While in the prison's protective custody unit, " t]hey're protected from the general population," Warden Anthony Brigano said Thursday.
Due to crowding, inmates are held two to a cell, he said.
On Monday, 120 prisoners were held in the 68-cell "protective custody unit," he said.
Once Ohio Highway Patrol troopers are finished with the investigation, the case will be presented to the grand jury, Warren County Prosecutor Tim Oliver said.
Wagner, 25, of Lancaster was serving a sentence of 44 years-to-life for attempted murder, rape, kidnapping, felonious assault, endangering a child and possession of criminal tools.
Police said a corrections officer found Wagner dead in the cell he shared with Timothy Hancock, 30, serving 24 years-to-life, according to records.
Wagner, who experts had diagnosed as mentally ill and mildly retarded, became the suspect in a high-profile kidnapping and rape last year after Ashley Taggert, 3, was reported missing from her Lancaster home. Lancaster is in Fairfield County about 30 miles southeast of Columbus.
Police searched four days for the girl, whose home was about 200 feet from Wagner's. When police found Ashly, she was lying in an attic bound and gagged, tied to a beam and badly dehydrated. She was sealed in an attic, surrounded by insulation, police said. Doctors later said she was only hours from death.
Wagner pleaded guilty and was sentenced in February. He was serving two concurrent life sentences at the state prison on Ohio 63 west of Lebanon.
About the Author
