FORT SMITH, Ark. (AP) — The brother of a man who was strangled by another inmate in the Sebastian County jail is suing the county over the death.
Joe Wolf sued on behalf of the estate of 64-year-old Gary Van Wolf. The suit names former Sheriff Frank Atkinson, Sheriff Bill Hollenbeck as well as the former jail administrator and five deputies.
Inmate Ashley Eugene Kaufman was charged with first-degree murder in Wolf's 2010 death. He has pleaded not guilty and is scheduled for trial next month.
According to the Southwest Times Record, the lawsuit claims that deputies should have segregated Kaufman from other detainees and that the inmates weren't properly supervised.
A sheriff's spokesman says they've been served with the lawsuit and that Hollenbeck has made policy changes at the jail since Wolf's death.
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