List of prison deaths

This is a list of notable people who have died in prison, whether in prison or in hospital while still serving a prison sentence. This list does not include inmates who were executed as punishment for their crimes.

Pre-11th century

Name	Date of death	Nationality	Cause of death	Known for	Comments
Rim-Sîn I	After 1764 BC	Larsa	Unknown	Ruler of Larsa
Vercingetorix	during 46 BC	Gaul (detained by the Roman Republic)	Strangulation	Gaulish leader defeated by Julius Caesar
Gaius Asinius Gallus	33	Roman Empire	Starvation	Roman senator
Alexander of Jerusalem	251	Roman Empire	Unknown	Martyr and saint
Mani	274-03-02 or 277-02-26	Sasanian Empire	Unknown	Prophet and founder of Manichaeism	Manichaeans later depicted his death as a crucifixion in analogy to the crucifixion of Jesus.
Hilderic	530	Vandal Kingdom	Murder	King of the Vandals and Alans
Al-Abbas ibn al-Walid	750	Umayyad Caliphate	Unknown disease	Prince and general
Abu Hanifa	767-08-15	Abbasid Caliphate	Unknown	Founder of the Hanafi school of Islamic jurisprudence	His tomb was destroyed by Shah Ismail of the Safavid Empire in 1508, but rebuilt by the Ottomans in 1533.
Itakh	849	Abbasid Caliphate	Thirst	Commander in the Turkic army of the Abbasid Caliphate
Tughj ibn Juff	906	Abbasid Caliphate	Unknown	Turkic military officer
Muhammad ibn Yaqut	935	Abbasid Caliphate	Unknown	Official of the Abbasid Caliphate

11th to 15th century

Name	Date of death	Nationality	Cause of death	Known for	Comments
Abd al-Rahim ibn Ilyas	1021	Fatimid Caliphate	Suicide	Heir-apparent of the caliph al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah	According to the official account, he committed suicide by thrusting a fruit knife into his belly, but coeval rumours insisted that he was assassinated.
Ibn Barrajan	1141	Almoravid dynasty	Unknown	Arab Sufi figure of Al-Andalus
Joscelin II, Count of Edessa	1159	County of Edessa (detained by the Zengid State)	Unknown	Last ruling count of Edessa
Daoud ibn al-Adid	1207/08	Ayyubid dynasty	Unknown	25th imam of Hafizi Isma'ilism
Peter II of Courtenay	1219	Latin Empire	Unknown	Latin Emperor
Sulayman ibn Daoud	1248	Ayyubid dynasty	Unknown	26th and last imam of Hafizi Isma'ilism
Guy de Montfort, Count of Nola	1291	England (detained by Aragon)	Unknown	Son of Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester
Sayf al-Din Salar	October 1310	Mamluk Sultanate	Starvation	Viceroy of the Mamluk sultan al-Nasir Muhammad
Margaret of Villehardouin	February/March 1315	Barony of Akova	Unknown	Baroness of two thirds of Akova
Pietro d'Abano	1315	Abano Bagni (detained by the Papal States)	Unknown	Philosopher, astrologer
Ibn Taymiyya	1328-09-26	Mamluk Sultanate	Unknown illness	Sunni Muslimʿālim, muhaddith, judge, proto-Salafist theologian, ascetic, and iconoclastic theologian
Kęstutis	August 1382	Grand Duchy of Lithuania	Unknown, presumably strangled	Grand Duke of Lithuania, father of Vytautas, uncle of Jogaila	Jogaila claimed that his death was suicide by hanging. Most coeval sources conjecture that Kęstutis was strangled on Jogaila's orders.
Nicolò Guarco	c. 1385	Republic of Genoa	Unknown	7th doge of the Republic of Genoa
Dionysius, Metropolitan of Kiev	1385-10-15	Principality of Moscow	Unknown	Russian Orthodox metropolitan
Guido III da Polenta	1389	Ravenna	Unknown	Lord of Ravenna, member of the Da Polenta family	Imprisoned by his sons.
Thomas of Woodstock, Duke of Gloucester	1397-09-08/09	England	Murder	Youngest child of King Edward III of England
Eleanor, Duchess of Gloucester	1452-07-07	England	Unknown	English noblewoman, second wife of Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester	Sentenced to life imprisonment for treasonable necromancy. Her imprisonment and forced divorce was likely politically motivated.
Pak Paengnyeon	1456-06-07	Joseon	Torture	Scholar-official, one of the six martyred ministers, uncle of Queen Janggyeong	All the males in his family were executed and females were enslaved.
Henry VI of England	1471-05-21	England	Probably murder	Last King of England of the House of Plantagenet and disputed King of France

16th century

Name	Date of death	Nationality	Cause of death	Known for	Comments
Dmitry Ivanovich	1509-02-14	Principality of Moscow	Unknown	Grand Prince of Moscow (co-ruler), grandson of Ivan III
Pietro Torrigiano	August 1528	Florence (detained by Spain)	Natural causes	Italian Renaissance sculptor
Yury Ivanovich	1536-08-03	Principality of Moscow	Starvation	Son of Ivan III
Andrey of Staritsa	1537-12-11	Principality of Moscow	Unknown	Youngest son of Ivan III
Girolamo Zane	1572-10-13	Republic of Venice	Natural causes	Capitano Generale da Mar of the Venetian fleet
Eric XIV of Sweden	1577-02-26	Sweden	Arsenic poisoning	King of Sweden, brother of John III of Sweden
James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell	1578-04-14	Scotland (detained by Denmark)	Unknown	King consort of Scotland in 1567
Ferenc Dávid	1579-04-14	Principality of Transylvania	Natural causes	Protestant preacher and theologian, founder of the Unitarian Church of Transylvania
Philip Howard, 13th Earl of Arundel	1595-10-19	England	Dysentery	Imprisoned in the Tower of London as a Roman Catholic recusant by Elizabeth I of England. Acclaimed a martyr almost immediately and canonised in 1970 as one of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales.

17th century

Name	Date of death	Nationality	Cause of death	Known for	Comments
Li Zhi	1602	China	Suicide by cutting his throat	Philosopher, historian, writer
Simon I of Kartli	1611	Kingdom of Kartli (detained by the Ottoman Empire)	Unknown	King of Kartli
Vasili IV of Russia	1612-09-12	Russia (detained by Poland-Lithuania)	Unknown	Tsar of Russia
Cesare Corte	1613	Republic of Genoa	Unknown	Renaissance painter
Marina Mniszech	1614-12-24	Russia	Unknown	Tsaritsa, wife of False Dmitry I and False Dmitry II
Husayn Pasha	1663	Ottoman Empire	Murder	Governor of Gaza Sanjak
Marcy Clay	1665	England	Suicide by poisoning	English thief and highwayrobber	Sentenced to death by hanging
Hardress Waller	1666-07-30	England	Unknown	Member of Parliament, regicide of King Charles I of England
Gilbert Millington	1666	England	Unknown	Barrister, regicide of King Charles I of England
Henry Smith	1668	England	Unknown	Member of Parliament, regicide of King Charles I of England
James Temple	1680-02-17	England	Unknown	Soldier, regicide of King Charles I of England
Sarah Osborne	1692-05-10	Massachusetts Bay	Unknown	One of the first women to be accused of witchcraft in the Salem witch trials
Giuseppe Francesco Borri	1695-08-20	Duchy of Milan (detained by the Papal States)	Malaria	Alchemist, freethinker, physician

18th century

Name	Date of death	Nationality	Cause of death	Known for	Comments
Bartholomew Sharp	1702-10-29	England (detained by the Danish West Indies)	Unknown	Buccaneer and privateer
Giovanni Battista Sidotti	1714-11-27	Sicily (detained by the Tokugawa shogunate)	Unknown	Priest, missionary of the Propaganda Fide
Alexei Petrovich, Tsarevich of Russia	1718-06-26	Russian Empire	Unknown	Tsarevich	Died two days after the senate had condemned him to death.
Mary Read	1721-04-08	Great Britain (detained by the Colony of Jamaica)	Fever	Pirate	Originally sentenced to hang, she claimed to be pregnant and received a temporary stay of execution.
Aaron Margalita	c. 1725	Poland (detained by Denmark)	Unknown	Rabbi who later converted to Calvinism and Lutheranism
Dmitry Mikhailovich Golitsyn the Elder	1737-04-14	Russian Empire	Natural causes	Aristocrat of the Golitsyn family, attempted to turn Russia into a constitutional monarchy
Robert Blackbourn	1748	Great Britain	Unknown	Jacobite conspirator	Arrested for his involvement in an assassination plot of 1696
Stepan Fyodorovich Apraksin	1758-08-17	Russian Empire	Unknown	Commander during the Seven Years' War
Tarakanova	1775-12-15	Russian Empire	Tuberculosis	Pretender to the Russian throne
Lord George Gordon	1793-11-01	Great Britain	Typhoid fever	British politician
Louis XVII	1795-06-08	France	Scrofula	Dauphin of France
Franz Gotthardi	1795	Holy Roman Empire	Unknown	Hungarian-born businessman and senior police officer
Wolfe Tone	1798-11-19	Ireland (detained by Great Britain)	Suicide	Leader of the 1798 Irish Rebellion against Great Britain	Sentenced to death by hanging; committed suicide because he wanted to die by firing squad (a soldier's death, rather than a criminal's) instead.

