BREAKING: Already Serving 16 Life Sentences, Arizona Inmate Accused of Killing Three Child Sex Offenders in One Morning Gets Trial Date

UPDATE: Trial Set for Arizona Inmate Accused of Killing Three Fellow Prisoners in One Morning Ricky Wassenaar was already serving 16 life sentences when three inmates died at an Arizona prison. Now he faces a murder trial that could end in a death sentence. Court records schedule Wassenaar’s trial for Jan. 25 through March 27, 2028. He is charged with three counts of first-degree murder and aggravated assault in the deaths of Saul Alvarez, Thomas Harnage and Donald Lashley. The three men died after an altercation on April 4, 2025, at the Cimarron Unit of the Arizona State Prison Complex in Tucson, according to the Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation and Reentry.

All three had convictions involving children. Alvarez was serving a sentence for first-degree murder. Harnage had been sentenced for sexual conduct with a minor, while Lashley had been sentenced for sexual conduct with a minor and child molestation. Pinal County Attorney Brad Miller has filed notice that prosecutors intend to seek the death penalty. “I believe the death penalty is the appropriate sentence given the defendant’s extensive history of violence,” Miller said. His office says the case meets the legal requirements for a possible death sentence. Wassenaar’s existing life sentences stem from a 2004 hostage standoff at another Arizona prison. He was convicted the following year on 19 charges connected to that incident, including kidnapping, aggravated assault, sexual assault and escape. The Tucson killings will now go before a jury in a trial expected to last about two months. Wassenaar has pleaded not guilty to the murder charges.