The man charged with killing two people at Charlottesville’s coal tower in August 2001 was found unresponsive and unconscious in a blood-smeared, solitary confinement cell at Wise County’s Red Onion State Prison in April 2014, bound by a makeshift rope tied around his neck and ankles and with a three-quarters-inch slit on his left wrist. The legal guardian of Craig Nordenson (who changed his name to Craig Verdier-Logarides after being adopted) is now suing the state, the Virginia Department of Corrections, the prison, the warden and correctional officers on five counts for a total of $22.85 million.
The DOC called the death of Verdier-Logarides, 32, a suicide. But Daniele Verdier-Logarides, who adopted him since he’s been in jail, and her attorney, Richard Kennedy, fear they may never know what actually happened to the inmate.
A lawsuit filed in federal court on December 21 states that on the last day of his life, Verdier-Logarides covered his cell window with cardboard, which prevented officers from monitoring him—even though they are required to check on inmates in segregated housing every 30 minutes.
“This is especially troubling as the Department of Corrections and Red Onion State Prison already designated Craig as a possible danger to himself and potentially suicidal with a history of being institutionalized at Southwest Virginia Mental Health Correctional Facility in 2008-2009 for what was described as an attempted suicide,” the suit says. “This certainly indicates a tolerated routine and pattern of officers intentionally permitting inmates to cover the cell without windows to prevent visual inspections in direct violation of prison policy, even where the inmate is housed in segregation and heightened observation and scrutiny are mandated by prison policy.”
According to the suit, correctional officer Warren Smith said he checked on the inmate at 9:23am and Verdier-Logarides peeled back a corner of the cardboard, allegedly saying he was washing up and didn’t want the officers to see him naked. This conversation has been reported only by Smith, and no other witnesses have confirmed it.
At 9:52am, officer Aaron Duke Deel stopped by Verdier-Logarides’ cell for approximately five seconds, and signed the daily log sheet without making any effort to monitor, inspect or communicate with Verdier-Logarides, according to the suit. Without checking on him, the suit alleges Deel signed the log outside Verdier-Logarides’ cell again at 10:25am, and no other inspections or checks on his cell were made until an hour later.
At 11:15am, an unnamed officer opened the food tray slot on the cell door, peered inside and spotted Verdier-Logarides unconscious on the floor.
“The cell was awash in what appeared to be blood and blood smears,” the suit says. “The bed, mattress and pillow were soaked with an inordinate volume of what appeared to be blood. Craig had a pulse and blood pressure, but was unconscious, bleeding and unresponsive.”
Verdier-Logarides was then taken by ambulance to Dickenson Community Hospital, and though he maintained some vital signs throughout the ambulance ride, he never regained consciousness and remained unresponsive.
Dr. Amy Tharp from the office of the chief medical examiner ruled the suicide as a ligature asphyxiation, or strangulation. In the official investigation, the rope that Verdier-Logarides allegedly strangled himself with was determined to be a 6-foot nylon three-strand cord, with no known origin and not used anywhere at Red Onion. The suit also says no razor or cutting tool was found in his cell.
Kennedy, the Wise County attorney representing the inmate’s estate, calls those occurrences “the two mysteries of the case.” Though he says he can’t discuss much about the case, he says the segregated cells are known for being difficult to access and it would take hard evidence to prove that someone else ever entered his cell. The two correctional officers named in the suit have never given sworn statements.
“The family of Craig obviously has doubts and questions as to what really happened,” says the suit, “be it suicide, assisted suicide, coerced suicide or other foul play.”
It also states that the failure to monitor Verdier-Logarides every 30 minutes and the two-hour lapse of no inspection during which the injuries were inflicted were the reason his death occurred without detection. For this reason, according to Kennedy, the state should be held responsible.
“This creates a strong inference that such monitoring violations were the reason all the facts will never be known,” the suit says.
Daniele Verdier-Logarides, administrator of his estate, and her husband, Jacques, want nearly $23 million for the mental anguish, distress and pain at the loss of their son’s companionship, communications, visitation, comfort, guidance and advice that they will continue to suffer.
Kennedy says no court date has been scheduled, but he expects the state to respond to the suit by February.
Updated January 5 with comments from Attorney Richard Kennedy.
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