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Suspect in Joel Marino homicide attempts suicide in prison

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Related stories:

• Marino killer hangs himself prior to sentencing (January 20, 2009)
• Police advance in homicide case (February 4, 2008)
• Marino killer pleads guilty (December 9, 2008)
• Police update suspect detail (February 27, 2008)
• Zimmermann, Marino detectives working together on cases (April 14, 2008)

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The former University of Wisconsin student awaiting trial for the murder of Joel Marino attempted to commit suicide early Thursday morning. 

The Dane County Jail released a statement that a 20-year-old inmate from Stillwater, Minn. used the pants of his jail-issued uniform to hang himself in the shower located in the special needs block of the City-County Building portion of the jail.

While officials could not confirm the identity of the inmate due to a department policy, 20-year-old Adam Peterson, the man being charged with Marino’s death, is the only inmate from Stillwater, Minn. in the jail at this time, said spokesperson for the Dane County Sheriff’s Department Elise Schaffer.

Around 5:24 a.m., another inmate notified the deputy on duty at the City-County building that Peterson was trying to commit suicide.

According to the report, the inmate mentioned in the release was conscious and alert at the time the deputy arrived. The deputy and the inmate who notified him were able to get Peterson out of the improvised hanging device he created.

Following his failed suicide attempt, Peterson was taken to UW Hospital. He has since returned to the jail and is under suicide watch. 

Madison police arrested Peterson on June 26 at his parents’ home in Stillwater, Minn. for stabbing Marino, 31, in his home at 714 W. Shore Drive in January. 

Although Peterson has not yet been tried for first-degree intentional homicide, Madison police have DNA evidence from the crime and a recorded phone call Peterson made to his father, during which he admitted to stabbing Marino.

Inmates who are placed in the special needs block of the jail are there due to medical or mental health conditions, Shaffer said, adding the block is in closer proximity to the deputy sheriff’s station.

Schaffer said suicide attempts are common in the Dane County Jail.

There have been 35 suicide attempts so far this year, Schaffer said, adding there are presumably more not entered into the records as suicide attempts.

Marino’s homicide was the first of seven for the year. Others include the unsolved homicide of UW junior Brittany Zimmermann, who was killed in her apartment on Doty Street last April and the fatal stabbing of Juan Bernal outside the Plaza Tavern earlier this month.