State officials reviewing suicide attempt at Suffolk jail by Daniel Coppola, St. James suspect charged with killing ex-wife and boyfriend

State authorities are looking into a suicide attempt at the Suffolk County Correctional Facility Monday by a St. James man charged with fatally shooting his ex-wife and her boyfriend, officials said.

The review comes after Suffolk County jail officials reported the suicide attempt by Daniel Coppola, who was supposed to be under suicide watch, to the State Commission of Correction, a spokeswoman for the agency said.

"We can confirm that an incident involving Mr. Coppola was reported by the facility and is currently under review," Kirstan Conley, a spokeswoman for the State Commission of Correction, told Newsday on Wednesday.

Coppola, 50, was injured in an intentional fall on Monday while on suicide watch after making his way up a set of stairs at the Suffolk County Correctional Facility, multiple sources told Newsday. Vicki DiStefano, a spokeswoman for Sheriff Errol D. Toulon Jr., confirmed an inmate was injured during a "self-inflicted incident" on Monday but declined to identify the person.

Suffolk officials have not explained how an inmate on suicide watch was able to injure himself.

A spokesman for Suffolk County Executive Edward P. Romaine declined to comment on Wednesday.

"I wish there was an answer to that question that made sense," said David Jason Cohen, Coppola’s defense attorney.

The Suffolk County Sheriff's Office has not modified any policies or procedures in the wake of Coppola’s suicide attempt, DiStefano told Newsday Wednesday.

"The correction officers did everything correctly," DiStefano said. "There was no error on the correction officer's part."

DiStefano said she could not comment on Coppola’s medical condition.

Coppola is charged with two counts of second-degree murder in the deaths of ex-wife Kelly Coppola and her boyfriend, Kenneth Pohlman Jr. He pleaded not guilty to the charges last week.

Coppola, indicted by a Suffolk grand jury on Tuesday, is scheduled to be arraigned on upgraded charges of first-degree murder before acting Suffolk Supreme Court Justice Anthony Senft in Riverhead on Friday, court records show.

Coppola’s father, Jerry Coppola, said he did not wish to discuss the alleged suicide attempt, but he said he wished to extend his condolences to the families of Kelly Coppola and Pohlman.

"My wife and I are extremely sorrowful for the passing of Kelly and her boyfriend," Jerry Coppola said.

It is unclear how Coppola’s injuries will impact his prosecution. A spokeswoman for Suffolk District Attorney Ray Tierney did not respond to requests for comment.

Cohen said he is still awaiting updates on his client’s medical condition and long-term prognosis, and said it would be difficult to mount a defense without Coppola’s assistance.

"We need to find out exactly what happened," Cohen said.

Serena Martin-Liguori, executive director of New Hour for Women and Children, said it is difficult to understand how an inmate on suicide watch could injure himself. Suffolk jail officials remove blankets, pens, paper and other items inmates might use to harm themselves from their cells. They are issued paper robes to wear and handcuffed when they are transferred from their cells.

"On suicide watch, it is very hard to commit suicide," said Martin-Liguori, whose agency provides services to inmates in Long Island jails.

Lou Viscusi, president of the Suffolk County Correction Officers Association, declined to comment on Wednesday, but he said earlier in the week that his members "acted within the score of their training and did everything they were supposed to do."

Suffolk police said last week that Coppola texted his daughter — who was staying with his ex-wife and Pohlman, 53, in their home on Brasswood Road in St. James — and beckoned her to come out of the house shortly before midnight on Aug. 28.

Coppola then shot his way through the lock on the front door and went upstairs, where he "ambushed and executed" the couple in the hallway, Suffolk County Assistant District Attorney Eric Aboulafia said at Coppola’s arraignment on Friday.

The teen placed a 911 call saying she was being taken from her mother’s home, officials said. Coppola then drove the teen to his Harbor Road address, where he threatened to take his own life with the gun, police said.

The girl again called 911 for help over her father’s suicidal threats, prompting police to respond to Harbor Road, where, according to police, he was recorded on a police officer’s body camera admitting to the killings.

Police also arrived at the Brasswood Road address, where they found the door forced open and the couple dead of gunshot wounds, officials said.