There’s nothing wrong with the system used to classify the security risk of Arizona prison inmates, even if it did result in one prisoner being able to kill three fellow inmates at the Tucson facility in April, the head of the state’s prison system told lawmakers Tuesday.
Ryan Thornell acknowledged that Randy Wassenaar had his custody reduced from maximum security to “close custody’’ late last year despite the fact he was serving 16 life terms for a 2004 incident in which he and a fellow inmate took and held hostages at a state prison for 15 days.
And Thornell said none of that changed despite the fact that Wassenaar had boasted earlier this year of having killed his cellmate. There is no hard evidence Wassenaar was involved in that death, with the official autopsy report showing the cause was inconclusive, Thornell said…