Judge sentences Wisconsin inmate to 27 months of prison for helping cellmate commit suicide

Judge sentences Wis. inmate for role in suicide

JUNEAU, Wis. — A judge has sentenced a Wisconsin inmate to 27 months in prison for helping his cellmate commit suicide last year.

Dodge County Circuit Court Judge Andrew Bissonnette said he questioned whether 20-year-old Adam Peterson could have succeeded in hanging himself from a bunk bed without help from Joshua Walters.

He said Walters’ sentence of 27 months behind bars and 27 months of extended supervision was meant to punish Walters and send a message to other inmates.

The 21-year-old Walters pleaded no contest earlier this month. He spelled out his side of what happened for the first time, saying he tied the noose from a bed sheet and tested it by putting his arm through after Peterson asked for help. He called his actions “a stupid mistake.”