Susanville – High Desert
State
The inmate was found
unresponsive in his cell on May 26, 2012, at approximately 5 am. He was pronounced deceased at 5:57 a.m.
The deceased inmate,
53, was serving his third term, and was committed from Los Angeles County on July 17, 1987.
He was received at HDSP on April 15, 2010, and was serving a 137-year,
plus two life terms, sentences for numerous counts of sexual battery, kidnapping,
rape, oral copulation with force and violence resulting in great bodily injury,
and assault with a deadly weapon. The
inmate’s name is being withheld pending notification of the next of kin.
The deceased inmate’s
cellmate has been identified as the primary suspect in the death, and has been
placed in the Administrative Segregation Unit pending investigation into the
incident. The suspect, 38, is a first term inmate received from Sacramento County on February
2, 2011. He was received at HDSP
on May 2, 2012, and is serving a life without parole sentence for first-degree murder
with the use of a deadly weapon. The
inmate’s name is being withheld at this time pending investigation.
The case is under
investigation by the HDSP Investigative Services Unit. The Office of the
Inspector General’s Bureau of Independent Review was notified.
HDSP houses 3,900
minimum-, medium- and maximum-custody inmates. Opened in 1995, the Lassen
County institution provides academic classes and vocational instruction and
employs more than 1,600 people.
#####
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 26, 2012
Contact: Lt. Charlie Hahn
(530) 251-5100 x5501
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