saw Hurd alive at 9:01 p.m. reports said. The inmate was reading a Bible.

Fourteen minutes later jailers found him hanging from a sink in the cell. A suicide note was tucked into the Bible, according to officials. It appeared he first tried to hang himself from the ceiling, McDevitt said, but the string broke.

Jailers make rounds through the facility every 30 minutes, unless there has been a suicide threat, McDevitt said.

In that case, jailers check on inmates every 15 minutes, he said.

Hurd was not under suicide watch.

He did have a faint pulse when jailers found him, but was pronounced dead at 9:55 p.m., Pendley said.

McDevitt said it will be about six weeks before they receive results from an autopsy on Hurd.

Hurd was convicted in April, 2003 in Steuben County, New York on sexual offense charges.

When he was jailed, his address was listed as "homeless," he has a previous address of Beaverton, Oregon.

Hurd's son, McDevitt said, was contacted after Hurd's death.

The SBI is investigating the death.

The last death at BCDCF was Jan. 27, 2007, when Heather Renae Fredell, 28, overdosed from a drug taken before she was jailed, McDevitt said an autopsy concluded. ..News Source.. by Sharon McBrayer | The News Herald

VA- Man who jumped from bridge faced sex charges

See Private Information:1-14-2009 Virginia:

Man who jumped to his death had charges against him

The man who jumped off an Interstate 95 bridge and died Tuesday was just about to be arrested on child molestation charges in Stafford County.

Court records show that warrants for 46-year-old _________ had already been obtained.

He was charged with aggravated sexual battery and taking indecent liberties with a child.

Sources said the Sheriff’s Office had called _____ about 20 minutes before his jump and asked him to come to the office to be served with the warrants. A detective had already interviewed ______ about the allegations.

CA- Body at fire scene ID'd as suspect in child porn case

4-5-2008 California:

A Los Gatos businessman facing child pornography charges was found dead in a car inside a building gutted by a four-alarm fire early Friday morning in northeast San Jose.

As of late Friday, the Santa Clara County Coroner's Office had not named the man.

But MediaNews has learned he was George Wayne Halldin, 58. Police suspect he killed himself inside his car sometime before 4:55 a.m., when a fire erupted in a two-story building at 850 Faulstich Court, off Oakland Road, a short distance from Highway 101 and Interstate 880.

Fire officials would not discuss a possible cause of the fire.

According to court records, Halldin was facing three felony counts of distributing, receiving and possessing child pornography. The charges were filed in February based on pornographic photos allegedly found on Halldin's laptop computer in one of his Fremont offices.

If convicted, he could have faced a minimum of five years in prison, authorities have said.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Eumi Choi said Halldin had been scheduled to show up in court in San Jose at

11 a.m. Friday for a bail revocation hearing because he allegedly violated terms of his release. She did not elaborate.

Federal public defender Nicholas Humy did not return phone calls seeking comment.

Halldin's estranged wife, who left him after she found out about the pornography case and who asked not to be identified, declined to comment through a friend.

But the friend confirmed that the body was Halldin's.

A neighbor and employee had only nice things to say about the man who owned several companies.

Ruth Achziger, 84, said she has lived next door to Halldin for nearly two decades on Longwood Drive in Los Gatos. The coroner and police knocked on her door about 10:30 a.m. Friday, asking where they could find Halldin's wife, to alert her that he was dead, Achziger said.

"They are the nicest people," Achziger said. "I saw George on Easter and said, 'Happy Easter' and he said, 'Same to you.'"

Ruben Lopez, an employee of the burned business, Enclosures Engineering, said he started working for Halldin at $25 an hour a few months ago, making small plastic parts for computers.

Lopez said he had no idea his boss was in any legal trouble.

"He didn't talk to me about his personal life," Lopez said. "I never had no problem with him. He was easygoing. ... I didn't know anything about his life."

Fire Capt. Craig Schwinge would not say much about the blaze, other than there were a "lot of moving parts" and "more information will probably come out next week."

Arson investigators began working the scene early in the day, as 60 firefighters fought the blaze, which collapsed the roof and forced crews to douse the flames from outside the building on ladder trucks.

Passers-by from several miles away could see plumes of black clouds from Interstate 880, and motorists who rolled down their windows could easily smell the smoke.

