LOS ANGELES : Federal Jury Finds Man Guilty in Prison Slaying
An ex-Maywood man was convicted Tuesday of strangling a fellow inmate to get into the Aryan Brotherhood--a prison gang whose members are notorious for committing murders and selling drugs.
A federal jury found that Richard Glenn Filkins, 35, used a garrote made of bedsheets to kill Avra Lee Ray, 36, as he lay on his cell bed in a heroin-induced stupor.
The Aug. 9, 1989, killing took place at the Lompoc federal penitentiary.
Filkins testified that he was friendly with the inmate known as Baby Ray and did not kill him.
Prosecutors and Filkins’ alleged accomplice, Thomas (Buzz) Miller, told the jury that Filkins, serving time for several bank robberies in Los Angeles, carried out an order from the Aryan Brotherhood leaders who believed that Ray violated gang rules.
Ray apparently broke several gang rules by getting involved with a homosexual romance and refusing to share his drugs with an elder gang member, prosecutors said.
Miller, who stood guard outside Ray’s cell while Filkins was inside, pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting the murder. He faces life in prison without parole when he is sentenced.
Filkins will be sentenced Nov. 21.
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