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Condemned Inmate Phillip Jablonski Dies of Unknown Cause

SAN QUENTIN —Condemned inmate Phillip Jablonski, 73, was found unresponsive in his San Quentin State Prison cell on Dec. 27, 2019, at 1:10 p.m. and was pronounced dead at 1:30 p.m.. He had been on California’s death row since Aug. 19, 1994. His cause of death is pending the results of an autopsy.

A San Mateo County jury sentenced Jablonski to death on Aug. 12, 1994 for the first-degree murders of his mother-in-law, Eva Petersen, 72, and his wife, Carol Spadoni, 46, who had married him while he was in prison for murdering a previous wife in 1978.

Since 1978, when California reinstated capital punishment, 82 condemned inmates have died from natural causes, 27 have committed suicide, 13 have been executed in California, one was executed in Missouri, one was executed in Virginia, 14 have died from other causes and five – including Jablonski – are pending a cause of death. There are currently 728 offenders on California’s death row.

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inmate Phillip Jablonski