Scott Noble Payne
Scott Noble Payne, 43, was held at the Dickens County Correctional Center in Spur, Texas, a privately operated facility to which Idaho had sent him to relieve overcrowding. In the months before his death he wrote letters to loved ones, including one to an uncle asking him to comfort his mother. In early March 2007, guards found him in a cell shower with the water still running, and Idaho Department of Correction health care director Don Stockman said he died by suicide. Stockman later called the facility the worst he had ever seen and said its physical conditions could have contributed to the death. The former warden disputes the findings about his treatment of people sent from Idaho.
Cause of death, as reported: Died by suicide. Don Stockman, Idaho Department of Correction health care director, said Payne died by suicide with razor cuts to his throat, and said the facility's physical conditions could have contributed.
Reported by: Don Stockman, Idaho Department of Correction health care director (the agency that held him); news report.