Double-murderer takes own life in Iowa prison

CORALVILLE, IOWA – A man who recently pleaded guilty to two murders has taken his own life, Iowa prison officials said today.

Jerry Ray Dillinger, an inmate assigned to the Iowa Medical and Classification Center died Wednesday February 10, 2016 from an apparent suicide.

At approximately 11:30 PM, during a routine unit check, Dillinger was discovered unresponsive and hanging from a bed sheet tied to the assigned single celled bed. Health Service and Security staff responded immediately. The sheet was detached and emergency protocols, including CPR, were employed.

A Johnson County Emergency Response Team arrived at 11:41 PM. CPR continued by the response team and the ambulance departed for University Hospitals where Dillinger was pronounced deceased at 12:25 AM. February 11, 2016.

An autopsy will be conducted by the Johnson County Medical Examiner, however there is no evidence to believe the cause of death to be anything other than asphyxia due to suffocation. Because the death was not related to natural causes, the incident remains under investigation. Due to the ongoing investigation, no additional information is available at this time.

Dillinger was 37 years old and serving two life sentences for Murder First Degree from Union County. This sentence began on January 22, 2016. He pleaded guilty in December when the remains of Loretta Dillinger of Thayer was found in a pond. Investigators later found a second body in another location and arrested Jerry Ray Dillinger.