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New Jersey Jail Guards Indicted in Beating Death
Analdo Ortega was being held in the Hudson County, N.J., Jail in March of 1989 awaiting trial on burglary charges. According to court testimony, Ortega asked for a blanket and that triggered the anger of some of his captors. Shortly thereafter he was beaten to death.
Four jail guards were indicted on charges of federal civil rights violations. They had originally faced state charges, but those were dismissed.
William Fink, 35, a former sergeant, pleaded guilty March 4 to a single charge, committing a civil rights violation that resulted in death. He could be sentenced to as much as life imprisonment.
Thomas Murphy, 36, admitted that he failed to report the beating. He could get up to three years in prison.
Raymond Murray, 58, who was deputy warden in charge of the night shift when the beating occurred, and David Dumers, 42, a guard, both face trial.
Another guard, Richard Maroldi, pleaded guilty in 1992 to state charges of falsifying reports about the beating.
The three-count federal indictment charges Murray with conspiracy, cruel and unusual punishment by law officers, and depriving Ortega of the right to be kept from harm while in custody. Dumers will be tried only on the first two counts.
On the night of the beating, Murray told Fink to send guards to the fourth floor of the jail. Dumers and Murphy were also told to go there to "handle a problem," according to the indictment.
They ordered Ortega out of his cell, and took him to an elevator, where the beating began. When the elevator reached the ground floor, Dumers and Murphy put Ortega in a holding cage where Fink and Dumers continued the beating as Murray looked on, the indictment said.
Two days later Ortega died as a result of injuries sustained in the beating.
Source: Corrections Digest
Four jail guards were indicted on charges of federal civil rights violations. They had originally faced state charges, but those were dismissed.
William Fink, 35, a former sergeant, pleaded guilty March 4 to a single charge, committing a civil rights violation that resulted in death. He could be sentenced to as much as life imprisonment.
Thomas Murphy, 36, admitted that he failed to report the beating. He could get up to three years in prison.
Raymond Murray, 58, who was deputy warden in charge of the night shift when the beating occurred, and David Dumers, 42, a guard, both face trial.
Another guard, Richard Maroldi, pleaded guilty in 1992 to state charges of falsifying reports about the beating.
The three-count federal indictment charges Murray with conspiracy, cruel and unusual punishment by law officers, and depriving Ortega of the right to be kept from harm while in custody. Dumers will be tried only on the first two counts.
On the night of the beating, Murray told Fink to send guards to the fourth floor of the jail. Dumers and Murphy were also told to go there to "handle a problem," according to the indictment.
They ordered Ortega out of his cell, and took him to an elevator, where the beating began. When the elevator reached the ground floor, Dumers and Murphy put Ortega in a holding cage where Fink and Dumers continued the beating as Murray looked on, the indictment said.
Two days later Ortega died as a result of injuries sustained in the beating.
Source: Corrections Digest
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