Inmate accused of killing another inmate in Monroe prison

MONROE, Wash. (AP) — An inmate serving time for strangling his girlfriend is accused of stomping another inmate to death at the Monroe Correctional Complex.

Snohomish County prosecutors charged 35-year-old Benjamin Price earlier this month with aggravated murder. He's to be arraigned Aug. 5.

Gordon Powell, a 45-year-old from Centralia, died a week after the May 9 attack.

The Daily Herald of Everett reports that Price has a long history of mental illness. He is serving a 12-year term for killing Dawn Ruger in 2006 and hiding her body in rural Whatcom County. Two years later, he confessed to the killing and led police to her body. He claimed Ruger was putting demons in his head.

Price was charged with second-degree murder in Skagit County for Ruger's death. He later pleaded guilty to manslaughter after a long stay at Western State Hospital.

Price was being housed at the Monroe prison's mental health unit.