Co-workers testify about Biendl’s last night

EVERETT — Michael Boe* knelt down next to Jayme Biendl, took her hand, called her name and ordered her not to die.

“Don’t do this to us,” the Monroe corrections sergeant recalled saying the night he found his friend’s body.

Boe, a retired master sergeant with the U.S. Airforce, was one of the first corrections officers to find Biendl lying on the stage inside the chapel at the Washington State Reformatory. An amplifier cord was wound tightly around her neck.

Boe spoke about the moments that officers realized that Biendl’s equipment hadn’t been returned to the main control room — more than an hour after her shift ended on Jan. 29, 2011. A cadre of officers raced out to her post, slowing only to unlock gates.

The sanctuary was dark, quiet.

The silence was punctured by one of the men shouting two words: “Officer down.”

Thursday marked the second day in the trial of an inmate accused of strangling Biendl, 34.

Jurors learned about Biendl’s job manning the chapel post alone with up to 60 inmates at a time. They saw a photograph of her smiling, taken when Biendl was named officer of the year.

Two corrections officers also testified about Byron Scherf’s behavior that Saturday afternoon as he sat with his former wife for one of their regular visits. He is serving a life sentence without the chance of release.

The pair usually held hands, embraced and read the Bible together, corrections officers said.

That day Scherf and his wife didn’t seem to be getting along, the officers said. They weren’t holding hands. Scherf’s body language seemed off — something that correction officers are trained to observe.

They also told jurors that Scherf, 54, was the type of inmate who paid carefully attention to corrections officers’ routines.

“The inmates are always watching us, looking for weaknesses. It’s up to us to watch out for one another,” corrections Sgt. James Palmer said.

Prosecutors allege that Scherf planned to kill Biendl, taking steps to get her alone in a room not monitored by surveillance cameras and during a shift when he knew one particular officer frequently left his post near the chapel. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.

The defense has suggested that Scherf didn’t premeditate the homicide, telling jurors that their client said he blacked out after wrapping the cord around Biendl’s neck.

The jury on Thursday heard testimony from the officers who first realized that Biendl hadn’t left the prison.

About a half hour into his shift, corrections officer Eric Bennett noticed that Biendl’s radio and handcuffs hadn’t been checked in. He first thought she might have stayed late to fill out an incident report. He was told at roll call that Scherf had been missing from his cell at the 9 p.m. inmate count. The repeat rapist had been found sitting in the foyer of the chapel and moved to segregation. Officers were told it was a possible escape attempt.

Once supervisors were told that Biendl’s equipment was missing, they tried to reach her by phone. No one answered. They assembled a team to search for her inside the prison walls. They “bolted for the chapel,” jurors were told.

Bennett and his fellow officer Bryon McPherson entered the dark sanctuary while others checked the chapel offices. Bennett was attempting to turn on the lights at the back of the room when he heard McPherson yell from the front.

Bennett, who had never met Biendl, took her left wrist into his hand. At first, he thought he felt a faint pulse, but realized that was his own racing heart, he said.

Her skin was cold. There was a puddle of urine on the floor. Biendl’s legs and arms were stretched out, he said.

“Like she was making a snow angel,” Bennett said.

Boe told jurors he was just checking the library in the chapel when he heard McPherson’s frantic yell. He knelt beside Biendl seconds later.

He began chest compressions. McPherson started mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. There was no response. They moved her head. That’s when they noticed the cord around her neck.

An emotional Boe paused, explaining that Biendl’s eyes were slightly open, lifeless.

“Jesus,” he blurted out, as prosecutors handed him photographs of Biendl’s bruised neck.

Boe explained how the men lifted Biendl up to unwrap the cord. There were purple welts on her throat. They kept pushing on her chest, giving her air. Five minutes. Ten minutes. Nothing.

Two prison nurses tried. Monroe firefighters were escorted inside. They took over, trying to restart Biendl’s heart. Nothing.

The chapel became a crime scene and Monroe police detectives began their work, corrections Lt. Jose Briones later told jurors.

Snohomish County deputy prosecutor Paul Stern asked him how Biendl left the prison the next day.

“In a coroner’s vehicle,” Briones said.

Diana Hefley: 425-339-3463; hefley@heraldnet.com.