19th century

Name	Date of death	Nationality	Cause of death	Known for	Comments
Darya Nikolayevna Saltykova	1801-12-09	Russian Empire	Natural causes	Noblewoman from the Saltykov family, serial killer
Toussaint Louverture	1804-04-07	Haiti (detained by France)	Natural causes	Leader of the Haitian Revolution who was imprisoned for launching a rebellion against France
Erminio Criscione	1807-12-07	Republic of Haiti	Suicide or killed by Alexandre Pétion	Haitian Independence hero
Pedro Carujo	1836-01-31	Venezuela	Battle wounds	Military officer, one of the leaders in the Revolution of the Reforms
Solomon Dodashvili	1836-08-20	Russian Empire	Tuberculosis	Georgian philosopher, journalist, historian, grammarian, belletrist and enlightener
Anthony Van Egmond	1838-01-05	Netherlands (detained by Upper Canada)	Pneumonia, malnutrition and exposure	Dutch war veteran and an early settler in the Huron Tract
Osceola	1838-01-30	Seminole (detained by the United States)	Peritonsillar abscess caused by tonsillitis	Leader of the Seminole
Wilhelm Küchelbecker	1846-08-23	Russian Empire	Tuberculosis	Romantic poet, Decembrist revolutionary
Mullá ʻAlíy-i-Bastámí	1846	Qajar Iran (detained by the Ottoman Empire)	Unknown	2nd Letter of the Living in the Bábí movement
Rrapo Hekali	December 1847	Ottoman Empire	Unknown	Albanian revolutionary
Ion Negulici	1851-04-05	Wallachia	Tuberculosis	Painter, participant in the Wallachian Revolution of 1848
Chui A-poo	1851	British Hong Kong	Suicide by hanging	Pirate	One of the two most notorious South China Sea pirates of the era
Matilde Malenchini	1858-09-08	Grand Duchy of Tuscany	Unknown	Academic painter	Accused of pushing one of her maids out of a window when the maid was caught stealing.
Dimitar Miladinov	January 1862	Ottoman Empire	Typhus	Bulgarian poet, folklorist, and activist
Konstantin Miladinov	January 1862	Ottoman Empire	Typhus	Bulgarian poet, folklorist, and activist
James Henry Gooding	1864-07-19	United States (detained by the Confederate States)	Unknown	Corporal in the 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment
Lorenzo Denning	1865-02-08	United States (detained by the Confederate States)	Unknown	Soldier, awarded with the Medal of Honor
Walerian Łukasiński	1868-01-27	Russian Empire	Natural causes	Polish officer and political activist, symbol of the Polish struggle for independence
Stanislav Dospevski	1878-01-06	Ottoman Empire	Unknown	Bulgarian painter, nephew of Zahari Zograf
Sándor Rózsa	1878-11-22	Austria-Hungary	Tuberculosis	Outlaw, best-known Hungarian highwayman
Grigory Goldenberg	July 1880	Russian Empire	Suicide	Revolutionary, member of Narodnaya Volya
Hesya Helfman	1882-02-01	Russian Empire	Peritonitis	Belarusian-Jewish revolutionary, member of Narodnaya Volya
Nikolai Kletochnikov	1883-07-13	Russian Empire	Hunger strike	Revolutionary, joined the police to act as a source of inside information
Alexander Dmitrievich Mikhailov	1884-03-30	Russian Empire	Unknown	Revolutionary, one of the founders of Zemlya i Volya and Narodnaya Volya
Alexander Dolgushin	1885-06-30	Russian Empire	Tuberculosis	Populist
Maria Kutitonskaya	1887-05-04	Russian Empire	Tuberculosis	Ukrainian Narodnik revolutionary, attempted to assassinate the military governor Luka Illyashevich
Aizik Aronchik	1888-04-02	Russian Empire	Unknown	Russian revolutionary, attempted to assassinate Tsar Alexander II
Maria Kalyuzhnaya	1889-11-07	Russian Empire	Suicide by poisoning	Ukrainian Narodnik revolutionary
Nadia Smyrnytska	1889-11-07	Russian Empire	Suicide by poisoning	Ukrainian Narodnik revolutionary
Nadezhda Sigida	1889-11-08	Russian Empire	Suicide by poisoning	Revolutionary
Maria Kovalevska	1889-11-19	Russian Empire	Suicide by poisoning	Ukrainian Narodnik revolutionary
Mariia Vetrova	1897-02-24	Russian Empire	Self-immolation	Ukrainian teacher and revolutionary
Dervish Cara	Late 19th century	Ottoman Empire	Unknown	Albanian revolutionary leader

1900-1939

Name	Date of death	Nationality	Cause of death	Known for	Comments
Gaetano Bresci	1901-05-22	Italy	Suicide by hanging	Anarchist, assassinated King Umberto I of Italy
Nikola Aslanov	1905-09-24	Ottoman Empire	Unknown	Bulgarian revolutionary, worker of the IMARO
Marko Boshnakov	1908-02-15	Ottoman Empire	Unknown	Bulgarian anarchist, member of the Gemidziite
Milan Arsov	1908-06-08	Ottoman Empire	Unknown	Bulgarian anarchist, member of the Gemidziite
Muhammad al-Kattani	1909-05-04	Morocco	Died after being mutilated and beaten	Sufi faqih
Giovanni Passannante	1910-02-14	Italy	Unknown	Anarchist, attempted to assassinate King Umberto I of Italy
Luigi Lucheni	1910-10-19	Italy (detained by Switzerland)	Suicide by hanging	Anarchist, assassinated Empress Elisabeth of Austria
Igor Sazonov	1910-12-10	Russian Empire	Suicide by poisoning or self-immolation	Revolutionary, member of the SR Combat Organization
Hristo Batandzhiev	1913-07-18	Greece	Murder	Macedonian Bulgarian revolutionary, one of the founders of the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization
Dmytro Yaremko	1916-10-03	Russian Empire	Unknown	Ukrainian Catholic Archeparchy of Lviv and titular bishop of Ostroh
Nikolay Radkevich	Autumn 1916	Russian Empire	Killed by fellow inmates	Serial killer
Gennaro Rubino	1918-03-14	Italy (detained by Belgium)	Unknown	Anarchist, tried to assassinate King Leopold II of Belgium
Frans Koskinen	1918-04-26	Finland	Unknown	Journalist and politician	Imprisoned for having sided with the Reds during the Finnish Civil War.
Gavrilo Princip	1918-04-28	Austria-Hungary	Malnutrition and skeletal tuberculosis	Serbian assassin	Assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand, beginning World War I
Efraim Kronqvist	1918-05-22	Finland	Unknown	House painter and politician	Imprisoned for having sided with the Reds during the Finnish Civil War.
Albin Valjakka	1918-06-29	Finland	Unknown	Journalist and politician	Imprisoned for having sided with the Reds during the Finnish Civil War.
Julius Nurminen	1918-07-24	Finland	Unknown	Journalist and politician	Imprisoned for having sided with the Reds during the Finnish Civil War.
Pavel Spiridonovich Medvedev	1919-03-12	Soviet Union	Typhus	Bolshevik revolutionary, participant in the execution of the Romanov family
Jussi Kujala	1919-07-01	Finland	Suicide	Journalist and former member of the Parliament of Finland
Gaki Sherocho	1919	Kingdom of Kaffa (detained by Ethiopia)	Unknown	Last King of Kaffa
Aleksandr Vladimirovich Razvozov	1920-06-14	Soviet Union	Infection after an appendectomy	Rear admiral, first commander of the Soviet Baltic Fleet
Ivan Kalmykov	September 1920	Soviet Union (detained by China)	Shot during an escape attempt	Ataman of the Ussuri Cossacks
Michael Fitzgerald	1920-10-17	United Kingdom	Hunger strike	Officer Commanding of the Irish Republican Army
Terence MacSwiney	1920-10-25	United Kingdom	Hunger strike	Irish playwright, author and politician, Lord Mayor of Cork
Joe Murphy	1920-10-25	United Kingdom	Hunger strike	Officer in the Irish Republican Army
Joseph Whitty	1923-08-02	Irish Free State	Hunger strike	Volunteer in the Irish Republican Army
Denny Barry	1923-08-02	Irish Free State	Hunger strike	Irish Republican
Yrjö Mäkelin	1923-09-18	Finland	Suicide	Socialist, journalist and former member of parliament
Andy O'Sullivan	1923-11-22	Irish Free State	Hunger strike	Intelligence Officer and regional leader in the Irish Republican Army
Krishna Lal Adhikari	1923-12-09	Nepal	Tuberculosis	Author of the now lost work Makaiko Kheti
Leung Ying	1928-10-22	China (detained by the United States)	Suicide by hanging	Mass murderer	The worst case of mass murder in California history at the time
Dagmar Overbye	1929-05-06	Denmark	Unknown	Serial killer
Uļi Kīnkamäg	1932-06-01	Latvia	Unknown	Livonian nationalist, "King of Livs"
Ajvaagiin Danzan	1932	Mongolia	Unknown	Chairman of the MPRP
Richard Loeb	1936-01-28	United States	Murdered by fellow inmate	American murderer
Zmicier Zhylunovich	1937-04-11	Soviet Union	Suicide	Belarusian Poet, journalist and political leader	Arrested during the Great Purge as an "enemy of the Belarusian people"
Antonio Gramsci	1937-04-27	Italy	combination of arteriosclerosis, pulmonary tuberculosis, high blood pressure, angina, gout and acute gastric disorders	Marxist philosopher, linguist, journalist, writer, and politician	Arrested by the OVRA

