An Ogden man who pleaded guilty to a murder charge one week ago hanged himself in a maximum-security jail cell over the weekend, the Weber County Sheriff's office said Monday.
Lyle Robert London, 38, was discovered unresponsive in his cell by deputies on Saturday just before 4 p.m. at the Weber County jail, a news release states. London was in maximum-security cell, but was not under special observation, nor was he considered a risk for suicide, the release states.
An investigation by the Weber County Attorney's office is continuing.
A telephone message left for London's attorney, James Retallick was not immediately returned on Monday.
On June 15, London entered a guilty plea to a single count of murder in connection with the Feb. 26 beating death of 32-year-old Lindsay Brown Holbrook.
The Washington Terrace woman's body was found stuffed into a closet at her apartment after London was involved in a hit-and-run auto accident while driving her car.
Court documents say London told police that he had fallen on top of Holbrook during sex and had possibly broken her neck. He also told investigators that Holbrook "was still making noises so he wrapped his belt around her neck, duct-taped pillows around her head, and struck her multiple times in the head with a bat in an attempt to keep her quiet," court documents state.
A medical examiner's report indicated that Holbrook died from blunt force trauma and asphyxiation.
After Holbrook's death, police found multiple withdrawals from her bank accounts and purchases with her credit cards, totaling more than $1,500, according to court records — crimes which London admitted, court papers say.
In exchange for a guilty plea, Weber County attorneys agreed to drop numerous other counts, including second-degree felony obstructing justice, two counts of third-degree felony unlawful use of a credit card, third-degree felony desecration of a human body and class A misdemeanor giving false personal information to a police officer.
In entering a plea, London told Judge Mark DeCaria he wanted to spare Holbrook's family the pain of a trial, but was also acting to protect his wife, Shuree Laness London, who faces her own charges in connection with Holbrook's death.
"I do know what I'm signing for," London said on Monday in reference to his plea agreement documents. "…To make sure that I'm paying for the mistakes I've made."
London was scheduled to be sentenced Aug. 3.
jdobner@sltrib.com
Shuree London. Courtesy photo