Guard killed in Seattle-area prison late Saturday identified

A corrections officer at the Monroe prison was slain by an inmate late Saturday.

State corrections officials have identified the guard as 34-year-old Jayme Biendl.

About 9:15 p.m., staff did a head count of prisoners in the State Reformatory Unit and found one missing, corrections officials said. The inmate was found minutes later in the chapel lobby and told staff he had planned to escape.

An hour later, staff discovered an officer's keys and radio were missing, then went to the officer's work area. They found Biendl unresponsive, performed CPR and called 911, corrections officials said. Emergency workers pronounced her dead at the prison at 10:49 p.m.

Teamsters Local 117 spokeswoman Tracey Thompson says the head of the Washington Department of Corrections Eldon Vail contacted her early Sunday to tell her the news.

"We are all shocked, saddened, and angered by this terrible tragedy," Thompson said on the union's website.

Thompson says the officer had complained to her union shop steward and prison supervisors about being the sole guard working in the chapel and feeling unsafe.

The Monroe Correctional Facility houses inmates under maximum, medium and minimum security, with a capacity of 2,400 inmates.

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