Man who killed cellmate at Ventura Jail declared not guilty by reason of insanity

VENTURA COUNTY, Calif. - A Palmdale man who killed his inmate at the Ventura County Jail was found to be legally insane when he beat and strangled his cellmate to death in 2018.

Ventura County District Attorney Gregory D. Totten said in a press release that 37-year-old Vu Cong Dao was legally insane when he killed Michael Torres in their cell in October 2018.

Dao had pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity in June. A decision regarding Dao's mental state was made by Ventura Superior Court Commissioner Paul Baelly in a trial by judge.

Dao now faces up to 11 years of confinement in a state hospital, Totten said. He remains in custody without bail as he awaits being committed to the California Department of State Hospitals. That is expected to take place in August.

Torres was found beaten and strangled to death in the Ventura County Main Jail in Ventura on October 25, 2018. Torres, of Oxnard, was being held for violating a restraining order. Dao was jailed for a commercial robbery in Camarillo.

Details of Dao's stay in the Ventura Jail, as well as his supposed motivation for killing Torres, have been chronicled by the VCStar.