Two inmates who died in Colorado prison ID’d, but officials still mum about what happened

Charles Gates, 27, and Michael Fisher, 59, died during unspecified ‘incident’ at Bent County Correctional Facility

By Shelly Bradbury | sbradbury@denverpost.com | The Denver Post

The Bent County coroner identified the two prisoners who died inside the Bent County Correctional Facility during an unspecified “incident” on Saturday as 27-year-old Charles Gates and 59-year-old Michael Fisher.

A third prisoner was injured and taken to a hospital for treatment, said Alondra Gonzalez, spokeswoman for the Colorado Department of Corrections.

Gonzalez offered no details about what happened in the incident and did not respond to follow-up questions Monday.

Coroner Jason Nichols declined to comment on the causes or manners of the two men’s deaths, citing the ongoing investigation.

Fisher was convicted of first-degree murder and was serving life without parole in a 1996 killing, according to court and prison records.

On Sept. 19, 1996, Fisher and a second person planned to steal drugs from a woman in Adams County. The person Fisher was working with shot and killed the woman when she refused to hand over the drugs, according to a Colorado Court of Appeals opinion in 2000 that upheld Fisher’s convictions for felony murder, aggravated robbery and conspiracy.

Gates was serving time on five different cases; his longest sentence was a nine-year term for a 2023 motor vehicle theft in Douglas County. He was also serving time for drug possession, assault, theft, vehicular eluding, obstructing a police officer and burglary, according to court records.

The Bent County Sheriff’s Office was called to the prison at about 11:22 p.m. Saturday for a report of “missed count,” which meant prisoners were missing from where they were supposed to be, Sheriff Jake Six said Monday.

“They believed the inmates were still in the facility but weren’t 100% sure,” Six said, adding that it is standard procedure for the sheriff’s office to respond to missed counts.

Sheriff’s deputies checked that the facility’s fences were intact and secured the perimeter of the prison, which is one of two private prisons in Colorado run by CoreCivic. Deputies were on scene for a couple of hours before the missing prisoners were discovered, Six said.

He declined to comment on how they were found, directing inquiries to the Department of Corrections.

Ryan Gustin, a spokesman for CoreCivic, also directed a request for more information to the state agency.

The two deaths on Saturday prompted the Department of Corrections to shut down visitation at all prisons statewide. The agency lifted those restrictions at all prisons except the Bent facility on Monday, officials said in a post on Facebook.

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