State police investigate homicide at Auburn Correctional Facility

July 2017 New York:

Jul 18, 2017 Updated 5 hrs ago

State police are investigating the recent death of an inmate at Auburn Correctional Facility after a violent altercation last week.

The state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision reported that inmate Daniel Wingate, 51, was pronounced dead Friday at an unspecified hospital outside the prison.

According to a press release Tuesday, New York State Police responded to the prison July 9 for a report of an inmate-on-inmate assault. Police said Wingate died July 14 as a result of injuries he received during an altercation with other inmates.

Cayuga County District Attorney Jon Budelmann said troopers are treating the case as a homicide after Wingate died at the hospital a few days after the incident. Budelmann described the case as "inmate-on-inmate violence."

Prison death of convicted Kan. sex offender under investigation

4-11-17 Kansas:

LANSING – Officials are investigating a suspicious death at the Lansing Correctional Facility.

James Beeson, 56, died on Sunday, according to statement from the Kansas Department of Corrections and confirmed on the state’s web site.

An autopsy is planned to help determine the cause of death.

Beeson had eight convictions since December of 1998 for a variety of child sex crimes in Osage County.

He had been in held in the El Dorado and Hutchison Correctional facilities until a move to Lansing earlier this month. ..Source.. by Hays Post

'I snapped,' says killer accused of slaying child-rapist cellmate

7-21-2016 Florida:

A man already serving time in prison for murder has been charged with the crime again after killing his cellmate, a rapist, for inappropriately touching him, officials said.

Sheddrick Bentley was scheduled Tuesday to be arraigned in Volusia County on Aug. 4 on a charge of second-degree murder in the death of Hans Christian Anderson, court records show.

Anderson, 58, died of ligature strangulation — a sock was found around his neck — and blunt force injury to his abdomen Feb. 17 at Tomoka Correctional Institution near Daytona Beach, according to a Florida Department of Law Enforcement charging affidavit.

Prison officials confirmed Feb. 18 that Anderson, serving a 25-year sentence for raping a 13-year-old girl, had been killed by another inmate, but they wouldn't release the suspect's name or details of the death.

Bentley asked corrections officers to put him in handcuffs Feb. 17, and when the officers asked why, the 38-year-old said, "I did it, he made me do it," according to the affidavit filed July 12. Officers found Anderson lying face down on the floor of the cell he shared with Bentley.

Bentley told investigators that Anderson was trying to "mess" with him, according to the affidavit.

"Did he physically touch you or was he talking to you to see if you wanted to?" Bentley was asked, according to the affidavit. Investigators said Bentley then shouted that Anderson had grabbed Bentley's genitals while Bentley was sleeping.

"He never done that (expletive) before. I snapped," Bentley told investigators. He also said he was unaware of why Anderson was incarcerated.

Anderson brutally beat and raped a teen in 1998 in the basement of a church in Pinellas County, according to records.

Bentley is serving time in prison for second-degree murder, burglary of an occupied dwelling, grand theft auto and false information to a pawnbroker, records show. The crimes were committed in Collier County. ..Source.. by Katie Kustura

1 inmate dead, 3 officers injured at Sullivan Correctional Facility

4-14-2015 New York:

FALLSBURG - An inmate died and three state corrections officers were injured Monday at Sullivan Correctional Facility, according to a spokesman for the corrections officers union.

Details of the incident are scarce, but State Police have confirmed they "responded to the facility Monday morning, following a report of an assault on staff."

One of the injured officers was taken to an urgent care center and two others were taken to Catskill Regional Medical Center in Harris, said James Miller, spokesman for the New York State Corrections Officers Police Benevolent Association. One of the officers taken to the hospital suffered a possible broken arm, and both had head injuries, he said.

The state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision confirmed the death of the inmate, but would not comment on the involvement or condition of any corrections officers. A spokeswoman would only say that State Police are investigating the circumstances that led to the death of the inmate. That investigation is continuing, State Police said.

The inmate was identified as Karl Taylor, 52, who was serving 27½-to-55 years for sex crimes and aggravated harassment of an employee.

Prosecuter Broderick Files Murder Charge Against Inmate

2-22-2010 Indiana:

ANDERSON, IN - Madison County Prosecutor Thomas Broderick, Jr., filed formal charges today against Richard L. Short, 26, a former inmate at the Pendleton Correctional Facility, for Murder and Prisoner in Possession of Dangerous Device, arising from the death of Charles L. Jackson, 52 (Sex Offender) also inmate at the Pendleton Correctional Facility.

According to a probable cause affidavit, Jackson was stabbed to death with a homemade knife on January 23, 2010. Both Short and Jackson were incarcerated at the Pendleton Correctional Facility at the time. According to the Probable Cause Affidavit Jackson died less than an hour after he was stabbed, but not before telling an officer at the facility that Short had stabbed him.

According to Prosecutor Broderick Short has since been transferred to Wabash Valley Correctional Facility where according to the probable cause affidavit a letter written by Short was confiscated by correction officials in which letter Short admits to stabbing Jackson. Short is also reported to have admitted to State Police investigators that he stabbed Jackson according to the affidavit.

Florence inmate death may be homicide, officials say

8-18-2014 Arizona:

Authorities are investigating a suspected homicide at a state prison in Florence, according to the Arizona Department of Corrections.

