One of two death-row 'suicides' may not be a suicide, official says

1-8-2010 Georgia:

Georgia's top Department of Corrections official has now acknowledged that one of two recent "suicides" on Georgia's death row may not have been a suicide.

And while Corrections Commissioner Brian Owens told his board Thursday the GBI is investigating the death, a GBI spokesman on Friday said that was not the case.

During the agency's board meeting, Owens was asked about the inmates' deaths. "One of them may not be a suicide," Owens told the board, according to a transcript of the meeting.

On Dec. 6, condemned killer Timothy Pruitt died at Augusta State Medical Prison after sustaining injuries on Nov. 19. On New Year's Day, guards found death-row inmate Leeland Mark Braley hanging in his cell. Both were housed on death row at the state Diagnostic and Classification Prison in Jackson.

A number of family members of death-row inmates have said Pruitt's death was not a suicide and that he was likely killed by another death row inmate, Sara Totonchi, director of the Southern Center for Human Rights, said Friday.

At Thursday's meeting, board member Roger Garrison asked Owens if the GBI is investigating Pruitt's death. . "Yes, sir," Owens replied.

But on Friday, GBI spokesman John Bankhead said Corrections investigators only consulted with a GBI investigator about Pruitt's death. "As far as the GBI being actively involved in investigating either of these cases, we're not involved because we weren't asked," Bankhead said.

Corrections officials initially called Pruitt's death an "alleged suicide." Pruitt, 43, was sentenced to death for the 1992 rape and murder of Wendy Vincent, a 10-year-old Lumpkin County girl. Braley, 35, was sentenced to death in 1999 for the kidnapping and stabbing death of Kelli Hammond, an insurance agent from Zebulon.

Totonchi has said that death-row inmates may be preparing to wage a hunger strike because of recent get-tough measures imposed by Corrections officials. The prison recently eliminated all contact visits between inmates and their families and restricted prisoners to their cells all but one hour each day. ..Source.. Bill Rankin, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

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Was death row inmate murdered?

1-31-2010 Georgia:

Inquest to be held for Pruitt, whose Dec. 6 death was first reported as suicide

A coroner’s inquest will be held in the strangulation death of a Lumpkin County man on Georgia’s death row that some believe was a murder.

The Dec. 6 death of Timothy Pruitt was first reported as the result of an apparent suicide.

Pruitt, 43, spent 12 years at Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Prison awaiting execution for the 1992 rape and murder of 10-year-old Wendy Nicole Vincent of Dahlonega. He died 17 days after he was found hanging by a bed sheet in his cell at Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Prison in Jackson.

Butts County Coroner Ralph Wilson said the Georgia Bureau of Investigation is looking into the death of Pruitt and another death row inmate, Leeland Mark Braley, who was found hanging in his cell Jan. 1.

Wilson said witnesses will be supoenaed and juries seated to hear evidence about both deaths in separate inquests. He said he is waiting for the GBI and the Georgia Department of Corrections to wrap up their probes before scheduling the inquests.

Braley’s death is generally accepted as a suicide, but many within Georgia’s prisoner advocacy community believe Pruitt was murdered by another inmate, said Sara Totonchi, Director of the Southern Center for Human Rights and a member of Georgians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty.

“He was in the process of writing a letter to his fiance at the time of his death,” Totonchi said.

The Georgia Department of Corrections did not return several phone and e-mail messages seeking comment last week.

Kari Ohland, who said she visited Pruitt every weekend and was his fiance, said she spoke with Pruitt the day he was found hanged.

She said the letter that Pruitt was writing to her that day was later found and sent to her.

“There was no indication he was suicidal,” she said. “Not at all. He was saying how excited he was to see me that weekend. There’s no way he choked himself.”

Ohland said she was later told by another death row inmate, Michael Nance, that convicted quadruple killer Jerry William Jones was seen going into Pruitt’s cell shortly before he was found. Inmates’ cell doors were open and guards stayed inside observation booths during certain times of the day, she said.

Since the two deaths, death row has been on 23-hour a day lockdown, with no contact visits for inmates, Totonchi said.

