A confessed hit man set to testify in the domestic murder-for-hire case against a former Baton Rouge car dealer was found dead Friday in a state prison, authorities said.
According to spokesman Ken Pastorick, staff found Tyler Ashpaugh unresponsive in his cell and "immediately initiated life saving measures" before Prison EMS brought him to the prison infirmary, where he was eventually pronounced dead.
Ashpaugh pleaded guilty in 2018 to manslaughter in return for a future 40-year prison term in the killing of Taherah Ghassemi. Prosecutors have accused Ghassemi's husband, former Baton Rouge auto dealer Hamid Ghassemi, of hiring Ashpaugh and two other men to kill her.