Serial rapist sentenced to 3,195 years in jail leaps to his death from prison roof

A rapist sentenced to 3,195 years in jail for 220 sex attacks on over 30 women has killed himself by jumping off his prison’s roof. Ronnie Shelton suffered a fractured skull after leaping from the roof at Grafton Correctional Institution in Grafton, Oh., around 4:30pm last on September 25. Shelton was rushed to a local hospital, and later lifeflighted to another medical facility in Cleveland, where he died that evening.

Prison authorities have said there are no signs of foul play and that they are treating the rapist’s death as a suicide, Cleveland.com reports. It is unclear how he was able to get on top of the prison building.

Shelton, known locally as the West Park Rapist, because of the area where he targeted women, embarked on his horrific crime spree in the Ohio city during the 1980s. He targeted women, most of whom were in their 20s, who were alone in their own homes. Afterwards, Shelton would often take his victim’s bank card and force her to reveal its pin number so he could steal money from their account, the Columbus Dispatch reported.

But those greedy demands were what let to his downfall, when his photograph was taken at an ATM, leading cops to identify him and end his reign of terror. He was convicted of the sex attacks in 1989 following one of the most high-profile court cases of the decade.

Judge Richard McMonagle who sentenced him recommended he spend 1,554 to 3,195 years behind bars. It is unclear whether the length of his sentence contributed to his decision to take his own life.

Metro.