COLUMBUS, OHIO ? A death row inmate who committed suicide in May was likely dead more than three hours before his body was found, indicating a breakdown in the system for checking on prisoners, according to a report released Monday.

The state said it fired two prison guards over the handling of the May 7 suicide of Martin Koliser, sentenced to die for killing a Youngstown police officer in 2003. Koliser used a nylon belt that he tied around the frame of his bunk bed to hang himself.

The report, released at the request of The Associated Press, follows an unsuccessful escape attempt from death row in February in which two inmates built a ladder from sheets and rolled-up newspapers and magazines. In that incident, prison officials blamed “gross deficiencies in supervision” and reprimanded several administrators, including the warden.