Stevens Point Journal Media

STEVENS POINT – A Portage County Jail inmate who was found dead and hanging in his cell Sunday night had recently pleaded guilty to murder charges and was destined for a life behind bars. Jose Luis Flores Aca of Plover, whose body was found at about 11:30 p.m. while correction officers were completing safety and security checks at the jail, was to be sentenced in September. He pleaded guilty to murder and sexual assault charges on June 27 and faced mandatory life imprisonment for the homicide charge and 40 years for the sexual assault charge.

Flores Aca strangled his 36-year-old neighbor, Jamie Koch, who lived in his Chestnut Drive apartment complex, on Aug. 7. He admitted to police that he killed her and then sexually assaulted her body. An autopsy conducted at the state crime lab in Madison determined Koch died of asphyxiation from being strangled.

Flores Aca then wrapped Koch's body in sheets, drove to Waupaca County in her car with her body in the back seat and parked at a farm where he lit the vehicle on fire to hide the evidence. He got a ride back from the farm with friends. A farmer later found the car.

Charewicz said Flores Aca used strips of a sheet fashioned into a noose and suspended from a screw to complete the hanging. He said the screw is unlike any screws used in the jail.

"We don't even know where he acquired it," Charewicz said.

Flores Aca was being held in an individual, maximum-security cell and was not on suicide watch, Charewicz said. Chief Deputy Dan Kontos said there was no indication he might have been contemplating suicide.

Flores Aca was pronounced dead after lifesaving measures were performed by officers. The Stevens Point Police Department will conduct an investigation of the death, and the Sheriff's Department is waiting for the results of an autopsy conducted Monday. Kontos said his office is also expected to finish an internal review Tuesday.

Charewicz said there hasn't been a suicide in the jail during his 12 years in office, although there have been attempts.

"In all those cases, we detected it soon enough to intervene and save the person," he said.

Inmates are checked a minimum of every half hour, although the checks are sometimes as frequent as every 20 to 25 minutes. Kontos said his staff varies the timing of the checks.

"(The inmates) know they're checked on," Charewicz said. "They kind of keep tabs on the comings and goings of the corrections officers."

Kontos said some areas of the jail are also monitored by cameras.

Charewicz said corrections officers were upset the incident took place on their watch. He said his staff isn't equipped to constantly observe all inmates.

"There's nothing we can do to prevent a suicide if somebody really wants to," he said. "The corrections officers go above and beyond the line of duty in watching and taking care of the inmates."