A man convicted of murder last month has been found dead in his cell at the Pima County Adult Attention Complex.
Brian Ferry, who was found guilty of murdering a Phoenix couple more than a decade ago, was found unresponsive on Saturday afternoon as corrections officers made their rounds.
According to a news release, medical personnel tried to revive Ferry but he was pronounced dead at the jail. Homicide detectives determine his cause of death as suicide.
Ferry, of Tucson, was convicted on May 16th on two counts of first-degree murder for the killing of Charles Russell and Catherine Nelson. Their bodies have never been found.
Back in February, his first trial ended in a mistrial when jurors failed to reach a verdict.
Officials say Russell and Nelson were last seen in early February 2002. They traveled from Phoenix to Tucson to purchase a motorcycle. Tucson police later discovered their truck in a church parking lot in the area of East 22nd Street and South Sixth Avenue. Pima County prosecutors say Ferry made an advertisement for the motorcycle as a way to lure the victims to his Tucson residence. His DNA was found in the couple’s vehicle.
Authorities long suspected foul play in the victims’ disappearance. Ferry’s defense team argued the lack of physical evidence and bodies makes it impossible to prove the couple is indeed dead.
Ferry was arrested and charged for the crime in January 2015.
For more information, please visit the official Pima County website HERE.