1940s

Name	Date of death	Nationality	Cause of death	Known for	Comments
Albert Richter	1940-01-02	Germany	Unknown	Cyclist and World amateur sprint champion	His death was successively ruled as a skii accident, being beaten by rival smugglers, suicide by hanging, suicide by shooting and having fallen at the Eastern Front. Richter was presumably killed by the Gestapo.
Tony D'Arcy	1940-04-16	Ireland	Hunger strike	Senior leader in the Irish Republican Army
Jack McNeela	1940-04-19	Ireland	Hunger strike	Officer Commanding of all IRA forces in England
Walter Kraemer	1941-11-16	Germany	Murder	Politician of the KPD and member of the resistance against Nazism	Became known as the "Doctor of Buchenwald" for medically helping other prisoners.
Daniil Kharms	1942-02-02	Soviet Union	Starvation	Avant-gardist and absurdist poet, writer and dramatist	Arrested as a member of "a group of anti-Soviet children's writers". He was later exonerated in 1960.
Heinz Hitler	1942-02-21	Germany (detained by the Soviet Union)	Unknown	Half-nephew of Adolf Hitler and half-brother of William Stuart-Houston	Died at the age of 21 in the Butyrka prison in Moscow.
Prince Amedeo, Duke of Aosta	1942-03-03	Italy (detained by the United Kingdom)	Tuberculosis, malaria	Duke of Aosta, Viceroy of Italian East Africa
Miguel Hernández	1942-03-28	Spain	Tuberculosis	Poet and playwright
Ernst Heilborn	1942-05-16	Germany	Unknown	Writer, critic and journalist
Francesco Fantin	1942-11-16	Italy (detained by Australia)	Injuries caused by the attack of another inmate	Anti-fascist activist	Detained in Loveday Camp 14 because he was mistaken for a fascist.
Jan Ankerman	1942-12-27	Netherlands (detained by Japan)	Unknown	Field hockey player, won the Silver medal at the 1928 Summer Olympics
Nikolai Vavilov	1943-01-26	Soviet Union	Malnutrition	Russian botanist and geneticist who was imprisoned for his attempts to oppose pseudoscience
Yakov Dzhugashvili	1943-04-14	Soviet Union (detained by Germany)	Unknown	Eldest son of Joseph Stalin	Died at Sachsenhausen concentration camp, Stalin refused a prisoner exchange between him and Heinz Hitler.
Ru van der Haar	1943-05-15	Netherlands (detained by Japan)	Unknown	Field hockey player, won the Bronze medal at the 1936 Summer Olympics
Henri Baaij	1943-05-31	Netherlands (detained by Japan)	Unknown	Footballer
Hans Fokker	1943-07-02	Netherlands (detained by Japan)	Tropical disease	Sailor, participant in the 1928 Summer Olympics
Vito Cascio Ferro	1943-09-20	Italy	Natural causes or bombing of his prison	Mafioso of the Sicilian Mafia
Albert Love	1943-11-08	United Kingdom (detained by Japan)	Unknown	Welsh boxer, competed for England in the 1930 British Empire Games
Umberto di Giorgio	1943-11-30	Italy (detained by Germany)	Heart attack	Lieutenant general, in charge of the territorial defense of Rome
Kasturba Gandhi	1944-02-22	India	Natural causes	Indian political activist and the wife of Mahatma Gandhi	Imprisoned in a detention camp in Pune for protesting and participating in the Quit India Movement.
Armellini Chiappi	1944-11-04	Italy (detained by Germany)	Illness	Lieutenant general, in charge of the territorial defense of Florence
Ralph Shields	1944-11-21	United Kingdom (detained by Japan)	Malnutrition, beriberi	Footballer
Rodolfo Torresan	1944-11-22	Italy (detained by Germany)	Illness	Major general, served in four wars
Johannes van der Vegte	1945-03-15	Netherlands (detained by Japan)	Unknown	Rower, participant in the 1920 Summer Olympics
Ettore Deltetto	1945-04-18	Italy	Gastrointestinal perforation	Major general	Was sentenced to 20 years for "abandonment of command" on 24 December 1944. The sentenced was overturned two years later.
Viktors Eglītis	1945-04-20	Soviet Union	Unknown	Leading figure in the Latvian decadent movement and an introducer of modernist poetics	Accused of being a fascist collaborator during the Soviet era.
August Kop	1945-04-30	Netherlands (detained by Japan)	Unknown	Field hockey player, won the Silver medal at the 1928 Summer Olympics
Frederik Lamp	1945-05-27	Netherlands (detained by Japan)	Unknown	Sprinter, participant in the 1924 Summer Olympics
Emil Hácha	1945-06-27	Czechoslovakia	Unknown	3rd President of Czechoslovakia, later of the Protectorate Bohemia and Moravia
Robert A. Jaffray	1945-07-29	Canada (detained by Japan)	Malnutrition, illness	Evangelical Missionary in China and Indonesia
Robert Ley	1945-10-25	Germany (detained by the Allied Powers)	Suicide by hanging	Nazi war criminal
Damase Pierre-Louis	1945	Haiti	Unknown	Historian, author, diplomat
Tito Agosti	1946-01-27	Italy (detained by the Allied Powers)	Suicide	Major general, served in four wars
Seán McCaughey	1946-05-11	Ireland	Hunger strike	Officer Commanding of the IRA Northern Command
Hermann Göring	1946-10-15	Germany (detained by the Allied Powers)	Suicide by poison	Nazi war criminal
Ioannis Rallis	1946-10-26	Greece	Natural causes	Prime Minister of Greece during the Axis occupation
Victor Lustig	1947-03-11	Czechoslovakia	Pneumonia	Con artist, sold the Eiffel Tower
Giovanni Battista Caneva	1947-02-12	Italy	Injuries caused by his detainees	federal secretary of the Republican Fascist Party, head of the province of Reggio Emilia
Walter Nicolai	1947-05-04	Germany (detained by the Soviet Union)	Heart attack	Head of Abteilung III b in World War I
Frits Clausen	1947-12-05	Denmark	Heart attack	Leader of the DNSAP
Raoul Wallenberg	1947 or later	Sweden (believed to have been detained by the Soviet Union)	Unknown (debated)	Diplomat, rescued Jews during the Holocaust	Extrajudicial punishment in Soviet Lefortovo prison
Georgios Tsolakoglou	1948-05-22	Greece	Leukemia	Prime Minister of Greece during the Axis occupation

