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Prosecutor: Inmate strangled cellmate to death

Posted at 12:37 PM, Oct 15, 2018
and last updated 2018-10-15 12:37:22-04

TURTLECREEK TOWNSHIP, Ohio -- A grand jury indicted an inmate on charges of aggravated murder Monday, according to Warren County Prosecutor David P. Fornshell.

Jack Welninski, 33, is accused of strangling his cellmate, 40-year-old Kevin Nill, on April 23, 2018 at the Lebanon Correctional Institution, Fornshell said. 

Investigators believe Welninski murdered Nill so he would be transferred to a different prison. The two had been cellmates for less than an hour before authorities found Nill dead.

Fornshell said Welninski is serving a 69-year prison sentence for the 2015 attempted murder of an Oregon, Ohio police officer. Nill had been incarcerated for attempted domestic violence.

Welninski is currently being held at the Ohio State Penitentiary in Youngstown. An arraignment date is pending.