Suicide at Maine’s Supermax Prison Under Investigation

March 6, 2000 Suicide at Maine’s Supermax Prison Under Investigation State mental health and corrections officials are investigating the suicide of a 19-year old Maine Supermax inmate. On January 19, 2000, James Thomas, Jr. hanged himself with a bed sheet while in solitary confinement. It was the first suicide at the maximum-security prison since it opened in 1992. On December 21, 1999, while awaiting trail at the Lincoln County Jail, Mr. Thomas tried to kill himself by cutting his wrists with a staple pried from a legal pad. After an evaluation by a mental health crisis team . . .