1950s

Name	Date of death	Nationality	Cause of death	Known for	Comments
Grigory Gukovsky	1950-04-02	Soviet Union	Heart attack	Literary historian, rediscovered 18th-century Russian literature
Peter Novopashenny	October 1950	Soviet Union	Unknown	Marine Officer, cryptanalyst
Rafael Simón Urbina	1950-11-13	Venezuela	Murder	Rebel
Patrick James Byrne	1950-11-25	United States	Pneumonia	Catholic missionary and bishop
Werner Haase	1950-11-30	Germany (detained by the Soviet Union)	Tuberculosis	SS member and one of Adolf Hitler's personal physicians	Likely died in Butyrka prison
Terry Waters	1951-04-22	United Kingdom (detained by North Korea)	Unknown	Soldier, awarded with the George Cross	Captured at the Battle of the Imjin River during the Korean War
Gaspare Pisciotta	1954-02-09	Italy	Strychnine poisoning	Companion of Salvatore Giuliano
Rudolf Beran	1954-04-23	Czechoslovakia	Natural causes	Prime minister of Czechoslovakia and the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia
Muhammad Zarqtuni	1954-06-18	Morocco	Suicide by poisoning	Moroccan nationalist
Jaroslav Krejčí	1956-05-18	Czechoslovakia	Natural causes	Prime minister of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia
Dominik Trčka	1959-03-23	Czechoslovakia	Pneumonia	Redemptorist priest	Regarded as a martyr of the Catholic Church. He was later beatified in 2001.
Karl Jäger	1959-06-22	West Germany	Suicide by hanging	Nazi war criminal
Ion Gigurtu	1959-11-24	Romania	Unknown illness	Romanian politician, Foreign Minister and Prime Minister of Romania	Rehabilitated by the Romanian Supreme Court in 1999.

1960s

Name	Date of death	Nationality	Cause of death	Known for	Comments
Nepomuceno Matallana	1960-01-24	Colombia	Bronchitis with heart failure	Murderer and suspected serial killer
Pavel Peter Gojdič	1960-07-17	Czechoslovakia	Terminal cancer	Eparch of the Slovak Greek Catholic Eparchy of Prešov	Imprisoned by the StB because the Communist government outlawed the Greek Catholic Church. He was later beatified in 2001 and recognised as Righteous Among the Nations in 2007.
Ajax Delgado	1960-09-05	Nicaragua	Murder	Coffee grower, political activist
Guido Zingerle	1962-08-09	Italy	Liver cancer	Serial killer and rapist, "The Monster of Tyrol"
Robert Stroud	1963-11-21	United States	Natural causes	The Birdman of Alcatraz
Fabricio Ojeda	1966-06-21	Venezuela	Suicide by hanging	Guerrilla leader, politician and journalist
Jack Ruby	1967-01-03	United States	Pulmonary embolism	American nightclub owner	Murdered Lee Harvey Oswald.
Ilse Koch	1967-09-01	West Germany	Suicide by hanging	Wife of the Commandant of Buchenwald concentration camp
Vito Genovese	1969-02-14	Italy United States	Heart attack	Italian-American mobster, leader of the Genovese crime family
Bonifacio Ondó Edú	1969-03-05	Equatorial Guinea	Official version: suicide	Former Prime Minister of Spanish Guinea	According to one account, Ondó Edú was tortured in Black Beach prison for ten days by Mariano Mdemendongo, a member of the national guard, before finally being executed.
Don Drummond	1969-05-06	Jamaica	Official version: natural causes	Ska trombonist, composer	Convicted of murdering his lover Anita Mahfood, the official cause of death is disputed
Liu Shaoqi	1969-11-12	China	Pneumonia / unknown illness	Former Chairman of the People's Republic of China	Died of mistreatment as a result of political persecution during the Cultural Revolution

1970s

Name	Date of death	Nationality	Cause of Death	Known for	Comments
Josef Bachmann	1970-02-24	West Germany	Suicide	Attempt to assassinate APO student leader Rudi Dutschke
Mahmud al-Muntasir	1970-09-28	Libya	Unknown	1st Prime Minister of Libya
Leopold Takawira	1970	Southern Rhodesia	Neglect of his diabetes by the prison authorities	Vice-president of the Zimbabwe African National Union
George Jackson	1971-08-21	United States	Shot to death during an escape attempt	Co-founder of the Black Guerrilla Family and one of the Soledad Brothers
Mack Ray Edwards	1971-10-30	United States	Suicide by hanging	Child molester and serial killer
Franco Serantini	1972-05-07	Italy	Coma	Anarchist
Pedro Luis Boitel	1972-05-25	Cuba	Hunger strike	Poet and dissident
Lee Roy Martin	1972-05-31	United States	Stabbed by fellow inmate	Serial killer
Yuri Galanskov	1972-11-04	Soviet Union	Death from an operation by a former doctor (another inmate) without surgical qualifications	Russian poet, historian, and human rights activist, imprisoned for his writings
Yoro Diakité	1973-06-13	Mali	Unknown	Prime Minister of Mali, Head of the Provisional Government, first Vice President of Mali
Albert DeSalvo	1973-11-25	United States	Murder	The Boston Strangler
Michael Gaughan	1974-06-03	Ireland (detained by the United Kingdom)	Hunger strike	Member of the Official Irish Republican Army
Holger Meins	1974-11-09	West Germany	Hunger strike	Member of the Red Army Faction
Charles Schmid	1975-03-30	United States	Stabbed by two fellow inmates	Serial killer
Siegfried Hausner	1975-05-05	West Germany	Severe burns untreated in custody	Member of the Red Army Faction
Katharina Hammerschmidt	1975-06-29	West Germany	Untreated cancer	Member of the Red Army Faction
Vladimir Herzog	1975-10-25	Yugoslavia Brazil	Suicide by hanging	Journalist, university professor and playwright	According to opposition, he was murdered by the DOI-CODI officers
Frank Stagg	1976-02-12	Ireland (detained by the United Kingdom)	Hunger strike	Volunteer in the Provisional Irish Republican Army
Ulrike Meinhof	1976-05-09	West Germany	Suicide by hanging	Founding member of the Red Army Faction
Alioune Dramé	1977-03-01	Guinea	Unknown	Economist and politician, ambassador to Ivory Coast
Claudio Camaso	1977-09-16	Italy	Suicide by hanging	Actor, brother of Gian Maria Volonté	Imprisoned for the murder of Vincenzo Mazza.
Steve Biko	1977-10-18	South Africa	Bludgeoned to death by South African police	South African anti-Apartheid activist	Forty-sixth political detainee to die during interrogation since the government introduced laws permitting imprisonment without trial in 1963.
Andreas Baader	1977-10-18	West Germany	Suicide by shooting	Leader of the Red Army Faction
Gudrun Ensslin	1977-10-18	West Germany	Suicide by hanging	Founding member of the Red Army Faction
Jan-Carl Raspe	1977-10-18	West Germany	Suicide by shooting	Member of the Red Army Faction
Ingrid Schubert	1977-11-12	West Germany	Suicide by hanging	Member of the Red Army Faction
Joseph Kotalla	1979-07-31	Germany (detained by the Netherlands)	Natural causes	SS soldier, head of the administration of Kamp Amersfoort concentration camp
Haregot Abbai	1979	Ethiopia	Murder	Businessman, politician

