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Pigge entered state prison in November 2009 to begin serving a 41 years to life sentence for killing his girlfriend’s mother and setting her on fire.
On Feb. 23, 2016, Pigge used a cement block to beat to death his cellmate, Luther Wade, of Springfield, while at Lebanon Correctional Institution. He pleaded guilty to Wade’s murder on Jan. 30.
Pigge’s low IQ prevented prosecutors from seeking the death penalty against him in his previous cases.
Related: Inmate avoids potential death penalty
He was being transported on Feb. 1 to the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility in Lucasville after his sentencing in the Wade murder when he allegedly killed David Johnson.
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Johnson, who was serving eight years in prison for sexual battery, had been admitted to prison in December 2015.
Pigge, Johnson and several other inmates were in the back compartments of a prison bus, said Pickaway County Prosecutor Judy Wolford. There were no cameras, she said.
Pigge is already serving life in prison — the same sentence he might face if he is convicted of Johnson’s murder.
Wolford said the case should still be prosecuted. “You still have a victim. He still killed someone.”
The state prison department has declined to release its transportation policy, citing exceptions to the Ohio Records law that allow withholding of security documents.
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