The property at 850 Faulstich Court was valued by the Santa Clara County Assessor at $3.8 million, including $2.2 million for the building, according to the assessor's Web site. ..Source.. by Lisa Fernandez

AR- Suicide suspected in deaths of couple

12-11-2005 Arkansas:

RO GERS — A couple charged this week with myriad child-sex crimes, including incest and child pornography, committed suicide in their home Saturday evening, Rogers police said.

According to the police, Joe Billy Canoy, 41, and Shawna Lee Anne Canoy, 32, were found dead of suspected asphyxiation after a neighbor, thinking something was wrong, broke down the home’s door.

The neighbor found the Canoys inside a vehicle in the garage about 5 p. m., said Kelley Cradduck, spokesman for the Rogers Police Department.

“It’s pretty clear-cut,” Cradduck said. “We don’t believe there is any foul play.”

Cradduck wouldn’t say if police found a suicide note.

OR- Firefighter accused of sexual abuse found dead

12-28-2005 Oregon:

A Sutherlin man arrested last week on charges he sexually abused some boys was found dead Saturday afternoon in a Grants Pass motel room.

The body of Michael Shane Shipley, 35, was discovered after employees at the motel called police after becoming worried because they hadn’t seen Shipley in two days. Police officers entered the room at about 12:30 p.m. and found Shipley dead of an apparent suicide, said Detective Dave Daniel of the Grants Pass Department of Public Safety.

Shipley, a firefighter and paramedic who had spent the past five years with the North Douglas County Fire & EMS in Drain, was arrested Tuesday on two counts of third-degree sex abuse. He was taken to the Douglas County Jail in Roseburg, where he was cited and released.

Shipley had once served as chief of the Fair Oaks Rural Fire District east of Sutherlin. He also spent six years as a paramedic with Douglas County Search and Rescue and had worked at the Sutherlin and Winston-Dillard fire departments.

Police in Grants Pass did not say how Shipley died. An autopsy will be conducted by the Josephine County Medical Examiner’s Office to determine the cause of death.

Sgt. Darin Lux of the Oregon State Police, the lead investigator in the criminal case against Shipley, said this morning he wasn’t sure how he would proceed. If other victims say they were abused by Shipley, it would be good to identify them so they could receive counseling.

However, he said he doesn’t want to put anyone through further trauma for a case that will no longer go forward.

“I’m weighing the pros and cons on continuing the investigation,” Lux said. “I’m not sure what I’m going to do.” ..Source.. by John Sowell

CA- Colleagues shocked by CHP officer's suicide

1-20-2006 California:

A 40-year-old California Highway Patrol sergeant took his life three days after Folsom police searched the officer's home, investigating a claim that he molested a 3-year-old boy, officials said Thursday. CHP officials took away Brian Frank Nicholson's gun and badge Jan. 6, the same day Folsom police executed a search warrant, said John Rolin, assistant chief of the CHP Valley Division.

"We were all shocked here, these things are all shocking," he said. "He was a very good supervisor, a great investigator. To my knowledge, there's no history of anything like this," Rolin said of Nicholson, a 17-year CHP veteran.

Folsom police spokesman Kurt Knudsen said a family friend reported on Dec. 29 that Nicholson molested the boy in November. Knudsen said the alleged conduct would have amounted to a felony. "We did not even have an opportunity to interview Mr. Nicholson because he took his life on the 9th," Knudsen said. "This was very early stages of the investigation."

Passers-by on the west side of Lake Tahoe found Nicholson's body at daybreak in the parking lot of an overlook above Emerald Bay, said El Dorado County Sheriff's Lt. Marc Adams. Officials determined that Nicholson died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Investigators also found an audio recording, in which he addressed the Folsom Police Department, the CHP and his family. Adams said he would not elaborate further on the recording's contents, which were turned over to his family.

Knudsen said the 3-year-old boy was interviewed at the Sacramento County multidisciplinary interview center, which has child-oriented rooms where social workers interview possible victims of abuse and detectives watch through one-way glass. During the search of Nicholson's home, detectives confiscated two lap-top computers, a desktop computer, several cameras and two guns, said Folsom police detective Steve Robinson. "We haven't gone through the computers yet, but we didn't find anything that was startling," he said.

