Transfer of killer from San Quentin sparks anger
Convicted killer Daniel Wozniak has been moved out of San Quentin State Prison and into a lowersecurity prison, angering family members of the two people he murdered and leading local prosecutors to reach out to the victims of other killers who have been sentenced to death.
Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer, in a July 28 letter to the families of Orange County victims of death row prisoners, warned that the prison-run Condemned Inmate Transfer Pilot Program is open to any condemned inmate who doesn’t have recent disciplinary issues, even those recently sentenced to death.
Wozniak received his death sentence in 2016, six years after killing Samuel Herr and Juri “Julie” Kibuishi in an attempt to fund his 2010 wedding. Sam’s father, Steve Herr, said he learned about Wozniak’s change in accommodations not from prison officials, but instead from an acquaintance of Wozniak’s who runs the “Daniel Wozniak is my friend” blog.
“It was a kick in the gut,” Steve Herr said. “It would have been nice for them to at least notify me… If I could, I would kill him myself. But that isn’t going to happen, so I want the harshest possible penalty.”
California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation officials confirmed that Wozniak was transferred to Salinas Valley State Prison as part of the Condemned Inmate Transfer Pilot Program. CDCR Spokeswoman Terri Hardy also confirmed that all condemned inmates are eligible for the voluntary program “unless they have pending charges, have been found guilty of certain disciplinary offenses within the last five years or are in restrictive housing because of disciplinary reasons.
Prison officials indicated that nearly 60 inmates are currently involved in the program. They describe it as a way for those previously confined to death row to participate in rehabilitation and work programs in order to pay restitution to their victims or their families.
Herr questioned whether victims’ families such as his would want to see condemned inmates gain a change of scenery and more freedom in exchange for restitution.
“It’s like night and day, like going from Motel 6 to a Regent,” Herr said of Wozniak’s move from San Quentin to the Salinas Valley prison.
The OCDA’s office also criticized the program, with Spitzer writing in his letter raising concern about security if “cop killers, multiple murderers and prison gang leaders” were placed in the general prison population.
Matt Murphy, a former deputy district attorney who prosecuted Wozniak along with other death penalty cases, questioned whether moving the condemned inmates without warning violates victims’ rights. Murphy said that in his experience knowing an inmate will spend the rest of their life on death row is important to the families of their victims.
“That has meaning to these families, the location, the restrictive setting, all of that matters,” Murphy said. “We are not talking about someone who stole a car stereo, we are talking about a man who ruthlessly murdered two people so he could go on a honeymoon. The victims don’t want his money.”
Assistant Public Defender Scott Sanders, who represented Wozniak during his trial, said Wozniak has worked hard to be a positive influence behind bars, and defended the move to a different prison.
“The truth is that whenever and however Daniel Wozniak’s life comes to an end, it is best if he remains a positive influence on other prisoners,” Sanders said. “That has been his history since he went into custody. Prosecutors argue every day that death row is too easy. Well Mr. Wozniak is choosing a far more challenging existence by asking to live in general population, a setting that is far more difficult and dangerous to himself.”
Prison officials confirmed late Wednesday that three other death row inmates with Orange County ties have been moved out of San Quentin as part of the Condemned Inmate Transfer Program.
Carlos Martinez — who killed an elderly couple during a burglary at a Santa Ana home — and Alfredo Valencia — who stabbed a man to death during a robbery in Orange — are both now at RJ Donovan Correctional Facility, a state prison near San Diego, according to prison records.
A third inmate, Huntington Beach rapist and killer Victor Miranda-Guerrero, has been moved from San Quentin to Centinela State Prison in Imperial County.
Exactly how many additional privileges condemned inmates involved in the program will receive at the other prisons is unclear.
According to prison officials, the prisons the condemned inmates are eligible to move to must still be level 3 or 4 facilities, both of which are considered maximum security. However, prison officials in an online description of the program note that while prisoners on death row are kept in solitary cells, they can be reevaluated when they move to the other facilities to see whether they can be housed in a cell with another inmate.
The Condemned Inmate Transfer Pilot Program was part of Proposition 66, a 2016 initiative approved by California voters that was meant to speed up executions.
There are more than 700 inmates on California’s death row, including more than 60 from Orange County. But no executions have taken place in more than a decade.
In 2016, voters were faced with competing ballot measures, one that would have repealed the death penalty, the other that was supposed to speed up executions. The latter met with voter approval.
In 2016, Gov. Gavin Newsom instituted the execution moratorium, withdrawing the state’s lethal injection protocol and closing the actual execution chamber at San Quentin. But the death penalty remains part of state law, and the actual death row sentences remained intact.