By WILSON RING
Associated Press Writer

MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) _ The Connecticut man serving a life sentence for a 2005 double homicide in Montgomery has committed suicide in a federal prison in Florida, the Vermont Agency of Human Services said Tuesday.

James Richitelli, 53, hanged himself in his cell Monday afternoon at the U.S. Penitentiary Coleman unit 2 in Coleman, Fla., said Human Services spokeswoman Heidi Tringe.

Richitelli was last seen at a prison head count at about 4 p.m. Monday. He was found hanging from the top bunk of his cell at 4:23 p.m. He was pronounced dead at 5:08 p.m., Tringe said.

Richitelli of Eastford, Conn., pleaded guilty last year to a charge of aggravated murder for killing an old acquaintance and a friend of his. He was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

The co-defendant in that case, Elizabeth Gagne, 31, of Willimantic, Conn., convicted of being an accessory to murder, was sentenced last spring to 13 years to life in prison.

Corrections Commissioner Rob Hofmann said Tuesday Richitelli had threatened other inmates and staff and was sent into the federal prison system because Vermont does not have a maximum security prison.

``I was enormously relieved when we were able to place him in the federal system, first and foremost for the safety of staff and inmates,'' Hofmann said.

``He had threatened people in the facility. He had flaunted the fact that Vermont did not have a death penalty. He said, 'what could you do to me?' inferring he could kill one of our staff members or other inmates and not have repercussions,'' Hofmann said Tuesday.

Hofmann said staff that prior to his conviction, staff at one of Vermont's prisons had foiled an escape attempt by Richitelli.

But Hofmann said Richitelli, who had been living in the general population at the Florida prison, gave no indication he was a threat to himself.

Richitelli's was the first suicide of a Vermont inmate since 2004.

Hofmann said the investigation into Richitelli's death would be conducted by the Federal Bureau of Prisons.

The Coleman penitentiary, about 50 miles northwest of Orlando, has four separate units, one minimum, one medium and two maximum security.

Tringe said an autopsy would be conducted and officials at the prison where Gagne is being held were notified.

Authorities have said Richitelli and Gagne traveled to Montgomery from Connecticut on Oct. 30, 2005 to buy 10 pounds of marijuana from Thomas Patras with whom Richitelli had worked at the Jay Peak ski area two decades before.

Patras was shot twice after he said he didn't have the drug, police said. The second victim, Valerie Papillo, 36, was beaten and shot after she arrived at Patras' home for dinner.

Last month Richitelli appealed his aggravated murder conviction to the Vermont Supreme Court.

(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)