Folsom police notified the CHP of the investigation that day, Rolin said. The CHP began a routine investigation and relieved Nicholson of duty. "It's hard to trust our people when they're under investigation for that kind of thing," he said. ..Source.. by Christina Jewett -- Bee Staff Writer

PA- Child porn collector commits suicide

2-16-2006 Pennsylvania:

NORRISTOWN -- A day before he was to be punished for collecting more than 95,000 images of child pornography or erotica on his home computer, an Upper Providence man took his own life, authorities confirmed. Daniel Joseph Worth, 35, of Providence Forge, died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head as he sat in a car outside a relative’s home in Perkiomen Township shortly after 2 p.m. Monday, according to Montgomery County Assistant District Attorney Barbara Ashcroft.

The county coroner’s office ruled Worth’s death a suicide, according to prosecutors. Worth was pronounced dead at 2:23 p.m., authorities said. "On the eve of being sentenced for what was a very egregious child pornography possession collection, the defendant’s desperation over potentially doing substantial jail time may have played into his decision to end his life," Ashcroft said on Wednesday. Worth faced a possible maximum sentence of 49 years in prison on the charges. ..Source.. by Carl Hessler Jr.

IN- Firefighter Kills Himself After Out-Of-State Sex Arrest

2-18-2006 Indiana:

INDIANAPOLIS -- A Lawrence Township firefighter, who was arrested for traveling to Ohio to meet with a fictitious minor he had chatted with online, killed himself soon after the arrest.

Detectives said Cpl. Tim Craney, 29, died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head early Saturday.

Marion County sheriff's deputies started searching for Craney at about 2:30 a.m. after family members found a suicide note in his apartment. His body was found at about 4 a.m., 6News' Tanya Spencer reported.

Craney was a Lawrence Township firefighter for nine years. Chief Warren White had placed him on paid leave Friday after the arrest.

Police said Craney had traveled to Fairborn, Ohio to solicit sex from a minor. But, officials said the person he had been chatting with on the Internet was actually a Fairborn police detective.

"He was an above average firefighter," White said. "He was a good person, did his job, showed up on time. He had been incarcerated and, when that happens, we have a step program, and that program at that point was to put him on administrative leave until we found out the details."

The details will now remain at least partially unknown. Craney bonded out of jail in Ohio just 12 hours before he took his own life in a cornfield near his apartment.

"A family member had received a call from him indicating that he was requesting that particular family member to report to their home in the morning, that his wife would be upset," said Marion County sheriff's Maj. Larry Jahnke.

Craney was newly married. He leaves behind a wife and extended family. His firefighter family mourns one of their own.

"When one brother falls, no matter how, it's tough on everybody and we are just saddened," White said. "Taking their own life under an allegation -- I just would have hoped that we could have helped and that's the empty feeling that I think all of us feel."

The fire department has counselors available for any of Craney's colleagues. ..Source.. by INDYchannel.com

NV- Siskiyou deputy kills self after molestation charges

2-25-2006 Nevada:

LAKE SHASTINA - The search for a Siskiyou County sheriff's sergeant wanted on charges of molesting a teenager ended in a Las Vegas motel room, where his body was found Thursday morning with a bullet wound to the head.

The Clark County, Nev., coroner's office ruled the death a suicide, a spokeswoman said.

Sgt. Glenn A. Kruger, 43, of Lake Shastina, is survived by his wife and three sons. He had been with the Sheriff's Department for eight years and most recently was a patrol sergeant for the Yreka area.

"He was a great officer. I've been the sheriff for three years, and he was one of the best I had. Unfortunately, people sometimes make errors in judgment," Siskiyou County Sheriff Rick Riggins said about the allegations Kruger faced.

Kruger fled the north state area before he could be arrested on charges stemming from a complaint filed with the Lake Shastina Police Department by a 16-year-old, whose name and gender were not released.

Lake Shastina Police Chief Rick Alves told The Bee earlier this week that a $100,000 warrant was issued for Kruger on Tuesday afternoon on charges of sexual battery by restraint, attempted unlawful sexual intercourse, child molestation and dissuading a witness from reporting a crime.

Alves said the alleged sexual misconduct did not happen while the officer was on duty. He contacted Kruger asking him to come to the police station for an interview, but the officer left the area before the interview could take place.

"There's no doubt the teenager was right in making a report," Sheriff Riggins said, adding that counseling is available to the family "as well as for everyone in the department."

