ONTARIO, OR (KPTV) -
State police have launched an investigation into the death of a prison inmate who was serving time for robbing a check-cashing store and beating the store's female clerk.
Michael Hagen was found unresponsive in his cell Thursday at the Snake River Correctional Institution, and he was rushed to a hospital to be treated. He died at the hospital Friday afternoon.
There's a possibility that Hagen's death may be related to an assault from another inmate, Department of Corrections officials say, and that's why state police detectives are investigating the incident.
An autopsy on Hagen's body is set for Thursday.
Hagen was a 25-year-old Comcast employee when he pulled his work van into the parking lot of Ace Check Cashing on Powell Boulevard in July 2009. Prosecutors said he cut the telephone lines and waited for the store's assistant district manager, Nicole Loundree, to arrive. Loundree told the court Hagen said he was in the area doing a survey and offered to help fix the phones.
She allowed him inside a secure area of the business and, about an hour later, she said Hagen pulled out a gun and demanded money. Loundree testified she gave him more than $3,000 from the register but told him she couldn't open the safe.
The victim said she thought Hagen would leave, but he duct-taped her mouth and hands and beat her with a metal rod. She said she fell on the ground and tried to kick him away but was unsuccessful.
Loundree testified that Hagen shattered her nose, split open her scalp and broke her eye socket.
Hagen's defense team argued he didn't plan anything but just snapped because his family was being evicted and drowning in bills.
Hagen's earliest release date from prison would have been Jan. 7, 2027.
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