MONROE, Wash., Jan. 31 (UPI) -- An inmate is suspected of strangling a female guard at a Washington state prison, authorities said.
Officer Jayme Biendl, 34, of Granite Falls, was found dead in the chapel at the Monroe Correctional Complex Saturday night, Northwest Cable News reported.
Byron Scherf, an inmate serving a life sentence for rape and assault, was reported missing at a 9:14 p.m. head count and 3 minutes later was found in the chapel lobby. The cable news Web site said Scherf told guards he was trying to escape.
The body of Biendl, an eight-year veteran at corrections facility who was the 2008 officer of the year, wasn't found until 10:25 p.m. Biendl, who was in charge of securing the chapel, was unarmed.
Scherf has been placed in a segregation unit.
"This is the saddest day of my career," Superintendent Scott Frakes said.
"We're trying to determine what is it about our processes to not immediately say where is Officer Biendl?"
Tracey Thompson, an official with the union representing prison staff, called the fatal attack a wake-up call for the Department of Corrections.
"It's getting more and more unsafe, with reductions in staffing, freezes on hiring," she said. "It's becoming a ridiculously unsafe place".
Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire issued a statement Sunday saying she had asked Corrections Secretary Eldon Vail to review the incident and the safeguards in place at the prison.
"This young woman was devoted to an agency that works around the clock to ensure our communities are safe, which makes her death all the more tragic," the governor said. UPI
