Springfield inmate dies in apparent suicide

A Springfield man who was an inmate at the state prison in Springfield has died at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, N.H., after he tried to hang himself.
http://www.rutlandherald.com/article/20150429/NEWS02/704299871

Springfield inmate dies in apparent suicide By Susan Smallheer Staff Writer | April 29,2015 Email Article Print Article SPRINGFIELD — A Springfield man who was an inmate at the state prison in Springfield has died at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, N.H., after he tried to hang himself. It is the third Vermont inmate suicide in about 24 months. State officials said that Patrick Fennessey, 32, who recently lived in Springfield but was originally from Bellows Falls, died at DHMC earlier Tuesday. He had tried to hang himself at the Southern State Correctional Center on Friday, said Corrections Commissioner Andy Pallito. Pallito said Fennessey was sent back to jail in August after violating conditions of an earlier release. He had an earlier conviction for sexual assault, but his underlying sentence was for burglary of an unoccupied dwelling, uttering a forged instrument and violating conditions of release. He was serving a prison sentence of two to 10 years in prison. His first criminal charge came in 1997, Pallito said. Pallito said he didn’t know what the official cause of death was, since the state of New Hampshire had not yet issued a death certificate to state officials. Pallito said Fennessey had been living in a supported house in Springfield, but in August had violated house rules by using either drugs or alcohol and was returned to prison. He had been taken to the hospital after being discovered by prison officials. Fennessey’s death has triggered a trio of state investigations, one by Corrections, another by the Vermont State Police and a third by the Defender General’s office. Matt Valerio, Vermont’s defender general, said he had been notified by the state on Friday about Fennessey’s “serious” suicide attempt. Valerio said Fennessey was reported to be in serious condition and was not conscious when he left the hospital with emergency workers on Friday. Pallito said Fennessey was in the general population at the prison, and was not on a suicide watch. He did have a cell mate. Valerio said his office, which includes the Office of Prisoners’ Rights, started an investigation Friday into the suicide attempt. “It will be probably 90 days before we have it all together,” he said. Valerio said his office had an “open” case with Fennessey, but he said he could not say what the issue was about because of confidentiality. “It’s not unusual,” he said. “It could be a challenge to a DR (disciplinary report) or it could be medical care, or some condition issue or the calculation of his time or when he should be released. It’s not unusual for any inmate to have a grievance with the department,” he said. Valerio said there had been one inmate suicide in Vermont prisons in 2013 and another in 2014, and in both cases, a lack of training on the part of prison staff members was a likely contributing factor. One suicide was at the state prison in Newport and the other in St. Albans. He said before the 2013 suicide, there hadn’t been a suicide for about 10 years, following a cluster of seven inmate suicides, which prompted some department changes. Valerio said the Vermont prisons see an attempted suicide a month, many of which are not an attempt by an inmate to end his life but a move designed to get attention. Valerio said his office’s investigation will include interviews with “whoever will talk to us,” — other inmates, correctional officers and supervisors, as well as the review of videotape from the prison.