PHOENIX — A man accused of murdering a fellow inmate in a Maricopa County jail last year is suspected of assaulting another inmate this year, according to authorities.
It also appears both incidents occurred under the watch of the same detention officer.
County Sheriff’s officials on Thursday released information about Pete Van Winkle’s suspected January assault of Warren Summerlin in response to a records request by The Arizona Republic.
Van Winkle also is accused of beating Robert Cotton to death on May 1 in the Fourth Avenue Jail.
Van Winkle was indicted on murder charges and Cotton’s family filed a $2 million claim against the county.
Summerlin and Van Winkle encountered each other Jan. 8 in the jail’s Special Management Unit — an area reserved for some of the county’s most-dangerous criminals and suspects where inmates are allowed out of their cells alone and into small recreation areas for about an hour each day.
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Summerlin was moved to Arizona State Prison Complex-Florence within a month of the assault.
Jail officials said Van Winkle was locked down for 24 hours a day until recently and now is in a cell on the Special Management Unit where only he can access his recreation area.