Correction, May 3, 2013: Michael Boe’s name was misspelled in an earlier version of this story.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Local News

Alan Edward Dean, convicted of the 1993 murder of Melissa Lee, professes his innocence in the courtroom during his sentencing Wednesday, April 24, 2024, at Snohomish County Superior Court in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Bothell man gets 26 years in cold case murder of Melissa Lee, 15

“I’m innocent, not guilty. … They planted that DNA. I’ve been framed,” said Alan Edward Dean, as he was sentenced for the 1993 murder.

Bothell
Man gets 75 years for terrorizing exes in Bothell, Mukilteo

In 2021, Joseph Sims broke into his ex-girlfriend’s home in Bothell and assaulted her. He went on a crime spree from there.

A Tesla electric vehicle is seen at a Tesla electric vehicle charging station at Willow Festival shopping plaza parking lot in Northbrook, Ill., Saturday, Dec. 3, 2022. A Tesla driver who had set his car on Autopilot was “distracted” by his phone before reportedly hitting and killing a motorcyclist Friday on Highway 522, according to a new police report. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
Tesla driver on Autopilot caused fatal Highway 522 crash, police say

The driver was reportedly on his phone with his Tesla on Autopilot on Friday when he crashed into Jeffrey Nissen, killing him.

Merle Meyers, who worked at Boeing for nearly 30 years, in Everett, Wash., April 2, 2024. Meyers said the company's culture changed over the years to emphasize speed over quality. (Grant Hindsley/The New York Times)
Ex-Everett Boeing manager says workers mishandled parts to meet deadlines

Merle Meyers, who worked at Boeing for 30 years, said he was going public with his experience because he loved the company “fiercely.”

Two people in white protective suits move a large package out of Clare’s Place and into a storage container in the parking lot on Monday, Dec. 4, 2023 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Snohomish County to test for meth contamination in supportive housing

A new rule requires annual testing at Snohomish County-owned housing, after a 3-2 vote by the county council Wednesday.

Boeing firefighters union members and supporters hold an informational picket at Airport Road and Kasch Park Road on Monday, April 29, 2024 in Everett, Washington. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
Boeing: Firefighters face lockout if no deal by Saturday

A labor dispute has heated up: Boeing filed an unfair labor practice complaint against the firefighters union and threatened a lockout.

Mountain goats graze in the alpine of the Buckhorn Wilderness in the Olympic Mountains in July 2017. (Caleb Hutton / The Herald)
Almost all mountain goats died after airlift from Olympics to Cascades

Federal authorities moved hundreds of goats to the North Cascades. Tracking showed most died within five years. Now, tribes are trying to save the population.

Shannon & Wilson used a hand auger to sample for PFAS from a Big Gulch Creek drainage basin last year. The sampling found elevated levels of the forever chemicals in soil and surface water at the south end of the county’s Paine Field property. (Shannon & Wilson)
‘Not a finish line’: For water providers, new PFAS rule is first step

Eight county water systems have some PFAS, though the state deems them safe. Many smaller systems still lack protection.

The former Marysville City Hall building along State Avenue on Tuesday, April 30, 2024 in Marysville, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Marysville schools, city could swap old City Hall for district HQ

The school district’s $2 million in cash considerations from the deal could go to urgent building upgrades amid a budget crisis.

FILE - In this file photo taken April 11, 2017, a security officer stands on steps at the entrance to Western State Hospital, in Lakewood, Wash. When the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services conducted a surprise inspection at Western State Hospital in May 2018, they found so many glaring health and safety violations that they stripped the facility of its certification and cut its federal funding. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson, File)
Suspect in Marysville teen’s killing still not competent to stand trial

In 2002, Todd Brodahl was accused of beating Brady Sheary to death. After a brief release from Western State Hospital, he was readmitted this year.

This photo shows a sign at the headquarters for Washington state's Employment Security Department Tuesday, May 26, 2020, at the Capitol in Olympia, Wash. Washington state's rush to get unemployment benefits to residents who lost jobs due to the coronavirus outbreak left it vulnerable to criminals who made off with hundreds of millions of dollars in fraudulent claims. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)
Snohomish County tied for lowest unemployment rate in Washington

The state’s unemployment rate ticked up in March. King and Snohomish counties each recorded the lowest rates at 4.1%.

Patrick Lester Clay (Photo provided by the Department of Corrections)
Monroe prison escapee apprehended in Seattle

Patrick Lester Clay was taken into custody in Seattle’s Beacon Hill neighborhood Monday. Clay escaped three days earlier.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.