Riggins lamented the sergeant's death. "This is a very difficult situation for everyone concerned. For the department, it's like a death in the family."

Kruger was promoted to sergeant in September, 2005. He was a crisis negotiator for the Sheriff Department's special response team. He and six other members were recognized as Deputy Sheriff of the Year and County Peace Officer of the Year in 2004.

The sheriff said everyone on the team deserved their awards after a domestic violence shooting.

A memorial service is planned for March 3, in Mount Shasta. The Siskiyou County Deputy Sheriff's Association has set up a memorial fund at P.O. Box 42, Yreka, CA 96097. ..Source.. by Christine Vovakes -- Sacramento Bee Correspondent

ID- State AG concludes jailer committed suicide

4-16-2006 Idaho:

Investigation reveals inappropriate behavior with female inmates

The Idaho attorney general's office has concluded that former Blaine County jailer Michael Lance was "engaged in inappropriate behavior" with female inmates prior to committing suicide in August 2005.

In a letter dated Thursday to Blaine County Prosecuting Attorney Jim Thomas, Deputy Attorney General Stephen Bywater wrote that the investigation was unable to determine if Lance had sex with former inmate Gretchen Biddle, who had alleged sexual contact with Lance in the Blaine County Jail in June and July 2005.

"Our investigation into the allegations of inappropriate sexual contact between Michael Lance and Ms. Biddle was unable to establish definitively whether or not Mr. Lance engaged in inappropriate sexual contact with Ms. Biddle," Bywater wrote. "It did reveal substantial evidence, however, that Mr. Lance engaged in inappropriate behavior with this and other female inmates of Blaine County."

Prior to his death, Lance's conduct was under investigation by the Magic Valley Critical Incident Task Force, an eight-county cooperative that assists law enforcement agencies with internal investigations.

The attorney general's office further concluded that Lance died from "a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head." His body was found Aug. 25, 2005, on a hill above Water Gulch Ranch, east of the Woodside area of Hailey.

Lance, who lived in Hailey, was 47. He had worked for the Blaine County Sheriff's Office for nearly 11 years.

The investigation into Lance's conduct did not involve convicted Bellevue murder Sarah M. Johnson, who alleged she was raped in the Blaine County Jail in 2004. Results of a lengthy investigation into her allegations were released Monday. Blaine County authorities concluded that Johnson lied.

The attorney general's office informed Thomas that it will take no further action in the Lance case. The investigation was requested by Thomas in September.

Neither Thomas nor Blaine County Sheriff Walt Femling could be reached for comment. ..Source.. by TERRY SMITH, Express Staff Writer

CO- George Culbertson commmits suicide

4-29-2006 Colorado:

In 1985 George Culbertson, 69, who, despite hospitalization, continued to molest children during the rest of his life, committed suicide in his trailer in Colorado. With considerable relief, Allan believed his influence on her life was then over. She was wrong.

In the mid-1990s, her children revealed that their grandfather had molested them during their summertime visits. “I was determined to break the silence that had kept the shadow of sexual abuse running through generations of my family,” she says. ..Source.. by JOHN BORGMEYER

GA- Man shoots himself during police standoff

5-25-2006 Georgia:

.WINDER — A man accused of child pornography possession shot himself Monday when authorities tried to arrest him at his home in Winder. Sam Summerville, 60, retreated into his home at 251 Natchez Circle when police and federal agents showed up shortly after 3 p.m. to arrest him for failing to appear in court, according to Special Agent Stephen Emmett, spokesman for the FBI in Atlanta. Before officers could get to Summerville, he shot himself, Emmett said. He was pronounced dead at the scene. Summerville was supposed to stand trial in federal court last week for five counts of possessing child pornography, but he never appeared, Emmett said. A bench warrant was issued for his arrest.

A year ago, Summerville was arrested at the Huntcrest Publix off Old Peachtree Road in Lawrenceville, near his former residence in that city. It was unclear how long he been living in the Winder subdivision. Neighbor Lafae Duggan said Summerville lived with his mother, but she rarely saw either of them. She was outside sweeping when police arrived to make the arrest. “I heard the police yelling to open the door,” Duggan said. “Then I went and grabbed my 3-year-old daughter and went inside. I saw all the guns, there was lots of policemen around the house and I didn’t want my daughter to witness any of it.” A mother of two girls, ages 3 and 9, Duggan was unaware that the man down the street had a criminal history.

