Minnesota Suspect Identified In Oregon Inmate’s Death

SALEM, Ore. (AP) - The authorities say an Oregon State Penitentiary inmate found dead in his cell last week was strangled and his cellmate is the suspect.

Joseph Akins, a convicted murderer, was found dead Saturday at the Salem prison. Cellmate Craig Bjork was held in segregation at the prison, but was not publicly named as the suspect until Wednesday.

State police say criminal charges against the 53-year-old Bjork will be determined by the Marion County District Attorney's Office when the investigation is over and the case is ready for a grand jury.

Bjork has been in the Oregon prison since January, when he transferred from Minnesota on an interstate compact.

In Minnesota, Bjork was convicted of the 1982 murders of his two sons, his girlfriend and another woman. According to court records, he killed a Minnesota inmate on Thanksgiving Day in 1997.