Tulare County murderer linked to another fatal attack, officials say

TULARE COUNTY, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) – A man convicted of two Tulare County murders has been linked to another fatal attack – this time while behind bars, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation said.

Officials say Todd J. Givens and two others attacked fellow inmate, 57-year-old Todd S. Morgan, at Salinas Valley State Prison on Thursday. The men were outside in the recreation yard when they approached their victim with improvised weapons.

Morgan was pronounced dead in the yard. He had been serving a life sentence for second-degree burglary and robbery, manufacturing/sale/possession of a firearm, possession of ammunition by an ex-felon, possession of a controlled substance, all as a third-striker.

Givens, on the other hand, was incarcerated for a much more violent offense.

In 2001, Givens shot and stabbed 30-year-old and 32-year-old Barry and Patreace Holstone after luring them to his Tulare County home.

According to officials, his wife, Lacey, helped him stuff the bodies into the trunk of Patreace’s car, then drove to an orchard and burned their remains.

Then, while incarcerated in 2020, officials say he used “two razor blades and a sharpened, broken piece of nail clippers” to attempt to slash the neck of a correctional officer at San Quentin State Prison. The assault landed him with two life terms on top of his original death row sentence.

Given’s other two accomplices, 61-year-old Robert England and 51-year-old Ray N. Waldron, were also serving life sentences for murder and have a history of in-prison offenses.

The three have been moved to restricted housing while Morgan’s death is investigated.