ST. LOUIS (First Alert 4) — Six men suffered medical emergencies inside St. Louis’ federal halfway house and died over a 15-month period. Nearly two years later, the Federal Bureau of Prisons published records listing their causes of death as “unknown.” Two more similar deaths happened in the eight months that followed.
The nonprofit contracted to run the facility recently echoed the federal government’s records, saying seven of the eight were unknown and one was a “potential overdose.” But First Alert 4 Investigates obtained public records indicating the official causes of death for all eight men — still in custody of the federal government — were overdoses on fentanyl, or a combination of fentanyl and other illicit drugs.
The findings highlight a procedural breakdown of in-custody death reporting by the government and the longstanding facility, Dismas House of St. Louis, and raise questions about how the taxpayer-funded halfway house worked to prevent further deaths when it claimed to be unaware of what caused them…