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| Strangled by this monster |
Jayme Biendl, 34, was strangled with a microphone cord, by an inmate believed to be a male, serving a life sentence without parole for first-degree rape and kidnapping in 1997.
The man who's name has not been released by authorities. was reported missing during a routine count at 9:14 p.m. Saturday at Monroe Correctional Complex, about 30 miles northeast of Seattle.
He was found three minutes later in the chapel lobby and told officers he had planned to escape.
"He is our primary suspect," Monroe police spokeswoman Debbie Willis said, adding that Biendl was fully clothed and there was no evidence of a sexual assault.
Teamsters 117 spokeswoman Tracey Thompson said Biendl, who joined the Corrections Department in 2002, had complained to her union shop steward and prison supervisors about being the sole guard working in the chapel.
"She worried about being there alone without anyone checking on her," Thompson said.
She added: "Recent budget cuts have forced staffing reductions and union members have been worried about the impact of those reductions on safety.
"We have been pushing so hard on safety issues. It makes me crazy that it took someone getting murdered inside a prison while doing their job for there to be attention on this work and how difficult and dangerous it can be."
Staff members who became concerned at around 10pm, when she didn't arrive to finish her shift or hand in her equipment, immediately went to the chapel where they found her unresponsive
Emergency responders were called, but nothing could be done and Biendl was declared dead at 10:49 p.m.
Gov. Chris Gregoire issued a statement Sunday saying she had asked Department of Corrections Secretary Eldon Vail to thoroughly review the incident and look at the safeguards in place at the Monroe complex.
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