The stabbing death of a 49-year-old inmate at California’s High Desert State Prison is being investigated as a homicide, officials announced Wednesday.
Scott Cook, who was transferred to the facility from San Bernardino County in Nov. 2000 and was serving life without parole for first-degree murder, carjacking and grand theft among other felonies, 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.
Cook was taken to the prison’s triage and treatment area where he was pronounced dead at 9:53 a.m.
Authorities 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.
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 case 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.