Staff and wire report

A sheriff says the death of an inmate from Iowa in a Wisconsin prison cell appears to have been self-inflicted.

Dodge County Sheriff Dale Schmidt said Thursday his office is investigating the death of 26-year-old Justin Kestner at the Dodge Correctional Institution in Waupun, Wis.

Schmidt says "there's no foul play involved" by any other inmates and the death "seems that it was self-inflicted."

Authorities announced last week that Kestner, 26, of Rembrandt, was found unresponsive in his cell on Dec. 21, and was soon pronounced dead. His family said in an obituary that the northwest Iowa native died "unexpectedly."

Kestner had been transferred to Wisconsin in November after causing major problems for Iowa prison officials.

Kestner began his sentence in January 2010, and made multiple attempts to thwart prison employees in Iowa before being transferred to Wisconsin.

In July 2015, Kestner made national headlines for what was deemed an "ingenious" escape from one of Iowa's most secure prison cells at the state penitentiary in Fort Madison.

Kestner climbed through piping and a vent to reach the roof, before climbing down the downspout. He then stole a car, and was captured hours later.

Kestner again found himself at the center of scandal in an Iowa prison when the Iowa Department of Corrections said he used a "crude piece of metal" to assault a corrections officer at Anamosa State Penitentiary.

Kestner was transferred to the Wisconsin institution on Nov. 21.

Kestner was in the midst of a 35-year sentence for two counts of first-degree theft from Woodbury County and habitual offender and operating a motor vehicle without owner consent from Lee County.