MONROE, WA -- Flags will be flown at half staff Tuesday in honor of a Western Washington corrections officer killed over the weekend.
Convicted kidnapper and rapist Byron Scherf is suspected of strangling Jayme Biendl Saturday night at the Monroe Corrections Complex. Scherf was serving time for a crime he committed 16 years ago in the Spokane area. Governor Gregoire is calling for an independent investigation into what happened.
The Monroe Correctional complex remains in lockdown Monday afternoon as friends, family, and co-workers remember Biendl. She was strangled with a microphone cord inside the prison chapel. The suspect is 52-year-old Byron Scherf, an inmate serving life in prison for rape, assault and kidnapping.
Biendl’s ex-boyfriend says she often worried about working alone with inmates. The ex-boyfriend only wanted us to identify him as Ken. He says Biendl was a good officer. Ken is now in total rage after hearing what happened to her.
Scherf was sentenced to life without parole when he was convicted of the kidnapping and rape of a Spokane real estate agent in 1995. Scherf was out on parole when he lured the victim to a home near Spangle and raped her. Officials say it doesn’t look like Scherf sexually assaulted Biendl. The corrections officer was the lone guard assigned to the chapel Saturday night.
As Biendl’s colleagues band together for strength, they’re calling for policy changes and a re-evaluation of recent budget cuts. A corrections officer says they need more officers who are better paid and better staffed.
Scherf is confined to a cell because he has attempted suicide in the past. Corrections officials say the prison will be in lockdown for several days.
