Inmate dies after suicide attempt

GREAT FALLS – A Cascade County regional jail inmate, who was found hanging in his cell while he was on suicide watch, died after being removed from life support on Wednesday.

Leslie G. Wright, 55, tore up a bed sheet and hanged himself from an air vent in his cell, Lewis and Clark County Coroner Mickey Nelson said Thursday.

Wright was booked into jail on Sunday evening on felony burglary and misdemeanor theft charges and was placed in a cell by himself on suicide watch.

Nelson, who was asked by Cascade County to review the hanging, said detention officers found Wright unresponsive at around noon Monday. They gave him CPR and were able to resuscitate him. He was taken to the hospital and was on a ventilator for two days before doctors disconnected life support on Wednesday afternoon.

Nelson said an autopsy showed Wright died of strangulation.

Sgt. Lloyde Ogden, night supervisor at the jail, said officers generally place inmates on suicide watch when they make comments about killing or harming themselves. Inmates on suicide watch are placed in a cell by themselves and staff check on them every 15 minutes.

Nelson said a coroner’s inquest into the death will be held within the next three months.