NATCHEZ — Corrections officials said Friday the cause of a Natchez man’s death in prison earlier this week remains unclear.

Curt Thornton, who pleaded guilty in February to gunning down his estranged wife and her friend in Vidalia, was found dead in a cell at the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola on Thursday.

Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections Communications Director Ken Pastorick said Thornton was pronounced dead at 3:13 a.m. Thursday. Pastorick said preliminary indications did not reveal anything out of the ordinary.

“We are doing an autopsy as is with other inmate deaths to determine the official cause of death,” Pastorick said. “We have no reason to suspect foul play and no reason to suspect suicide at this point.”

Pastorick said he did not know when the results of the routine autopsy would be back.

Thornton, 36, pleaded guilty in February to charges he killed his estranged wife Angela Thornton, 36, shooting her five times, and John Tibbs, 36, shooting him once. Both Angela Thornton and Tibbs were killed in April 2016 at the Thorntons’ 1649 Azalea Drive residence in Vidalia. The murders occurred while the Thorntons’ children were asleep in the residence.

Seventh Judicial District Judge John Reeves sentenced Thornton to serve two life sentences to run consecutive to each other without benefit of parole, probation or suspension of sentence.