GUARD AT MONROE PRISON MURDERED She had complained of feeling unsafe working alone in the Chapel January 30, 2011
Jayme Biendl, 34, of Granite Falls, an eight year veteran of the Monroe prison who was murdered Sat. Jan 29,2011 at the facility. CLICK TO ENLARGE
53-year old Byron E. Scherf, a convicted violent, repeat sex offender who was doing a life without parole term at the prison has been accused in the death of Monroe prison guard Jayme Biendl, 34. CLICK TO ENLARGE
Aerial view of Monroe prison grounds. CLICK TO ENLARGE
(MONROE, WA) -- A young guard at the Monroe Correctional Complex, the largest correctional facility in the state, was murdered Saturday night.
Jayme Biendl, 34, of Granite Falls, an eight year veteran of the facility and an Officer Of The Year there three years ago, was found dead Saturday evening after an inmate was reported missing during a routine head count, said a State Department of Corrections spokesman.
Prison officials believe guard Biendl was attacked by a 53-year old “three strikes” inmate during a failed escape attempt by the inmate, who is serving a life term without parole.
This is the first time a guard has been killed by an inmate at the 100-year-old Monroe facility.
Corrections officials say Biendl was working alone in the chapel of the prison when the attack took place allegedly by 53-year old Byron E. Scherf, a convicted repeat sex offender with a violent past. Scherf was placed in isolation and the prison was on lockdown Sunday while the investigation moved forward.
Scherf, who was being held in the medium security unit of the prison, was convicted in 1993 for kidnapping and raping a Pierce County woman at knifepoint. He then set her on fire with gasoline and left the woman for dead. He was convicted of rape and assault in two other cases.
EVENT STARTED WITH MISSING INMATE AT HEAD COUNT
The guard’s murder came to light Saturday evening after an inmate was reported missing during a routine count of offenders. That missing inmate was found several minutes later around about 9:17 p.m., in the prison chapel lobby.
The inmate was reported to be Scherf and he allegedly told officers he had planned to escape. About sixty minutes later prison staff completed an inventory of equipment and found that a correctional officer’s keys and radio were missing.
Prison staff then went to the chapel area and found guard Biendl unresponsive. CPR was started and 911 was called for an ERT team. Responders declared the officer dead at the scene at 10:49 p.m.
Officer Biendl had reportedly complained to supervisors on more than one occasion about feeling unsafe working alone in the chapel at the prison as well as complaining that security cameras in the area didn't work.
Biendl was only around 130 pounds in weight and stood just 5 feet three inches tall and was stationed alone in the chapel when the attack occurred.
Guards at the prison do not carry weapons — no guns, batons, pepper spray or other weapons while on duty.
This would, all other factors being roughly equal, tend to make a small stature guard particularly vulnerable - a situation called "disparity of force" - while working alone and confronted with a bigger, taller and/or more muscular attacker who is not afraid to employ violence and who has done so successfully against women in the past.
It was reported that officer Biendl was strangled, however official cause of death will not be announced until the Snohomish County Medical Examiner’s office has done an autopsy and makes a final determination.
Biendl was reported to be fully clothed when found and arriving prison staff found no immediate evidence at the scene of a sexual assault. Friends and co-workers attended a candlelight vigil Sunday night at the prison for the slain guard.
PRISON GUARDS WORK IN DANGEROUS SETTING: Have one of highest rates of on-the-job injuries
The U.S. Department of Labor Statistics describes work as a prison guard as “stressful and hazardous,” with correctional officers having “one of the highest rates of nonfatal on-the-job injuries. “
And the fact that Monroe Prison guard Biendl was working alone, unarmed and in and area where she could be attacked by a dangerous inmate is not at all unusual in the profession.
Every year, correctional officers are injured in confrontations with inmates.
And the Bureau says regardless of the setting – a local jail or state prison - correctional officers, even though they are unarmed, must “maintain order within the institution and enforce rules and regulations.”
They are equipped with communications devices so that they can summon help if necessary but officers “often work in a cellblock alone, or with another officer, among the 50 to 100 inmates who reside there.”
The officers enforce prison regulations primarily through their interpersonal communication skills and through the use of progressive sanctions, such as the removal of some privileges.
Below is a Google maps fly over of the Monroe Correctional Complex.
GOVERNOR EXPRESSES CONDOLENCES T0 FAMILY
Governor Chris Gregoire issued a statement Sunday saying she has asked the corrections department to review the incident and to look at safeguards at the prison.
She also said it was with heavy heart that she offered her condolences to the family and friends of officer Biendl, adding “I am truly saddened by her senseless murder…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 Seattle Times newspaper quoted Tracey Thompson, secretary-treasurer for the state corrections officers union Teamsters Local 117, as saying the people who work at the prison were saddened but also “angry because we've been talking about safety issues to the governor and the Legislature and the department."
HISTORY OF MONROE'S PRISON
The Washington State Reformatory Unit (WSRU) opened in 1910. It is now part of what is referred to as the four-unit Monroe Correctional Complex that is located on 365 acres in Monroe and consists of five units that house maximum, medium, and minimum-custody adult male offenders.
The Washington State Reformatory was originally built to house young offenders, keeping them separate from the hardcore older offenders.
In 1981, the Special Offender Center was opened at the prison to treat offenders with mental health issues.
Twin Rivers Correctional Center opened there in 1984 as a 500-bed medium-custody facility. The Minimum-Security Unit opened in 1997 to house minimum-custody offenders.
In 1998, the four facilities merged into the Monroe Correctional Complex under one Superintendent.
The facilities were re-named the Washington State Reformatory Unit (WSRU), Twin Rivers Unit, Special Offender Unit and the Minimum-Security Unit retained its name. The Jimmie Evans Performance Center opened November 2004.
The Intensive Management Unit (IMU) opened in 2007 as the newest addition to the Monroe Correctional Complex. This 100-bed Intensive Management Unit houses behaviorally difficult-to-manage offenders in a highly-controlled environment.
WSRU houses inmates with a "closed" custody designation or lower. In other words, though it is a closed-custody facility, some inmates qualify as medium-custody, or even long-term minimum custody.
Inmates are housed in two large cellblocks, the A-B wing and C-D wing. Approximately 875 inmates are housed there at any given time.
A Segregation unit (Cell Block 3) provides about 80 beds for inmates who need to be temporarily removed from the general population.
To send SVC news tips or photos: newstip@skyvalleychronicle.com To send News Releases: newsrelease@skyvalleychronicle.com Phone tips to: 425-791-1471