1980s

Name	Date of death	Nationality	Cause of death	Known for	Comments
Pat Hare	1980-09-26	United States	Lung cancer	American electric blues guitarist and singer
Richard Chase	1980-12-26	United States	Suicide	Serial killer, cannibal and necrophile; also known as "The Vampire of Sacramento"
James Mitose	1981-03-26	United States	Diabetes	Martial artist, brought the art of Kenpo to the United States
Thor Christiansen	1981-03-30	United States	Stabbed by an unknown killer	Serial killer and necrophile
Sigurd Debus	1981-04-16	West Germany	Hunger strike	Alleged member of the Red Army Faction
Bobby Sands	1981-05-05	United Kingdom	Hunger strike	Irish republican, member of the Provisional Irish Republican Army	Died along with 9 other Republicans on hunger strike. See 1981 Irish Hunger Strike
Francis Hughes	1981-05-12	United Kingdom	Hunger strike	Volunteer in the Provisional Irish Republican Army	Died along with 9 other Republicans on hunger strike. See 1981 Irish Hunger Strike
Raymond McCreesh	1981-05-21	United Kingdom	Hunger strike	Volunteer in the South Armagh Brigade of the Provisional Irish Republican Army	Died along with 9 other Republicans on hunger strike. See 1981 Irish Hunger Strike
Patsy O'Hara	1981-05-21	United Kingdom	Hunger strike	Member of the Irish National Liberation Army	Died along with 9 other Republicans on hunger strike. See 1981 Irish Hunger Strike
Joe McDonnell	1981-07-08	United Kingdom	Hunger strike	Volunteer in the Provisional Irish Republican Army	Died along with 9 other Republicans on hunger strike. See 1981 Irish Hunger Strike
Martin Hurson	1981-07-13	United Kingdom	Hunger strike	Volunteer in the East Tyrone Brigade of the Provisional Irish Republican Army	Died along with 9 other Republicans on hunger strike. See 1981 Irish Hunger Strike
Kevin Lynch	1981-08-01	United Kingdom	Hunger strike	Member of the Irish National Liberation Army	Died along with 9 other Republicans on hunger strike. See 1981 Irish Hunger Strike
Kieran Doherty	1981-08-02	United Kingdom	Hunger strike	Volunteer in the Belfast Brigade of the Provisional Irish Republican Army	Died along with 9 other Republicans on hunger strike. See 1981 Irish Hunger Strike
Thomas McElwee	1981-08-08	United Kingdom	Hunger strike	Volunteer in the Provisional Irish Republican Army	Died along with 9 other Republicans on hunger strike. See 1981 Irish Hunger Strike
Ervil LeBaron	1981-08-15	United States	Natural causes	American Mormon fundamentalist
Michael Devine	1981-08-20	United Kingdom	Hunger strike	Volunteer in the Irish National Liberation Army	Died along with 9 other Republicans on hunger strike. See 1981 Irish Hunger Strike
Umar Muhayshi	c. January 1984	Libya	Torture	Army officer and member of the Libyan Revolutionary Command Council
Michele Sindona	1986-03-22	Italy	Cyanide poisoning (likely suicide)	Banker for the Sicilian Mafia and the Vatican
Odysseas Angelis	1987-03-22	Greece	Suicide	Military officer, Chief of the Hellenic Armed Forces, Vice President of Greece
Tsai Chen-chou	1987-05-14	Taiwan	Liver disease	Politician and businessman
Rudolf Hess	1987-08-14	Germany (held by the Four-Power Authorities)	Suicide	Nazi war criminal	Was the sole inmate in Spandau Prison from 1966 until his death. The prison was demolished afterwards.
Roberto Succo	1988-05-23	Italy	Suicide by suffocating	Serial killer
Roy Buchanan	1988-08-01	United States	Suicide by hanging	American guitarist	His death is still the subject of fierce debate.
Abdulwahid AlAbduljabbar	1989	Saudi Arabia	Severe hemorrhage caused by torture	Political activist

1990s

Name	Date of death	Nationality	Cause of death	Known for	Comments
Michael Tan Teow	1990-05-08	Singapore	Suicide by pill overdose	Convicted murderer and former actor	Died in a solitary confinement cell at Changi Prison's death row section. Found guilty in 1985 of murdering a landlady and her two children, and sentenced to hang. His accomplice Lim Beng Hai, also on death row, was put to death five months later on 5 October 1990
Graham Young	1990-08-01	United Kingdom	Heart attack	Poisoner	Died in Parkhurst prison. Heart attack is the official cause of death, but there has been speculation that other prisoners may have been responsible.
Klaus Barbie	1991-09-25	Germany (detained by France)	Leukemia	Nazi war criminal
Richard Speck	1991-12-05	United States	Heart attack	American mass murderer
Robert Berdella	1992-10-08	United States	Heart attack	Serial killer
Orton Chirwa	1992-10-20	Malawi	Unknown	Lawyer and political leader
Robert Biehler	1993-01-10	United States	Cancer	Serial killer
Jeffrey Feltner	1993-03-17	United States	AIDS	Serial killer
Kurt-Werner Wichmann	1993-04-25	Germany	Suicide by hanging	Serial killer	He hanged himself only 10 days after his arrest. The Netflix miniseries Dig Deeper: The Disappearance of Birgit Meier concentrates on his case.
Walter Breen	1993-04-27	United States	Cancer	American child molester
Garry David	1993-07-11	Australia	Died from wounds caused by self-mutilation	Robbery and attempted murder
Liow Han Heng	1993-08-10	Singapore	Heart attack	Convicted murderer and former goldsmith shop worker	Died in a solitary confinement cell at Changi Prison's death row section. Found guilty in 1992 of kidnapping and murdering his former employer, and sentenced to hang. His accomplice Ibrahim Masod, also on death row, was put to death 11 months later on 29 July 1994
Joe "Pegleg" Morgan	1993-11-08	Mexico (detained by the United States)	Liver cancer	Mexican Mafia leader
Luciano Leggio	1993-11-15	Italy	Heart attack	Mafioso, head of the Corleonesi	Succeeded by Salvatore Riina
Jack Unterweger	1994-06-29	Austria	Suicide	Serial killer with estimated 12-15 victims
Michele Zaza	1994-07-18	Italy	Heart attack	Mafioso, head of the Camorra clan	Succeeded by his nephew Ciro Mazzarella.
Daniel Camargo Barbosa	1994-11-13	Colombia (detained by Ecuador)	Stabbed to death by Geovanny Noguera, a nephew of one of his victims	Serial killer and rapist
Jeffrey Dahmer	1994-11-28	United States	Beaten to death by fellow inmate Christopher Scarver	American serial killer and cannibal
Jesse Anderson	1994-11-30	United States	Beaten to death by fellow inmate Christopher Scarver	American murderer
Fred West	1995-01-01	United Kingdom	Suicide by hanging	Multiple murders; was on remand awaiting trial
Michael Lupo	1995-02-12	Italy (detained by the United Kingdom)	AIDS	Serial killer
Edwin Kaprat	1995-04-19	United States	Stabbed by two inmates	Serial killer
Sadibou Hydara	1995-06-06	Gambia	Murder	Military and political leader
Kenneth Michael Trentadue	1995-08-21	United States	Suicide by hanging	Arrested during the investigation of the Oklahoma City bombing	Trentadue's family maintains that he was murdered by members of the FBI
Ronald Kray	1995-09-07	United Kingdom	Heart attack	British gangster and murderer, twin brother of Reginald Kray
Robert Wayne Danielson	1995-09-07	United States	Suicide by hanging	Serial killer
Gerard John Schaefer	1995-12-03	United States	Stabbed to death	American murderer
Alfons Noviks	1996-03-12	Latvia	Unknown	Politician	Charged with a life sentence for signing orders for the Soviet deportations from Latvia
Ottis Toole	1996-09-15	United States	Cirrhosis	Serial killer
Giuseppe Giacomo Gambino	1996-11-30	Italy	Suicide	Mafioso, deputy of Totò Riina
James Earl Ray	1998-04-23	United States	Hepatitis C	Convicted for assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.
Moshood Abiola	1998-07-07	Nigeria	Heart attack	Honorary supreme military commander of the Oyo Empire	His death is disputed, with some believing he was poisoned or beaten to death.
Kaya	1999-02-21	Mauritius	Unknown	Musician, creator of Seggae	Arrested for smoking marijuana during one of his concerts
Aleksandr Komin	1999-06-15	Russia	Suicide by cutting	Enslaver, serial killer	Kept six people as prisoners in a 9-meter-deep bunker under his garage and killed four of them.
Saeed Emami	1999-06-19	Iran	Suicide	Deputy minister of intelligence under Ali Fallahian	His death was officially ruled as a suicide, although this is disputed by Iranian dissidents who believe he was murdered in order to prevent him leaking sensitive information.
Georgios Papadopoulos	1999-06-27	Greece	ALS, bladder cancer	Military dictator of the Greek junta
Frank Valdes	1999-07-17	United States	Beaten to death by correctional officers	Murderer
Salvatore Greco	1999	Italy	Cancer	Mafioso, brother of Michele Greco

