Friday, May 2, 2008

Lawyer: Death row inmate killed himself


Published: April 29, 2008 at 1:37 PM

TALLAHASSEE, Fla., April 29 (UPI) -- A former librarian sentenced to death for the murder of his ex-girlfriend killed himself on death row in Florida, his lawyer said Tuesday.

William Coday, 51, was found dead in his cell Monday at the state prison in Raiford, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported.

The Florida Department of Corrections would say only that the death is under investigation. But lawyer George Reres said that Coday bled to death after cutting himself.

Coday was convicted of killing Gloria Gomez in 1997 after she broke up with him. She was savagely beaten with two hammers and stabbed.

In the 1970s, Coday served 15 months in Germany for a similar killing. His lawyer in that case used an insanity defense.

Coday met Gomez at the Broward County Library, where he was a foreign languages librarian. After she ended the relationship, he lured her to his apartment by claiming to have terminal cancer and attacked her.

Reres said that Coday had a history of suicide attempts.

"He did have a death wish," the lawyer said.

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