OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) — An internal investigation has found that a prison official in Washington state was not at his assigned duty station when a co-worker was killed in the facility’s chapel.
Records released Friday show the Monroe officer typically would have been stationed within 30 yards of the chapel’s entrance. The inmate now charged in Jayme Biendl’s death indicated in a letter to officials earlier this year that he saw it as an opportunity to return to the chapel undetected.
Department of Corrections officials say that seven staff members at Monroe Correctional Complex are being investigated for possible disciplinary action. But they still concluded that while some staff members failed to follow policies and procedures it didn’t directly contribute to Biendl’s death.
