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Recaptured escapee from mental hospital commits suicide

Healthcare Security Weekly, December 17, 2007

A mentally ill man accused of killing his parents in 1996 escaped from a New Jersey psychiatric hospital Dec. 9 and was captured hours later. De Witt Crandell Jr. killed himself the next day, while he was supposed to be under supervision from the hospital's staff, reported the New York Times.

Crandell, a patient at the Ancora Psychiatric Hospital in Winslow Township, hanged himself with a bedsheet in a hospital bathroom, according to state officials. It was the second time in three months that an accused murderer committed to the hospital escaped from the facility, the Times reported.

State officials removed the hospital's chief executive officer and a security guard from their jobs after the escape and suicide, reported the Associated Press. Two other hospital employees, who were assigned to watch Crandell upon his return to the hospital, were also suspended and could face further disciplinary action, according to a State Department of Human Services spokesman.

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