San Leandro 'sausage king' found dead in prison

He was pronounced dead at 5:15 a.m. The cause of death was not immediately known but Messick said there were no signs of suicide or foul play.

An autopsy was set for later Tuesday.

Messick said Alexander's mental health had deteriorated since being sentenced to death in February on three counts of first-degree murder for the 2000 shooting deaths of two federal meat inspectors and one state inspector at his Santos Linguisa factory in San Leandro.

The entire incident was captured on Alexander's surveillance videotape, which was shown repeatedly to jurors during his five-month trial.

There was no dispute over the fact that Alexander killed the inspectors _ Jean Hillery, 56, Bill Shaline, 57, and Tom Quadros, 52. Instead, the case focussed on whether his actions were deliberate or the result of a momentary lapse.

Prosecutors called it "mass murder by ambush."

Defense lawyers had argued that Alexander simply snapped and killed the inspectors only after months of harassment. They argued for voluntary manslaughter convictions.

Alexander had been cited repeatedly for problems at his factory, which he took over after his father's 1993 death.

From January to June 2000, Alexander had frequent encounters with inspectors who ordered him to raise the cooking temperature of his meat. The factory owner resisted because he thought the change would ruin his sausages and continued selling them even after he was ordered to cease production.