Ohland said she refuses to believe Pruitt’s death was a suicide.

“There’s no way he would have done that to me,” she said. ..Source.. by Stephen Gurr

Sex offender possibly murdered

12-6-2011 Canada:

Police believe a sexual offender who died last week while serving time in Mission Institution was murdered.

Officers with Correction Service Canada (CSC) discovered an unresponsive male inside his cell at the medium security prison around 10: 45 p.m. on Friday.

Emergency services were called to the scene, however the victim could not be revived and was pronounced dead.

As a result, the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team (IHIT) was called to the scene, and an autopsy was scheduled for early this week.

"Investigators continue to look into this suspicious death," Sgt. Jennifer Pound of IHIT said in a press release.

"It appears to be a homicide and the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team . . . has been called in and has since taken conduct of the investigation."

CSC identified the victim as 39-year-old Troy Squires, although the IHIT would not confirm that because the victim's next of kin had yet to be notified.

Squires had been serving an indeterminate sentence for forcible confinement, sexual assault, uttering threats to cause death/harm, assault with a weapon and overcome resistance. He began serving that sentence in January of 2006. The CSC will also review the incident, said Brandon Banks, assistant warden of management services for CSC, in a press release.

Mission Institution is a medium security facility that houses roughly 250 inmates. ..Source.. by Cam Tucker, The Times

Man killed at 26th and Jefferson identified as Shaun Harris, 43

9-26-2011 Washington:

The man apparently beaten to death at 26th and Jefferson September 22 has been identified as Shaun Ansar Harris, 43.

Police were called to the scene just after 6:30 a.m. after someone reported an altercation inside a vehicle. Harris was found outside a red Mercedes-Benz convertible with a fatal head wound. He was taken to Harborview Medical Center, where he died.

At the September 22 meeting of the East Precinct Advisory Council (EastPAC), precinct commander James Dermody said police do not believe the killing was related to the neighborhood or Garfield High School, which is one block away from the site of the attack.

According to the King County sex offender website, Harris was convicted of third degree rape in 1995. He also has a lengthy list of aliases. ..Source.. by Tom Fucoloro

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Man beaten to death near Central Area school

9-22-2011 Oregon:

A man was fatally beaten in Seattle's Central Area early Thursday, and homicide detectives are working to identify a suspect, according to police.

Several people called 911 to report an assault shortly after 6:30 a.m. at the intersection of Jefferson Avenue East and 26th Avenue, department spokesman Mark Jamieson said.

When officers arrived, they found the victim with obvious head injuries lying on the ground near a red Mercedes-Benz convertible, he said.

The man was taken to Harborview Medical Center, where he died, Jamieson said.

Crime-scene investigators spent much of the morning processing the scene, located a block east of Garfield High School. Seattle police said there was no connection to the high school.

Jamieson said he could not say whether the assault occurred inside the vehicle or outside on the street.

The victim's name was not released Thursday by the King County Medical Examiner's Office. An autopsy is scheduled for Friday.

"We believe the victim knew the suspect," said Renee Witt, a police spokeswoman. "We don't think this is some random act." ..Source.. by Seattle Times staff

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Part of a larger article on 9-22-2011:

Harris, a 43-year-old sex offender, was found unresponsive and bleeding from the head in the Central District. Hours before his death, police contacted Harris on a suspicious circumstances call.

At 4:06 a.m. that morning, police contacted Harris in a red Mercedes-Benz. A woman also was inside. Police questioned then, but released the pair because there was no evidence of a crime. Two and a half hours later, a man was walking his dog on 25th Avenue toward Jefferson Street when he saw what he thought was a silver Cadillac make a fast turn east on Jefferson. When the man got to the intersection, the pedestrian saw a person about a block away, standing outside Harris' red Mercedes, striking a person in the driver's seat.

The man told police the silver Cadillac that passed him was parked with its taillights on directly across from the Mercedes-Benz. East Precinct officers found Harris on the ground outside the Mercedes about a block from Garfield High School. He was rushed to Harborview Medical Center, where he died about 7:30 a.m.

