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State
hospital inmate arrested on murder charge
Man found dead on Friday morning
Saturday, May 4, 2002
By MARSHA DORGAN
Register Staff Writer
A Napa State Hospital patient was taken into custody on suspicion of
murder after his roommate was found beaten to death in his bed early
Friday morning.
Anthony Clark Gore, 39, was booked into county jail and was being held
without bail.
Around 8 a.m., Friday, hospital staff was summoned to the room of the 49-year-old
male victim by a patient. Authorities would not say if the man who
alerted the staff was the same patient who was arrested.
Neither the hospital nor the sheriff's department would release the name
of the victim on Friday.
Medical staff attempted to revive the victim, but their efforts were
fruitless. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Although Sheriff's Capt. Mike Loughran would not elaborate, he said
evidence collected at the scene led to the arrest of Gore.
Loughran said detectives found no weapon at the murder site. "At
this point, we do not believe a gun or knife are
involved. It is possible the murder was done manually," Loughran
said.
Lupe Rincon, hospital spokeswoman, said the victim was last seen by staff
around 7 a.m., Friday.
"He was seen sleeping in his bed when staff conducted a routine bed
check," Rincon said. "Staff heard nothing prior to that to
alert them anything unusual was happening in the room."
Three people live in the room. There was no information available about
the third roommate.
The homicide happened in the T-12 ward. Although the patients and staff
may wander from room to room, the ward is locked down.
Rincon said Gore was admitted to the hospital in January 2000 after found
innocent by reason of insanity by a Sacramento County
court. She did not know what crime the case centered on.
A spokesman at the Solano County Courthouse said Gore had been convicted
of unlawful sexual intercourse in 1999, but added that he could not
confirm if that was the charge that committed Gore to the hospital.
The murder victim, also committed on a ruling of innocent by reason of
insanity, has been at the hospital since December 1998, Rincon said.
Rincon said investigators will be checking to determine if there had been
other confrontations between Gore and the victim. She was not able to
provide information on how long the two had been roommates.
An autopsy will be conducted today with results available on Monday.
Marsha Dorgan can be reached at 256-2214 or mdorgan@napanews.com
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