They say he had a warrants for child pornography,” Duggan said. “I had no idea that we had somebody like that so close. That is a scary thought.” Another neighbor, Sheila Spoto, was equally alarmed at Monday’s events. “That’s up the street from us,” said Spoto, who is pregnant. “I didn’t know anything about that. It’s scary.” Summerville’s arrest was the result of an investigation by the Safe Child Task Force, an FBI-led coalition of federal, state and local law enforcement agencies that targets pedophiles, child molesters and the producers of child pornography. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation will be assisting the FBI with investigating Monday’s shooting, Emmett said. ..Source.. by Andria Simmons, Staff Writer

IN- SWAT team standoff in Jeffersonville ends

5-6-2009 Indiana:

Police were trying to execute a warrant at Lafayette Square

A 40-year-old man from Chicago is dead after a standoff with police that lasted several hours at Lafayette Square Apartments in Jeffersonville on Monday night.

The standoff began when police tried to serve a warrant on Charles R. Strohrigl for a parole violation and for failing to register as a violent or sex offender. It ended after Strohrigl apparently took his own life with a self-inflicted gunshot wound, Jeffersonville Police Department Detective Todd Hollis said.

Hollis said JPD first learned about the warrants and Strohrigl’s possible whereabouts at about 5 p.m.

“We set up a perimeter and contacted him by phone,” Hollis said. “At first he denied who he is, and when we said that we have information and know it’s you, he finally admitted it was him.

“He communicated with our negotiating team about an hour and a half or two hours.”

Police began speaking with Strohrigl at about 7 p.m., Hollis estimated. He said the communication went back and forth, with the suspect saying he would peacefully surrender and then changing his mind.

“He was cooperative and then not cooperative,” Hollis said.

The suspect allegedly even threatened to assault any officer who tried to go near him.

Strohrigl was in a second-floor room of the Lafayette Square Apartments complex, which is off the 1500 block of East 10th Street in Jeffersonville. Police said they had reason to believe the suspect was heavily armed.

Two rounds of tear gas were sent into the apartment. After the first round, all communication with the suspect ended.

As the evening dragged on, the New Albany-Floyd County SWAT team was brought in to relieve the Jeffersonville SWAT team. The Louisville Metro Police Department Bomb Unit’s robot also was brought in to open the door and enter the apartment after police lost communication with the suspect.

After the robot made entry, police officers were able to go into the apartment shortly after midnight, where they found the body.

Hollis said there were never any hostages, and no one was injured other than the suspect. Hollis said the suspect was familiar with the person renting the apartment, but he did not believe charges would be filed against that person.

Strohrigl was last known to be living in Chicago. According to information on his listing on the Illinois Sex Offender Registry, he kidnapped or threatened a 9-year-old girl 10 years ago. It also states that he fled the address on record without giving any notice to authorities.

He spent a year and a half in the Indiana Department of Correction from 2000 through 2002 for a criminal confinement charge in Clark County. More recently, he served time in prison for operating a vehicle while intoxicated and operating a vehicle after a lifetime driver’s license suspension.

The warrants for his arrest likely were out of Cook County, Ill., Hollis said.

While police handled the standoff situation, many people were left wondering when they would be able to go home.

“We had information of assault-style weapons and ammunition,” Hollis said. “They can go through walls pretty easily, so we evacuated the apartments.”

Dozens of onlookers gathered in a nearby parking lot once authorities blocked entrance to the apartment complex. Some were people who happened to be in the area and wanted to see why there were so many police cars, while others were residents of Lafayette Square who tried to go home but were blocked.

Jennifer Whittaker, who has a 4-year-old son, stood outside in the parking lot just after midnight hoping she could make it home soon to get ready for work the next morning. She had arrived at 7:30 p.m. to find police had already blocked the entrance to the complex.

“It’s a little bit of a hassle, a little bit of nerves,” she said. “You wouldn’t expect something like this to happen in your neighborhood.” ..Source.. by MATT THACKER

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IN- Standoff at Jeffersonville, Ind., apartment ends with man's death

5-5-2009 Indiana:

A standoff between police and a man ended early this morning with the man fatally shooting himself inside a Jeffersonville apartment.

