BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) — The Kern County Coroner’s Office has released the cause of death of a North Kern State Prison inmate who is suspected to have died at the hands of a Los Angeles serial killer.
According to the coroner’s office, Juan Pablo Villanueva’s cause of death was ligature strangulation and his death has been ruled a homicide. Villanueva died on Feb. 24 at North Kern State Prison.
Officials said medical aid was rendered to Villanueva, but he ultimately succumbed to his injuries at the scene.
Ramon Escobar, 51, shared a cell with Villanueva, who was serving a life sentence for aggravated sexual assault of a child under 14, according to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
Escobar is serving life without parole. He admitted to killing his uncle and aunt in Texas before fleeing to California, where in 2018 he bludgeoned five people to death and injured several others, many of them homeless, in attacks that occurred in Los Angeles and Santa Monica.
