Son Who Tried To Murder Dad In RivCo Accused Of Killing Fellow Inmate

CALIFORNIA — A Desert Hot Springs man was sent to state prison in February following November convictions of attempted murder and other charges.

Now, he's suspected of killing a fellow inmate.

According to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, officials are investigating the Aug. 19 death of inmate Michael R. Spengler, 38, at Salinas Valley State Prison as a homicide and 31-year-old Miguel A. Espino is the only suspect.

The investigation began at about 10:30 a.m. that day when Espino allegedly attacked Spengler. Officials pronounced Spengler dead less than 40 minutes later.

One inmate-manufactured weapon was found at the scene, prison officials said, but further details were not released. The Monterey County Coroner will determine Spengler’s official cause of death.

It's not clear what led up to the alleged attack, but both men have violent histories.

Espino was convicted in a November jury trial of attempted murder, arson, aggravated mayhem and sentence-enhancing weapon allegations in the 2018 attack on his father, Arturo Espino Sr.

According to Riverside County Superior Court trial briefs, Espino and his dad argued regularly and sometimes engaged in physical altercations, most of which stemmed from the younger Espino's tempestuous behavior.

Prior incidents included uncontrolled outbursts leading to vandalism of the father's mobile home.

There was also an instance in which neighbors witnessed Miguel Espino pin his father's arms behind his back and drag him across a roadway in the mobile home park where Arturo Espino and his wife resided in the 15600 block of Palm Drive in Desert Hot Springs, according to court papers.

On the afternoon of Aug. 7, 2018, there was another blowup at the residence, where only the father and son were present. According to the brief, the confrontation led to the defendant allegedly using a hammer to pummel his father about the head, inflicting major trauma.

Prosecutors alleged that after the victim dropped to the floor unconscious, Miguel Espino grabbed a pile of clothes and used flammable liquids in the residence to set them ablaze in the hallway. He then ran away.

Neighbors spotted the smoke and rushed into the burning structure, containing the fire with an extinguisher and calling 911.

They pulled the unconscious victim outside, and county fire personnel arrived moments later, completely knocking down the smoldering blaze, according to the prosecution. An arson investigator immediately determined that the fire was intentionally set.

Arturo Espino was taken to Desert Regional Medical Center in Palm Springs, where doctors were initially unsure he would survive due to the severity of the beating. He remained comatose for days before regaining consciousness.

An update on his condition was unavailable.

Desert Hot Springs police and Cal Fire arson investigators identified Miguel Espino as the prime suspect, based on conversations with neighbors and his mother, who had moved out of the mobile home park and obtained a restraining order against her son for fear of her life and property, according to court papers.

On Aug. 8, 2018, the defendant was located and taken into custody without incident. He denied hurting his father, but recorded jail conversations between Miguel Espino and his mom confirmed he had attacked the victim, according to the prosecution.

The brief included a transcript of one conversation in which Miguel Espino claimed that his father tried to assault him with a knife, and he in turn struck the victim with a rock and hammer.

He also told investigators someone else had been in the residence and ignited the fire.

The defendant had no documented prior felony convictions in Riverside County.

Spengler was most recently received into state prison on Aug. 9, 2022, from Los Angeles County to serve life without the possibility of parole for first-degree murder and second-degree murder in the separate winter of 2013 slayings of 32-year-old Michael Meza of Pomona and 26-year-old Marcus Nieto of Azusa.

“Both murders appear to have been surprise ambushes of the defendant’s friends,” Superior Court Judge Henry J. Hall said when he sentenced Spengler in July 2022 to life without parole. “They appear to be largely senseless.”

Spengler confessed to the murders to a jailhouse informant.

Hall said he believed Spengler should “never be released from prison,” and said he was convinced that the defendant is an “extremely dangerous man.”

Deputy District Attorney Martin Bean said the motive for the killings was unknown.

—City News Service contributed to this report.