Mike W. Bryant
Northern News Services

NNSL (Aug 16/99) - A 36-year-old Fort Smith man committed suicide while in custody at the South Mackenzie Correctional Centre in Hay River late last Thursday.

Daniel Troy Harrington was pronounced dead upon arrival at the H.H. Williams Memorial Hospital after attempts to revive him by Correctional Centre staff and paramedics failed.

"The staff found him hanging from a bed sheet in the remand section of the centre," said Sgt. Bob Gray of the Hay River RCMP detachment.

Harrington had previously pleaded guilty to four criminal charges, including attempted murder, on July 30. The charges stemmed from an incident that occurred in Fort Smith, July 17.

He was subsequently remanded into custody and was being held awaiting sentencing -- scheduled for Oct. 1, 1999 -- when he took his life in the late evening, Aug. 12.

"His body has been forwarded to Edmonton for a post-mortem to determine the cause of death," Gray said.

"An investigation is continuing, but it appears that his death was self-inflicted."