Dozens of suicides, guard attacks and a pedophile priest murdered in his own cell: The bloody history of the prison where Aaron Hernandez hanged himself

4-20-17 Massachusetts:

The maximum security prison where Aaron Hernandez apparently hanged himself has seen its share of troubles since it opened nearly two decades ago.

The 27-year-old former NFL star was found by guards hanged with a bedsheet at about 3am Wednesday inside his cell at the Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center in Shirley, Massachusetts. He was serving a life-sentence for the murder of Odin Lloyd.

Bureau of Justice statistics cited by the Boston Globe state there were 32 suicides per 100,000 state and federal prisoners in Massachusetts between 2001 and 2014 - a figure that is about double the national average.


There have reportedly been 27 in Massachusetts prisons since 2010 - and two this year, including Hernandez.

Prison records show that the most infamous person to be housed in the facility prior to Hernandez also met his end inside a cell - but in very different circumstances.

John Geoghan, a central figure in the clergy sex abuse scandal, was serving a nine- to 10-year sentence for molesting a 10-year-old boy when he was killed at the $105million facility in August 2003.

Geoghan's killer jammed the door closed so guards could not get in, before strangling the child molester to death.

Joseph Druce said he killed the priest because of how it seemed like he arrogantly brushed off criticism that he had 'destroyed all kinds of lives'.

'I was just, like, "That's it, that's it, I've got to stop this",' Druce said in 2006, while standing trial over the killing. ..Continued.. by Dailymail.com Reporter

Read More of Article...

Article Summary only...

Twitter can be a source for identifying those at risk of suicide

10-10-2013 National:

Twitter is great for spoiling TV shows and criticizing Miley Cyrus' latest performance, but researchers at Brigham Young University say the social network may also be an effective way of identifying users at risk of suicide.

A study that will be released Friday says researchers at BYU studied Twitter for three months, looking for tweets that directly discussed suicide as well as keywords and phrases related to risk factors and warning signs for suicide. They found nearly 38,000 "troubling tweets" from more than 28,000 users.

The terms included phrases like "sleeping 'a lot' lately," "I've tried suicide before" and "always getting bullied."

By analyzing the tweets, the researchers found that each state's ratio of suicidal tweets strongly correlated with the state's actual suicide rate. The correlation is important because it is preliminary confirmation that Twitter can be an accurate source for identifying users who may be at risk of committing suicide, the study says.

“Suicide is preventable,” Carl Hanson, a BYU health scientist and study coauthor, said in a statement. “Social media is one channel for monitoring those at risk for suicide and potentially doing something about it.”

Suicide prevention organizations could use the popular social network and the real-time information that it offers "to reach out to these at-risk individuals in the moment of need," the study says.

“Tweets may be useful to address some of the functions that suicide hotline groups perform, but at the discretion and potential for such organizations to provide those services via Twitter,” Michael Barnes, a health science professor at BYU and a study coauthor, said in a statement.

Additionally, Twitter provides real-time data at a large scale that could be used by mental health officials to study suicide and potentially develop better prevention strategies. ..Source.. by Salvador Rodriguez

Read More of Article...

Article Summary only...

Suicides: more common than murder

10-9-2012 National:

10th leading cause of death for adults, 3rd for young adults

Seventeen-year-old Tricia Martin may be the Tri-Valley's latest casualty in an ongoing trend that claims nearly 34,000 people every year in the United States.

Martin, a senior at Village High School in Pleasanton, was one of two people found dead in a Newark motel on Sept. 14, in what police describe as a double suicide or murder-suicide. She was with her boyfriend, a young man from Livermore.

At Tricia Martin's service Sept. 22, five of her friends said a few words, and none of them made it through without crying. All had to stop at least momentarily.

"You could just feel how much they were hurting," said Karen Klein, a friend of the family. "You wanted to do something, anything, to help them, and there's just nothing you can do."

Martin's death is not an isolated case. Friends and family members were shocked last year when 15-year-old Allison Bayliss, a San Ramon Valley High sophomore, apparently jumped from the Golden gate Bridge.

While Bayliss might have felt alone -- those who survive a suicide attempt often say they do -- she was not. One in 10 Americans suffer from depression, one of the leading causes of suicide, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which says suicide is the 10th leading cause of death in the country. A new study published in the American Journal of Public Health claims suicides now claim more people than car crashes.

In Pleasanton, 19 people killed themselves between January 2010 and September of this year -- four in 2010, seven in 2011, and at least eight so far this year. Alameda County shows 380 people died by their own hand during that time, 158 in 2010, 139 in 2011, and 83 through August, although the coroner's office notes that some deaths are still under investigation.