The woman who had been with Harris told homicide investigators that after being released, she and Harris drove around until he eventually pulled over at 26th and Jefferson and tried to have sexual relations with her, which she didn't want. She told detectives she left after calling her sister, and left Harris sitting in his car.

Detectives noticed a possible blood stain on the lower portion of the woman's pants, according to a search warrant affidavit. In late September, investigators searched the Infinity she drove and recovered clothes, shoes and paperwork. But police not named anyone as a suspect.

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Suicide, homicide or accident: Still no cause in death of inmate

8-23-2011 Canada:

"The picture is starting to get a little bit clearer" as to how an accused sex offender suffered fatal injuries at the Niagara Detention Centre last week, said the lead police investigator looking into the case.

However, police are still trying to figure out how the inmate was injured and if a crime was involved, said Det. Sgt. Budd Rung of the Niagara Regional Police major crime unit..

Kelvin Sawa, 46, died in hospital Thursday after suffering serious injuries while behind bars at the Thorold facility Aug. 15

A member of the man's family, neighbours and a co-worker identified Sawa as the inmate who died. Sawa was in custody on charges of sexual assault and sexual interference. The allegations were made earlier this month and involved a 14-year-old male.

Rung said he hopes to know in the next week or two whether charges will be laid in connection with the death.

"I'm not going to rush into anything," he said, adding none of the possible suspects are flight risks.

"We know where everybody is, we're not worried about people fleeing."

The detective said one thing is clear — the inmate didn't die of natural causes.

He wouldn't say what type of injuries the man suffered or his cause of death. He said the coroner's office, which is also conducting an investigation, is still doing some testing. An autopsy was held Friday in Hamilton.

Rung said with natural causes ruled out, that leaves accident, suicide and homicide as possible causes.

"There was a series of events that occurred," he said. "I just can't get any more specific than that."

He said detectives are interviewing inmates and reviewing surveillance video.

"He wasn't in general population, but he also wasn't in an area alone," he said of the inmate.

Rung confirmed no other inmates were injured in connection with the incident.

Sawa's niece, Kelly, who didn't want her last name published, said last week she thinks Sawa was murdered.

She also told the Standard she believes Sawa was innocent of the charges and that he never should have been behind bars in the first place.

Dr. Jack Stanborough, regional supervising coroner, said previously an inquest is mandatory in all inmate deaths when the cause is not natural. ..Source.. by Erica Bajer, Standard Staff

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Detention Centre Murder Victim Identified

11-3-2011 Canada:

Jeremy Hall and Cale Rose were both arrested today for second-degree murder in the death of 46-year-old Kelvin Sawa.

All three of the men were inmates at the Niagara Regional Detention Centre on Monday, Aug. 15 this past summer, when at approximately 2:14 p.m., members of the Niagara Regional Police Service Uniform Branch and Niagara E.M.S. responded to the Detention Centre in Thorold for a report of an inmate in need of medical assistance. The male was subsequently transported to the Niagara Health System with life-threatening injuries.

On Thursday, August 18, 2011, investigators with the N.R.P.S. were notified by medical staff of the Niagara Health System that the inmate had died. A post-mortem examination took place at the Hamilton General Hospital to assist in determining the cause of death.

Although the identity of the deceased in this incident has not been previously released by the police, it had been widely reported in local media that the deceased is Kelvin Sawa. After continuing the investigation into the circumstances surrounding this incident, members of the N.R.P.S. Major Crime Unit and #1 District Detective Office are now confirming that Kelvin Sawa, a 46-year-old resident of Port Colborne, is, in fact, the deceased.

On Thursday, November 3, 2011, members of the Major Crime Unit arrested and charged 37-year-old Jeremy W. Hall and Cale A. Rose, age 28, in the death of Sawa. Both of these individuals were inmates at the Niagara Regional Detention Centre at the time of this incident and at the time of their arrests in this matter, were in custody at other correctional facilities on unrelated charges.

Both males will appear in court today at the Robert S.K. Welch Courthouse, 59 Church St. in St. Catharines. ..Source.. by Cathy Pelletier