Dakota Valkyrie
July 25th, 2009, 09:53 AM
A 63-year-old inmate at the Del Norte County Jail died Monday morning, and officials are investigating whether foul play was involved.
Thomas Barclay McQuarrie was awaiting his transport to San Quentin State Prison to serve a two-year sentence for possession of child pornography when he collapsed in one of the dormitories in the jail after an altercation with at least one other inmate.
Del Norte County Sheriff Dean Wilson said there were no signs of obvious trauma to McQuarrie, and authorities are awaiting the results of an autopsy scheduled for later this week to determine the cause of death.
[...]
The incident occurred around 7:20 a.m. in the common area of McQuarrie’s cell block, where he was being housed with seven other inmates. According to Wilson, the jailers became aware of McQuarrie’s condition when another inmate used an intercom system within the dormitory to notify them.
[...]
“When I know more facts, I’ll be able to render whether it’s criminal or not,” District Attorney Mike Riese said. “It looks like there was a fight, and it looks like within seconds of the fight starting he dropped.”
Though the probe into McQuarrie’s death is just beginning, Riese added that the circumstances surrounding it seem to point to an underlying medical condition rather than foul play.
“I can speculate that it was a heart attack brought on by a sudden quarrel and a sudden need to defend himself,” Riese said.
Del Norte County Sheriff’s Office Cmdr. Bill Steven oversees the jail’s operations. He said Monday that there was no confirmation of a fistfight occurring on McQuarrie’s cell block.
“There was no fight,” Steven said. “It was more of an argument.”
[...]
McQuarrie was sentenced on July 9 to serve two years in prison for possession of child pornography. He was arrested in May on suspicion of having thousands of images of child pornography on his computer.
Officials also suspected he was trying to groom a potential juvenile victim based on the content of e-mails and instant messages taken from his hard drive.
[...]http://www.triplicate.com/20090721106512/News/Local-News/Child-porn-convict-dies-in-jail
If this is what happens at the county jail, his old ticker probably couldn't take the thought of what Bubba would be like at San Quentin.
Thomas Barclay McQuarrie was awaiting his transport to San Quentin State Prison to serve a two-year sentence for possession of child pornography when he collapsed in one of the dormitories in the jail after an altercation with at least one other inmate.
Del Norte County Sheriff Dean Wilson said there were no signs of obvious trauma to McQuarrie, and authorities are awaiting the results of an autopsy scheduled for later this week to determine the cause of death.
[...]
The incident occurred around 7:20 a.m. in the common area of McQuarrie’s cell block, where he was being housed with seven other inmates. According to Wilson, the jailers became aware of McQuarrie’s condition when another inmate used an intercom system within the dormitory to notify them.
[...]
“When I know more facts, I’ll be able to render whether it’s criminal or not,” District Attorney Mike Riese said. “It looks like there was a fight, and it looks like within seconds of the fight starting he dropped.”
Though the probe into McQuarrie’s death is just beginning, Riese added that the circumstances surrounding it seem to point to an underlying medical condition rather than foul play.
“I can speculate that it was a heart attack brought on by a sudden quarrel and a sudden need to defend himself,” Riese said.
Del Norte County Sheriff’s Office Cmdr. Bill Steven oversees the jail’s operations. He said Monday that there was no confirmation of a fistfight occurring on McQuarrie’s cell block.
“There was no fight,” Steven said. “It was more of an argument.”
[...]
McQuarrie was sentenced on July 9 to serve two years in prison for possession of child pornography. He was arrested in May on suspicion of having thousands of images of child pornography on his computer.
Officials also suspected he was trying to groom a potential juvenile victim based on the content of e-mails and instant messages taken from his hard drive.
[...]http://www.triplicate.com/20090721106512/News/Local-News/Child-porn-convict-dies-in-jail
If this is what happens at the county jail, his old ticker probably couldn't take the thought of what Bubba would be like at San Quentin.