Convicted Child Molester Takes Apparent Poison Dose in Court

An El Cajon man apparently poisoned himself and collapsed in Vista court Wednesday moments after a judge sentenced him to 10 years in prison for molesting his girlfriend’s daughter, authorities said.

Jack Wright, 33, went into spasms and was taken to Tri-City Medical Center, Vista Fire Capt. Paul Grubaugh said.

“When we got to the scene, he had no pulses and we performed CPR all the way to the hospital,” Grubaugh said. “We got from the hospital that he ingested sodium cyanide in an apparent suicide attempt.”

Because of patient confidentiality concerns, hospital officials would neither confirm nor deny that Wright had been taken there.

However, the coroner’s office confirmed late Wednesday night that Wright was in intensive care at Tri-City Medical Center.

A mini-cassette tape advising authorities to “listen to this in case of my death” and a small flask believed to have contained the poison were discovered in Wright’s possession, said Sgt. Paula Robinson of the county marshal’s office.

Wright did not confess to molesting his girlfriend’s daughter on the 10-minute tape, which included statements to various people he knew, Robinson said. She declined to identify those people.

“Basically, it said he couldn’t live with the thought of going to jail,” Robinson said.

A jury convicted Wright in November of 10 counts of child molestation for abusing his girlfriend’s daughter at an Escondido home. The abuse began when the girl was 8 years old and continued for three years, Deputy Dist. Atty. Rick Clabby said.

Wright had been free on $20,000 bond. He began hyperventilating and shaking just before Superior Court Judge Raymond Zvetina imposed sentence.