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A 49-year-old inmate serving life without parole for an execution-style slaying in San Bernardino was stabbed to death at California’s High Desert State Prison, officials announced Wednesday.
Scott Cook, who was transferred to the facility in Nov. 2000, was discovered at around 9:30 a.m. on May 3 suffering from multiple stab wounds, according to a news release from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
He was taken to the prison’s triage and treatment area where he was pronounced dead at 9:53 a.m.
Cook was convicted in San Bernardino County in 1996 for killing Patrick Lynn Daily, The Sun reported. The 49-year-old and other accomplices forced the victim into the back of his truck, drove the vehicle to Lytle Creek and made Daily get on his knees before Cook shot and robbed him.
Officials at CDCR said that two other prisoners, 30-year-old John Patch and 36-year-old Zachary Harris, reportedly attacked Cook with “inmate manufactured weapons” that were recovered at the scene.
Patch was sentenced to life without parole in Dec. 2022 for crimes including second-degree murder with personal use of a dangerous or deadly weapon.
(left to right) Zachary Harris, 36, and John Patch, 30. (CDCR)
Harris was sentenced in July 2021 to 24 years and eight months for crimes that included attempted second-degree murder and possession of a short-barreled shotgun or rifle.
Both suspects were moved to restricted housing while the homicide is being investigated. Prison officials also said “population movement on the yard” has been limited while members of HDSP’s Investigative Service Unit conduct the investigation.
So far, investigators have provided no information on a possible motive.