Thomas J. Capano, Delaware lawyer serving life for murder, found dead in cell

Thomas J. Capano, the former high-profile attorney convicted of murdering the Delaware governor’s secretary, has been found dead in his prison cell, according to U.S. news reports.

Capano, 61, once a rich and influential Wilmington lawyer and former deputy attorney general of Delaware, had a death sentence overturned and was serving life in a state prison near Smyra, Fox News reports.

In one of the most dramatic murders in the state's history, Capano was convicted of shooting his mistress, Ann Marie Fahey, 28 after she decided to end an affair with him in 1996, CBS reports.

Fahey was the scheduling secretary for then-Delaware Gov. Thomas R. Carper, now Delaware's senior senator.

Capano stuffed Fahey's body into an ice chest and dumped it in the ocean off Stone Harbor, New Jersey, Reuters reports. Her body has never been found.

Sources tell NBC Philadelphia that no foul play was suspected and it appeared Capano had died of natural causes.

A guard found Capano's body in his cell in solitary confinement at 12:34 p.m. on Monday, Reuters reports.