ELWOOD — Funeral arrangements and visitation have been set for an Iraq War veteran who authorities say hanged himself inside a holding cell at the Elwood Police Department on Friday.
Visitation for U.S. Army Spc. Timothy K. Israel, 23, is from 2 to 8 p.m. Tuesday at Dunnichay Funeral Home, 1113 S. Anderson St. A funeral Mass will be at 11 a.m. Wednesday at St. Joseph Catholic Church, 1306 South A St.
Meanwhile, Indiana State Police Detective Mike Minnicus will be spearheading the investigation into Israel’s suicide, ISP Sgt. Mike Burns said in a news release Monday. Burns said in the announcement that Elwood police Detective Capt. Carl Caldwell asked for an outside agency to review Israel’s death.
Minnicus will be looking at video recordings made by the holding cell’s monitoring system, said Burns, spokesman for the Pendleton Post. He’ll also be reviewing the policies and procedures related to the use of the Elwood Police Department’s holding cell. He’ll also be looking into when Israel was placed in the holding cell, and the times he was checked by an officer or on the video recordings.
“The results of our findings will be turned over to the Madison County Prosecutor’s Office for review,” Detective Sgt. Keith O’Donnell, who is assisting in the investigation, said in the release.
Burns said in the release no further information will be released until the investigation is complete. An Elwood police dispatcher said officials there had no comment, and referred questions to the state police.
An Elwood officer, whose name has not been released, found Israel unresponsive and hanging in the holding cell by his pants’ drawstring at about 2:30 p.m. Friday. He was pronounced dead a short while later at St. Vincent Mercy Hospital, Coroner Ned Dunnichay said. Israel’s death was officially ruled a suicide after an autopsy was performed Saturday at Ball Memorial Hospital in Muncie.
Israel had been arrested earlier Friday on suspicion of domestic battery involving his ex-girlfriend, Dunnichay said, but several of Israel’s friends said such an act would be out of his character and claimed he was falsely arrested.
Israel’s father, Keith Israel of Elwood, said Friday he blamed his son’s suicide on a combination of post-traumatic stress disorder brought on by his tour in Iraq and what he believed was ongoing harassment by Elwood police officers. Timothy Israel served in Iraq from October 2006 through October 2007, earning a Purple Heart after he was wounded in 2007, his father said.
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