By AnnMarie Timmins
Concord Monitor
NEW HAMPSHIRE — The Merrimack County jail inmate who hanged himself with his shoelaces Friday night was alone in a cell but not on suicide watch, because he hadn’t given any indication he was suicidal, jail Superintendent Ron White said yesterday.
Had Gary Gross, 40, of Concord behaved in a way that concerned staff, he would have been in a clear glass cell at health services and checked every 15 minutes, White said. Prison officers also would have taken Gross’s sneakers and laces before locking him up on suicide watch, White said.
Instead, Gross was alone in a maximum-security cell for a disciplinary write-up when he committed suicide, according to White. Inmates in the “hole,” as they call it, are within sight of an officer and allowed to keep their jail clothing and footwear. They are checked every 30 minutes, White said.
“There has to be some indication that an inmate is a harm to themselves, others or is likely to escape to land in the closely watched unit,” White said. “There was nothing that was obviously apparent to staff that (Gross) was going to harm himself.”
Staff knew Gross fairly well because he’d been incarcerated there before. Most recently, he had been in the Boscawen jail since December on a probation violation and a driving while intoxicated charge for driving under the influence of medication. He was due to be released in June or July.
Jail officials are still investigating by talking to family members and inmates and reading letters that Gross had written but not yet mailed, family said.
White declined to say what misbehavior landed Gross in maximum security Wednesday.
Gross’s mother, Mary Louise Voghel, said she talked to her son by telephone daily. She last spoke with him Wednesday, the day he went into maximum security, because he had called to tell her that he might be out of touch for a few days. Maximum-security inmates are allowed out of their cells about one hour each day to shower and make phone calls. Sometimes that hour comes late at night, when making calls is impossible, Voghel said.
Voghel said Gross did not sound depressed or suicidal when they spoke. He told her he was being sent to maximum security because he had refused to work in the jail’s kitchen. Voghel said her son suffered from seizures and was concerned about having a spell while handling knives.
White said yesterday the kitchen incident is not what landed Gross in segregation. He said Gross was there for a “disciplinary write-up,” but he declined to elaborate.
Gross’s body was found hanging from a heating pipe about 9:30 p.m. Friday, according to family members. Voghel was alerted about 1:30 Saturday morning by police officers at her door, she said.
Gross’s father, Dennis A. Gross, 60, is also an inmate at the Merrimack County jail, where he’s served time since August for drug offenses. He heard about the death soon after it happened, family said, but was not officially told it was his son until after 1 a.m.
He, like other inmates and staff, is being offered crisis counseling, White said.
Gross had two brothers incarcerated as well. Michael Gross, 33, is in the Berlin prison on an armed robbery conviction. Eli Gross, 35, is at the Concord prison, serving time for drug possession and witness tampering, according to prison records. Voghel said she has been told that her sons and Gross’s father will be released for Gross’s funeral tomorrow and escorted by corrections staff.
Gross had been in and out of trouble the last several years for simple assault, driving while intoxicated and criminal mischief, according to police reports. He typically received a few months in jail for each conviction and a year or two of probation.
He was in jail this time, his mother said, for getting into an accident in December while driving to Concord’s methadone clinic for his daily treatment. He was charged with being under the influence of medication. He was also serving time for a probation violation for missing a court date, according to prison officials.
Gross’s uncle, Jay Nault, said his nephew had never shown serious signs of depression. He worked as a landscaper and was pleased recently to have had his driver’s license reinstated, Nault said. He had lost it for a habitual offender conviction, Nault said.
Gross had complained to his family that jail officials had taken away his medication for anxiety, but he also told them he had kicked his reliance on methadone. He seemed eager to be released this summer, they said.
Gross is survived by a 19-year-old daughter, Britny, and two other brothers, Dennis D. Gross and Jason Gross. His mother said her son had hoped to form a band with his brothers after he was released. He had taught himself to play guitar, she said.
Voghel said family and friends are making CDs of Gross’s favorite music to play after his funeral. Music was one of his biggest passions, Voghel said.
Copyright 2009, Concord Monitor