Danville has recorded six deaths during that same time: two in 2010, three in 2011, and one so far this year, while San Ramon shows two suicides in 2010, five in 2011 and none so far this year. In Contra Costa County there have been 301 suicides during the same period, with 118 in 2010, 116 in 2011, and 76 so far this year.

Local suicides seem to be taking place more in public. In recent months, one person hanged himself at a public parking lot in Danville, and a Pleasanton man hanged himself at Pleasanton Ridge. Two people leapt to their death in separate incidents at the two local BART stations. A Danville woman drove her car into a ravine on Mount Diablo, and, in a particularly tragic incident, Pleasanton resident Amy Burton Freeman fatally shot herself after killing her 13-year-old daughter, Ainslee.

Beyond that, a Pleasanton man shot himself earlier this year. A Fremont man leaped onto Interstate 580 late last year. A San Ramon man shot himself in the head during a traffic stop last November. A 2007 Amador Valley graduate shot himself after killing his ex-girlfriend, a 2006 Amador Valley grad, in a San Diego murder-suicide in December 2011. One person, whose sex was not released, committed suicide in April 2011 in the creek bed that runs through downtown.

Earlier this month, an inmate at the Santa Rita Jail in Dublin committed suicide on by hanging himself in his cell, and late last year, a man in custody after running off with a local high school girl tried to kill himself by jumping off the top tier of the jail, leaving him partially paralyzed.

At least three other teens have died from suicide in recent years.

An Amador Valley High freshman jumped in front of a train in April 2010. A 13-year-old attending Opportunity Middle School shot himself in April 2011. A San Ramon Valley High School sophomore jumped from the Golden Gate Bridge in May 2011. A middle school girl from Diablo Vista Middle School killed herself in 2008, apparently despondent over poor math scores.

The CDC reports suicide is the third-leading cause of death of people 15 to 24 and the fourth leading cause of death for children between the ages of 10 and 14.

Those are just the ones that made the news. Neither the Danville Express nor the San Ramon Express, as is the case with most publications, covers suicides unless they occur in public places, the victims are public figures, or when the loss affects a great number of people, such as when a teen dies and classmates, teachers, teammates and others are mourning.

"By reporting these stories we are able to show how prevalent suicide is. Perhaps making community members aware will bring about discussion, and perhaps discussion will bring about help for people who are struggling with the idea, have a loved one struggling with the idea, or have lost someone to suicide," said Gina Allen, publisher of the two online papers. "We can't pretend suicide is not an issue."

Suicide has become such a big issue nationwide that the Obama administration this month, National Suicide Prevention Month, announced a major initiative to help prevent suicides, especially among veterans, who commit suicide at a higher rate than civilians. A New York Times article in June said veteran suicides had risen 18% between 2011 and 2012. The Obama plan will boost staff at the national crisis hotline (800-273-855) for both civilians and members of the military and provide $55.6 million for state and local programs.

Local police organizations, including the Pleasanton Police Department, are also receiving crisis intervention training to teach officers how to better interact with people threatening suicide or who are mentally ill. Dronker's death inspired his brother and sister-in-law, Ron and Brenda Dronkers, to create the "I am Here" foundation, "to provide a safe, no judgmental website that will provide online resources" and to eventually have a 24-hour hotline and online chat room "for those who need a friendly, confidential ear." ..Source.. by Glenn Wohltmann

Read More of Article...

Article Summary only...

FBI: Child sex offenders turn violent, suicidal

6-19-2012 National:

Gray Alan Combs Jr. was shot to death after he threatened Fairfax County police with a sword last month.

Willis E. Coley, 27, of Alexandria, hanged himself in August.

George N. Kiriacon, 50, committed suicide in a truck in New Carrollton.

The common thread among these three men is that all had been charged with child sex crimes shortly before their violent and/or self-destructive actions.

The FBI and the U.S. Marshals Service have documented a disturbing trend in which those confronted with charges of child abuse react by attacking others or harming themselves.

Law enforcement authorities say they are seeing more incidents as police have increased efforts to apprehend those who produce, distribute and view child porn. Over the past 20 years, federal child sex pornography cases have increased 330 percent -- from 481 in 1999 to 2,069 in 2009.

Ronald Hosko, special agent in charge of the FBI Washington Field Office's Criminal Division, said he noticed the phenomenon in 2008, as an inspector for the FBI's Inspection Division, where he reviewed deadly shooting incidents around the country. Subjects pulled a weapon as FBI agents knocked on their doors to ask questions or execute a search warrant, putting the lives of themselves, family members and the agents in danger.

