Democrats call for federal probe into Iowa Department of Corrections after Anamosa killings Daniel Lathrop, Des Moines Register
Watch: What happened at the Anamosa State Prison? UP NEXT
Three of Iowa’s top Democrats are requesting a federal probe into the state’s prison system in response to the killings of two Anamosa State Penitentiary employees.
Meanwhile on Tuesday, Gov. Kim Reynolds and state officials, through the state s bidding process, formally requested an outside review of safety and security at the Iowa Department of Corrections. The request should be publicly posted Wednesday, according to the governor s office.
The inquiries come about a month after correctional officer Robert MacFarland and prison nurse Lorena Schulte were allegedly killed by two prisoners during a failed escape attempt on March 23. A third employee, Lorie Matthes, was held against her will for a short period, and an inmate, McKinley Roby, was injured trying to help t
U S Rep Cindy Axne, Iowa Democrats ask feds to investigate fatal attack at Anamosa prison thegazette.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from thegazette.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Des Moines Register
In a move that fell short of satisfying a union call for an independent review, Iowa corrections officials have brought in investigators from two neighboring states to probe the March killings of two Anamosa State Penitentiary workers.
A team of six investigators from the Minnesota and South Dakota corrections departments arrived in Anamosa this week to begin probing the March 23 slayings of correctional officer Robert McFarland and registered nurse Lorena Schulte, Iowa Department of Corrections spokesman Cord Overton said Thursday.
State officials have charged two inmates in the killings, which they say occurred when the pair, members of a prison work detail, were staging an escape attempt using hammers and a grinder obtained from a tool shed.
Des Moines Register
Just after noon on Nov. 6, Melinda McNabb received a call from a prison counselor at Clarinda Correctional Facility. Her son, Christopher James Rios, an inmate serving decades for a burglary and robbery, had contracted the coronavirus.
For McNabb, 52 and a mother of four, the news was worrying but expected: Coronavirus was peaking in Iowa’s prisons.
“I figured it was just a matter of time,” she said of her 28-year-old son’s positive test. He was one of 4,800 prisoners who have tested positive for coronavirus in the state s overcrowded prisons since the pandemic hit Iowa more than a year ago.
Iowa corrections officials bring in Minnesota, South Dakota officials to investigate Anamosa prison killings msn.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from msn.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.