MONROE — The state’s largest prison on Friday was being eased out of a lockdown that has been in place since the Jan. 29 killing of corrections officer Jayme Biendl.
Limited family visits were being allowed at the Monroe Correctional Complex starting today and through the weekend, corrections spokesman Chad Lewis said.
Biendl was killed at her post in the chapel at the Washington State Reformatory. Inmates at the reformatory on Thursday received their fist visit outside to the recreation yard since the killing.
A convicted rapist serving life, Byron Scherf, reportedly has admitted strangling Biendl. He’s being investigated for aggravated first-degree murder, which can bring a death sentence. Scherf is being held at the Snohomish County Jail in Everett.
The Monroe prison complex is the state’s largest, housing more than 2,500 inmates. Those assigned to the reformatory, Twin Rivers Unit, the Minimum Security Unit and Intensive Management Unit again will be allowed limited visits with family. Some parts of the Special Offender Unit, where mentally ill inmates are confined, will remain on full lockdown. That’s because an investigation still is under way after a reported assault Wednesday on a corrections counselor.
“Our primary concern coming off any lockdown is the security of everyone in the facility,” Superintendent Scott Frakes said. “We’ll gradually return to normal operations. If everything goes smoothly, we’ll slowly increase offender activity. If there are incidents, we will restrict offender movement just as we normally do.”
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