"It's a life-changing event," Hosko said. "At that moment, their world is collapsed around them. And they think the only way out is at the point of a gun."

A new FBI study found that in 106 cases where an individual committed suicide after he became aware that he was being investigated, 54 killed themselves within 30 days of being contacted by law enforcement. About half of the sample did not have a prior criminal history.

Combs was wanted for producing child pornography. Coley was two weeks away from being indicted on federal child pornography charges. Kiriacon was found dead a day after the public disclosure that a 15-year-old boy had accused him of abuse.

"This is a different type of suicide. This is a suicide motivated not so much by depression but by desperation," said Dr. Michael Bourke, chief psychologist with the U.S. Marshals Service's Behavioral Analysis Unit. Bourke had been studying this issue after the passage of the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act in 2006, which authorized the Marshals Service to track down sex offenders who are unregistered or have violated the terms of their registration.

Many of the suspects seemed to have led normal, responsible lives, experts said. Suddenly, they're facing the shame of being exposed, being ostracized by their family and friends, they're looking at spending a long time behind bars, where it's commonly held that the most reviled inmates are those serving time for child sex abuse.

A 2005 study in the United Kingdom found child sex offenders who had no other criminal records were 183 times more likely to commit suicide than the general population.

The FBI and the U.S. marshals are refining their tactics for approaching subjects, such as determining if the target has a gun and using a force team to make arrests or serve warrants. ..Source.. by Scott McCabe

Read More of Article...

Article Summary only...

ODD CASE: Guilty verdict in suicide case; appeal likely

3-17-2011 Minnesota:

St. Paul, Minn. — The attorney for a former nurse found guilty of assisting two suicides through online communication said he and his client will likely appeal.

A Rice County judge on Tuesday issued a written guilty verdict against William Melchert-Dinkel, of Faribault, who was charged with two counts of assisting suicide in the deaths of a woman from Canada and man from England.

Melchert-Dinkel's attorney, Terry Watkins, said he was still reviewing Judge Thomas Neuville's order, but he said an appeal will likely come sometime after Melchert-Dinkel is sentenced on May 4.

"At this point in time I don't think there's any question that our focus will be on an appeal," Watkins said.

Neuville ruled that Melchert-Dinkel intentionally encouraged and advised Nadia Kajouji and Mark Drysbrough to commit suicide in 2008 and 2005, respectively.

Melchert-Dinkel had waived his right to a jury trial and agreed upon the facts of the case, so the judge's findings were not surprising to outside observers.

But Watkins said while he agreed on the definition of the crime -- prosecutors had to prove that Melchert-Dinkel "imminently incited" the suicides -- he disagreed with the judge's conclusion.

"We agree with that standard, we just don't agree that Mr. Melchert-Dinkel's actions in this situation meet that standard," Watkins said. During the bench trial late last month, Watkins argued that Kajouji and Drysbrough had already decided to kill themselves before talking to Melchert-Dinkel.

In his order, Neuville disagreed. "These arguments are irrelevant because predisposition of the person who commits suicide is not a defense" to the statute, Neuville wrote. "The predisposition of a suicide victim actually makes the victim more vulnerable to encouragement or advice, and their death more imminent and foreseeable."

Neuville said Melchert-Dinkel "never tried to discourage" the victims from committing suicide. "Rather, the facts indicate repeated and relentless encouragement by Defendant to complete the suicide," he wrote.

Prior to the trial, Watkins had tried to get the case dismissed, saying his client was exercising his free speech rights and couldn't be charged under Minnesota's assisted suicide statute because the alleged victims were in other countries. He also said Minnesota's law was void for vagueness.

Neuville rejected the arguments, allowing the charges to stand.

Watkins said an appeal would most likely focus on the question of whether Melchert-Dinkel's actions were protected under the First Amendment. He said he and his client could also choose to appeal other pre-trial decisions and the conviction itself.

"I think we've been pretty clear throughout ... we would have very much appreciated this ending at the district court level, but if it did not that we would continue to go down the judicial avenues available until we have either had this matter set aside in a way that we believe is correct or exhausted all avenues available to us," he said. ..Source.. by Elizabeth Dunbar, Minnesota Public Radio

Read More of Article...

Article Summary only...

Suicide Caused by Judicial System

Will the Adam Walsh Act requirement that many juveniles be forced to register and appear on public registries (criminal registries) cause their suicide rate to increase? As of today we have documented over 300 suicides of people ACCUSED of sex offenses, all having NO BACKGROUND of a sex offense; adults and juveniles in the United States.

