SEXUAL PREDATOR AND SERIAL KILLER COMMITS SUICIDE IN JAIL
CROWN POINT, Ind. — A man sentenced to life in prison for murdering three teens and burying their bodies in a basement died Friday, a day after he was found hanging from a twisted bed sheet in his jail cell, a hospital spokesman said.
Jail guards had found David Maust, 51, hanging in his cell early Thursday, about 10 minutes after they told him that he was going to transferred to a state prison later that day, sheriff's Cpl. Mike Higgins said.
Higgins said Maust used a bed sheet braided into a rope to hang himself. He was taken to a hospital, where he died Friday morning, said St. Anthony Hospital spokesman Joe Dejanovic.
In a note found by the guards, Maust admitted to five killings. "Maybe with my death the families and the people can go on with their lives and not waste energy wondering why I was still alive," he wrote in the seven-page note, released by the county prosecutor's office.
Maust pleaded last fall to killing Michael Dennis, 13, James Raganyi, 16, and Nicholas James, 19, whose bodies were found buried in his basement, and was sentenced to three consecutive life terms without the chance for parole in exchange for the state withdrawing all death penalty requests.
He had also served time in an Illinois prison for the 1981 murder of a 15-year-old boy before being released in 1999, and he was convicted of manslaughter while serving in the Army for the killing of a teenager in Germany.
Jail guards had found David Maust, 51, hanging in his cell early Thursday, about 10 minutes after they told him that he was going to transferred to a state prison later that day, sheriff's Cpl. Mike Higgins said.
Higgins said Maust used a bed sheet braided into a rope to hang himself. He was taken to a hospital, where he died Friday morning, said St. Anthony Hospital spokesman Joe Dejanovic.
In a note found by the guards, Maust admitted to five killings. "Maybe with my death the families and the people can go on with their lives and not waste energy wondering why I was still alive," he wrote in the seven-page note, released by the county prosecutor's office.
Maust pleaded last fall to killing Michael Dennis, 13, James Raganyi, 16, and Nicholas James, 19, whose bodies were found buried in his basement, and was sentenced to three consecutive life terms without the chance for parole in exchange for the state withdrawing all death penalty requests.
He had also served time in an Illinois prison for the 1981 murder of a 15-year-old boy before being released in 1999, and he was convicted of manslaughter while serving in the Army for the killing of a teenager in Germany.
David E. Maust suspected of murdering three teenagers found buried in his basement, pleaded not guilty to charges that he strangled and killed a 16-year-old boy. Maust also told the judge that he wants to represent himself in court.
Maust, known by his neighbors as "Crazy Dave," was only charged with the murder of James Raganyi, 16, though officials said there was an ongoing investigation into the deaths of the other two teenagers, identified by Lake County Coroner David Pastrick as those of Michael Dennis, 13, and Nick James, 19.
The single murder charge was filed Thursday against Maust, a tenant of the rundown apartment house in Hammond from which investigators this week removed the bodies of the three adolescents, who had been reported missing in recent months.
Maust has a criminal record that includes a murder conviction for the death of a 15-year-old boy in Illinois and a conviction in Texas for committing bodily injury to a child, police said.
During the brief arraignment hearing Maust looked around the courtroom, and he appeared to smirk as he was escorted out. Dennis and Raganyi were last seen Sept. 10 at a home near where Maust lived in the northwestern Indiana city. About three weeks later, on Oct. 2, police arrested Maust on a charge of contributing to the delinquency of a minor, alleging he had given Dennis and a 12-year-old boy marijuana and beer at his home during August.
Maust was released on $300 bond the same day and later pleaded innocent to the charge. Dennis and Raganyi were friends and had visited Maust in his second-floor apartment, where he had given them money, beer and marijuana during the summer, a friend of the boys told detectives.
James was last seen in May and died of blunt trauma to the head. But strangulation or suffocation were the suspected causes of death for the younger teens. Maust confessed to strangling Raganyi with a rope while drinking with the teen.
