FRESNO COUNTY, Calif. – Officials are investigating the death of an inmate from Shasta County at Pleasant Valley State Prison. Brion Spidle was found unconscious on January 17, 2026, and died 30 minutes later.
Spidle was discovered on the floor in the dayroom of the prison’s minimum support facility around 2 p.m. on Saturday. He was serving a four-year sentence for corporal injury on a person.
Authorities identified Jorge Ortega and Victor Wence as suspects in the incident. Both are now in restricted housing as the investigation continues. No weapon was found at the scene.
Ortega was serving a six-year sentence for assault, while Wence was serving a 10-year sentence for second-degree robbery, his second strike.
Spidle’s wife, Brittany, shared her grief and some photos of her husband. “He was a devoted father,” she said. Brittany expressed concerns about the prison’s security during the attack and emphasized that Spidle was supposed to be in minimum security…