Posted: 07/20/2011
ST. LUCIE COUNTY, Fla. - NewsChannel 5 has confirmed with a jail official that Tyler Hadley is on suicide watch at the St. Lucie County Jail.
The jail official says that the decision was made to classify him this way for the following reasons:
Age (17 years old), first time offender, gravity of the charges (2 counts of 2nd degree murder) and because he allegedly made a threat of suicide as noted in the arrest affidavit.
This classification means he's in the medical unit and is being monitored every 15 minutes by staff, including mental health professionals.
Hadley's best friend Michael Mandell claimed that Hadley confessed to killing Blake and Mary Jo Hadley. Mandell also said that Hadley told him he took 3 pills of the drug ecstasy.
Tom Nichols, the Public Information Officer for Port St. Lucie, confirmed police interviewed Mandell, but would not corroborate the information.
Wednesday, at the crime scene, an investigator could be seen removing a light kit from the crime scene unit van. Investigators continue to collect evidence, including taking photographs of the house.
Tyler Hadley remains the only person charged with beating death his parents to death with a hammer last Saturday.
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