2 previous attacks on women at Monroe prison

Two other women were assaulted in the past six months at the Washington state prison where a female guard was strangled, adding to questions about the safety of prison workers.

Officer Jayme Biendl, 34, was killed Saturday night in a chapel at the reformatory unit for medium-security inmates at the Monroe Corrections Complex, about 30 miles northeast of Seattle.

Union officials have questioned why she was alone after complaining to supervisors about being the only guard working in the chapel without anyone checking on her. Gov. Chris Gregoire on Monday called for an outside investigation focusing on whether prisons are adequately staffed.

Police say their prime suspect is inmate Byron Scherf, serving a life sentence after convictions for two violent rapes, including one in which the victim was bound and set on fire. He had served as a chapel volunteer after a decade of good behavior behind bars.

Scherf, 52, was found by guards outside the chapel after he missed a head count, and he told them he had tried to escape but changed his mind. Biendl's body was found about an hour later when she failed to check in at the end of her shift.

Police say there is no evidence Biendl was raped; she was fully clothed and wearing a coat when found.

Monroe prison Superintendent Scott Frakes said that on Sept. 24, an inmate put his hands on the neck of a counselor.

"He somehow inappropriately grabbed her," Frakes told The Daily Herald of Everett.

The case was investigated as a possible fourth-degree assault, a gross misdemeanor.

On Aug. 24, a female custodian reported being grabbed by an inmate in a maintenance department office.

Frakes said she was able to pull away from the inmate and run out of the room. She took a medical leave and recently returned to a different job, he said.

That case remains under investigation. No charges have been filed in either incident.

Monroe police say they also investigated two reported assaults on male workers at the complex last year, including one in which a guard broke his wrist after being tackled by an inmate in a unit for mentally ill offenders.

Frakes said the greatly outnumbered officers and prison staff also routinely endure such things as having feces thrown at them, being spit on and bumped into.

He said he would like the state Legislature to make such incidents crimes.

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Information from The Daily Herald and KOMO-TV is included in this report.