8-27-2008 Indiana:CARLISLE, Ind. (AP) — A prosecutor says he intends to seek the death penalty for a man serving a life sentence who is accused of killing his cellmate.
Thirty-year-old Zachariah Melcher of Jeffersonville is charged in the strangulation death of 28-year-old Nicholas Roman at the Wabash Valley Correctional Facility in Carlisle in March.
Melcher is serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole for the 2006 murders of his infant son, wife and unborn child.
At a court hearing in June, Melcher told the judge he wanted to represent himself, but the judge appointed two attorneys to represent him. Sullivan County Prosecutor Robert Springer said this week he still pushing for a death sentence.
Melcher's trial is scheduled to begin in February. ..News Source.. by AP
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Jeffersonville murderer may have strangled cellmate
3-9-2008 Indiana:
Authorities believe Melcher killed fellow prisoner at Wabash Valley state prison
CARLISLE — A convicted murderer at the Wabash Valley Correctional Facility is under investigation for allegedly strangling his cellmate Friday night.
Nicholas Roman, 28, was pronounced dead at 11:12 p.m., according to a Correctional Facility news release. Authorities allege Zachariah Melcher strangled Roman shortly before 10:30 p.m. Investigators are still determining what caused the incident, said Rich Larsen, the facility’s public information officer.
Larsen said Melcher was cooperating with investigators.
Facility staff provided immediate emergency medical care to Roman before he was transported to Sullivan County Community Hospital.
Melcher, 30, was already serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole for killing his infant daughter, wife and unborn child in Clark County, a news release stated.
The homicide case will be turned over to the Sullivan County Prosecutor by the Indiana State Police early next week.
An autopsy is scheduled to determine Roman’s exact cause of death.
Since his incarceration, Roman had multiple major conduct offenses. He was serving time on Vanderburgh County convictions for performing sexual conduct in the presence of a minor, distribution of matter harmful to a minor and theft/receiving stolen property. ..News Source.. by CNHI News Service
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