Define Irony … Norman Timberlake, Indiana Death Row Inmate Found Dead in Cell

Is this irony or poetic justice? A man who was spared the death penalty by the courts for murdering a state police officer was found dead of “natural” causes.

Norman Timberlake, a 60 year old Indiana death row inmate was found dead in his cell of what appears to be natural causes. Timberlake was convicted of fatally shooting a state police officer. 10 months earlier, Timberlake had been spared the death penalty; however, two days prior to his execution date, the Indiana Supreme Court blocked the sentence because a similar case from Texas also involving a mentally ill prisoner had come under review by the U.S. Supreme Court. An autopsy will be done to determine the cause of death.

A death row inmate convicted of fatally shooting a state trooper during a traffic stop was found dead in his cell on Saturday, 10 months after being spared execution.

An Indiana State Prison guard found Norman Timberlake, 60, of New Albany, unresponsive in his cell during a head count shortly after midnight, prison spokesman Barry Nothstine said. Attempts to revive him failed.

A state psychiatrist who examined Timberlake last year found that he suffered from chronic paranoid schizophrenia, but it was unclear Saturday whether that played a role in his death.

Timberlake was convicted of shooting Master Trooper Michael Greene once in the chest in Indianapolis in 1993. Greene, 43, had stopped when he saw Timberlake’s companion urinating along Interstate 65. A jury convicted Timberlake two years later.