Blose, 40, of Coaldale, PA (Credit: Mark Minzola/Montgomery County DA)
Shaun Harden, 45, a convicted sex offender, was found dead in his cell the morning of Nov. 1.
At a preliminary hearing this week, first- and third-degree murder charges have been held for Montgomery County Court against an inmate at State Correctional Institute Phoenix accused of killing his sex offender cellmate on Halloween.
Nathan David Blose, 40, of Coaldale, Schuylkill County, allegedly killed Shaun Harden between the hours of 7:37 p.m. Oct. 31 and 5:55 a.m. Nov. 1 at the Skippack Township state prison, according to charging documents.
Harden was serving a 4-to-10-year sentence for aggravated indecent assault of a child on a Greene County conviction. He arrived at SCI Phoenix on Halloween.
The Montgomery County Coroner’s Office determined Harden’s cause of death as multiple injuries, and the manner of death was homicide, investigators said in a Nov. 12 affidavit.
Harden suffered hemorrhaging to his neck – he was found by authorities with blood on his face and neck, blood in his mouth, a laceration behind his ear, and red marks on his neck – and hemorrhaging to his right chest and left back, according to the affidavit.
Authorities allege that Blose was returned to his cell at 4:17 p.m. Oct. 31, and remained there, as seen on video surveillance,. At 7:37 p.m., Harden was escorted to the cell and went inside. No one else left or visited the cell, police said.
Corrections officers opened the cell door at 5:55 a.m. Nov. 1, finding Harden dead, according to the complaint.
Prison staff immediately responded and provided life-saving measures until the facility medical personnel arrived. Harden was pronounced dead at 6:29 a.m., authorities said.
Prison authorities contacted State Police, informing them that the victim had a cellmate, identified as Blose, police said.
The cell was located in the “A” block of the prison and was secured as a crime scene, authorities said. A puddle of blood was on the floor of the cell.
During an interview, Blose confirmed that Harden was his cellmate, and that they both were in the cell alone from 8:30 p.m. to 5:55 a.m., police said.
There is no bail for first-degree murder.
Blose is represented by a public defender. The case will be prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Gabriella Glenning.
According to court records, Blose was found guilty by trial of felony illegal possession of a firearm and felony carrying a gun without a license and misdemeanor assault in Schuylkill County on a Coledale Township arrest and was sentenced concurrently to five to 10 years in prison.
Blose was sentenced to two years in Carbon County jail for pleading guilty to a Nesquehoning Borough assault in 2020.
It is the second death at the state prison this year. Dwight Williams, authorities allege, stomped Ashokkumar Guru to death in August.
All suspects and defendants are innocent until proven guilty. This story was compiled using public court records.
