Mark A. Grethen
Mark A. Grethen, 63, was a former businessman from Suffolk. He died on August 3, 2021, in his cell at Lawrenceville Correctional Center in Brunswick County, Virginia, a prison operated by the GEO Group. The state Department of Corrections said his death was an apparent homicide during an attack by another person held inside his cell, and it has not named that person. In 2023, the Virginia Attorney General's office said a man had pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in Grethen's death.
Cause of death, as reported: Killed by another person in custody. The Virginia Department of Corrections said he was apparently killed in an attack by another inmate in his cell, and the Attorney General's office says Bret Cook pleaded guilty to his murder.
Reported by: Virginia Department of Corrections (the agency that held him); Virginia Attorney General's office (outside investigators).
News reports (4)
- Mark A. Grethen: Prisoner killed in cell was former Virginia businessman
- Top Republican Donor Killed in Prison After Serving Nearly Two Decades for Sexually Assaulting Two Children
- Inmate killed in prison cell was a former Virginia businessman
- Man sentenced to life for prison killing of ex-Suffolk businessman convicted of child sex crimes - The Virginian-Pilot