Daniel C. Frederickson, sentenced to death nearly three decades ago for fatally shooting a Santa Ana store manager during a botched robbery, died in prison on Wednesday at the age of 63. He was pronounced dead at about 12:25 p.m. at the California Institution for Men in Chino, and the San Bernardino County coroner will determine his official cause of death.
The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation announced Frederickson's death, according to KTLA. Frederickson had been on California's death row since January 1998, when a judge imposed the sentence after a jury found him guilty of first-degree murder in the killing of 30-year-old HomeBase store manager Scott Wilson.
A Botched Robbery Inside a Santa Ana HomeBase
Wilson was shot in the head on June 13, 1996, inside the Santa Ana HomeBase store, according to the same KTLA report. He was retrieving $50 in change from the store safe during a busy relocation sale when he refused to hand over money during the attempted robbery, according to FindLaw's summary of the California Supreme Court case. Wilson was an aspiring television producer who had planned to attend Orange Coast College that fall, per the same case record.
Frederickson, a Garden Grove resident at the time of his arrest, was charged with murder and attempted robbery and had a lengthy criminal record. During his 1997 trial, prosecutors introduced a recorded police confession in which Frederickson admitted to shooting Wilson after the manager refused to hand over the safe money, as reported by the Los Angeles Times.
Self-Represented Defendant, Contradictory Pleas
Frederickson represented himself during his trial. A jury found he killed Wilson while attempting to commit robbery and that he personally used a firearm, ultimately convicting him of first-degree murder. Although he initially asked jurors to recommend that he be executed, Frederickson shifted his argument during closing statements, attributing the murder to an “explosive personality disorder” and later arguing that his mental health problems should be considered in deciding his punishment, telling the jury he was “ambivalent” about receiving life in prison versus execution. The jury took roughly two hours to return its death penalty recommendation, the Los Angeles Times reported at the time.
Following Frederickson's January 1998 death sentence, Wilson's brother, Kirk Wilson, voiced frustration at California's lengthy appeals process. He told reporters he wanted to press the execution button himself, saying, “it won't be over until I go to San Quentin.”
Supreme Court Affirmed the Conviction in 2020
In February 2020, the California Supreme Court affirmed Frederickson's conviction and death sentence, finding the jury had correctly determined he was sane at the time of the crimes, though the court struck a restitution fine. The opinion affirmed the judgment in all other respects, according to Justia's summary of the ruling.
Why Frederickson Was in Chino, Not San Quentin
Frederickson's death occurred not at San Quentin's historic death row but at CIM in Chino, a direct result of California's Condemned Inmate Transfer Program. Launched in early 2024 under voter-approved Proposition 66, the program led CDCR to dismantle San Quentin's segregated death row units and relocate hundreds of condemned inmates into general population facilities statewide, including dozens sent to Chino, according to CDCR. Proposition 66 also requires condemned inmates to work and pay restitution to crime victims. Hoodline previously reported on the broader emptying of San Quentin's death row as the prison shifted toward rehabilitation programming.
The transfers to Chino were not welcomed locally. Officials and residents there submitted a petition with more than 3,700 signatures raising safety concerns about the transfers, according to the City of Chino.
A Sentence That Was Never Carried Out
California has maintained a statewide execution moratorium, according to the Office of Governor Gavin Newsom.
Frederickson's death fits a pattern that has defined California's death row for decades. Since the state reinstated capital punishment in 1978, it has carried out only 13 executions — the last in 2006 — while other condemned prisoners have died while awaiting execution, per the Death Penalty Information Center. The organization also reports deaths by suicide among California death-row inmates. CDCR currently reports 564 condemned people in the state's prison system.
