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| In court, inmate swallows key |
| By The News Journal |
| Published: 05/03/2004 |
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A convicted burglar being sentenced last Wednesday for the second time in a month gulped down a handcuff key after correctional officers realized he was planning to escape, prison officials said. Authorities said Sean A. Dupree's escape plan began falling apart before he even reached the courtroom last Wednesday morning to face sentencing on burglary and weapon offenses from an October conviction. In the hallway, a correctional officer noticed Dupree's leg shackles were loosened. He fastened them before leading the convicted felon into the Kent County courtroom. Inside, the officer discovered Dupree, 34, was holding ground pepper in his hand. The correctional officer took Dupree downstairs to search him, state Department of Correction spokeswoman Beth Welch said. That's when the officer noticed Dupree was hiding something in his other hand. When DuPree was ordered to turn over the item, he swallowed it, Welch said. Dupree, who was being held in the Sussex Correctional Institution, was taken to Beebe Medical Center in Lewes, where an X-ray revealed the item he swallowed was a handcuff key. Welch said state correction officials are investigating how Dupree obtained the key. Welch said Dupree may have gotten the black pepper in the dining hall. Correction officials are still trying to determine how another inmate smuggled a razor blade into the Sussex County Courthouse last Monday and slit his neck during the opening of his rape trial. No further information was available last Wednesday on the condition of Willis T. Matthews Jr., who was returned to Sussex Correctional Institution after being treated. Dupree, who will be charged with attempted escape, was sentenced to 56 years and three months in prison April 12 on seven counts of second-degree burglary and three counts of theft of a firearm, Welch said. |
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