On October 5, 2013, Zachary Goldson, an inmate at Brown County Jail, was found deceased in his jail cell. According to correctional officers, Mr. Goldson was found hanging by a bedsheet attached to the sprinkler head in the ceiling of his cell. Earlier that morning, Mr. Goldson was taken to the hospital for an endoscopy after swallowing a pen, a toothbrush, and staples. After being released from the hospital, Mr. Goldson attacked Deputy Travis Justice from behind. He was then returned to the detention center and placed in Cell 15 at approximately 2:32 a.m. According to the available evidence and records, two jail employees remained inside the cell with Goldson for approximately 96 seconds before leaving and locking the cell. Approximately 23 minutes later, they found Mr. Goldson hanging from the sprinkler head attached to the ceiling. The Brown County coroner initially classified Goldson’s death as a homicide by strangulation, while other investigators and later court proceedings identified evidence supporting the conclusion that Goldson had died by suicide.
Specifically, the sheriff’s office called Mr. Goldson’s death a suicide by hanging. Since the accounts and conclusions surrounding Mr. Goldson’s death contradicted each other, reconstructing the physical circumstances of the cell was critical. The available surveillance footage documented when Mr. Goldson entered and left the cell and when employees returned, but the camera did not show what occurred inside the cell during the approximately 23-minute period when he was alone. Reconstruction provided a way to examine the physical environment and determine whether the reported circumstances could be replicated. The dimensions of the cell, the sprinkler assembly, the sheet, the attachment point, and Mr. Goldson’s documented position could all be considered together. The reconstruction allowed the available physical evidence to be examined within the actual environment. Evidence Room was hired to investigate and reconstruct the circumstances surrounding Mr. Goldson’s death. Our team examined the available evidence and recreated the relevant portions of the jail cell, focusing on the sprinkler assembly, sheet configuration, attachment point, and reported final position. The jury ultimately decided that the correctional officers were not responsible for Zachary Goldson’s death, agreeing that his death was a suicide.