SAN DIEGO—A man who was serving a nearly 250-year-to-life prison sentence for fatally shooting a Linda Vista man was killed at Pelican Bay State Prison last week, allegedly by two fellow inmates.
Joseph Hill, 53, died March 23 afternoon after state prison officials say two inmates attacked him in a prison yard. Hill was taken to a hospital where he was pronounced dead about two hours after the attack, according to the state.
Officials from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation did not elaborate on the nature of the attack but said officers recovered an “inmate manufactured weapon” during their investigation.
Hill was convicted of first-degree murder in 2015 for shooting 47-year-old Sean O'Toole in the backyard of the victim’s home.
At trial, prosecutors said Hill killed O'Toole on Dec. 29, 2013, because he felt the victim had disrespected his girlfriend, while Hill’s defense attorney said the shooting was self-defense.
Hill was also convicted of attempted murder for shooting and wounding another man at a motel in La Jolla a few hours after O'Toole was killed. Prosecutors alleged that man was shot over a $200 drug debt.
Hill was arrested the following day after a shootout with police in Point Loma.
At his sentencing hearing in 2015, Deputy District Attorney Joe McLaughlin said Hill had shown little remorse for the murder, to which Hill stated in open court, “No remorse ... not little. No remorse.”
