Through a prison spokeswoman, Mr. Yanez, who is serving time for kidnapping, declined a request for an interview.

By Friday afternoon, Mr. Bakker had already talked to at least one psychiatrist, said a prison spokeswoman, Sharon Orr.

"We can't afford to send them out of state," said Cathy Fontenot, a prison spokeswoman.

Janet Jacobson, a prison spokeswoman, said that if tests showed that Mrs. Helmsley was physically able, she would be given a daily job.

The killings of the six inmates appeared to have taken place early in the disturbance, said Sharron Kornegay, a prison spokeswoman.

Ms. Lyons, the prison spokeswoman, said his record had been free of major infractions for 20 years.

Guards fired 10 shots to break up the melee, wounding three prisoners, said a prison spokeswoman, Lieut. Cammy Voss.

"These are folks who need a lot of help," he said of the inmates, 69 percent of whom are serving time for drug-related offenses, according to a prison spokeswoman.

The inmates removed a security screen from a window and cut through two chain-link fences, a prison spokeswoman said.

A prison spokeswoman announced the death.