John E. Free
John E. Free, 51, of Ogdensburg, died on March 14, 2025, at the St. Lawrence County Jail in Canton. Sheriff's deputies responded to an emergency at the jail that afternoon and found him dead in his cell. State police are investigating, and an autopsy was scheduled for the following Monday. The New York Attorney General's Office of Special Investigation, which reviews deaths in which an officer may have been involved, lists the death as a suicide. The State Commission of Correction's Medical Review Board also investigated the death and published a report.
Cause of death, as reported: Died by suicide. The New York Attorney General's Office of Special Investigation lists the death as a suicide.
Reported by: New York State Office of the Attorney General, Office of Special Investigation (outside investigators).