Justin Helzer
Justin Helzer, 41, was held on death row at San Quentin State Prison, where a corrections officer found him hanging in his single cell around 10:17 p.m. on Sunday, April 14, 2013, during a security check. Prison officials said he died by suicide, using a sheet tied to the cell bars, and that he had tried to kill himself in 2010. A former attorney, quoted in the San Francisco Chronicle, said he was sorry but not surprised given Helzer's serious mental illness. A prosecutor said he had experienced serious distress in prison, including self-mutilation. The prison and the Marin County coroner's office investigated the death.
Cause of death, as reported: Died by suicide. Prison officials said he hanged himself with a sheet tied to his cell bars and that he was found during a security check.
Reported by: San Quentin State Prison and California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (the agency that held him). The only account of how this person died comes from the agency that held him.
Sources (6)
- Condemned Inmates Who Have Died Since 1978
- Justin Helzer Commits Suicide on San Quentin's Death Row
- Convicted murderer Justin Helzer apparently commits suicide
- Justin Helzer hangs himself in prison
- Condemned killer’s death investigated as suicide
- Convicted Murderer Justin Helzer Found Dead at San Quentin of Apparent Suicide