MOUNT OLIVE, W.Va. — A convicted murderer committed suicide at Mount Olive Correctional Complex Monday, authorities said.
Philip Casto, 35, of Scott Depot, was found unresponsive during the morning cell check. He was pronounced dead a short time later.
Casto entered a Kennedy Plea to first degree murder in January in connection with the 2015 shooting death of Jennifer Evans of Hurricane. The two had been involved in an affair but Evans, 27, had gotten back together with her husband and tried to break it off with Casto, Putnam County Prosecutor Mark Sorsaia previously told MetroNews.
“They (Evans and her husband) had moved past the Philip Casto issue and the evidence is Mr. Casto didn’t move past it,” Sorsaia said.
Casto was sentenced to life in prison with no chance for parole in March.
Casto was an employee with the state Division of Highways when he committed the murder.
State police will continue to investigate the apparent suicide, authorities said.
The state Department of Military Affairs and Public Safety also reported Monday a Western Regional Jail inmate, Denna Ruth McDonald, 48, died after suffering a medical episode at the jail during booking on a bond revocation charge.
State police are also conducting an investigation into McDonalds’ death.