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Police Investigating Apparent Inmate Murder At Washington State Prison

Bryan Emmal died at the Washington Corrections Center Sunday night. The Department of Corrections says he was the victim of an apparent homicide. 
Washington Department of Corrections
Bryan Emmal died at the Washington Corrections Center Sunday night. The Department of Corrections says he was the victim of an apparent homicide. 

Police are investigating the apparent murder of an inmate Sunday night at the Washington Corrections Center in Shelton.

Inmate Bryan Emmal was found gravely injured in his cell just before 10 p.m. Sunday. He was pronounced dead shortly after. The cause of death hasn’t been released, but the Department of Corrections says there was no weapon involved.

Emmal’s cellmate was handcuffed and placed in the segregation unit following the death. He has not yet been charged with any crime. Emmal was 57 years old and serving a life sentence for first degree child molestation. His cellmate was serving 15 months for burglary. Both men were fairly new arrivals to the prison system.

It’s believed the last inmate murder in a Washington prison was in May 2015 at the Monroe Correctional Center.

Copyright 2017 Northwest News Network

Since January 2004, Austin Jenkins has been the Olympia-based political reporter for the Northwest News Network. In that position, Austin covers Northwest politics and public policy, as well as the Washington State Legislature. You can also see Austin on television as host of TVW's (the C–SPAN of Washington State) Emmy-nominated public affairs program "Inside Olympia."