Two inmates killed in attacks at Northern California prisons
FOLSOM — State prison officials are investigating after two inmates were killed in separate attacks at two Northern California prisons.
The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) said the deaths occurred at High Desert State Prison in Susanville on July 22 and California State Prison, Sacramento in Folsom on July 23.
The inmate killed in Folsom was identified as Wayne Caskey, 59. Prison guards witnessed Caskey being attacked by fellow inmates Daryl Cull, 56, and Nicholas Mangelli, 32, with manufactured weapons, officials said.
Caskey was pronounced dead at 10:08 a.m. on Saturday, approximately 30 minutes after the attack.
Mangelli was sentenced to life without parole from Sacramento County back in 2014 for first-degree murder and received another eight years in 2018 for assault with a deadly weapon. Cull was also sentenced to life without parole from San Diego County back in 1999 for first-degree attempted murder and various assault charges. In 2012, Cull received four more years for the possession and manufacturing of a deadly weapon by a prisoner. And in 2016, he received another four-year sentence for assault with a deadly weapon while he was incarcerated.
In June 2009, Caskey was sentenced to life without parole for first-degree murder and received another four-year sentence in 2017 for assault with a deadly weapon while incarcerated.
The second inmate killed last week was identified as Albert Martinez, 52. The CDCR said Martinez was attacked by inmates Joseph Gama and Alvaro Saldana in a maximum-security housing unit shortly after 7:30 p.m. Friday. Martinez was pronounced dead 20 minutes later.
Gama, 24, was in the middle of serving a 15-year sentence for assault with a firearm with a gang enhancement. Saldana, 37, had been serving a sentence of life with parole for first-degree murder.
Martinez was initially sentenced in 1994 to serve an 18-year, eight-month sentence for four counts of second-degree robbery with use of a firearm, one count of vehicle theft, and assault with a firearm, the CDCR said. Though, while he was incarcerated, Martinez was received a sentence of life with parole for battery on a non-prisoner, which was a third strike offense. Martinez was also found to be in possession of a controlled substance behind bars in 2018.
