Paroled killer Loren Herzog found hanged in his trailer at prison

A convicted killer was found dead Tuesday after he apparently hanged himself, TV news stations reported.

Department of Corrections agents found Loren Herzog shortly after midnight hanging in his trailer at the High Desert State Prison in Lassen County, KTXL-TV in Sacramento reported.

KTXL-TV reported that Herzog, a parolee released in 2010, was required to wear a tracking device that alerted parole authorities whenever the battery was low on power. His parole agents dispatched prison officers to check on Herzog.

Herzog, 45, ended up living in the trailer on the grounds of the prison in Susanville after residents and victims' families protested his release.

Herzog was originally sentenced to 78 years in prison for a series of killings in San Joaquin County in the 1980s and 1990s, the television station reported. His childhood friend, Wesley Shermantine -- the other half of the so-called "Speed Freak Killers" -- also was convicted. But the sentence was reduced after an appeals court overturned the original conviction.

KCRA-TV, also in Sacramento, reported that Herzog served 11 years of his sentence before being released.

ALSO:

Lindsay Lohan back in court, but will judge be happy?

After dry start to winter, Southern California could get some rain

Pinkberry co-founder beat homeless man with tire iron, LAPD says

-- Rick Rojas

Photo: Loren Joseph Herzog. Credit: California Department of Corrections