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Hanged inmate's family points to case publicity

The Sheriff's Office says newspaper coverage didn't endanger the longtime police informer. He had been in a private cell to protect him from other inmates since 2005.

By ROBIN STEIN
Published May 29, 2006

ST. PETERSBURG - The inmate who hanged himself with a bedsheet at the Pinellas County Jail on Saturday had been placed in a protective custody cell, but was not considered a suicide risk, sheriff's officials said.

Andre C. Talley, 41, was discovered by detention deputies in his cell at 4:16 p.m. He was pronounced dead at Northside Hospital 58 minutes later.

Talley, a longtime police informant was despised by some inmates for testifying for prosecutions.

There was, however, no suspicion Sunday that anything but suicide was the cause of death, said Marianne Pasha, a spokeswoman for the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office.

Last week, a judge sentenced Talley to 30 years in prison for repeatedly stabbing his wife with a steak knife in front of their 5-year-old daughter in 2003.

In the three years since he was jailed for that crime, Talley had provided authorities with incriminating information on nine inmates.

This winter, Talley testified in the high-profile murder trial of Timothy Humphrey, who was accused of manipulating his wife to kill one of his ex-girlfriends.

To protect him, officials transferred him in September from the general population to a private cell where he had no contact with other inmates.

"He was known to be in the process of testifying against other inmates and that was causing some concern about his safety," Pasha said.

Talley was deeply concerned over the unexpectedly long prison term he faced and the prospect of being labeled an informer in prison, his family said.

The attempted murder charge carried a minimum of seven years to a maximum of life in prison.

At a hearing Wednesday, the prosecutor told the judge 20 years would be appropriate.

Talley's lawyer argued that his client deserved less than the minimum, given his willingness to provide authorities with valuable testimony about fellow inmates.

Talley never demanded a lighter sentence in exchange for his information, nor did law enforcement officials promise anything other than supportive testimony at his sentencing hearing.

Two of Talley's brothers said they do not believe that the sentence alone pushed him to suicide.

They also blame publicity his case received from the St. Petersburg Times, which published two articles this month describing Talley as a "jailhouse snitch."

"Your paper killed my brother," Anton Talley said Sunday afternoon. "He was scared out of his life.

"He had already been stabbed once in the head," he said, adding that the family would seek advice about taking legal action against the paper.

Pasha said she that she did not think newspaper coverage endangered Talley.

The security concerns predated the newspaper stories.

"He's been in protective custody since 2005," Pasha said. "He's been separated from other inmates since then."

Saturday was not Andre Talley's first suicide attempt.

The night of the stabbing, Talley phoned the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office from the top of Sunshine Skyway bridge, and threatened to jump.

Sheriff's Capt. Cal Dennie, for whom Talley had once worked as a confidential informer, eventually talked him out of it and persuaded him to turn himself in.

Jeffrey H. Talley said his brother did not seem to be on the verge of suicide when they spoke by phone Friday morning.

"He was depressed but it wasn't major depression he was going through because he still had a glimmer of hope," Jeffrey Talley said. "He still talked about going back to court and getting more of this story out."

Jeffrey Talley said his brother deserved punishment for the stabbing, which he called "inexcusable," but said Andre Talley was not typically violent, but deeply disturbed.

"Andre didn't wake up one morning and say, 'Today I'm going stab my wife in front of my kid,' " Jeffrey Talley said.

"Andre was trying to make amends," he said. "I don't think he received the forgiveness he asked for."

Part of the motivation for helping authorities punish wrongdoers was the hope it would reduce his time in prison, but he was also trying to fulfil his moral duty as a citizen.

"Snitch is a word used for those that don't have any remorse. We're all snitches in the eyes of inmates," Jeffrey Talley said.

Robin Stein can be reached at rstein@sptimes.com or 727 445-4157.

[Last modified May 29, 2006, 04:39:24]