Dallas Officers Didn't Kill Terrance Groessel: Medical Examiner

8-22-2014 Texas:

Shooting recorded on video, police say

The investigation of an overnight shooting involving Dallas Police indicates the suspect’s death was suicide and not the result of officers’ gunfire, as originally reported.

In addition, it turns out the incorrect belief that the suspect’s vehicle was stolen sparked a confrontation that turned dangerous for the officers and deadly for the suspect.

Police said officers Michelle Herczeg and J. Jankowski were patrolling the parking lot of the Grand Hotel in the 7900 block of LBJ Freeway near Coit Road just before midnight.

"It was a location in which individuals were dumping stolen vehicles," said Maj. Jeff Cotner, with the Dallas Police Department.

In the parking lot, the officers spotted a truck they believed to have been stolen, and Cotner said as they approached, a man inside pulled out a gun.

Cotner said both officers opened fire as they backed away, and the man inside was pronounced dead at the scene.

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.

Homeless sex offender linked to bizarre Oklahoma death

8-19-2014 Oklahoma:

A homeless sex offender who spent much of the last decade behind bars has been linked to a bizarre McClain County death that had stumped investigators for months.

Michael B. Hair committed suicide just two weeks after authorities believe he took the life of 24-year-old Rachelle Lyn Flowers at her home near Cole in April. He is now linked to the young mother’s death by DNA, according to multiple sources.

Hair was 46 when he killed himself near a Goldsby mobile home park. He was a registered sex offender and burglar who served nearly a decade behind bars for assault, attempted rape and indecent exposure, court records show. His past convictions include burglary, grand larceny and obtaining merchandise under false pretenses.

Clinton Flowers, the victim’s husband, said Tuesday evening that he is upset that somebody like Hair was free and walking around.

“Why is this guy even free out here ...and what is wrong with us as a society?” he said.

“I mean, the guy’s been arrested 11 times. What happened to three strikes?”

McClain County Sheriff Don Hewett said Hair left his DNA “all over the crime scene” when he tried to burn down the farmhouse where the victim lived with her husband.

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.

SLED: Charleston County inmate charged with assisted suicide in another inmate's death

5-8-2014 South Carolina:

State agents are investigating the strangling death of an inmate in what sheriff's deputies said is the Cannon Detention Center's first reported case of assisted suicide at the jail.

Matthew Lee Glidden, 29, of Ladson was found dead in his cell around 6:45 a.m. March 24 while officers prepared the other inmates in his unit for breakfast, investigators said.

The State Law Enforcement Division announced on Thursday that Glidden had been strangled at the hand of fellow inmate, 30-year-old Michael Robert Bixby. Agents charged Bixby with assisted suicide, according to SLED spokesman Thom Berry. He could face up to 15 years in prison or a $100,000 fine if convicted on the felony charge, Berry said.

An arrest affidavit stated Bixby confessed to investigators that he helped Glidden die.

Berry would not elaborate on how investigators confirmed that Glidden had been suicidal.

Doctor who secretly filmed patients in exam room apologized to wife in suicide note

2-22-2013 Maryland:

New details have come to light about the death of an ex-John Hopkins gynecologist who was caught making covert videos of his patients.

Dr. Nikita Levy was found dead in his home on Monday, just two weeks after hospital security was alerted on Feb. 4 by another staff member that Levy was using personal video equipment to tape his patients.

Levy left a suicide note with a message for his wife, saying he did not want to ''see her suffer with the truth'', according to CBS Baltimore WJZ's news partner, the Baltimore Sun.

Levy put the apology note in their car and went to his basement, where he committed suicide.

CBS Baltimore reporter Mike Hellgren spoke to one of Dr Levy's former patients about what it was like in the exam room. The woman, who did not want her identity known, reveals a red flag during exams.

William Chrisman band teacher dies

8-4-2014 Missouri:

A former William Chrisman High School teacher accused of molesting a student died just a day before his scheduled court hearing.

James N. Owens, 29, of Lee’s Summit, died July 30. The cause of death is unknown.

According to court records, a plea hearing was scheduled for July 31, but had been rescheduled for Aug. 21. Owens faced charges of enticing a child and second-degree child molestation, a misdemeanor. Court records also indicate that a trial had also been scheduled for Monday, Aug. 4., but it was canceled.

In 2012, Owens was accused of having an improper relationship with a 14-year-old female student. The mother of the victim intercepted a conversation thread on Facebook between Owens and the girl that contained sexually explicit messages, according to the probable cause statement. The student also admitted to a school counselor that she and Owens had a romantic relationship, which included kissing and touching that sometimes occurred in the Chrisman band room.