from: KCRG (ABC)
The family of an Anamosa corrections officer, is suing the state of Iowa.
Correctional officer Robert McFarland and nurse Lorena Schulte were murdered by inmates trying to escape the prison in March 2021.
Investigators say inmates Thomas Woodard and Michael Dutcher used hammers from the prison’s maintenance shop to strike both McFarland and Schulte in the back of the head.
Both Woodard and Dutcher pleaded guilty to the crimes later that year. They’re both serving sentences of life in prison.
The lawsuit alleges the Anamosa prison was over-capacity and under-staffed for at least five months before McFarland and Schulte were fatally attacked.
Specifically, the lawsuit states the prison had a maximum capacity of 911 inmates, but at the time of the attack was housing more than 950 inmates.
The lawsuit also states the prison only had 172 staff members despite being funded for 201 staff positions.
It claims this problem of operating over capacity while being understaffed was not unique to the prison in Anamosa and has been a pattern across the state.
A KCRG-TV9′s i9 Investigation following the attack also found the prison to be operating over capacity.
“It’s time to hold the DOC responsible for failing to provide a safe work environment,” stated Sara McFarland. “Protocols, training and procedures are still insufficient and it’s dangerous. Every staff member in our prisons deserves to go home to their family every night.”
The lawsuit also accuses the prison of failing to properly train and prepare staff members with an appropriate emergency response plan. It also highlights faulty radios that limited communication, failure to use surveillance cameras to monitor inmate activity, and a failure to control access to the prison’s tools.
“The more we uncovered the more infuriating it became. Direct and even written warnings about life and death safety deficiencies were ignored by State and prison officials,” said West Des Moines attorney Bobby Rehkemper. “The result was tragically predictable. It was a matter of who and when, not if. Even more terrifying is the fact that that three years later, the system is worse, and another hammer is missing.”
In February 2023, the Iowa Department of Corrections redesignated the Anamosa State Penitentiary as strictly medium security. It had previously been a medium/maximum security. The change resulted in the relocation of some of its most dangerous prisoners to the state penitentiary in Fort Madison.
Lorena Schulte’s family also filed a lawsuit against the state, the prison and the Department of Corrections in January alleging failures to provide a safe working environment, sufficient staffing and other failures of duty.