Convicted 'Sweetheart Murders' Killer Dies in California Prison

Richard Hirschfield, sentenced to death for the 1980 murders of two UC Davis students, died of natural causes after over a decade on death row.

Richard Hirschfield, 75, died Monday at a California prison hospital, where he was being treated while serving a death sentence for the 1980 'Sweetheart Murders.'
Hirschfield was convicted in 2013 for the abduction, rape, and murder of UC Davis freshmen John Riggins and Sabrina Gonsalves, whose bodies were found days after they went missing.
The case remained unsolved for over 20 years until DNA evidence linked Hirschfield to the crime in 2001, leading to his arrest in 2004.
A suicide note from Hirschfield's brother complicated the investigation by implicating himself as a potential accomplice, though prosecutors could not use it as evidence in court.
The murders deeply affected the victims' families and the UC Davis community, with a tree and plaque on campus commemorating Riggins and Gonsalves.