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Utah man dies less than a week after he was jailed in Weber County

(Photo courtesy of Weber County Sheriff's Office) Roger David Campbell

A Utah man who had been in the Weber County jail for less than four days died there Wednesday.

Roger Campbell, 53, was found dead in his cell in the early hours of Wednesday, according to a Weber County Sheriff’s Office news release.

Authorities say they believe Campbell died by suicide, and hanged himself in the cell.

He was booked into jail early Sunday, according to jail records.

The sheriff’s office said in a news release that a deputy had checked on Campbell about 10 minutes before he was found unresponsive and “nothing out of the ordinary was observed.”

“Campbell had given no indication that he was in duress or needed assistance,” the news release reads.

The sheriff’s office will now conduct an internal investigation and the case will also be referred to the Weber County Attorney’s Office for review.

Campbell was charged Tuesday with a third-degree felony and misdemeanor for allegedly taking a credit card of an acquaintance and using it to spend more than $1,000 at a Walmart in Riverdale.

On Wednesday, prosecutors filed more charges against him, alleging he defrauded an 88-year-old woman for years whom he met while installing a sprinkler system at her home. Charging documents allege Campbell borrowed tens of thousands of dollars from the woman, with the promise to repay her when a settlement in a lawsuit came through. In that case, he was facing two second-degree felonies.

Campbell was being held in the Weber County jail in lieu of $7,500 bail.

The man’s death is similar to many other Utahns who have died behind bars in recent years. A recent report on inmate deaths compiled by Utah’s Commission on Criminal and Juvenile Justice found that half of inmates died by suicide, and a majority of deaths occurred within a week of a person being arrested and put in jail.