Suicide in Larimer County Jail

LARIMER COUNTY - A jail inmate committed suicide by hanging himself with a T-shirt from a top bunk in his cell, officials said Friday.

ROCKY MOUNTAIN NEWS _ Douglas Wade Russell, 37, of Fort Collins, was pronounced dead at 12:25 a.m. Friday at Poudre Valley Hospital. An autopsy showed that he died from strangulation.

Deputies found him unconscious and unresponsive at 11:52 p.m. Thursday after he apparently hanged himself. He was given CPR before being taken to the hospital.

Russell's suicide was the first in the jail since December 2003. Last year, three deputies received Life Saving Awards from Larimer County Sheriff James Alderden for thwarting inmate suicide attempts. This year, three suicide attempts were interrupted.

Russell, who had an extensive history of drug and assault charges in Colorado and other states, was arrested May 9, accused of violating parole on a third-degree assault charge in Fort Collins. When he came in, he was on drugs and considered "uncooperative" so he was put on a drug withdrawal program and placed in "red tag" status.

Rocky Mountain News