Marble Valley Regional Correction Facility
The Marble Valley Regional Correctional Facility in Rutland. Photo by Jim Therrien/VTDigger

A 49-year-old Windsor man who had been held at Marble Valley Regional Correctional Facility in Rutland died Sunday afternoon at a nearby hospital, according to the Vermont Department of Corrections. 

The man, Jack Martin, had reported difficulty sitting upright in his cell Friday morning and was transferred to Rutland Regional Medical Center, the corrections department said in a press release Sunday night. 

Martin had been held without bail since Oct. 11 on charges of heroin possession, assault and robbery, as well as on a warrant from the Grafton County Sheriffโ€™s Department in New Hampshire for heroin possession, according to the department. 

Martinโ€™s death comes less than two weeks after a 74-year-old Bennington man died at a prison in Springfield. It is the ninth death in Vermontโ€™s prison system this year. 

The corrections department said the circumstances of Martinโ€™s death were not considered suspicious. The department said it plans to conduct administrative and medical reviews, as is required after a death in a state prison. Vermont State Police and the Defender Generalโ€™s Prisonersโ€™ Rights Office are expected to conduct separate investigations.

VTDigger's northwest and equity reporter/editor.