Prison officials found Lino Flores unresponsive and suffering from traumatic injuries at about 2 p.m. Saturday in his cell at the Eyman prison complex, ADC spokesman Doug Nick said.

Paramedics pronounced Flores, 53, dead at the scene, Nick said. Flores was serving a life sentence for first-degree murder, second-degree murder, sexual assault, possession of a deadly weapon and assault with a deadly weapon.

Investigators are questioning fellow inmate Julio Salazar, Nick said. Salazar, 32, is serving time for first-degree murder and manslaughter.

No other information was immediately available. ..Source.. by Matthew Casey

Inmate to stand trial for murder

7-22-2014 Pennsylvania:

Lawrence Peterson, 44, who is accused of beating his cellmate to death at SCI Houtzdale, had all charges bound over for court following a preliminary hearing before Magisterial District Judge James Hawkins yesterday at the Clearfield County Courthouse.

Peterson is accused of killing William Keitel, 59, in the cell they shared in the F-Block of SCI Houtzdale on Aug. 2, 2013.

Peterson is charged with criminal homicide, murder in the first degree, murder in the third degree, aggravated assault, involuntary manslaughter, and recklessly endangering another person.

Under direct questioning by Clearfield County District Attorney William Shaw Jr., Corrections Officer Duane Hughes testified that on Aug. 2 at approximately 1 p.m. he let Keitel back into his cell after Keitel had finished his shift working in the prison laundry room.

Shortly afterward he heard some inmates yell, "Cell 42, he's killing him." Hughes said he and Sgt. Adam Miles responded to cell 42.

He said it took them about a minute to arrive and through the windows on the cell door, Hughes said he could see Peterson sitting on the lower bunk with Keitel lying on the floor in a pool of blood.

Oklahoma County jail inmate admits killing another inmate to prove worthiness, investigator reports

5-23-2014 Oklahoma:

Ragle Demond Johnson is being held on a murder complaint in the Oklahoma County jail.

An Oklahoma County jail inmate suffering from psychosis has admitted choking another inmate to death early Wednesday in their cell, a state agent reported.

Ragle Demond Johnson, 38, of Oklahoma City, is now being held on a murder complaint.

Johnson said he killed “to prove his worthiness to Wahayoo,” Special Agent Martin Solorzano of the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation wrote in a court affidavit filed Friday.

The reference to “Wahayoo” is not further explained.

Johnson “admitted to having psychosis and taking medication for it,” the agent wrote in the affidavit.

Florence inmate killed to stay in prison, officials say

12-5-2013 California:

A Mexican citizen illegally in the United States killed a prison cellmate in order to remain in custody, the Pinal County Sheriff’s Office said Tuesday.

The Sheriff’s Office said it is recommending that prosecutors charge 43-year-old Roberto Venegas-Fernandez with first-degree murder in the Nov. 16 killing of 55-year-old Michael Patrick McNaughton

Both men were prisoners of the U.S. Marshals Service, which has said they were from the San Diego area and housed at a Corrections Corp. of America prison in Florence pending their transfer to the Bureau of Prisons.

The killing occurred during what was initially reported as a fight between the two men.

However, Sheriff Paul Babeu said Venegas-Fernandez told investigators that he choked and stomped McNaughton because “he likes it in prison and was afraid of being released, since he has nowhere to go.”

“Roberto wanted to find a way to stay in jail, so while the victim was sitting on his bed, he choked him until he fell onto the ground, then stomped on his head and continued to choke the victim until he was presumed dead,” Babeu said in a statement released by his office.

PCSO: Inmate Roberto Venegas-Fernandez killed cellmate to stay in prison

11-26-2013 Arizona:

FLORENCE, AZ - A Mexican citizen illegally in the United States killed a prison cellmate in order to remain in custody, the Pinal County Sheriff's Office said Tuesday.

The Sheriff's Office said it is recommending that prosecutors charge 43-year-old Roberto Venegas-Fernandez with first-degree murder in the Nov. 16 killing of 55-year-old Michael Patrick McNaughton

Both men were prisoners of the U.S. Marshals Service, which has said they were from the San Diego area and housed at a Corrections Corp. of America prison in Florence pending their transfer to the Bureau of Prisons.

The killing occurred during what was initially reported as a fight between the two men.

Convicted serial rapist dies in hospital after assault

1-9-2013 Maryland:

Michael Armstead was assaulted at maximum-security prison in November

A serial rapist serving several life sentences in a maximum-security state prison has died in the hospital after being assaulted by another inmate, Maryland State Police said Wednesday.

Michael Armstead, 53, was assaulted Nov. 27 at the North Branch Correctional Institution in Allegany County as inmates were on their way to the dining hall, and died at Bon Secours Hospital in Baltimore on Jan. 9.

State police did not release the name of the suspect who allegedly assaulted Armstead, but said charges are pending. The suspect is also serving a life sentence, police said.

State police said the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Baltimore ruled Armstead's death a homicide caused by a head injury.

Armstead was found guilty in the early 1990s of serial home-invasion rapes in Anne Arundel and Howard counties and was serving six life sentences. ..Source.. by Carrie Wells, The Baltimore Sun