2-10-2011 Global:

British researchers have discovered in a study that criminal proceedings, even when not ending in a jail sentence, leads to a high risk of suicide.

A report of the study led by Roger Webb of the University of Manchester, has been published in the Archives of General Psychiatry. The research involved a study of data collected from suicide records of people living in Denmark. The researchers looked at the records of 27,219 people who had killed themselves between 1981 and 2006 and compared them with 524,899 people of the same age group and sex, who were still alive.

Even though they had not gone through a sentencing, the experience of facing the judicial system seems to have had a negative impact on them. Those who have had their charges withdrawn conditionally and had to go through psychiatric treatment ended up by committing suicide.

The researchers also discovered that young people with a criminal history and who have had repeated contact with the law, were more vulnerable to the risk of suicide.

Webb concluded, “ … exposure to the criminal justice system in itself may contribute to elevating a person's suicide risk, rather than simply reflecting the traits and characteristics of people who come into contact with the system."

Although the study has certain limitations that warrant further research, the conclusion drawn from this study is crucial. "The findings indicated a need for more extensive national suicide prevention strategies. In particular, improved mental health service provision is needed for all people in contact with the criminal justice system, including those not found guilty and those not given custodial sentences." ..Source.. by Rathi Manohar

Read More of Article...

Article Summary only...

Suicide More Likely After Even Minor Crimes

2-8-2011 Global:

Going through the criminal justice system -- even if the case does not lead to a guilty verdict -- appears to be an independent risk factor for suicide, researchers found.

In a study of Danish national registry data that included more than 27,000 suicides, the odds of committing suicide were greater after any contact with the criminal justice system for both men (OR 2.27, 95% CI 2.19 to 2.35) and women (OR 3.31, 95% CI 3.09 to 3.54), according to Roger Webb, PhD, of the University of Manchester in England, and colleagues.

That association applied even in cases resulting in noncustodial sentences (OR 1.82 for men and 3.03 for women) or not-guilty verdicts (OR 2.37 for men and 3.28 for women), Webb and his co-authors reported online in the Archives of General Psychiatry.

The researchers noted in their paper that the interaction with the justice system either directly caused the increased suicide risk -- or that individuals who had contact with the justice system were predisposed to suicide based on other risk factors.

"In practice, the causal mechanisms may combine elements from both of these explanations," they wrote. "Hence, these people may experience an exacerbation in their already elevated suicide risk on coming into contact with the system for the first time."

The findings indicated a need for more extensive national suicide prevention strategies, they added.

"In particular, improved mental health service provision is needed for all people in contact with the criminal justice system, including those not found guilty and those not given custodial sentences," Webb and colleagues wrote.

Using Danish national registries, the researchers examined data on suicides committed by individuals 15 and older from 1981 to 2006.

The analysis included 27,219 suicides (18,063 by men and 9,156 among women) matched with 524,899 controls by age, sex, and date (the controls were still alive when the matched case committed suicide).

Among the suicide cases, the prevalence of a criminal justice history was higher in men than in women (34.8% versus 12.8%).

However, the strength of the association between a criminal justice history and likelihood of suicide was consistently stronger for women for each specific verdict category.

Adjustment for psychiatric admissions and social risk factors attenuated the association between any contact with the justice system and the odds of suicide -- although it was still statistically significant for both men (OR 1.56) and women (OR 1.92).

Compared with individuals with no criminal history, the likelihood of suicide was elevated for each specific verdict category, especially custodial sentencing.

However, the strongest associations with increased odds of suicide were for sentencing to psychiatric treatment (OR 11.37 for men and 13.15 for women), and in cases where charges were conditionally withdrawn (OR 2.26 for men and 5.00 for women), similar to a suspended sentence in the U.S.

Suicide was particularly likely for individuals with recent or frequent contact with the justice system, or for violent offenders.

"We believe that our findings of rising suicide risk with increasing recency and frequency of contact point toward a strong independent effect of criminal justice history," Webb and his colleagues wrote.

"Whether offending and criminal justice system contact play a causal role in exacerbating risk among already vulnerable individuals requires further examination using more detailed datasets and complex study designs."

The authors acknowledged some limitations of the study, including the possibility of residual confounding from unmeasured factors, the lack of information on current status in the criminal justice system, and the fact that many offenders had multiple verdicts, making it difficult to isolate the risk relative to each specific category.

Other limitations cited included the inability to assess the timing of mental illness in relation to criminal activity, and the possibility that the findings would not apply to larger countries with higher crime rates. ..Source.. by Todd Neale, Staff Writer, MedPage Today

Read More of Article...

Article Summary only...