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2022 suicide death by hanging
NEWPORT – Pend Oreille County has filed its first Unexpected Fatality Report with the state Department of Health, as required by a 2021 state law.
According to the report, Franz Kroll, 57, was taken to the hospital at 7 a.m. Aug. 3, 2022, complaining to staff that “...his new meds were making him feel like he was dying,” according to an incident report. Nothing wrong was found by medical staff at the hospital and he was returned to jail.
At 9:30 a.m., the two corrections workers on duty were called to deal with a booking, leaving Kroll alone and unmonitored. While there was a camera in Kroll’s cell, there were no monitors in the booking area.
When reviewing the video after the event, investigators discovered that as Kroll started looking at the pay phone in the common area of two cells, the corrections officers went to do the booking. A minute later he sticks his head through a phone cord while it is hung up.
At 10:10 a.m., the corrections sergeant returned from the booking and saw Kroll hanging from the phone. He called for help and went to get medical equipment, including an automated external defibrillator. According to the report, after using the AED, CPR continued until paramedics arrived. They declared Kroll dead at 10:30 a.m. The cause of death was asphyxia via ligature hanging. Kroll also tested positive for Delta-9 THC.
The investigation was conducted by former Newport police chief Mark Duxbury, Newport Police Chief Wayne Nelson and Stevens County Chief of Corrections Shawn Davis.
They reported that Kroll was screened when he was booked Aug.1, 2022, on a charge of second-degree murder for killing his wife. He admitted to having had thoughts of committing suicide in the past but said he wasn’t thinking about it currently. He did not provide further details, according to the report.
When he was taken to the hospital the morning he died, he denied being depressed to the doctor, according to the Unexpected Fatality Report. The report did describe him as having a moderate history of depression and anxiety. He was put under medical observation but cleared for incarceration.
The team looked at a number of factors, including structural, clinical and operational factors.
The investigators noted that the cell in which Kroll was housed shares a small dayroom with one other cell. The telephone is in the day room. Investigators found no issues with the cell itself.
They noted that inmate observations were completed through the use of CCTV, not rounds by a person with eyes on.
The investigators noted that the jail only has two portable radios and only one can reach dispatch from the cell where Kroll was housed.
They noted dispatch has the ability to monitor jail cameras but there were no cameras that would have allowed them to witness what Kroll was doing.
Committee recommendations: Place all emergency medical equipment in easy to find locations and make sure staff are trained on where those locations and proper use of all equipment.
Have all new staff receive CPR, first aid and AED training as part of the FTO process.
Remove any phones from inside any cells and relocate to communal day rooms.
Purchase new portable radios so that there are enough for all officers and if necessary install repeaters so that officers can communicate with dispatch via radio from anywhere in or around the jail.
Install video monitors in the booking area so that officers can still have access to video feeds when not in the main control room.
Look at the policy to make sure that all hourly rounds are being done in person with actual eyes on all inmates to get an accurate account of all inmates.
Possible policy around dispatch helping to viewing cameras when Corrections officers are away from the monitors especially any inmates that may be considered at risk or high risk.
The 2021 law requires that the Unexpected Fatality Review be submitted to the state within 120 days of a death.
A public records request from The Miner resulted in some further information into the jails deaths of Franz Kroll and Jacob Mitchell.
Pend Oreille County Sheriff Glenn Blakeslee had a team to investigate Mitchell’s death but a key member dropped out. Mitchell died in April 2023. The Miner has received some information about Mitchell’s death through the Public Records Act but has not yet learned how he died.
