Report: Suspect in BSU Student’s Death Killed Cellmate in ’00
Bruce A. Marchant, the man accused of kidnapping, raping, and murdering 18-year-old Boise State University student Sierra Bush (also known as Simon) reportedly killed a fellow inmate at one point but was never charged. Marchant was arrested in New York City last week for Bush's death.
In 2000, Marchant allegedly killed his cellmate, 38-year-old Joseph Edmund Chastain. Reports say that Marchant had told workers in the medical unit that Chastain fell down some stairs. Chastain died the next day inside the Idaho Maximum Security Institution. He had been serving a 20 years to life sentence for a robbery in Canyon County.
However an Ada County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman who investigated Chastain's death says that he had bruises in his abdominal area that were inconsistent with a fall and were "suspicious." Chastain died due to abdominal bleeding according to an autopsy.
Sheriff’s Office spokesman Patrick Orr says that in the dozen or so interviews conducted, Marchant had admitted to getting into a fight with Chastain. Orr goes on to say, "It appears the prosecutor reviewed the investigation and decided in October 2001 not to file any criminal charges against Marchant." However, according to both the parole board's notes and the disciplinary report, indications are that Marchant had told a corrections officer that he had indeed killed Chastain.
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