A St. Paul man accused of killing three family members last month in a Highland Park home he shared with his mother committed suicide Friday in the Ramsey County jail, authorities said.
Patrick McHugh, 55, who had expressed suicidal thoughts when he was arrested, was found unresponsive in his jail cell about 5 p.m. Friday, and could not be revived, according to the Sheriff's Office.
McHugh had been taken off suicide watch at the jail on July 27 on the advice of a Health Department psychologist, the Sheriff's Office said.
A news release said that McHugh was alone in the cell at the time of his death, but did not state how he killed himself. Holli Drinkwine, a Sheriff's Office spokeswoman, said Friday night that early indications were that he died of apparent asphyxia through self-strangulation. St. Paul police and the county medical examiner's office are investigating.
On July 16, McHugh allegedly shot and killed his sister Mary McHugh Malicki, 58; her husband, Clyde Malicki, 58, and their daughter, Kristy Malicki, 33, in the home at 1825 Munster Av. A second sister, Kathleen McHugh Dorgan, was shot in the cheek and neck, but survived.
On the night he was arrested, McHugh was quoted saying, "I've really done it now," according to second-degree murder charges filed against him in Ramsey County District Court. "I should have got a motel -- should have killed myself."
The shootings occurred after McHugh reportedly had been out drinking. His sisters had been at the house to care for their mother, who had recently suffered a stroke. That night, the charges state, McHugh came home with a "wild look." Before he started shooting, he declared he had power of attorney and said, "I'm sorry I have to do this," the charges said. Kathleen McHugh, 80, the siblings' mother, was not harmed.
At police headquarters, he also allegedly bemoaned having left the gun in the house, saying, "I should have held onto that gun and I'd be done."
