SBI probes prisoner suicide

April 11, 2012

The State Bureau of Investigation is probing what appears to be a suicidal death of a prisoner in the Catawba County jail Tuesday night.

The sheriff’s office released information late Tuesday that Jason Samuel Setzer, 38, of Conover, committed suicide by hanging himself inside his jail cell earlier that evening.

Authorities say the incident occurred during a 20-minute window at about 5:30 p.m., when Setzer was alone.

Prison guards reported that Setzer was checked and OK at about 5:24 p.m. He was found dead at 5:45 p.m.  

To read more of this story, pick up the Thursday edition of Catawba County's community newspaper, The Observer News Enterprise, at newsstands throughout the county.