PALMYRA, NY — An inmate serving a life sentence for murder accidentally electrocuted himself by biting into an electrical cord while sitting on a toilet, prison authorities said Monday.

"It was a strange accident," said state Department of Corrections spokesman Francis Archibald. "He was sitting naked on a metal commode."

Michael Anderson Godwin, 28, apparently was trying to repair earphones to a television set when he bit into the cord, Archibald said. A corrections officer making a routine check found him.

Godwin was severely burned in his mouth and tongue, Richland County Coroner Frank Barron said. It appears the electrocution was accidental, he said.

Inmates at the Central Correctional Institute are allowed to have small televisions in their cells but must use earphones.

AFTERWORD:

Godwin originally had been awaiting execution, but his death sentence had been commuted to life. In meting out its capital punishments South Carolina uses — of course — the electric chair.

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