A man has been charged with first-degree murder in the death of his cellmate at the Anchorage Jail.
On Friday afternoon, the Alaska Bureau of Investigation received a report that CPR was in progress on an inmate named Mark Canul at the jail. Canul, 53, “had been found unresponsive inside a cell by a Correctional Officer during a routine security check,” according to an Alaska State Troopers dispatch.
Canul was taken to a local hospital where he was later pronounced deceased, AST says, adding that next of kin has been notified. Further investigation determined that Canul’s cellmate, 20-year-old James Clinton, assaulted Canul.
AST says an autopsy will be performed by the State Medical Examiner’s Office and an investigation is being conducted into the incident.
