Zamora transferred from Western State to Monroe prison
MONROE, Wash. -- Issac Zamora, who killed six people and wounded four in a shooting rampage across Skagit County in 2008, was transferred from Western State Hospital to a Monroe prison, the Department of Corrections said Wednesday.
The Department of Social and Health Services says Zamora was removed under a 2010 law that allows the transfer of patients who pose a safety risk.
Zamora will now be housed in a "special offender unit" at the Monroe Correctional Facility.
"Higher security, much more secure perimeter," said Scott Frakes, deputy director of prisons. "Each of the buildings has a higher security levels, much higher staffing, security staffing level."
Zamora did not resist the transfer and was compliant, officials said.
On Sept. 2, 2008, Zamora killed neighbors in the small Skagit County town of Alger, construction workers, a driver on Interstate 5, and Skagit County Sheriff's Deputy Anne Jackson.
Zamora pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to two murders and guilty to the remaining four, getting four life sentences as a result. His plea bargain stipulated that he stay at Western State until a court ordered him moved to prison. Zamora had been at Western State for three years.
But being housed at the prison is considered a lot less expensive than Western State, where two state corrections SWAT team members stood guard over Zamora 24 hours a day at a cost of $1 million a year. Workers at the state hospital applaud the move because of the dangerousness of Zamora.
Psychiatric attendant Patrick McDonough reportedly was attacked by Zamora and was seriously injured.
"The risk to the staff is real and it's a daily threat to them," said Carol Dolitch, president of the Washington Federation of State Employees.
DSHS will maintain Zamora's treatments and a review of his status will take place within 90 days. The state is expecting legal challenges to the new law that allowed the shift from a mental institution to a prison.
The Department of Social and Health Services says Zamora was removed under a 2010 law that allows the transfer of patients who pose a safety risk.
Zamora will now be housed in a "special offender unit" at the Monroe Correctional Facility.
"Higher security, much more secure perimeter," said Scott Frakes, deputy director of prisons. "Each of the buildings has a higher security levels, much higher staffing, security staffing level."
Zamora did not resist the transfer and was compliant, officials said.
On Sept. 2, 2008, Zamora killed neighbors in the small Skagit County town of Alger, construction workers, a driver on Interstate 5, and Skagit County Sheriff's Deputy Anne Jackson.
Zamora pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to two murders and guilty to the remaining four, getting four life sentences as a result. His plea bargain stipulated that he stay at Western State until a court ordered him moved to prison. Zamora had been at Western State for three years.
But being housed at the prison is considered a lot less expensive than Western State, where two state corrections SWAT team members stood guard over Zamora 24 hours a day at a cost of $1 million a year. Workers at the state hospital applaud the move because of the dangerousness of Zamora.
Psychiatric attendant Patrick McDonough reportedly was attacked by Zamora and was seriously injured.
"The risk to the staff is real and it's a daily threat to them," said Carol Dolitch, president of the Washington Federation of State Employees.
DSHS will maintain Zamora's treatments and a review of his status will take place within 90 days. The state is expecting legal challenges to the new law that allowed the shift from a mental institution to a prison.
I read this story and I have to admit my jaw dropped. ONE Million dollars to guard him....are you serious! I agree with @Damned Redneck do the math. This is a huge problem. Even with all the added percentages of their increments this is a FAR stretch.
Give him a haircut, a frontal lobotomy, a new identity, and about 12 million dollars. He'll probably get elected to congress.
Am I the only one who thinks $1 million is excessive to employ 6 full time equivalent personnel to guard one person? State Patrol salary information can be found here:Â http://www.wsp.wa.gov/employment/benefits.htm
By my calculation, and assuming three 8 hour shifts by SWAT trained troopers with bachelor's degrees and 10 years experience, their cash wages would nearly equal $460,000. Are their benefits really worth $90k per year, is KOMO BS-ing us, or what?!?
Put him into the general prison population and let the weeding of the herd run its natural course..
