Inmate Who Killed 2 Redondo Men Commited Suicide, Officials Believe

A man sentenced to death for killing two Redondo Beach men after he kidnapped them from a telecommunications store in Torrance was found dead after being found in his cell at San Quentin State Prison early Sunday, the Daily Breeze reported Tuesday.

Authorities believe Kenneth Friedman, 58, committed suicide, the Breeze reported. Prison officials refused to tell the Los Angeles Times how Friedman died because the coroner is still examining the death.

Friedman was condemned in December 2005, 11 years after he strangled Peter Kovach, 26, and Kovach's coworker Ted Gould, 29, to death in a Lawndale motel. Kovach and Gould were kidnapped from now-closed Galleria Telecom.

The Times reported that Friedman traveled from New York to California to kidnap Kovach because of a "dispute over a drug trafficking operation."

Full stories:

• Killer of 2 men kidnapped in Torrance dies of apparent suicide on death row [Daily Breeze]
• Death row inmate found dead, officials probe suicide [Los Angeles Times]