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White supremacist murder defendant stable after suicide attempt

E-mail|Link|Comments () April 1, 2010 12:19 PM

By Globe Staff

A Brockton man awaiting trial for a double killing in Brockton was found today in his cell at the Plymouth County jail with his throat slashed, Sheriff Joseph D. McDonald Jr.'s office said.

Keith Luke, who has identified himself as a white supremacist and scratched a swastika into his forehead, was discovered in his cell at around 6 a.m. Authorities said he had a "self-inflicted slash wound to the neck.''

Luke was in stable condition, the sheriff's department said this afternoon. He was first rushed to Jordan Hospital in Plymouth before being transferred to an undisclosed Boston hospital.

In the statement, McDonald's office said "initial reports indicate correction officers followed procedure and the inmate’s single cell inside the jail’s administrative segregation unit is being treated as a crime scene. ''

Luke is being held without bail pending his trial on two counts of first-degree murder. He is accused of murdering two Cape Verdean residents and shooting and raping a third woman during what prosecutors have called a hate-filled rampage in January.

Since his arrest, his attorney has argued that Luke is mentally ill. He overdosed on drugs in September and in January attacked psychiatrist Dr. Keith Ablow who had gone to interview him as part of his defense team.