Accused murderer Free killed himself by aspyxiation, no foul play suspected
Mar. 18—CANTON — Accused murderer John Free III killed himself by asphyxiation and there is no foul play involved, St. Lawrence County District Attorney Gary M. Pasqua revealed during a Tuesday afternoon press conference.
The 51-year-old Ogdensburg man was found "having a medical emergency in his cell" around 2:03 p.m. on Friday.
"All lifesaving measures were unsuccessful," Pasqua said.
Although forensic pathologist Dr. Scott LaPoint determined the manner of death as suicide, the New York State Attorney General's Office and New York State Police are conducting separate investigations into Free's death.
Free was incarcerated on a charge of second-degree murder, having been indicted by a grand jury just days before his suicide.
Pasqua said the indictment will be dismissed. Free had been jailed since May 22 last year after he gave a statement and confessed to killing John Barr, 58, of Rensselaer Falls sometime between April 5 and 12. Pasqua said state police investigators found a metal pipe, a broom and a BB gun, all of which had Free's DNA and "all forensically linked to being used in the crime." Pasqua said Free took Barr's Jeep and sold it in the Syracuse area, which state police recovered as part of their investigation.
St. Lawrence County Sheriff Patrick "Rick" Engle said Free was not on any type of mental health watch. He noted that Free's suicide is the first at the St. Lawrence County jail in "at least to my knowledge, probably 30-plus years."
"Any inmate that comes in there, they're screened by the mental health professional," Engle said.
Pasqua declined to comment on how Free managed to asphyxiate himself. He declined to comment on what type of instrument may have been used. The DA said he called the press conference because he feels it's important to make the public aware of the circumstances.
"I think it's important, especially in today's climate, to hear an individual in custody of police or Department of Corrections or in a facility has lost their life, I think it's important to get out what the medical professional has found," he said.
"The fact that Mr. Free unfortunately took his own life isn't necessarily a comment on whether there there was a failure or not. The Attorney General's Office and I'm sure the (state) Commission on Corrections will do whatever investigation that they have to do," Pasqua said.
He said the state Attorney General's Office is involved because of state law that automatically involves them whenever law enforcement could be involved, "even when there is no evidence that they were involved."
"I don't know they're going to be involved for long, once they see the evidence," the DA said, however he noted that there's no timeline for any investigation.
Free was a worker at the beleaguered former Academy at Ivy Ridge, a now-closed behavior modification center in Oswegatchie that fraudulently advertised itself as a school for troubled teens. It was open from 2001 to 2009. A documentary on Netflix called "The Program: Cons, Cults, and Kidnapping" outlines the physical, mental and sexual abuse teens suffered there at the hands of staff. Shortly after the documentary aired, Free did an hour-long interview with WWNY-tv where he defended his behavior there and denied any wrongdoing.
"Even though he is accused of, and the evidence shows, he committed some terrible crimes, he still does have family dealing with his untimely passing so I don't think it's appropriate to discuss any other matters at this time," Pasqua said. "There will be a time to discuss Ivy Ridge as a whole."
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