Jeffersonville police were attempting to serve warrants to Charles R. Strohrigl, 40, at the Lafayette Square Apartments when he refused to come out, Detective Todd Hollis said.

The incident began about 5 p.m., he said.

Strohrigl was a registered sex offender and the warrants were related to a parole violation and failure to register as a sex offender, Hollis said.

He had a criminal history in Clark County, Northern Indiana and the Chicago area, Hollis said, but the detective did not have specifics early this morning.

Before the standoff ended, Hollis said Strohrigl had weapons and a history of violence, and had threatened to use the weapons. No hostages were taken, and nobody else was injured.

Police had evacuated a portion of the complex of brick, three-story buildings at 1512 E. 10th St. and put the rest on lockdown, with no one allowed to enter or leave. The apartment was not Strohrigl’s, Hollis said, and was rented by someone he knew.

Hollis said officers had contacted Strohrigl by phone and he had originally agreed to come out, then refused and threatened officers.

During an hour and a half of on and off contact, Strohrigl “would go back and forth emotionally” on whether he would come out, Hollis said.

“He made a threat that if any officers came into the apartment he would attack them,” Hollis said.

Tear gas was used about 9 p.m. and officers had some communication with Strohrigl again, then had no more contact with him.

Jeffersonville and New Albany police responded, including SWAT teams, and the Louisville Metro Police bomb squad was requested because that department has a robot that could be sent to the apartment.

A second round of tear gas was fired into the second-floor apartment a little after 11 p.m., and police eventually deployed the robot and found Strohrigl with what appeared to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound in a bedroom just after midnight.
When asked if any weapons were found in the apartment, Hollis said police were still investigating.

Marcie Sherrill, of Jeffersonville, who identified herself as a cousin of Strohrigl, said she did not know he was back in town. She said she was told by family members that he had gotten into trouble in Chicago for fraudulently using an ailing relative’s credit card. She said she did not know that he had ever been convicted of any sexual offenses until a family member saw it on television news last night.

“He’s scared to death because he’s on parole,” Sherrill said. “He doesn’t want to go back to prison.”

It was not immediately clear when Sherrill last talked to Strohrigl. She said she wanted try to talk him into coming out of the apartment, but police told her they wouldn’t allow any family to contact him.

“He told me he wasn’t going to live past his 40th birthday, and I’m wondering if this isn’t his way out,” she said before police found Strohrigl’s body.

Stephen Pacey, 42, a resident of the complex, said his wife called him while he was at work at a local hospital and told him about the standoff.

“I just want to go home,” said Pacey, who was standing late last night with a group of other people in a Rally’s parking lot nearby because of the lockdown.

“It’s crazy here all the time, but nothing on this scale,” he said of the complex, which sits behind the Hoosier Travelodge. ..Source.. by Emily Udell

GA- Seminole County inmate found dead in apparent suicide

5-6-2009 Georgia:

An inmate in the Seminole County Jail in Donalsonville apparently hanged himself Tuesday night.

Sheriff Heath Elliott says corrections officers found the body of 29-year-old Shaqueem Welch in his cell hanging from a bed sheet after he failed to show up for breakfast.

The sheriff says Welch was awaiting trial of child molestation and statutory rape charges and left behind a note.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation is conducting an independent probe, but the sheriff says foul play is not suspected. ..Source.. by WTVY News4.com

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GA- Seminole County inmate found dead

5-7-2009 Georgia:

An inmate at the Seminole County Sheriff’s Office Jail was found dead early Wednesday morning in an apparent suicide.

Seminole County Sheriff Heath Elliott said Shaqueem Welch, 29, of Donalsonville, was found at around 6:30 a.m. in his cell, where he apparently hanged himself.

Sheriff Elliott said the Georgia Bureau of Investigations (GBI) was brought in to investigate the death.

“We have the GBI investigating, and no foul play is suspected at this time,” said Elliott.

GBI officers interviewed the other three inmates being held in the same pod with Welch did not report hearing or witnessing the hanging, according to Elliott. The sheriff said a note was found in Welch’s cell on top of a number of court-related materials that he may have recently received.

Welch was being held on several charges, including aggravated child molestation, and has been held at the jail awaiting a court date since December 2008.

“I hate that it happened for him and his family,” said Elliott. “It’s a very unfortunate event.” ..Source.. by Taylor Seay, The Post-Searchlight