FATAL VISIT

Another Woman Was Killed During Conjugal Visit at California Prison

Stephanie Dowells, 62, died when visiting her husband, who is serving a life term for murdering four people.

A week after an inmate was charged with murdering his wife at the Mule Creek State Prison near Sacramento, it has been revealed that a similar situation happened at the same prison late last year. NBC News reported that Stephanie Diane Dowells, 62, was killed in Nov. 2024 during a conjugal visit with her inmate husband. Dowells was strangled to death by David Brinson, 54, who was convicted of murdering four men during a robbery and sentenced to four consecutive life terms without the possibility of parole in the 1990s. According to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, Brinson called prison officials at 2:04 a.m. on Nov. 13 to inform them his wife was dead. Although officers rushed to the scene to begin life-saving measures and called 911, the hairdresser was pronounced dead a short time after. Dowells’ son, Armand Torres, 28, and his wife, Nataly Jimenez, claim that after Dowells’ death, Brinson’s story kept changing, including the time and place he found Dowells unconscious. The revelation comes a week after Anthony Curry, 48, was charged for strangling his wife, Tania Thomas, 47, during a conjugal visit at the same prison in July 2024. Dowells’ case remains under investigation as charges are pending prison and autopsy reports. The Amador County Sheriff’s Office has however confirmed she was strangled and that her death was a homicide.