BY LEE WILLIAMS AND ESTEBAN PARRA
The News Journal
09/27/2005
As he was booked into Gander Hill prison, Christopher Barkes told the mental health screener that he had attempted suicide before -- when he had earlier served time in Gander Hill. Then he provided a list of drugs he was taking for depression, post-traumatic stress disorder and other forms of mental illness.
Instead of placing Barkes on suicide watch, prison officials put him in a cell, alone and unsupervised.
Hours later, Barkes hanged himself with a bedsheet.
On the day he died, Nov. 14, 2004, Barkes was in prison for a parole violation stemming from a drunken driving accident that killed two people. He was 37 years old.
Despite his previous suicide attempt, his history of mental illness and the admissions he gave to the screener, the official Department of Correction press release says Barkes was "not considered suicidal."
