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Man Accused In North Bay Crime Spree, Oregon Murder Found Dead In Jail Cell

SAN RAFAEL (CBS SF) - An inmate who was found dead in the Marin County Jail on Friday was identified Monday morning as the suspect in the Oregon murder of a Castro Valley woman in April.

Jeffrey Griffin Boyce, 30, was pronounced dead at 2:06 p.m. Friday, a coroner's office spokeswoman said. An autopsy is scheduled for today.

Boyce was scheduled to appear in Marin County Superior Court Monday morning to face carjacking charges stemming from a Rohnert Park car theft on April 29, plus kidnapping and attempted carjacking charges for trying to steal a woman's car in the parking lot of the Bon Air shopping center in Greenbrae later that day.

He had not yet entered a plea and had been undergoing a mental health evaluation.

Boyce was also suspected of killing 57-year-old Kirsten Elaine Englund, of Castro Valley, Oregon authorities said. Englund's body was found April 28 near Winchester Bay Wayfinding Point along U.S. Highway 101, roughly 3 miles south of Reedsport, Ore.

The Sonoma County coroner's office and San Rafael police were investigating Boyce's death.

Prosecutors said Boyce allegedly committed the North Bay crimes while he apparently was on his way to the Russian Consulate in San Francisco.

Boyce's mother had called police saying her 30-year-old son was ranting against the government and wanted Russia to grant him asylum. Police claimed Boyce in his ramblings expressed sympathy for the suspects in the Boston Marathon bombing.

(Copyright 2013 by CBS San Francisco and Bay City News Service. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

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