[Deathwatch] Jack Henry Abbott, Author, 58

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Author Jack Henry Abbott commits suicide
'In the Belly of the Beast' writer left a note, contents not disclosed
February 10, 2002 Posted: 1:54 PM EST (1854 GMT)

ALDEN, New York (AP) -- Jack Henry Abbott, whose prison writings became
the best-selling book "In the Belly of the Beast," hanged himself in
his cell Sunday, officials said. 

Abbott was found dead Sunday morning in his single cell at Wende
Correctional Facility, said Jim Flateau, spokesman for the state
Department of Corrections. He hanged himself with a bedsheet and a shoe
lace and left a suicide note, Flateau said. Flateau would not disclose
the contents of the note. 

Abbott, who was 58, gained fame in writing "In the Belly of the Beast,"
a best-seller composed of letters he wrote to author Norman Mailer from
prison between 1978 and 1981. 

During those years, Abbott was behind bars first for bank robbery and
then for fatally stabbing another inmate. Mailer supported Abbott's
parole, but six weeks after Abbott was released in 1981, he stabbed a
22-year-old aspiring actor outside a New York City restaurant. 

Abbott was sentenced to 15 years to life for manslaughter in the man's
death. He was denied parole in August and would not have been eligible
again until June 2003. 

In 1990, Abbott lost a nearly $7.6 million court judgment to the
victim's family, who sued for proceeds from the book. 

Abbott was found dead about an hour after a guard had last checked his
block. An autopsy is required by state law for an unattended death. 

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