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James Lee Crummel, Calif. death row inmate, found hanging in cell

California State Prison at San Quentin Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

(CBS/AP) SAN QUENTIN, Calif. - California prison officials say death row inmate James Lee Crummel, convicted of killing a 13-year-old boy, has committed suicide.

The state Department of Corrections says Crummel, 68, was pronounced dead Sunday after being found hanging in his cell at San Quentin State Prison.

Crummel had been on death row since being convicted in 2004 of kidnapping, molesting and killing James Wilfred Trotter. The boy disappeared on his way to school in Orange County in 1979.

Prosecutors said Crummel lived on the same Costa Mesa street where Trotter's family lived.

The boy's body wasn't found until 1990. That is when Crummel told police he'd found a skull while hiking in the Cleveland National Forest in Riverside County. The body wasn't identified until 1996.

Crummel's attorney said at his sentencing that her client couldn't express regret for a crime he did not commit.

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