There are alot of fairly young minimally criminal young men in prisons... they would be at risk for this criminally insane POS~ would you want your little brother, who made some small stupid mistake and got a "year and a day" in prison to get murdered say because he accidentally bumped Zamora in the chow line? Yeah...I didn't think so...Not all people in prison are horrible people~
Throwing this guy in a box and dumping him in the ocean or throwing him into a people-blender to be liquified Is totally American and not cruel or unusual punishment, but if an Arab country did it it would be completely and utterly wrong. Yeah, that makes sense. Even stranger, is that if an African country did it, nobody here would care. A non-Muslim African country, that is.
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Everything is justifiable as long as you're a good guy American.
 @jowsuf What on earth are you talking about.  He's being taken from one in-custody isolation setting to another, less costly in-custody isolation setting.  That is all.
Monroe?? That does not seem like the most secure safe place to put him. Although I suppose it is more secure then Western State hospital...
Save taxpayers dollars, put him in a crate and dump him in the middle of the ocean.
Lived at the Glenhaven Store off the Alger exit for a few years. I remember this guy, whether it be hanging out with some of the people I knew or simply coming into the store. He was the type of person you felt uncomfortable around, and doesn't surprise me what happened. They need a big blender for criminals like this. Just turn it on to liquify and dump him in.
Something more secure sounds like a good idea. You never know - he might do something crazy...
Coo coo for cocoa puffs! Â Scary looking dude.
Wow!!!! Really! Someone in the DOC and/or DSHS found a brain!
@mune237 You are giving way too much credit to both agencies. It was law makers in 2010. DSHS gives battered children back to the abusers and DOC gives hugs to the abusers.
dooh..
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His new room mate should be the mental hospital patient that killed another patient last month.
ship them off to an island in the middle of the ocean, no supplies, just each other - the only cost to society: the boat trip. I can live with that.
 @Komo Dragon That sounds very fitting for 1000 years ago.
 @jowsuf it's timeless
 @Komo Dragon  @jowsuf Hey, it worked for Australia, and they seem to have turned out better that we did, in some ways.
Give the nut-job some razors to play with, maybe he'll do us all a favor and off himself.
Why put him in a more secure facility?  Let him roam with the other killers and take his chances of survival there.  No way would I let a guy who murdered that many people out with a simple insanity plea.  You really think he'd ever not be a threat to society again?  Maybe lobotomize him and then let him out.
Reminds me of Hannibal Lecter. I hope we aren't sorry some day that we let him live.
It's much cheaper for the state to put him in jail than keep him in a mental facility. That's the bottom line here.Â
Where is the value in keeping this individual around. One thing if it's a law abiding citizen. This nut killed people. I think his ticket is up.Â
Prison the new home for the mentally ill..... Many offenders end up locked down for twenty-three hours one hour out per day.... Prison guards aren't trained to handle mentally ill people whatsoever.... shameful!
 @Funky-Munky Being mentally ill is just the new excuse and criminals are taking full advantage. Â
 @DontTreadonMe  @Funky-Munky This guy is pretty clearly mentally ill, but it seems that anyone who could kill people he doesn't know or have conflict with must be affected in some way. Just the same, it seems cruel to me to lock such a person up for the rest of their life and make them suffer in illness and punished for something beyond their control. To execute is to euthanize; the public could be assured he would never offend again, and Zamora would be spared a life in chains.Â
 @DontTreadonMe  @Funky-Munky Welcome to the 21st century where mental illnesses are real.
 @DontTreadonMe  @Funky-Munky I can see where you are coming from-DontTreadonMe, but this guy looks like he is mentally ill.
@Funky-Munky agreed, but this is not a normal mental patient. Mental Health Facilities aren't set up for patients like him either...
 @Keith Morse Agreed..... Funding a prison to deal with the criminally insane is the true problem.... sad. I witnessed first hand how many mentally ill people were in prison when I interned.... sad.
After 3 years at Western State, they are JUST NOW determining that he "presents an unreasonable safety risk in a state hospital setting?" Good grief.
He kills six people and gets to keep long hair. Now that's the tail wagging the dog.
@ObsidianOne Maybe the judge is being lenient because he looks like a member of the band "Journey" and she has a crush......
 @ObsidianOne I think thats a really old picture they always use.
Walk towards the light, Issac. Walk towards the light!
 @newspuppy You think he has a light to walk towards?Â
@Susabelle @newspuppy Yea.....one that sparks and crackles!! :)