09:48 AM EDT on Tuesday, October 12, 2004

Associated Press

Authorities say a 37-year-old Fort Eustis soldier recently back from Iraq hanged himself in jail over the weekend.

Police say Brian McKeehan hanged himself with a bedsheet early Saturday in the Virginia Peninsula Regional Jail in James City, about 12 hours after being arrested on a charge of assaulting his wife at their York County home.

James City County Police Sergeant Jeff Vellines says a correctional officer checked on McKeehan Saturday morning and found him hanging about 20 minutes later.

A Fort Eustis spokesman says McKeehan returned in September from a 45-day deployment to Iraq.

York County Sheriff Danny Diggs says that in the four weeks since his return, deputies responded to about six complaints against McKeehan by his wife and a neighbor. Diggs says most of the calls did not result in an arrest because of lack of evidence.

(Copyright 2004 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)