Accused killer found hanging in jail cell

From staff reports
Published: August 18, 2008

        A Reidsville man charged with first-degree murder tried to hang himself in his jail cell, authorities said.
        Mark Wilson was found late Sunday hanging on a sheet attached to the bars on his cell, the Rockingham County Sheriff’s Office said. Wilson used a sheet to make the noose.
        The makeshift noose was removed and emergency medical services was called. Wilson, who had a pulse and was breathing, was taken to a hospital. His condition was not immediately known.
Dean Venable, a spokesman for the sheriff’s office, would not comment on Wilson’s condition.

“He’s being treated at a local medical facility,” Venable said.

Venable was unsure if Wilson had been under suicide watch since arrest.

Wilson, 36, is charged in the July stabbing death of neighbor David James Martin. Martin, 58, was found dead inside his home on Franklin Street on July 23. Wilson, who lived just a couple of doors down from Martin, was arrested about a week after the killing.