WALLA WALLA, Wash. - The Washington State Penitentiary says an inmate on a work crew killed and butchered a deer outside the prison at Walla Walla.
Spokeswoman Shari Hall says the minimum-security prisoner was working at the penitentiary's pheasant farm last Saturday when he killed a deer that had become entangled in netting. About 20 deer roam the area.
Hall says the inmate had been a butcher before his incarceration and that he slaughtered the animal with a box cutter, which work crews are allowed to use.
Someone tipped off prison authorities on Tuesday, and investigators found about 15 pounds of venison hidden in garbage bags.