Nurse found dead at Honor Farm

NursesRmofun, ASN, RN · Apr 22, 2004

Riverton, Wyoming. A nurse Tammy Sue Watts,39,was found dead at this state minimum -security prison. She was found in her office at the Wyoming Honor Farm at 6:45 am by a medical co-worker prompting a lockdown of the prison. "We are investigating this as a homicide," Riverton Police Chief John Snell said. "We have no suspects at this time"
How sad!

How awful. I have considered correctional nursing a couple times but I am always too frightened. I always remember the story of the female guard who was murdered by an inmate after one of her fellow guards put the inmate up to it. The male guard gave the immate the opportunity to rape and kill the female guard because he was married and the female guard was pregnant with his baby or something....he wanted her out of the picture. ACK.

Blackcat99 · Apr 22, 2004

:) Thanks NurseRmofun for your message.

I have worked in state psych hospitals and prisons. I feel much safer working in a prison. I would never work again in another state psych hospital-much too dangerous! Usually there is a guard with you when you work at a prison. I don't know what happened at this Honor Farm?

That's awful your story about the guard who set up his mistress!

A nurse from a Florida prison told me about a prison medical secretary who was the most sweetest wonderful person to everyone. She said all the staff and inmates loved her because she was so nice. Anyway, she was retiring and got strangled to death by an inmate on her last day of work. The nurse told me that she thinks the inmate killed her because he was very jealous of her good fortune and happy retirement plans.

Havin' A Party!, ASN, RN · Apr 22, 2004

Black -- Please keep us posted on this story. Thanks!

Blackcat99 · Apr 23, 2004

Update:

Authorities say the nurse died from strangulation and a blow to the head.They said an arrest might be a month away but they are not worried about the suspect getting away. The police chief John Snell said "We are diefinately focusing on a suspect. That suspect in an inmate and because of that he's not going anywhere" They will be interviewing all of the 165 inmates and the 30 or so workers.

itsme · Apr 30, 2004

why in the heck would they call a prison "honor farm". And who was the wacko that thought up that name?

FROGGYLEGS, LPN · Apr 30, 2004

why in the heck would they call a prison "honor farm". And who was the wacko that thought up that name?

It is probably a minimum security type area.

Blackcat99 · May 1, 2004

:rotfl: Yes you're right. What wacko thought up the name "Honor Farm" for a prison? Maybe it was that same wacko who built that deluxe swimming pool for inmates at taxpayers expense in Calif. many many years ago. :angryfire

Havin' A Party!, ASN, RN · May 1, 2004

why in the heck would they call a prison "honor farm"...
Tend to agree, even if it's a minimum security holding tank.
Strikes me wrong. Just seems inappropriate... and demeaning to our law-abiding citizenry.

FROGGYLEGS, LPN · May 1, 2004

:rotfl: Yes you're right. What wacko thought up the name "Honor Farm" for a prison? Maybe it was that same wacko who built that deluxe swimming pool for inmates at taxpayers expense in Calif. many many years ago. :angryfire

You have got to be kidding me! A swimming pool?

The inmates at the prison I used to work at (my husband still works there) get cable television. They also get all of the big fights and such on pay-per-view. They get to stay out later during football season to watch the games. One block also gets the opportunity to order take out every so often as a reward for having the least amount of disciplinaries.

The only very minimum security prison area I know of is called the Minimum Security Complex. It basically runs on the "honor system" so that is why I figured the honor farm were that sort of complex. It is an ignorant name though IMO.

FROGGYLEGS, LPN · May 1, 2004

I also thought I might add that our waiting room at the HSU had a television installed in it while I worked there. The TV supposedly kept the inmates from complaining about wait time and was a deterrent from them walking out without attending their medical appointments.

One inmate had the luxury of hanging out in our HSU for a long time (which is out of the ordinary for that facility because they weren't really equipped for "in-patients"). Per the warden and my supervisor, I had to make this guy chocolate milkshakes everyday and change out the rented movies in the VCR PRN. He got new movies from the video store nearly every day.

So yeah, I guess I might see them building them a nice pool. Although I do think that stinks. Wait till someone drowns in it though.

itsme · May 1, 2004

You gotta be kidding, you had to make the guy milk shakes and change the vcr movies. That poor guy- I bet he was framed, just like all the other ones!! I would have told them that milk shakes wasnt in my job description, and neither was vcr movie changing. I could ramble on and on about this, but I will spare all of you!!!! Froggylegs, I do give you and all the other corrections nurses so much credit- you do a job I could never do, and I think you gotta have a lot of guts to do it!! My hubby works in corrections, so I hear things from him too. You all are way braver than I!!