Ohio man accused of killing wife and his 4 children is found dead of hanging in jail cell

A man accused of stabbing his wife to death and killing his four children in a house fire hanged himself in his jail cell early Tuesday, officials said.

Michel Veillette, 34, had pleaded not guilty to 13 counts of aggravated murder and two counts of aggravated arson and was awaiting trial.

A corrections officer found Veillette lying on the floor with a sheet around his neck tied to a towel rack, Sheriff Tom Ariss said. An autopsy showed no injuries other than those consistent with hanging, he said.

Prosecutors alleged that Veillette stabbed his wife, Nadya Ferrari-Veillette, 33, after they had a fight on Jan. 11. He then set fire to the couple's home in Mason, about 20 miles (32 kilometers) northeast of Cincinnati, prosecutors said. The children — ages 8, 4 and 2-year-old twins — died of smoke inhalation.

Veillette had told The Cincinnati Enquirer in late January that he killed his wife after she attacked him with a knife and frying pan. He claimed that she set the fire and that he tried to save the children but could not.