Domestic Murder Within Prison — Twice

One of the purposes of imprisonment is incapacitation. People who are locked up cannot commit crimes against people on the outside, except for the few able to commit crimes by proxy.

But crimes on the inside still happen. At Mule Creek State Prison, in Amador County in the California foothills, one death of an inmate’s wife during a family visit is being investigated as a homicide, and a second inmate has been charged with murdering his wife in a similar incident. The Ledger Dispatch in Jackson has this story. The inmate under investigation, David Brinson, has been sentenced to life without parole for four murders. And now there may be five.

Once upon a time, California Governor Pete Wilson banned conjugal visits for murderers. That was back when California voters elected governors with sense. Seems like ages ago.