Lompoc Prisoner Found Guilty of Murdering Lover
A Los Angeles federal court jury found convict Willie Cruso Free, 35, guilty of first-degree murder Monday in the fatal stabbing of his lover, Louis Ronald Codianni, at the Lompoc federal prison in 1983.
The jury also found Free guilty of possessing a sharpened table knife inside the prison and assaulting a prison paralegal in 1984. Assistant U.S. Atty. James E. Berliner said Free--already serving one life sentence for murdering another inmate and an additional 11 years for assaulting a prison guard--faces a life sentence plus another 13 years for possessing an illegal weapon and assault.
Berliner told the jury in closing arguments that the government was not seeking the death penalty because of the unconstitutionality of federal death penalty statutes. After the verdict, U.S. Atty. Robert C. Bonner called on Congress to pass new death penalty legislation for prison murders.
“I think this case demonstrates the urgent need for a federal death penalty,” Bonner said.
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