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Jury Convicts Salinas Valley State Prisoner of First-Degree Murder and Assault by a Life Prisoner


SALINAS, California - Monterey County District Attorney Jeannine M. Pacioni announced on June 27 that
on June 26, 2025 45-year-old Lawrence Adams was convicted by a jury of first-degree murder, assault by a
life prisoner, and custodial possession of a weapon. The Honorable Judge Stephanie E. Hulsey presided
over the four-day trial.
On October 5, 2022, Adams stabbed fellow inmate Robert Tunstall more than 15 times in the yard at
Salinas Valley State Prison using an inmate-manufactured weapon. Mr. Tunstall died within minutes of
the attack.
The jury also found true allegations that Adams has prior convictions for carjacking in Yolo County in
2000, assault with a deadly weapon in Yolo County in 2000, criminal threats in San Joaquin County in
2001, and arson in Tuolumne County in 2007, all of which qualify as “strike” offenses within the
meaning of California’s Three Strikes Law.
Adams faces a maximum sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.
This case was investigated by the Investigative Services Unit of Salinas Valley State Prison and District
Attorney Investigator Peter Austen.

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