Convicted killer paroled to Calif. prison grounds

[September 16, 2010]  SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) -- California prison officials say a man convicted in a series of killings in the 1980s and '90s will be moving to living quarters on the grounds of High Desert State Prison.

Loren Herzog had been sentenced to 78 years in prison after being convicted in 2003 in a number of cases that terrorized the rural San Joaquin County region.

But his sentence was reduced when an appeals court tossed out the convictions and sentence, ruling that Herzog's statements were illegally coerced.

Prison officials haven't said when Herzog will be paroled from a prison in Riverside County, except to say it will be sometime in mid-September.

The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation says when Herzog is released, he will be kept on the state property belonging to the Susanville prison, but outside of the perimeter of the facility.

[Associated Press]

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