2000s

Name	Date of death	Nationality	Cause of death	Known for	Comments
Harry Riccobene	2000-06-19	Italy United States	Sepsis	Mobster of the Philadelphia crime family
Oleg Kuznetsov	2000-08-04	Russia	Heart failure	Serial killer, rapist	Killed 10 girls and women between 1991 and 1992.
Ruslan Alikhadzhiyev	2000	Russia	Torture or heart attack	Parliamentary speaker of Chechenia	Disappeared in 2000, his death was reported as a prison death by Chechenpress and AFP; the FSB denied that
Byron De La Beckwith	2001-01-21	United States	Heart attack	American white supremacist	Klansman from Greenwood, Mississippi who assassinated civil rights leader Medgar Evers on June 12, 1963.
Henry Lee Lucas	2001-03-12	United States	Heart failure	"The Confession Killer"
Shankar Suppiahmaniam	2001-08-10	Singapore	Murdered by his fellow cellmate Kanesan Ratnam, who was later sentenced to death for murdering him	Charged with raping and abducting two young girls, and also his murder	Scheduled to stand trial on 13 August 2001, but died three days before the trial was to begin
Thomas Schleicher	2001-11-02	Austria	Suicide	Judoka and participant of the 1996 Summer Olympics	Convicted for drug trafficking
Evison Matafale	2001-11-27	Malawi	Pneumonia	Reggae musician
Iván Urdinola Grajales	2002-02-02	Colombia	Heart attack	leader of the Norte del Valle Cartel, "El enano"
John Gotti	2002-06-10	United States	Throat cancer	American mafia boss
Turpal-Ali Atgeriyev	2002-08-18	Russia	Official version: inner bleedings caused by leukemia	National security minister of Chechnya	His relatives claimed he was tortured to death.
Myra Hindley	2002-11-15	United Kingdom	Died in hospital after heart attack in prison	British serial killer
Habibullah	2002-12-04	Afghanistan (detained by the United States)	Pulmonary embolism due to blunt force injury to the legs	Mullah, brother of a Taliban leader	His death was initially attributed to "natural causes" by the military. The autopsy later classified Habibullah's death as homicide.
Dilawar	2002-12-10	Afghanistan (detained by the United States)	"Blunt-force injuries to lower extremities complicating coronary artery disease" caused from torture	Farmer and taxi driver	The documentary film Taxi to the Dark Side (2007) focuses on his death.
Salman Raduyev	2002-12-14	Russia	Official version: "Serious and protracted diseases"	Chechen military commander, responsible for the Kizlyar hostage taking raid	His family and others claim that he was murdered by the authorities in prison.
Fesshaye Yohannes	2002-2007	Eritrea	Unknown	Journalist
John Geoghan	2003-08-23	United States	Murdered by fellow inmate Joseph Druce	Catholic priest and child molester
Hassan Evan Naseem	2003-09-19	Maldives	Beaten to death by the NSS personnel during a riot	His death lead to the 2003 Maldives civil unrest
Md. Yakub Ali	2003-10-17	Bangladesh	Unknown	Bangladesh Nationalist Party activist
Jahangir Hossain		Bangladesh	Unknown	Bangladesh Nationalist Party activist
Manadel al-Jamadi	2003-11-04	Iraq (detained by the United States)	Died from torture during a CIA interrogation	Suspect in a bomb attack, also known as "The Iceman", "Mr. Frosty" and "Bernie"	His death was a trigger of the 2003-2004 Abu Ghraib torture and prisoner abuse scandal
Abed Hamed Mowhoush	2003-11-26	Iraq (detained by the United States)	Died from torture during a CIA interrogation	Air vice-marshal of the Iraqi Air Force	His death was initially attributed to "natural causes" by the CIA. After the Abu Ghraib torture and prisoner abuse scandal erupted, the Pentagon acknowledged that the cause of death was "asphyxia due to smothering and chest compression", and that his body showed "evidence of blunt force trauma to the chest and legs".
Harold Shipman	2004-01-13	United Kingdom	Suicide by hanging	British doctor who killed many of his patients
Abu Abbas	2004-03-08	Palestine (detained by the United States in Iraq)	Natural causes	Terrorist
Gaetano Badalamenti	2004-04-29	Italy (detained by the United States)	Heart failure	Mafioso, head of the Sicilian Mafia Commission, leader in the "Pizza Connection"
Clayton Fountain	2004-07-12	United States	Natural causes	Member of the Aryan Brotherhood
Victor Kaliadin	2004-09-16	Russia	Heart attack	CEO of the company Elers Electron
John Wayne Glover	2005-09-09	Australia	Suicide by hanging	Sydney Granny Murderer
Vincent Gigante	2005-12-19	United States	Oxygen deprivation	American Mafia boss	Boss of Genovese crime family
Stuart Alexander	2005-12-27	United States	Pulmonary embolism	Businessman and murderer	Also known as "The Sausage King" because he was recognized and renowned for making linguiça sausage.
Slobodan Milošević	2006-03-11	Serbia and Montenegro	Heart attack	Serbian and Yugoslav president
Domenico Libri	2006-05-01	Italy	Unknown	Member of the 'Ndrangheta
Andrew Martinez	2006-05-18	United States	Suicide	Nude activist
Samuel Bowers	2006-05-18	United States	Cardiopulmonary arrest	American white supremacist	Co-founded the White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan and convicted of bombing death of civil rights leader Vernon Dahmer.
Ogulsapar Muradova	August/September 2006	Turkmenistan	Official version: Natural causes	Human rights activist, journalist	The official cause of death is disputed by her children.
Ron Porambo	2006-10-22	United States	Choking on an orange	Journalist who covered the 1967 Newark riots	Charged with 30 years for felony murder, conspiracy to commit robbery, two counts of armed robbery, burglary, and possession of a firearm for an unlawful purpose.
Samuel Hinga Norman	2007-02-22	Sierra Leone	Natural causes	Founder and leader of the Civil Defence Forces
Charles Harrelson	2007-03-15	United States	Heart attack	Hitman, convicted of murdering U.S. Federal judge John H. Wood Jr.	Father of actor Woody Harrelson.
David Lane	2007-03-28	United States	Epilepsy	American white nationalist
Stanley Rice	2007-11-03	United States	Natural causes	Serial killer, sex offender
Sergei Ryakhovsky	2007-11-12	Russia	Tuberculosis	Serial killer
John Straffen	2007-11-19	United Kingdom	Natural causes	British serial killer	Longest-serving prisoner in British legal history, was in prison for 55 years until his death
Ryan Gracie	2007-12-15	Brazil	Died as a result of brain injury	Brazilian mixed martial artist
Michele Greco	2008-02-13	Italy	Lung cancer	Mafioso, head of the Sicilian Mafia Commission
Germano Nati	2008-03-17	Eritrea	Bladder and kidney infections	Politician of the EPLF
Vlado Taneski	2008-06-23	Republic of Macedonia	Suicide by drowning in a plastic bucket of water	Serial killer
Dinko Šakić	2008-07-20	Croatia	Heart problems	Commander of the Jasenovac concentration camp
Johnny "J"	2008-10-03	Mexico / United States	Suicide	Songwriter, music producer and rapper	Charged with driving while intoxicated
Arthur Shawcross	2008-11-10	United States	Cardiac arrest	Serial killer
Son Jong-nam	2008-12-07	North Korea	Unknown (probably torture)	North Korean defector and Christian missionary
Antonie Dixon	2009-02-04	New Zealand	Suicide	New Zealand thief and murderer
Omid Reza Mir Sayafi	2009-03-18	Iran	Unknown	Blogger and journalist	Arrested for allegedly insulting religious leaders and engaging in propaganda against the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Maxim Bazylev	2009-03-27	Russia	Suicide by cutting the veins on his forearms and neck	Russian nationalist, last leader of the NSO
Toi Aukuso Cain	2009-04-18	Samoa	Liver cancer	Politician	Arrested for the murder of Luagalau Leva'ula Kamu
Ibn al-Shaykh al-Libi	2009-05-10	Libya	Torture	Leader of the Khalden training camp	His death was officially ruled as suicide by hanging.
Fathi Eljahmi	2009-05-21	Libya	Unknown	Politic dissident
Christopher Lunz	2009-09-22	United States	Suicide	Serial killer
Susan Atkins	2009-09-24	United States	Brain tumor	Member of the Manson family
John Evander Couey	2009-09-30	United States	Cancer	Sex offender convicted of murdering Jessica Lunsford
Sergei Magnitsky	2009-11-16	Russia	Closed cerebral cranial injury	Russian tax accountant who specialized in anti-corruption activities	Magnitsky alleged there had been large-scale theft from the Russian state, sanctioned and carried out by Russian officials. He was arrested and eventually died in prison. The documentary The Magnitsky Act – Behind the Scenes concentrates on his case.

