Surveillance Video Shows May 2008 Jailhouse SlayingMCSO: Man Accused Of Jail Killing Assaulted Another Inmate
POSTED: 1:20 pm MST March 5,
2009
UPDATED: 10:14 am MST March 6,
2009
PHOENIX -- After more than two months' of requests, the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office released an incident report describing a jailhouse beating.The inmate accused of the assault is Pete Van Winkle, the man who allegedly beat another inmate to death at the Fourth Avenue Jail in May.Warren Summerlin, who is on death row, was in a small recreational yard on Jan. 8 when Van Winkle walked in and started assaulted him, all while under the watchful eye of the detention officer who was also on duty during the May attack.When detention officers asked him why he attacked Summerlin, Van Winkle only said, "He is a sex offender so I had to do it."According to Jack MacIntyre, an attorney for the sheriff's office, the two men had no prior relationship or contact.Both inmates were housed in what officials call the most secure part of the jail.MacIntyre blamed the incident on burned-out light bulbs."We had…a work order in for some lighting, and the lights hadn't been replaced yet," he said.The lighting in the recreational yard is controlled by a different entity than the sheriff's office, MacIntyre said.Van Winkle, who allegedly has ties to the Aryan Brotherhood, was originally in jail for attempted murder; now he is also awaiting trial on murder charges for the slaying of inmate Robert Cotton.Surveillance video from the May beating shows Van Winkle attacking Cotton for 15 minutes before officers arrived.Though the beating was captured on tape, detention officer Kenneth Monahan was not monitoring that particular feed.Monahan was the same officer who was monitoring the facility when Summerlin was attacked. He has since been transferred to another facility.
Previous Stories:
- Oct. 24, 2008: Source: Guards Should Have Anticipated Jail Death
- Oct. 16, 2008: MCSO Responds To Jail Death Video
- Oct. 16, 2008: Video Contradicts MCSO's Version Of Jail Slaying
- Oct. 16, 2008: MCSO Accuses CBS 5 Of Altering Jail Death Video
- Oct. 16, 2008: Was Jail Killing Preventable?
- May 2, 2008: Inmate Dies In 15-Minute Beating
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