Suicide Attempt Foils Scheduled Execution in Elkins

On the eve of his scheduled execution at the Rockview Penitentiary, George II. Prescott, convicted of first-degree murder, attempted to end his life by slashing his throat in his cell at the Allegheny County Jail. The desperate act, which occurred just hours before he was to be transported to Rockview to face electrocution, was the second time Prescott had turned to a bloodstained razor blade in a bid for self-destruction. When discovered, the condemned man was found holding the razor in his right hand, with his condition initially deemed critical.