The link between Maust and the two younger teens caused detectives to search the house, where the fresh 8-foot-by-5-foot concrete pad was found in the basement. Holes were first drilled through the 12-inch thick concrete. Further digging on revealed three bodies, wrapped in plastic and tied with cords and tape.
Lynn Smith and Don Smith — Raganyi's mother and stepfather — told Fox News they learned that their son's body had been found. James Raganyi was last seen in September. "I spoke to him the day before he ran off, before he was going to school, he told me he loved me and I told him I loved him and that was the last time I'd seen or heard from him," Lynn Smith said. "This is a mother's worst nightmare ... you never thought in your life that something like this would happen to you."
Lynn Smith said she was doing television interviews to "get a message out there for other kids [and] parents ... to be aware" of individuals who may pose a threat to children. Don Smith said community members everywhere needed to call police with reports of any suspicious activity.
Maust had approached several other young male teens in the neighborhood and offered them alcohol and drugs, according to community members. "I'm not blaming anybody — the only person I'm blaming is Maust," he said. "I don't know what he is but I know he ain't human ... he isn't alright ... this man has done this a lot of times."
Maust, known by his neighbors as "Crazy Dave," was only charged with the murder of James Raganyi, 16, though officials said there was an ongoing investigation into the deaths of the other two teenagers, identified by Lake County Coroner David Pastrick as those of Michael Dennis, 13, and Nick James, 19.
The single murder charge was filed Thursday against Maust, a tenant of the rundown apartment house in Hammond from which investigators this week removed the bodies of the three adolescents, who had been reported missing in recent months.
Maust has a criminal record that includes a murder conviction for the death of a 15-year-old boy in Illinois and a conviction in Texas for committing bodily injury to a child, police said.
During the brief arraignment hearing Maust looked around the courtroom, and he appeared to smirk as he was escorted out. Dennis and Raganyi were last seen Sept. 10 at a home near where Maust lived in the northwestern Indiana city. About three weeks later, on Oct. 2, police arrested Maust on a charge of contributing to the delinquency of a minor, alleging he had given Dennis and a 12-year-old boy marijuana and beer at his home during August.
Maust was released on $300 bond the same day and later pleaded innocent to the charge. Dennis and Raganyi were friends and had visited Maust in his second-floor apartment, where he had given them money, beer and marijuana during the summer, a friend of the boys told detectives.
James was last seen in May and died of blunt trauma to the head. But strangulation or suffocation were the suspected causes of death for the younger teens. Maust confessed to strangling Raganyi with a rope while drinking with the teen.
The link between Maust and the two younger teens caused detectives to search the house, where the fresh 8-foot-by-5-foot concrete pad was found in the basement. Holes were first drilled through the 12-inch thick concrete. Further digging on revealed three bodies, wrapped in plastic and tied with cords and tape.
Lynn Smith and Don Smith — Raganyi's mother and stepfather — told Fox News they learned that their son's body had been found. James Raganyi was last seen in September. "I spoke to him the day before he ran off, before he was going to school, he told me he loved me and I told him I loved him and that was the last time I'd seen or heard from him," Lynn Smith said. "This is a mother's worst nightmare ... you never thought in your life that something like this would happen to you."
Lynn Smith said she was doing television interviews to "get a message out there for other kids [and] parents ... to be aware" of individuals who may pose a threat to children. Don Smith said community members everywhere needed to call police with reports of any suspicious activity.
Maust had approached several other young male teens in the neighborhood and offered them alcohol and drugs, according to community members. "I'm not blaming anybody — the only person I'm blaming is Maust," he said. "I don't know what he is but I know he ain't human ... he isn't alright ... this man has done this a lot of times."
2 comments:
i dont think its enough that hes dead not in my book he killed someone very very meanningful to me and thats not fair to me that my brother is dead cause of some sike freak now i got to go on knowing that my brothers not comming back and thats a very hard thing to do everyday we love u nick
You should put their pictures and no him being dead is not enough! "Rest In Piss David Maust"
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