The devastated family of Stephanie Dowells is now asking authorities how and why it happened given her husband’s criminal history

Stephanie Diane Brinson, 62, died as the result of a homicide and her cause of death on Nov. 13 at Mule Creek State Prison in Ione was determined to be strangulation, Amador County Sheriff Gary Redman told The Sacramento Bee.

A four-time convicted killer was allowed to have private family visits in prison. Now, there is a murder investigation underway after one of his visitors died.