Suspected homicide under investigation at High Desert State Prison

An inmate is suspected of killing another incarcerated man Saturday morning at High Desert State Prison in Susanville.

Prison officials recovered an “improvised weapon” from the scene and are investigating the incident in the prison yard as a homicide, according to a California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation news release.

Authorities said that inmate Rodger A. Brown allegedly attacked William J. Couste, 54, at about 10:20 a.m. Saturday. Officers performed life-saving measures on Couste, who was taken to the prison’s treatment area and pronounced dead at 10:49 a.m. No one else was reportedly hurt.

The prison’s investigators and the Lassen County District Attorney’s Office are looking into the incident. The Office of the Inspector General has been notified, authorities said.

Authorities moved Brown, 41, to restricted housing pending the investigation, according to the news release.

Brown has been at High Desert State Prison since April 2012 and is serving multiple sentences, including a life sentence he received in January 2024 for second-degree murder as a third striker, which CDCR described as “an in-prison offense.”

Couste was serving a sentence of more than 21 years for transporting or importing a controlled substance and evading or attempting to evade a peace officer while driving recklessly, with enhancements, according to CDCR.