County Inmate Attempts Suicide Twice

An inmate at the Kootenai County Jail tried twice Friday to kill herself in her jail cell, sheriff’s officials said.

Paula M. Alban, 24, tried to hang herself with a bed sheet early Friday morning, said Kootenai County Sheriff’s Capt. Karl Thompson.

A jail deputy making his rounds found Alban unconscious in her cell at about 1:17 a.m.

“He immediately raised her and relieved the weight on the knot,” Thompson said. He and other deputies were able to restore her breathing and have her transported to Kootenai Medical Center.

Alban was able to loop the sheet through horizontal slats on her cell window, Thompson said. A protective cover over the slats had been removed from the window. Thompson said jail officials were not sure if Alban or some other inmate had removed the protection.

After being treated in the hospital, doctors had Alban returned to the jail later Friday afternoon.

Although she was being kept in a safety cell where she could be closely watched, Kootenai County Sheriff Pierce Clegg said she later tried to bite through her wrists.

Clegg said Alban was returned to the hospital. She was staying at the jail on a probation violation after being convicted of burglary, said Lt. Ben Wolfinger.

Thompson said jail officials try to make sure inmates cannot harm themselves. Deputies check all cells at least once every 30 minutes, he said.

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