By Greg Welter
Chico Enterprise-Record
OROVILLE, Calif. — A man arrested last week in connection with the torture and kidnapping of a Paradise man was found dead inside his cell Friday night at the Butte County Jail.
Authorities said Paradise resident David Ryan Forester, 36, had hanged himself from an upper bunk.
He was discovered during a routine head count just after 7 p.m. Jail guards administered life-saving measures and Forester was rushed to Oroville Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead shortly after arrival.
Forester had been in the Butte County Jail since May 18 after his arrest by Paradise police along with John Craft, 46, for allegedly kidnapping and torturing Timothy Hilley, 38, of Paradise.
Hilley was found by a passerby stumbling along the Skyway, badly injured.
Police said Hilley had been beaten, kicked and struck with a blunt object, possibly a two-by-four piece of wood, for a prolonged period of time. He suffered injuries to his head, face and torso. The man also claimed he was held against his will and threatened with death. Hilley remains at a Sacramento hospital in stable condition.
Bail on Forester and Craft was set at $1.15 million each.
Police said the assailants and the victim knew each other, but they haven’t released a motive in the alleged crime.
An autopsy on Forester is pending.
A jail official said Craft is being held in a general population area of the jail and is not on suicide watch.
Copyright 2011 MediaNews Group, Inc. and ANG Newspapers
All Rights Reserved