Man Who Murdered Southland Couple Killed In Prison

DELANO, CA — The death of man serving a lifetime sentence in a state prison is being investigated as a homicide, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation said in a statement Sunday.

Alfredo Valenzuela, 50, was sentenced to life imprisonment after brutally stabbing an elderly Southern California couple to death in their beds in 2003.

Valenzuela was found unresponsive in his cell at 2:05 a.m. during a security check on Saturday. Prison officials suspect his cell mate, 36-year-old Noe Herrera, of killing him, officials said.

Herrera, also a convicted murderer, was removed from the cell and was rehoused at the institutions Administrative Segregation Unit pending the homicide investigation.

Officials at Kern Valley State Prison in Central California attempted life-saving measures on Valenzuela. He was taken to the institution's treatment and triage area, but he was pronounced dead at 2:31 a.m. Officials said Valenzuela's next-of-kin had been notified.

Valenzuela murdered Charles "Clark" Shaum, 78, and his wife Bernice Shaum, 70, on either the night of July 25 or the early morning hours of July 26, 2003, after breaking into the couple's Monrovia home.

In a 2003 interview conducted by detectives, Valenzuela told police he climbed through a window intending to burglarize the couple's home and landed on top of Bernice Shaum.

He stabbed her more than 40 times, then stabbed her husband 113 times, prosecutors said during the trial.
His attorney argued that Valenzuela suffered from brain damage and was on a 10-day methamphetamine binge when he committed the murders.

Valenzuela's girlfriend, Shawna Lenora Robles, was tried separately and also convicted of first-degree murder for her role in the killings. Prosecutors said she waited outside the bedroom window while Valenzuela stabbed the woman, then was let into the house by her boyfriend and hit Clark Shaum with bolt cutters.
Prosecutors said that after the killings, Valenzuela and Robles stole several items from the home including a truck.

Valenzuela was received by CDCR from Los Angeles County in November 2010 with a life-without-parole sentence for second-degree murder and attempted second-degree murder, officials said.

Herrera was received by the CDCR in August 2019 from Santa Barbara County with a life-with-parole sentence for second-degree murder and attempted second-degree murder, officials said.

The Kern County Coroner's Office will determine the official cause of death.

City News Service contributed to this report.