The Latest: Man who died in jail was key Fairbanks 4 witness

ANCHORAGE, Alaska – The Latest on the death of an inmate at the Fairbanks Correctional Center (all times local):

1:05 p.m.

The Alaska inmate who died after an apparent suicide attempt was a key witness in the trials of the so-called Fairbanks Four.

Alaska corrections officials say 40-year-old Arlo Olson was found unresponsive in his Fairbanks cell Saturday night and died Tuesday.

The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reports (http://bit.ly/2stIcUD) Olson testified in the trials of the four men convicted of killing teenager John Hartman in 1997 in Fairbanks. The convictions for the four men were reversed in 2015 in a negotiated settlement with the state.

Olson testified in the 1999 trial he was “110 per cent” sure he saw the four men assaulting another man the night Hartman was killed. He story changed over the years. In a 2015 deposition, he said prosecutors at the time pressured him to testify and coached him in is trial testimony.

Olson had been in custody since June 7 on warrants for kidnapping, assault and other charges.

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8:18 a.m.

A man in state custody on kidnapping and assault charges has died.

The Department of Corrections says 40-year-old Arlo Olson was taken to Fairbanks Memorial Hospital on Saturday after an apparent suicide attempt.

A corrections officer found Olson unresponsive in his cell and officers and medical staff attempted life-saving measures.

The Corrections Department says Olson died Tuesday night at the hospital.

Olson had been in custody since June 7.

He had been arrested on two warrants on charges of kidnapping, felony assault, burglary and misdemeanour charges of assault and criminal mischief.

Olson’s death is the third this year in the Corrections Department.