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VETERAN'S JAILHOUSE DEATH IS RULED A SUICIDE --
The autopsy confirmed that the death was caused
by
asphyxiation due to hanging. It was also
determined
that he had used the drawstring from his pants.
Timothy Israel
For more about veterans and suicide, use the VA
Watchdog search engine...click here...
http://www.yourvabenefits.org/sessearch.php?q=suicide&op=and
Story here...
http://www.theheraldbulletin.com/local/local_story_131215434.html
Story below:
-------------------------
9:52 p.m.: Vet's jail death ruled a suicide
By Jessica Kerman
ELWOOD — Questions still remained Saturday after
the suicide of a decorated Iraq war veteran in the Elwood City Jail on
Friday.
U.S. Army Spc. Timothy K. Israel, 23, was pronounced dead at 2:45 p.m.
Friday at St. Vincent Mercy Hospital in Elwood after an Elwood police
officer found him hanging in a holding cell 15 minutes earlier, according
to Ned Dunnichay, Madison County coroner.
The autopsy, which was done Saturday, confirmed that the death was caused
by asphyxiation due to hanging in the suicide, Dunnichay said. It was also
determined that Israel had used the drawstring from his pants to commit
suicide.
A dispatcher from Elwood said the police
department would not release any information Saturday or today.
The Indiana State Police will be investigating the incident, but had no
information on Saturday. ISP Sgt. Mike Burns had previously said that it
was routine for an outside investigation team to look into a death that
occurred while the deceased was in custody.
Israel was arrested Friday morning on suspicion of domestic battery after
an argument with a former girlfriend. However, friends of Israel said he
was wrongfully accused.
 Israel’s
record includes several previous arrests. In June 2003, he was charged
with felony intimidation and theft. In April 2008, he was again arrested
for suspicion of felony intimidation.
Keith Israel, the veteran’s father, said Thursday that he was considering
a civil lawsuit against the Elwood Police Department because he believed
no one was monitoring surveillance cameras in the cell. At that time,
Keith Israel said he believed his son’s suicide was the culmination of
ongoing police harassment and untreated post-traumatic stress disorder.
Timothy Israel was deployed to Iraq in October 2006, serving for a year.
His father said he earned a Purple Heart after being wounded by a roadside
explosive in 2007.
According to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, young soldiers have
been three times more likely to be diagnosed with PTSD than those over the
age of 40. In fact, a study from the Rand Corporation posted in April said
that 20 percent of returning soldiers have PTSD or depression, and only
half of them receive treatment.
In 2007, CBS News ( www.cbsnews.com ) gathered information from 45 of the
50 states on suicides of war veterans. What it found was that, in 2005
alone, at least 6,256 veterans throughout the United States had committed
suicide, an average of 17 per day.
Post-traumatic stress disorder is defined as a failure to cope after a
major shock. During World War II, it was known as “shell shock.” About
300,000 soldiers suffer from depression or PTSD, according to the Rand
report.
In 2007, President George Bush signed the Joshua Omvig suicide prevention
bill into law, providing improved screening and treatment for at-risk
veterans. The bill is named after a 22-year-old soldier from Iowa who
committed suicide in December 2005 after his return from Iraq.
-------------------------
posted by Larry
Scott
Founder and Editor
VA Watchdog dot Org
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