BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) — A charge of first-degree murder has been filed against a man accused of strangling his cellmate at Wasco State Prison, court records show.
Eugene Harlan Stroud, 45, was charged Jan. 12 and is due in court Thursday for his formal arraignment.
On March 15, Stroud’s cellmate, Scott James Gunter, 59, was found unresponsive and pronounced dead about 30 minutes later. Coroner’s officials earlier this month said Gunter had been strangled and his death was a homicide.
Gunter was serving a two-year sentence for failing to register as a sex offender. Stroud is serving a 25-year sentence for two counts of inflicting physical injury resulting in a traumatic condition, and one count of making criminal threats to cause great bodily injury or death, according to California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