2010s

Name	Date of death	Nationality	Cause of death	Known for	Comments
Orlando Zapata	2010-02-23	Cuba	Hunger strike	Political activist
Carlo Cicuttini	2010-02-24	Italy	Lung cancer	Neofascist terrorist
Germain Cyrille Ngota Ngota	2010-04-22	Cameroon	HIV	Editor for the Cameroun Express	Charged with falsifying a government document, the first journalist to die in the line of duty in Cameroon since 1992
Sipho Jele	2010-05-04	Swaziland	Suicide by hanging	Member of the banned party People's United Democratic Movement
Wallace Souza	2010-07-27	Brazil	Heart attack due to Budd–Chiari syndrome	Television presenter and politician
Philip Markoff	2010-08-15	United States	Suicide	American murderer	Known as the "Craigslist killer"
Dimitrios Ioannidis	2010-08-16	Greece	Respiratory problems	Military dictator of the Greek junta
Terry Peder Rasmussen	2010-12-28	United States	lung cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and pneumonia	Serial killer with six known victims. on December 28, 2010.
Edwin Valero	2010-04-19	Venezuela	Suicide	Professional boxer
Carl Williams	2010-04-19	Australia	Bludgeoned to death	Australian crime boss	Murdered by fellow inmate while serving sentence
Fawza Falih	2010	Saudi Arabia	Official version: Choking on her food	Condemned to death for practicing witchcraft
Akrom Yoʻldoshev	2010/11	Uzbekistan	Tuberculosis	Founder of Akromiya
Colin Hatch	February 2011	United Kingdom	Suspected homicide	Notorious murderer and child molester
Dorothea Puente	2011-03-27	United States	Natural causes	Serial killer
Lee Bradley Brown	2011-04-12	United Kingdom (detained by the United Arab Emirates)	Unknown	Tourist, his cause of death is still disputed
Edarem	2012-01-08	United States	Lung cancer	American Internet personality
Colin Ireland	2012-02-21	United Kingdom	Died as a result of hip injury.	British serial killer of gay men
Miguel Abia Biteo Boricó	2012-12-06	Equatorial Guinea	Cardiac arrest	Former Prime Minister of Equatorial Guinea
Richard Ramirez	2013-06-07	United States	Cancer	American serial killer
Tjostolv Moland	2013-08-18	Norway (detained by the Democratic Republic of the Congo)	Suicide	Sentenced to death for murder, and espionage for Norway	Died in Congolese custody
Anatoly Onoprienko	2013-08-27	Ukraine	Heart attack	Serial killer and mass murderer
Ariel Castro	2013-09-03	United States	Suicide or accidental strangulation	Kidnapped and raped three American women for over a decade.
Heinrich Boere	2013-12-01	Germany	Natural causes	Nazi war criminal
John Anthony Walker	2014-08-28	United States	Unknown	United States Navy Chief Warrant Officer convicted of spying for the Soviet Union from 1968 to 1985
Anushervon Rakhmanov	2015-04-02	Tajikistan Russia	Suicide by hanging	Suspected serial killer
Sandra Bland	2015-07-13	United States	Suicide (allegedly)	American motorist	Arrested for traffic violation on July 10 by State Trooper Brian Encinia. Encinia was indicted for perjury for making false statements about the circumstances of Bland's arrest. Waller County jail failed to follow required policies and procedures.
Manuel Contreras	2015-08-07	Chile	Unspecified kidney problems	Army officer, former head of the National Intelligence Directorate	He was serving 59 unappealable sentences totaling 529 years in prison at the time of his death.
Marcelo Moren Brito	2015-09-11	Chile	Multiple organ failure	Retired Army colonel and former agent of the Dirección de Inteligencia Nacional	He was sentenced to more than 300 years in prison.
Sarah Reed	2016-01-11	United Kingdom	Suicide/accidental death	On remand awaiting possible trial pending psychiatric reports	Charged with GBH with intent
Lawrence Phillips	2016-01-13	United States	Suicide	American football player	Phillips was facing the death penalty in the alleged murder of his former cellmate in April 2015.
Jacques Bihozagara	2016-03-30	Rwanda (detained by Burundi)	Unknown (probably assassination)	Rwandan ambassador to France and Belgium	Arrested on suspicion of espionage, died only minutes after arriving at the prison infirmary.
Vladimir Dolgopolov	2016-06-12	Russia	Stroke	Soccer player, won a Master of Sports of the USSR award	Was found guilty of negligent homicide and sentenced to 10 years of imprisonment in January 2016
Bernardo Provenzano	2016-07-13	Italy	Bladder cancer	Mafioso, chief of the Corleonesi
Lou Pearlman	2016-08-19	United States	Cardiac arrest	Manager of Backstreet Boys and *NSYNC
Gennadiy Tsypkalov	2016-09-24	Ukraine	Unknown (official version: Suicide)	politician of the Luhansk People's Republic
Omar Abdel-Rahman	2017-02-18	Egypt (detained by the United States)	Coronary arterial disease	Terrorist
Lawrence Horn	February 2017	United States	Unknown	Musician, record producer	Arrested for hiring a hit man to murder his ex-wife, Mildred Horn, their disabled son Trevor, and nurse Janice Saunders.
Donald Harvey	2017-03-30	United States	Killed by fellow inmate	Serial killer
Aaron Hernandez	2017-04-19	United States	Suicide	Former tight-end for NFL team New England Patriots, later convicted of murdering Odin Lloyd	Found not guilty of the 2012 double homicide of Daniel de Abreu and Safiro Furtado just 5 days before he was found dead.
Yip Kai Foon	2017-04-19	Hong Kong	Lung cancer	Hong Kong armed robber with AK-47
Ian Brady	2017-05-15	United Kingdom	Cancer	British serial killer
Manuel Noriega	2017-05-29	Panama	Issues after a brain hemorrhage	Military dictator of Panama 1983-1989
Liu Xiaobo	2017-07-13	China	Liver cancer	Prisoner of conscience	Nobel Peace Prize laureate (2010)
Carlos Andrés García	2017-09-17	Venezuela	Debated	Politician, councilman at the time of dearth	García suffered a stroke in detention. Security officials reportedly refused to give medical attention to García, ignored the orders to transfer him to a health center and did not give him medicines sent by his relatives. He was transferred to a hospital days afterwards.
Salvatore Riina	2017-11-17	Italy	Unknown	Mafioso, chief of the Sicilian Mafia
Charles Manson	2017-11-19	United States	Natural causes	Leader of the Manson Family
Nelson Martínez	2017-12-12	Venezuela	Health complications	Minister of Petroleum and President of Petróleos de Venezuela
Ernst-Dieter Beck	2018-04-29	Germany	Unknown	Serial killer	He was the first person accused of murder in German legal history, on whom a chromosome test was applied.
Dennis Nilsen	2018-05-12	United Kingdom	Pulmonary embolism	British serial killer
Brian Lawler	2018-07-29	United States	Suicide by hanging	Professional wrestler
Fernando Albán	2018-10-08	Venezuela	Body fell from a tenth-floor of the headquarters of the Bolivarian Intelligence Service (SEBIN). Unofficially, Albán died before his fall and the autopsy revealed that water was found in his lungs.	Politician, councilman at the time of death	Initially ruled officially as a suicide, a version heavily disputed, authorities later admitted that Albán was killed during his detention.
Whitey Bulger	2018-10-30	United States	Killed by prison inmates	American mobster
Andrew Urdiales	2018-11-02	United States	Suicide by hanging	Serial killer
Serhiy Tkach	2018-11-04	Ukraine	Heart failure	Serial killer
Carmine Persico	2019-03-07	United States	Natural causes	Boss of the Colombo crime family
Mohamed Morsi	2019-06-17	Egypt	Egyptian state television announced on 17 June 2019 that Mohamed Morsi had collapsed during a court hearing on espionage charges at Cairo's Tora prison complex, and later died suddenly, reportedly of a heart attack.	Former President of Egypt
Rafael Acosta Arévalo	2019-06-29	Venezuela	Widespread polytrauma, torture	Military officer with the rank of corvette captain	Died shortly after attending to a court hearing, arriving in a wheelchair and with serious indications of torture.
Dawid Kostecki	2019-08-02	Poland	Suicide by hanging	Light heavyweight boxer	Convicted for drug trafficking, car theft, running a prostitution escort ring, and income tax evasion.
Jeffrey Epstein	2019-08-10	United States	Suicide	American financier and convicted sex offender	Death of Jeffrey Epstein
Richard Huckle	2019-10-13	United Kingdom	Stabbed to death	British serial sex offender and paedophile
Anthony McKnight	2019-10-17	United States	Unknown	Serial killer and rapist
Ivan Milat	2019-10-27	Australia	Natural causes	Serial killer
Lawrence Bittaker	2019-12-13	United States	Natural causes	Serial killer and rapist, one of the "Tool Box Killers"
Phillip Carl Jablonski	2019-12-27	United States	Unknown	Serial killer

