The Washington inmate convicted of strangling a corrections officer in a prison chapel received a death sentence from a jury this afternoon.
With the sentence, Byron Scherf becomes the ninth man on Washington's death row. A Snohomish County jury on Thursday convicted Scherf, 54, of first-degree murder for strangling Officer Jayme Biendl, 34, with a microphone cord in January 2011.
The death sentence must receive mandatory review from the state Supreme Court.
Members of Biendl’s family hugged after the jury’s verdict was announced in a packed courtroom that included numerous corrections officers, reports the Seattle Times.