SAN RAFAEL, Calif. -- A habitual drunk driver, sentenced to 24 years to life in prison for killing a 9-year-old girl and maiming her father in a Novato crosswalk crash, was stabbed to death by a fellow inmate at San Quentin, prison authorities said Tuesday.
Edward John Schaefer, 44, of Novato, was stabbed by another inmate at 10:35 a.m. Monday, said Terry Thornton, spokeswoman for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
Thornton said that inmate Frank Anthony Souza was suspected of stabbing Schaefer in the prison's reception center yard. Souza, 31, is serving a 60 years-to-life sentence for the first-degree murder of a homeless man, John Carl Riggins, 59, in San Jose's Willow Glen neighborhood on Aug. 29, 2007, according to the CDCR. Souza is the primary suspect in Schaefer's murder, but prison officials were investigating whether other inmates were also involved, Thornton said.
Schaefer, 44, of Novato, was stabbed in the neck and chest with a makeshift weapon, Thornton said. He was taken to Marin General Hospital, where he died at 9:03 p.m., the Marin County coroner's office said. Schaefer was sentenced on July 13 in Marin County Superior Court to 24 years to life in prison for second-degree murder and mayhem. Deputy District Attorney Geoff Ida said Schaefer had six previous felony and 23 misdemeanor convictions, including nine prior DUI convictions dating back to when he was 17. Schaefer's Harley Davidson motorcycle struck 9-year-old Melody Osheroff and her father Aaron Osheroff of Novato in a crosswalk on San Marin Drive at San Carlos Way in Novato on May 27, 2009. Prosecutors estimated his blood-alcohol level at the time of the crash was between 0.11 and 0.16 percent.
Melody Osheroff died the next day at Oakland Children's Hospital and her father lost his right leg as a result of the accident. Souza has served three prior prison terms, Thornton said. He served an 18-month sentence in 1998 for grand theft in Santa Clara County; a two-year term beginning in 1999 for receiving stolen property; and a four-year sentence beginning in 2002 for threatening a prosecution witness with force and violence in Santa Clara County, Thornton said. Souza began serving his life sentence at San Quentin for the San Jose murder on Jan. 12, Thornton said.
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Topic: Repeat DUI Offender Sentenced To Life In Fatal Crash (Read 3653 times)