On August 22, 2015, Bruce Koeneke, an inmate at the Winnebago County Jail, was found dead in his cell after being incarcerated for about two weeks on charges including burglary, possession of a stolen vehicle, and violating an order of protection. That evening, corrections officers discovered Koeneke hanging from a bedsheet in his cell. He was transported to Swedish American Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
The Winnebago Boone County Integrity Task Force was not activated to investigate this death. The Winnebago County Sheriff’s Office, which had discretion to initiate the task force, chose not to, stating it was believed to be a suicide without indications of foul play. It was also noted that the task force is not typically activated for deaths classified as natural causes or overdoses within the jail.
This incident was listed as the 11th deadly force related incident of the 2010s and the third of 2015.