LOS ANGELES—California corrections officials Aug. 20 were investigating an attack at Salinas Valley State Prison that killed a man serving a life prison sentence for the 2013 shooting death of a man in Pomona and the slaying of another in Altadena just over a month later.
According to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR), Michael Spengler, 38, was attacked by a fellow inmate around 10:30 a.m. Monday at the prison in Soledad in Monterey County.
Corrections officers “quickly stopped” the attack, and “recovered one inmate-manufactured weapon at the scene,” according to the department. Spengler was pronounced dead at 11:08 a.m. Monday.
The inmate who allegedly attacked Spengler was identified as Miguel A. Espino, 31, a Desert Hot Springs man who was sentenced in January to 17 years to life in prison for trying to kill his father by severely beating him and setting fire to his mobile home as he lay unconscious on the floor. Espino was convicted in November by a jury in Banning of attempted murder, arson, aggravated mayhem, and sentence-enhancing weapon allegations for the 2018 attack on Arturo Espino Sr.
According to CDCR, Espino was placed in restrictive housing following Monday’s fatal attack, pending an investigation by the Salinas Valley State Prison Investigative Services Unit and the Monterey County District Attorney’s Office.
Spengler, of Pomona, was sentenced in 2022 to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the Jan. 9, 2013, slaying of 32-year-old Michael Meza of Pomona and the Feb. 16, 2013, killing of 26-year-old Marcus Nieto of Azusa.
“Both murders appear to have been surprise ambushes of the defendant’s friends,” Superior Court Judge Henry J. Hall said during Spengler’s sentencing hearing. “They appear to be largely senseless.”
The judge said he believed Spengler should “never be released from prison,” and said he was convinced that the defendant is an “extremely dangerous man.”
Meza, who had been shot eight times, was found shot to death in a white Dodge Charger on the shoulder of the White Avenue offramp from the eastbound San Bernardino (10) Freeway in Pomona.
Nieto suffered blunt force trauma to the head and was found by a passerby on a trail in the 3800 block of Canon Boulevard in Altadena.
