An inmate at SCI Phoenix was charged with murder for killing his cellmate

An inmate at the State Correctional Institute in Phoenix killed his cellmate in prison earlier this month, according to court documents filed Thursday.

Nathan Blose, 40, has been charged with first-degree and third-degree murder in connection with the death of Shaun Harden. who was found dead in his cell on November 1according to the affidavit of probable cause for Blose’s arrest.

Blose, of Coaldale, Schuylkill County, remained in custody and denied bail due to the nature of the charges he was facing. There was no indication that he had hired a lawyer.

According to the affidavit, Harden, 45, was found unconscious on the floor of his cell in a pool of blood in early November. Prison staff tried to revive him, but he was pronounced dead at 6:29 am

He had bleeding in his neck, chest and back, the affidavit said, and his cause of death was determined as “multiple injuries.” The precise nature of the injuries remained unclear.

In an interview with detectives, Blose confirmed that he and Harden were the only two people in their cell between late October, when Blose was returned there by guards, and the morning he was found dead, according to the affidavit.

Harden, of Nemacolin, Greene County, was serving a sentence of four to eight years in state prison after being convicted in 2015 of sexual assault of a child, corruption of minors and related crimes. According to an article in the Washington County Observer-Reporter, Harden fondled an 11-year-old girl and two boys, 11 and 12, in separate incidents between June and October 2014.

Blose, meanwhile, was convicted of firearms offenses in September 2020 sentenced to 3.5 to seven years in prison.

The charges stemmed from an incident in October 2019, when Blose was admitted to the emergency room at St. Luke’s Miners Memorial Hospital in Coaldale, according to court records. A doctor at the hospital discovered Blose had a loaded gun while examining him.

The doctor took the gun, which Blose described as a “family heirloom,” from Blose’s waistband and gave it to a security officer as required by hospital policy, records show.

Afterwards, a security officer asked Bose if he had a permit to carry a concealed weapon. When records showed this was not the case, Coaldale police arrived to arrest him. During the scuffle, authorities said, Blose headbutted and injured one of the officers and was taken into custody.

Blose was unable to legally own a gun because of a previous conviction for drug offenses, court records show.

Harden’s death was the second time this year an inmate was killed at SCI Phoenix.

Prosecutors say Dwight Williams beat Ashokkumar Guru to death in his cell in August. Williams, 42, was charged with first- and third-degree murder and is awaiting criminal trial in Montgomery County.