Ione - Mule Creek State Prison inmate John Linley Frazier, 62, who was serving a life sentence for five counts of first-degree murder, was found dead in his cell on August 13 by a prison correctional officer. A news release issued by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation said Frazier’s death is being investigated as a suicide. Police reports on that same day referred to his death as “a hanging.” Frazier was convicted of the October 19, 1970 murders of Dr. Victor M. Ohta, 46; his wife Virginia, 43; his two sons, Derek, 12, and Taggart, 11; and his secretary, Dorothy Cadwallader, 38, in the Ohta’s home near Santa Cruz. Frazier was sentenced to death in San Mateo County on December 30, 1971 and was sent to state prison on December 30, 1971. He was resentenced to life in prison on January 8, 1974 after the California Supreme Court found that the death penalty constituted cruel and unusual punishment under the state constitution. California did not have the life without parole sentence at the time. Story by Alex Lane This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.