Behind the Wall: Suicides Mount in Massachusetts County Jails

Guy Duffy predicted that he was going to die in the Essex County jail. Barely two weeks into a 30-day sentence for animal cruelty — Duffy’s first time behind bars — the retired sign maker tearfully told his wife that he couldn’t eat or stop shaking. He was losing weight, he said, and losing hope. “I’m gonna die here,’’ he told Laurie Duffy in a recorded call in July 2015. “I’m breaking down.’’ Corrections officers twice sent Duffy to the infirmary, where staff...