A Disturbing Silence: Three Lives Lost Within a Month at MCI-Norfolk

It’s a chilling coincidence, you could say, or perhaps something far more troubling, that has cast a long shadow over the medium-security confines of MCI-Norfolk. Within the span of a single month — from late September into the early weeks of October — three men, all incarcerated within those very walls, drew their final breaths. A grim, undeniably unsettling tally, really.

The Norfolk District Attorney’s office, in a necessary move, identified these individuals just recently. They were Robert F. Corliss, 62; Douglas G. Berry, 71; and Kenneth B. Jones, 68. These aren't just names on a list, are they? These were men, aging men, whose lives ended under circumstances that, for now anyway, remain cloaked in official silence.

Corliss, the first of the three, passed on September 22nd. Just four days later, on September 26th, Berry was gone. And then, less than three weeks later, on October 12th, Jones became the third. Three lives, three different dates, yes, but all within that tight, distressing timeframe, all within the same institution. It’s hard not to notice the pattern, honestly.

Naturally, when someone dies while in state custody, an investigation is standard procedure. And so, State Police detectives, assigned directly to the District Attorney's office, have stepped in. Their task? To delve into each of these unattended deaths, to piece together precisely what transpired. For now, however, the official causes have not been released; families, thankfully, have been informed, but the public waits, quite frankly, for answers.

MCI-Norfolk, situated in the town of Norfolk, Massachusetts, is one of the state’s key correctional facilities. It’s a place where individuals are meant to serve their time, certainly, but also, crucially, where their well-being is theoretically overseen. When a cluster of deaths like this occurs, it inevitably raises significant questions not just about individual circumstances, but about the broader environment, the care, the oversight within the institution itself. What does it mean for those still inside? And what comfort, if any, can be offered to the families left grappling with this sudden, tragic news?