Man Gets Death Sentence for Killing Cellmate

A killer dubbed the Koreatown Slasher was ordered Friday to die for strangling his elderly prison cellmate.

Joseph Danks said he wants to waive an appeal so he can be put to death sooner. Kern Superior Court Judge Richard Oberholzer replied that a waiver is impossible because death penalty cases are appealed automatically to the California Supreme Court.

“They better rush my case through,” Danks said during a rambling speech laced with profanity and biblical references.

Danks had said previously that he should have been put to death for the murders of six transients in the Koreatown section of Los Angeles in 1986-87. Instead, Danks received a term of 156 years for those killings and was sent to the state prison at Tehachapi.

He then was charged with murdering 67-year-old Walter Holt the night Holt was moved into Danks’ cell in 1990. A Kern County jury found Danks guilty of first-degree murder for strangling Holt, then recommended the death penalty.

During the trial, Danks stabbed defense attorney Michael Dellostritto in the face with a piece of copper wire the defendant somehow smuggled into court. The attorney was not seriously injured.

Later, Danks admitted to the jurors that he committed the Los Angeles killings and would stab the jurors if he could.

“I did stab them bums, and I’d do it to you if they’d let me,” Danks testified during the penalty phase.

Prosecutor John Summers asked Danks why he killed Holt.

“Well, probably because I was stronger than him, and he was weaker then me,” Danks replied.