Man convicted of assault, sex crimes found dead of apparent suicide in jail cell

By Robert Desaulniers

Click here for updates on this story

    EUGENE, Oregon (KEZI) — A man who had been convicted of charges including assault and attempted rape was found dead by apparent suicide in his jail cell on Thursday afternoon, the Lane County Sheriff’s Office said.

According to the LCSO, at about 2 p.m. on August 24 a deputy at the Lane County Jail on routine checks noticed Joshua Cates, 33, unresponsive in his cell. Cates was reportedly unconscious and not breathing, and had something tied tightly around his neck, the LCSO said.

Back in October, 2021, Cates was arrested after trying to pull a woman into a car and non-fatally stabbing a man who came to help her. Reports from the Eugene Police Department said Cates was wearing a Halloween mask during the October 23 incident. Court documents show that Cates was found guilty of charges related to the incident after a 15-day trial in June 2023. Those charges included first-degree sex abuse, first-degree attempted rape, and second-degree assault. Cates was awaiting sentencing on those charges when he was discovered unresponsive in his cell by an LCSO deputy.

The Lane County Sheriff’s Office said the deputy who found Cates immediately removed the object around his neck and began life-saving efforts. However, despite the arrival of further emergency medical assistance, Cates did not survive. The LCSO said that although the Lane County Medical Examiner’s Office will provide the official cause of death, all indications are that Cates died as the result of suicide.

Please note: This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.