A rapist sentenced to a life term nearly 35 years ago was found dead in his cell at an Arkansas prison Sunday night, authorities said.
Phillip Hardy, 55, who was also convicted of charges of theft of property and burglary in Washington County in 1983, was found unconscious in his single-person cell at the East Arkansas Regional Unit in Brickeys around 9:15 p.m., an Arkansas Department of Correction spokesman said in a statement. Hardy was pronounced dead about 15 minutes later.
The cause of death wasn't immediately known. Arkansas State Police are investigating, and the prison system is also conducting an internal probe.
Online prison records show Hardy was sentenced to life in prison on Feb. 14, 1983 on three counts of rape, two counts of theft of property and six counts of burglary.
According to a story that appeared in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Hardy was stabbed four times by another inmate in the Cummins Unit on Dec. 21, 1993. Prison officials said at the time it occurred during a dispute over a radio and that Hardy was initially in serious condition.
