Adam Peterson
Adam Peterson, who was convicted of killing Madison resident Joel Marino last year, apparently committed suicide on Saturday night, authorities said.
Peterson was serving a life sentence in the Dodge Correctional Institution in Waupun.
According to a press release from the State Department of Corrections, Peterson's cellmate awoke to find Peterson, 20, hanging from an upper bunk bed railing shortly before 10 p.m.
One end of a bed sheet was tied around his neck and the other end was tied to the railing of the bed in the cell.
Peterson's cellmate alerted staff, who immediately responded and administered emergency measures until paramedics arrived. He was pronounced deceased at the prison at 10:21 p.m. and was later transported from the institution by Dodge County Medical Examiner staff.
Peterson, a Stillwater, Minn., native and former University of Wisconsin student, had entered Dodge Correctional Institution on Dec. 8 to undergo his initial assessment and evaluation.
DCI staff alerted local law enforcement following the incident, which is standard in the event of an unanticipated inmate death.
The Dodge County Sheriff's Department staff continues to investigate, and DCI has initiated an internal review of the incident, as well. At this time, foul play is not suspected.
Peterson had attempted suicide on Sept. 25 in the Dane County jail while awaiting trial, but was rescued by a deputy.
In that circumstance, he attempted to hang himself in the shower with his jail-issued uniform pants, according to his attorney, Assistant Public Defender Dennis Burke.
Peterson was conscious and alert after the rescue, according to the Dane County Sheriff's Office. He was transported to a local hospital for an evaluation, then returned to the jail and housed in segregation under suicide watch.
At the time of Peterson's conviction, Burke said Peterson had been diagnosed with schizophrenia and psychosis.
Marino, who was 31, was a musician and technical representative for a medical device company.
A well-liked community activist, he was home all morning in his Bay Creek neighborhood house Jan. 28, 2008, the day of his death. Marino was talking on the phone when he noticed Peterson in his home. An altercation ensued, with Peterson stabbing Marino in the abdomen and upper chest sometime between 1 and 1:20 p.m. The murder weapon, found by police in Marino's home, was a paring knife with a four-inch blade. There were no signs of forced entry, and police never uncovered a personal link between Peterson and Marino.
After Peterson stabbed Marino, he fled the home. He left the murder weapon at the scene of the crime, which had traces of his DNA on it. Peterson also dumped a backpack he was carrying and a stocking cap he had been wearing in a garbage can not far from Marino's home. The cap also contained DNA samples from his hair.
This DNA evidence, which Madison police obtained shortly after the murder, did little to help them track down Peterson. Because Peterson had never committed a felony, his name and DNA were not contained in major criminal databases typically used by law enforcement to track down potential suspects.
In the end, it was Peterson's mental illnesses that put him on the radar screen of the Madison police.
On March 7, five weeks after Adam Peterson had killed Joel Marino, Peterson's twin brother, Eric Peterson, called the police because Adam was acting uncharacteristically aggressive and confused. Eric Peterson told the responding officer that his brother's mood had turned dark. He also said Adam had become confused over who he was and was hostile to those who asked him about his mood. Eric Peterson also told the officer Adam had begun using cocaine.
Adam Peterson voluntarily left with the officer and was taken to a local hospital. He was given a psychological evaluation and was subsequently admitted for mental health treatment. Upon his release about a week later, he left Madison to live with his mother in Minnesota.
The call made by Eric Peterson in March eventually landed his brother on an in-house police list of potentially dangerous residents with mental health problems. Police would turn to this list when trying to solve the Marino case.
The call made by Eric Peterson also provided police with Adam's cell phone number, which would later be used to contact him in Minnesota. Police also learned by responding to the March call that Adam used to work at Capitol Centre Foods, a fact that later allowed a Madison resident to identify Adam Peterson from a photo lineup of potential suspects.