‘Shank’ found in convicted murderer’s cell

The East Cleveland man serving 28 years to life for an Elyria murder has gotten into a bit of trouble during the beginning of his incarceration.

Patrick L. Gall, 19, was found guilty of Nov. 19 of aggravated murder of Willie M. Fisher, 47, of Lakewood, two counts of murder, two counts of felonious assault and a single count of tampering with evidence and was sentenced immediately.

Lorain County Sheriff’s Office documents show the night before Gall was convicted, he and his cellmate were caught with “a long, metal shank” in their cell at the Lorain County Jail.

A report on the incident said jail personnel were asked by another inmate to be transferred from his unit because of “aggressive behavior” and the presence of a weapon.

The man described the weapon as made from the flat duster used during cleaning of the cells.

An officer checked the cleaning supplies and found that a metal piece was missing from one of the flat dusters, the report said.

Both Gall and his cellmate were removed from their units and searched, but no weapon was found.

After a two-minute search of their quarters, the about 18-inch-long “shank” was located underneath the sink in the cell, the report said.

Both men denied owning the improvised weapon, according to the report.

Previously, Gall was accused of assaulting another inmate Aug. 10, but the alleged victim showed no physical signs of the abuse and declined medical treatment, according to a Sheriff’s Office report.

Gall denied ever making contact with the man and that he had no idea why the man would request a cell transfer as Gall claimed the man only speaks Spanish, the report said.

Fisher was found dead July 6 with three bullet wounds behind a convenience store in the 1300 block of East Avenue.

Fisher worked for Bruce Arnoff, 57, of Solon, and the pair were contracted to clean up the area around the store.

Arnoff allegedly was unhappy with Fisher, who was a drug addict, authorities said.

During Gall’s trial, prosecutors said Arnoff offered to pay Gall and John P. Sullivan, 30, of East Cleveland, $500 to kill Fisher.

Arnoff is facing three counts of complicity to aggravated murder, six counts of complicity to murder, six counts of complicity to felonious assault and two counts of tampering with evidence.

Sullivan is facing a charge of aggravated murder, two counts of murder, two counts of felonious assault and single counts of tampering with evidence in connection.

Arnoff and Sullivan are scheduled for pretrials Dec. 17.

Both men are in the Lorain County Jail on more than $2 million bonds each.

Gall