Wednesday, January 14, 2009
PATERSON, N.J. —
Authorities in New Jersey say a man charged with killing his estranged wife and another person in a church service shooting has attempted to commit suicide in jail by overdosing on drugs.Passaic County Sheriff's Department spokesman William Maer said Joseph Pallipurath (PAL'-ee-PYOR'-ath) was hospitalized in stable condition Tuesday.
Maer said the man had been hoarding medications and took a combination of prescription and nonprescription drugs including aspirin.
The attempt was thwarted by a corrections officer who noticed that Pallipurath had vomited in his cell.
Pallipurath is charged with killing his wife and a man who came to her aid inside a Clifton church on Nov. 23. The wife's cousin was critically wounded.
(This version CORRECTS that the church is in Clifton, not Paterson.))
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