Adam Moss: Iowa Mass Murder Commits Suicide In Prison

Adam Moss was convicted in 2001 of killing his girlfriend, her five children, and a former employer, and on Thursday took one more life — his own.

The Iowa man was serving several life sentences for the mass murder, and prison officials said he was found unresponsive and hanging from a bed sheet from his cell at the Iowa State Penitentiary in Ford Madison. Officials within the prison said he had tied the bed sheet to a wall vent at close to 5:50 pm on Thursday.

Adam Moss was being held in a mental health unit along with other inmates who suffer from psychiatric issues. Corrections spokesman Fred Scaletta said medical personnel immediately freed Moss from the bed sheet tied to his neck, but he was already dead by the time they freed him. His cause of death was ruled as asphyxia due to suffocation.

Moss became infamous in Iowa for his murder spree. Police said all seven of his victims were beaten with a hammer while his girlfriend, Leticia Aguilar, also had her throat slip. The children ranged in age from 6 to 12 — including Claudia Saldana, 12, Zach Saldana, 11, Larry Saldana, 9, Lisa Saldana, 7, and Michael Aguilar, 6.

Police were unclear why Moss went on to kill 58-year-old Ron Fish, his onetime boss and the heir to a tire business.

Moss would go on to plead guilty in Sioux City in October 2001 to seven counts of first-degree murder. He was sentenced to seven consecutive life terms, with no chance of parole.

His trial sparked a debate in Iowa about whether to bring back the death penalty.

Prison officials said the suicide of mass murderer Adam Moss is still under investigation.