ANDERSON — A convicted murderer found dead in the Pendleton Correctional Facility on Thursday died from asphyxiation due to hanging, Madison County Coroner Ned Dunnichay said.
Simon Rios’ death was ruled a suicide. He had been convicted of killing his wife and three daughters in 2005 in Fort Wayne and of abducting, raping and murdering 10-year-old Alejandra Gutierrez in Delaware County.
According to an Indiana Department of Correction report, an officer found Rios hanging about 12:39 a.m. Thursday, and Rios was pronounced dead about 40 minutes later. Dunnichay said Rios apparently had hanged himself with a bed sheet.
No signs of foul play or trauma were detected in an autopsy at Muncie’s Ball Memorial Hospital.
Rios had been serving five life sentences with no possibility of parole. Upon the wishes of Gutierrez’s survivors, he had not received the death penalty.
Rios’ death is being investigated by Facility Internal Affairs staff and the Indiana State Police, public information officer Neil Potter said in a release.
Dunnichay said officials still were trying to contact Rios’ family in Mexico to return his remains.
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9:38 p.m.: Rios' death ruled suicide
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