2020s

Name	Date of death	Nationality	Cause of death	Known for	Comments
Roy Norris	2020-02-24	United States	Natural causes	Serial killer and rapist, one of the "Tool Box Killers"
Lonnie David Franklin Jr.	2020-03-28	United States	Unknown	Serial killer, better known as the "Grim Sleeper"
Shady Habash	2020-05-01	Egypt	Alcohol poisoning	Filmmaker	Was imprisoned without trial for making a music video for the exiled Egyptian rock musician Ramy Essam, that mocked Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi.
Carlos Ernesto Escobar Mejía	2020-05-06	El Salvador (detained by United States)	COVID-19	The first immigrant to die from COVID-19 in the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
David Owen Brooks	2020-05-28	United States	COVID-19	Murderer
Eddie Mosley	2020-05-28	United States	COVID-19	Serial killer and rapist
Rocky Beamon	2020-06-10	United States	Suicide	Murderer
Mário Calixto Filho	2020-06-17	Brazil	COVID-19	Politician, journalist and businessman	Convicted of government procurement fraud
Manuel Machado Alvarez	2020-07-03	Cuba (detained by United States)	COVID-19	Murderer
Scott Erskine	2020-07-03	United States	COVID-19	Serial killer and rapist
Mahendra Yadav	2020-07-05	India	COVID-19	Politician
Andrey Yezhov	2020-07-06	Russia	Suicide by hanging	Serial killer and rapist
Chua Ser Lien	2020-07-08	Singapore	Suicide	Former cleaning company director and convicted kidnapper	Sentenced to life imprisonment and three strokes of the cane in 2004. Suffered from bipolar disorder, which worsened during his final years before he died. Found eligible for parole in 2023
Nelson Meurer	2020-07-12	Brazil	COVID-19	Politician, mayor of Francisco Beltrão	Convicted on corruption and money laundering charges
Moussa Benhamadi	2020-07-17	Algeria	COVID-19	Politician and researcher
David Romero Ellner	2020-07-18	Honduras	COVID-19	Journalist and lawyer, Liberal party congressman and former mayor of Tegucigalpa	Was arrested during the 2019–2021 Algerian protests
Jaybee Sebastian	2020-07-18	Philippines	COVID-19	Kidnapper and carjacker
Jorge Villavicencio	2020-07-20	Guatemala	COVID-19	Former Guatemalan Minister of Public Health and Social Assistance	Was arrested over corruption accusations.
Azimzhan Askarov	2020-07-25	Kyrgyzstan	Pneumonia	Human rights activist, investigator of police brutality	Arrested and prosecuted on charges of creating mass disturbances, incitement of ethnic hatred, and complicity in murder.
Essam el-Erian	2020-08-13	Egypt	COVID-19	Vice Chairman of the Freedom and Justice Party	Arrested during the 2011 Egyptian revolution
Édouard Karemera	2020-08-31	Rwanda (detained by Senegal)	COVID-19	Politician convicted of genocide
Maxim Martsinkevich	2020-09-16	Russia	Official version: Suicide	Neo-Nazi activist and vlogger
Horst David	2020-11-08	Germany	Unknown	Serial killer	The investigation of his murder of the prostitute Fatima Grossart is considered a milestone in German criminal history because it was the first time that a crime that had occurred almost 20 years ago could be solved with the help of the automated fingerprint identification system.
Peter Sutcliffe	2020-11-13	United Kingdom	Complications from diabetes, hypertension and COVID-19 infection	Serial killer
Anthony Hardy	2020-11-25	United Kingdom	COVID-19	Serial killer, the "Camden Ripper"
Anthony Casso	2020-12-15	United States	COVID-19	Underboss of the Lucchese crime family
Donato Bilancia	2020-12-17	Italy	COVID-19	Serial killer
Romell Broom	2020-12-28	United States	COVID-19	Murder of Tryna Middleton.
Sofia Zhukova	2020-12-29	Russia	COVID-19	Serial killer	Being 80 years old at the time of her last murder, she was the oldest serial killer in the history of Russia and the Soviet Union.
Salvador Franco	2021-01-03	Venezuela	Tuberculosis and malnourishment.	Pemon political prisoner	Franco had COVID-19 and that for months suffered from gastrointestinal diseases related to the insalubrity of his penitentiary center, losing a large amount of weight in detention. There was a court order for his transfer to a health center, but it was ultimately ignored.
Phil Spector	2021-01-16	United States	Complications from COVID-19	American music producer	Was convicted of the 2003 murder of actress Lana Clarkson and was serving a 19 years to life prison sentence at the time of his death.
Nathaniel Burkett	2021-01-19	United States	COVID-19	Serial killer
Daniela Figueredo	2021-03-13	Venezuela	Gunshot	Young detainee	Shot in the face by a police officer and killed at the age of nineteen. Human rights activists declared that the incident occurred when the officer tried to sexually abuse her.
Antonio Sanchez	2021-03-27	Philippines	Unknown	Politician, mayor of Calauan
Bernie Madoff	2021-04-14	United States	Chronic kidney disease	Fraudster
Vitold Ashurak	2021-05-21	Belarus	Official version: Cardiac arrest	Political and ecological activist	Sentenced to five years for his role in the 2020–2021 Belarusian protests, died four months after his imprisonment, the official cause of death is disputed
John McAfee	2021-06-23	United Kingdom	“Everything points to death by suicide,” according to the Guardian, except a previous statement: 'If I suicide myself, I didn't.'	Founded the software company McAfee Associates in 1987.
Nyan Win	2021-07-20	Myanmar	COVID-19	Member-elect of Pyithu Hluttaw and Aung San Suu Kyi's personal attorney
Yevgen Sotnikov	2021-08-06	Ukraine	Murder	Judoka	Imprisoned for killing an 18-year old.
Robert Martin Gumbura	2021-08-07	Zimbabwe	COVID-19	Pastor	Was convicted with four counts of rape and possession of illegal pornographic material and sentenced to 40 years in prison.
Hugo Salas Wenzel	2021-08-11	Chile	Unknown	General of the Chilean Army	Was sentenced to life for human rights violations in the 1980s.
Hissène Habré	2021-08-24	Chad	COVID-19	5th president and dictator of Chad
Abimael Guzmán	2021-09-11	Peru	Suicide by starvation	Maoist guerrilla leader and terrorist
Raúl Baduel	2021-10-12	Venezuela	Official version: cardiorespiratory arrest caused by COVID-19	Venezuelan general and former defense minister	The official cause of death is disputed by his family
Gilbert Dragon	2021-11-17	Haiti	COVID-19	Police chief and commander in the National Revolutionary Front for the Liberation and Reconstruction of Haiti
Hamdi Hassan	2021-11-25	Egypt	Unknown	Member of the House of Representatives of Egypt and the Muslim Brotherhood
Stephen Bouquet	2022-01-05	United Kingdom	COVID-19	Killed nine cats
Robert Durst	2022-01-10	United States	COVID-19	Murderer
Stephen Kovacs	2022-01-12	United States	Suicide by hanging	Saber fencer and fencing coach	Charged with multiple counts of sexual assault, endangering the welfare of a child and false swearing.
Hugo Torres Jiménez	2022-02-11	Nicaragua	Natural causes	Sandinista guerrilla, brigadier general in the Nicaraguan Armed Forces
Soumeylou Boubèye Maïga	2022-03-21	Mali	Unknown	Former Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Mali
Dmitry Kolker	2022-07-02	Russia	Unknown	Physicist, head of the Laboratory of Quantum Optical Technologies of Novosibirsk State University	Arrested on suspicion of state treason in June 2022.
Robert Hanssen	2023-06-05	United States	Colon cancer	FBI agent	Charged with selling U.S. intelligence documents to the Soviet Union and Russia over 22 years.
Ted Kaczynski	2023-06-10	United States	Suicide by hanging	Eco-terrorist, the "Unabomber"
Ales Pushkin	2023-07-11	Belarus	Unknown	Artist and painter, awarded with the Belarusian Democratic Republic 100th Jubilee Medal
Gennady Lopyrev	2023-08-16	Russia	Official version: Leukemia	Former lieutenant-general in the FSO and overseer of various construction projects, including Putin's palace at Gelendzhik	Imprisoned in the IK-3 prison in 2017 for taking bribes, the official cause of death is disputed
Anthony Sully	2023-09-08	United States	Natural causes	Serial killer and police officer
Doug Clark	2023-10-11	United States	Natural causes	Serial killer
Alejandro Muyshondt	2024-02-07	El Salvador	Official version: Pulmonary edema	Politician	The official version is disputed and his family believes that he died from torture.
Alexei Navalny	2024-02-16	Russia	Official version: Blood clot detachment	Russian opposition politician	Death of Alexei Navalny
Ihar Lednik	2024-02-20	Belarus	Issues after an operation of the gastrointestinal tract	Belarusian opposition activist	Sentenced to three years for the "defamation" of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, in prison he was routinely abused by the jailers
Victor Farrant	2024-05-03	United Kingdom	Unknown	Murderer and rapist

See also

• Category:People who died in prison custody
• Death in custody
• Lists of people by cause of death
• Prisoner suicide