LIMON, Colo.—A prison officer had her throat slit by a convicted killer wielding a box knife on Thursday but is expected to recover, authorities said.
The officer, who’s name was not released, was taken to a Limon hospital and then flown to Denver for treatment.
“The officer is doing very well,” state prison director Ari Zavaras told The Denver Post after he and Gov. Bill Ritter visited her. “We feel very fortunate that it wasn’t more serious.”
Allen Thomas Jr., 40, the prisoner suspected in the attack, was serving a life sentence in the 1991 rape and slaying of 71-year-old Leah Mae Bratsch in Adams County.
Thomas was eligible for parole in 2034 but now could face attempted murder and assault charges, prisons spokeswoman Katherine Sanguinetti said.
The victim is a supervisor of an industrial sewing program, one of the Corrections Department’s work programs.
Sanguinetti said Thomas hit the woman in the face and started dragging her away. She was able to use her radio to alert guards.
At least four guards responded and ordered the inmate to release the woman. When he slit her throat, the guards rushed him and restrained him.
It wasn’t immediately clear how the prisoner got the knife.
The prison was placed on lockdown.
