Cellmate pleads guilty to murdering Albion man at prison in Greene County

The cellmate of Delmus Tanner admitted he strangled the Albion native at the Greene Correctional Facility in Coxackie near Albany on Nov. 9, 2018.

Delmus Tanner

Anthony J. Paradise, 44, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder last month on the third day of jury selection of his trial.

Paradise had been serving a 1 1/3 to 4 year sentence for three-degree robbery in Washington County. Tanner was in prison on a five-year sentence on drug charges.

Paradise and Tanner, 38, were double-bunked in the Special Housing Unit of the prison. Paradise used a torn bed sheet to strangle Tanner, Greene County District Attorney Joseph Stanzione said, according to a report from the Hudson Valley 360.

Paradise allegedly choked two other incarcerated people while in jail and prison, the DA said. Tanner’s family has filed a lawsuit against the state.

Tanner died on Nov. 13, 2018, four days after he was taken to the Albany Medical Center and put on life support. He was taken there on a Friday. It wasn’t until the following Monday that his family was made aware of the seriousness of his condition, his ex-wife Ashley Farrell previously told the Orleans Hub.

Tanner, a father of three children, was a Medina High School graduate and looked forward to being a good citizen when he was released from prison, Farrell said.