The Weekly Gazette

James Lappin Found
Dead in Police Cell

Late Tuesday night, James Lappin, 50, of 131 Central Avenue, was found dead in a cell at Hartford Police Headquarters where he had been locked up on a charge of drunken driving.

Police Surgeon Robert B. Garland pronounced the man dead. Suspenders were used.

Lappin was taken to Hartford after he had been arrested twice on Tuesday after having been involved in two separate accidents on that day, in Hartford. Police said that they had allowed Lappin to go free after the first mishap on his plea that his wife was seriously ill, but arrested him again and took him to jail after the second accident in which a girl was slightly injured.

He was booked at 6:35 p. m. and his body was discovered at 10:55 p. m. by Policeman James Powers, in charge of the cell block. Immediate efforts at artificial respiration failed.

A finding of suicide was given by Medical Examiner Henry N. Costello after he viewed the body in the cell. Lappin's suspenders were found tied to a crosspiece on the bars of his cell at a height of less than five feet. His body was in a standing position when found.

After having been pronounced under the influence of liquor by Dr. Garland, Lappin was searched at the desk by Policeman D'Amato, but his suspenders being concealed under a sweater and zipper jacket went unnoticed. It is a rule of the department that all articles with which prisoners could do themselves bodily harm be taken from them before they are placed in cells.

Lappin, born in Ireland, was employed as a shipping clerk by P. Berry & Sons. He leaves his wife, Mrs. Mary F. Lappin (who has been critically ill for five months), and three daughters, Mrs. Helen White and Mary Lappin of East Hartford and Mrs. Florence Kelly of Hartford.