Garner Inmate Death

Ruled Suicide

By Andrew Gorosko

The untimely death last week of a Garner Correctional Institution inmate, who was being held there on pending criminal charges, has been ruled a suicide by the chief state medical examiner.

Following an autopsy on his remains, the death of Edward F. Schultz, 33, of Enfield was ruled a suicide due to asphyxia from hanging, according to a spokeswoman for the medical examiner.

State police spokesman Lieutenant J. Paul Vance said state police responded to the 245,000-square-foot prison at 50 Nunnawauk Road on February 1, to investigate after learning of the incident. State police also attended the autopsy as part of their investigation, Lt Vance said. “It was thoroughly investigated,” he added.

Brian Garnett, spokesman for the state Department of Correction (DOC), said that at 2:59 pm on February 1, during a routine inspection of inmate cells in the prison, Garner staff saw Mr Schultz in his single-occupancy cell with a bed sheet around his neck with the other end of the sheet tied to an upper bunk bed.

Garner staff members performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation and took other measures in seeking to revive Mr Schultz, Mr Garnett said. Mr Schultz was transported to Danbury Hospital at 3:30 pm for medical treatment, he added.

Mr Schultz died two days later.

The DOC is investigating the circumstances of Mr Schultz’s death, Mr Garnett said.

Since last May, there have been four inmate suicides at Garner. In each of those cases, the inmate asphyxiated himself.

Mr Garnett declined to disclose whether Mr Schultz was being held at the prison as a mental health inmate.

The large majority of the roughly 600 male prisoners held at the high-security prison have serious mental health problems. Garner specializes in treating inmates with mental health disorders.

Mr Garnett said prison staff members strive to keep inmates from harming themselves and thus prevent many inmate suicides from occurring.

“Our staff are highly trained to be very vigilant about the potential for self-harm” by prison inmates, he said.

After suicides occur at the prison, the circumstances of the incident are thoroughly investigated in seeking to prevent such incidents from occurring in the future, he said.

The DOC was holding Mr Schultz at Garner on a controlling criminal charge of assault on a police officer/firefighter. He had been held in the state prison system for less than three weeks.