Mr. Cruciani, a 68-year-old neurologist who suffered from chronic pain, was found early Monday morning sitting in the prison’s shower area with a sheet around his neck, according to prison documents obtained by The New York Times. A short while later medical personnel arrived to attend to him. He died about an hour after he was discovered, documents show. His death came about two weeks after a jury found him guilty of 12 counts of aggravated sexual assault, sexual assault, rape and other crimes stemming from the treatment of six patients he saw around 2012. Mr. Cruciani was being held in a general population dormitory at the Eric M. Taylor Center that was understaffed, according to an official with knowledge of the incident, who spoke on condition of anonymity to speak on the matter without authorization. A second official said Mr. Cruciani had entered the shower area at 4:23 a.m. and was found unresponsive at 5:35 A.M. by the officer in charge of the housing area. Officers are expected to patrol the area every 30 minutes, but it’s unclear if that happened, the official said. The Eric M. Taylor Center has become increasingly chaotic since it became a facility where new prison admissions are processed, staff and inmate advocates said. Detainees at the center have complained of overcrowding in its cells and delayed access to medical care and medication, or none at all. In a statement, New York Department of Corrections Commissioner Luis A. Molina said he was “deeply saddened to learn of this individual’s death in custody.” “We will conduct a preliminary internal review to determine the circumstances surrounding his death,” she said in the statement, which did not name Mr Cruciani. “Our thoughts and prayers go out to his loved ones.” Mr. Cruciani’s lawyer, Elizabeth Edwards Macedonio, said she had just learned of his death and declined to comment when reached by phone Monday morning. A lawyer for Mr. Cruciani, who planned to appeal the verdict, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Mr. Cruciani is the 12th person to die this year either while incarcerated in the city’s jails or shortly after being released. William K. Rashbaum and Troy Closson contributed reporting.
