Father accused of torture found dead

Davis was housed alone in a cell and it appears he timed his suicide around regularly scheduled inspections, Haynel said, adding she did not know when Davis was last seen alive by deputies.

Deputies used CPR but were unable to revive him, Haynel said. Paramedics pronounced him dead at the scene.

A suicide note was found in the cell but authorities would not divulge its contents.

Davis was being held at the jail following a court appearance earlier Friday.

Davis, his wife Carrie Lee Davis, 41, and another woman, Faye Potts, 46, were facing trial next month on charges of murder, torture, child abuse and false imprisonment. They were being held in lieu of $2 million bail each.

At the hearing Friday, additional charges were filed against Davis and his bail was increased to $2.3 million. Haynel did not have details of the additional charges.

The Davises and Potts were arrested in October after the couple's eldest son, 17-year-old Yahweh Lord, called 911 to report that he and his 12-year-old brother, Angel, had been chained at their home in Wonder Valley, a remote desert community northeast of Twentynine Palms.

Authorities say when they found the brothers, they were filthy and had marks on their bodies from being chained and beaten.

Authorities said the boys, who told investigators they had been isolated from the outside world since birth, were given disciplinary beatings with the "rod of correction," two plastic sticks taped together.

When they were found, Yahweh barely weighed 75 pounds. Both brothers have been severely stunted by malnutrition and stress and suffer from a condition known as "psychological dwarfism," according to doctors.

Authorities also learned that a third son, Rainbow, apparently died in 1991. The older boy has said he watched his parents burn Rainbow's body in a trash can outside their home.

The adults have admitted burning the body but maintained that Rainbow died from illness, not abuse, authorities said.

Although the boy's body has never been found, murder charges were filed after investigators determined his parents tried to conceal his death.<