An inmate at SCI Phoenix was charged with murder for killing his cellmate, police say
Nathan Blose killed his cellmate, Shaun Harden, inside the prison on Nov. 1, according to the affidavit of probable cause for his arrest.
An inmate at the State Correctional Institute at Phoenix was charged with murder Thursday after investigators say he killed his cellmate there earlier this month, according to court records.
Nathan Blose, 40, is accused of killing Shaun Harden, who was found dead in his cell on Nov. 1, according to the affidavit of probable cause for Blose’s arrest.
Blose, of Coaldale, Schuylkill County, remained in custody, denied bail due to the nature of the charges he faces. There was no indication he had hired an attorney.
Harden, 45, was found bloody and unresponsive on the floor of his cell early Nov. 1, according to the affidavit. Staff at the prison attempted to revive him, but he was pronounced dead at 6:29 a.m.
He had hemorrhages on his neck, chest, and back, the affidavit said, and his cause of death was ruled to be “multiple injuries.” The exact nature of the injuries remained unclear.
In an interview with detectives, Blose confirmed that he and Harden were the only two people inside their cell between late Oct. 31, when Harden was returned there by guards, and the morning he was found dead, according to the affidavit.
Harden, of Nemacolin, Greene County, was serving a four- to eight-year sentence in state prison after being convicted in 2015 of indecent aggravated assault of a child, corruption of minors, and related crimes. According to an article in the Washington County Observer-Reporter, Harden molested an 11-year-old girl and two boys, 11 and 12, in separate incidents between June and October 2014.
Blose, meanwhile, was convicted of firearms violations in September 2020 and sentenced to 3½ to seven years in state prison.
The charges stemmed from an incident in October 2019, when Blose was admitted to the emergency room at St. Luke’s Miners Memorial Hospital in Coaldale, according to court records. A doctor at the hospital found that Blose was carrying a loaded handgun while examining him.
The doctor took the gun, which Blose described as a “family heirloom,” from Blose’s waistband and gave it to a security officer, as required by hospital policy, records say.
Afterward, a security officer asked Bose if he had a permit to carry a concealed weapon. When records showed he did not, Coaldale police came to arrest him. During the scuffle, authorities said, Blose headbutted and injured one of the officers, and was taken into custody.
Blose was unable to legally possess a weapon because of a prior felony conviction for drug offenses, court records show.
Harden’s death marked the second time this year an inmate was killed inside SCI Phoenix.
In August, Dwight Williams stomped Ashokkumar Guru to death inside his cell, according to prosecutors. Williams, 42, was charged with first- and third-degree murder and is awaiting a criminal trial in Montgomery County.