WARREN (AP) – A state police investigation of an inmate’s hanging death at the Maine State Prison is expected to be completed next week.
Ryan Rideout, 25, who was being housed in a special-management unit at the Warren compound, was found hanging in his cell on Oct. 5. Officials said Rideout was found hanging from a bed sheet tied to a sprinkler head in what appeared to be a suicide.
At the time of his death, Rideout was to be checked every half hour because of his classification as a high-risk inmate, Warden Jeffrey Merrill said.
Morrill said Rideout was fine when prison staff checked him at about 11 p.m., but the inmate was found hanging when a follow-up check was made at 11:31 p.m.
Attempts to resuscitate Rideout failed.
Merrill said Rideout had served about a year of a 17-month sentence for multiple burglaries and criminal mischief. Rideout was born in Augusta but his last known address was Presque Isle.
State police routinely investigate prison deaths.
If Rideout’s death is ruled a suicide, it will be the second since the new prison at Warren was opened in 2002, Merrill said.
—
Information from: Bangor Daily News, http://www.bangornews.com
Comments are no longer available on this story