FLOYD COUNTY – A Floyd County man serving time for shooting a state trooper will spend an additional 40 years in prison for the deadly stabbing of another inmate in West Virginia.
41-year-old Steven Branscome previously pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the death of Russell Hager.
The prosecutor says Branscome used a shank.
The 47-year-old's body was found last month in the weight yard of the Mount Olive Correctional Complex.
Investigators say it happened after a fight.
Branscome's sentence will run consecutively with his other convictions.
In 2008, he pleaded guilty to shooting Virginia State Police trooper Richard Hughes. The trooper says he was shot after a police chase in Giles County that crossed into Mercer County, West Virginia.
"As soon as the first couple shots were fired, I went to raise my weapon to fire back decided against it, ducked to the left, and jumped into the woods.At that time when I ducked is when the round struck me," said Hughes.
A nationwide search continued for days until U.S. marshals eventually caught him in Texas.