DENVER—Authorities say they are investigating the death of a Sterling Correctional Facility inmate as a homicide.
Colorado Department of Corrections spokeswoman Katherine Sanguinetti says 35-year-old James Roemer was found dead in his high-security cell Wednesday afternoon. The facility in northeastern Colorado has reported four homicides in the past two years.
Logan County Coroner Dave Tennant says Roemer’s cellmate reported finding the body but didn’t give a “good answer” about the circumstances of the death and then “clammed up.” The coroner says the death was initially reported as a suicide.
Roemer was convicted of trespassing in Montezuma County and was serving a two-year sentence. Sanguinetti says a hold was placed on him for a probation violation out of Apache County, Ariz.
The Denver Post ( ) reports the Colorado Bureau of Investigation is looking into Roemer’s death.
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Information from: The Denver Post,
