Montana State Prison has 2 suspects in murder of inmate

10-8-2012 Montana:

An inmate at the Montana State Prison in Deer Lodge was found murdered Sunday evening, authorities reported Monday.

Investigators have two suspects in connection with the death of Danny Lee Hartford. Hartford, 53, was found dead in a cell of a housing unit in the high-security portion of the prison at about 8:10 p.m.

Investigators didn’t release how Hartford was killed, because the investigation continued, according to Linda Moodry of the Montana Department of Corrections.

Hartford was last seen alive during a head count Sunday at about 6 p.m., Moodry said. The two suspects in Hartford’s death are fellow inmates in the prison.

Moodry didn’t release the identities or the status of the suspects.

Moodry described the block of the prison where Hartford was killed as housing offenders at various levels. It’s between the maximum-security and low-security blocks, she said. It houses some general population prisoners and those transferring to the lower-level security block of the prison, she said.

The unit where Hartford was killed is monitored by prison staff and security cameras. However, Moodry said the prison doesn’t have cameras in all the cells at the prison.

“They (the prisoners) are monitored and watched, but unfortunately things like this can happen,” Moodry said.

The last homicide reported at the prison was in September 2011. Shaun Morrison, 30, is accused of beating, choking and cutting another inmate with a weapon fashioned from razor blades. Morrison has pleaded not guilty to deliberate homicide and is scheduled for trial in November.

Hartford was serving 30 years probation from 1997 on two counts of sexual assault out of Lewis and Clark County. He violated the terms of his probation and was ordered to prison in 2010.

The investigation is being handled by the Montana Department of Corrections, the Powell County sheriff’s office and the county attorney’s office. ..Source.. by JOHN GRANT EMEIGH

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Montana prison officials investigate homicide

Officials at the Montana State Prison in Deer Lodge are investigating the death of an inmate as a homicide.

An investigation into the death of Danny Lee Hartford, 53, is ongoing, according to a news release from the Department of Corrections.

Hartford's body was found about 8:10 p.m. in a cell of a housing unit in the high-security portion of the prison. Two inmates are suspects in the death.

Hartford was sentenced to 30 years probation in 1997 on two counts of sexual assault out of Lewis and Clark County. He violated conditions of his probation and a judge ordered him to prison in 2010.

Prison officials did not say how Hartford died. The investigation is being handled by the Montana Department of Corrections, Powell County sheriff’s office and the county attorney’s offices.

The last homicide reported at the prison was in September 2011. Shaun Morrison, 30, is accused of beating, choking and cutting another inmate with a weapon fashioned from razor blades. Morrison has pleaded not guilty to deliberate homicide and is scheduled for trial in November. ..Source.. by BillingsGazette