Ecoterror suspect kills himself in jail cell

PHOENIX – An Arizona bookstore owner charged with ecosabotage in Washington was found dead in a Flagstaff jail cell early Thursday, authorities said.

William C. Rodgers, 40, of Prescott, Ariz., committed suicide, according to the Coconino County Sheriff’s Office. The county medical examiner determined that Rodgers suffocated after placing a plastic bag over his head while he was being held in a one-person cell.

Rodgers was one of six people arrested this month in connection with ecoterrorist attacks in Oregon and Washington in recent years. He was charged in the firebombing of a federal Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service facility outside Olympia. The arson caused $1.2 million in damage.

Rodgers was denied bail at a hearing in Flagstaff on Friday and ordered transferred to Washington for further hearings.