Washington state to pay $3.25M in death of prisoner

SEATTLE (AP) — The Washington state Department of Corrections has agreed to pay $3.25 million to the family of a man who died at Monroe Correctional Complex after not receiving adequate medical care. The Seattle Times reported Wednesday that a lawsuit said 57-year-old John Kleutsch died of an abdominal wound that staff failed to properly treat. The settlement was filed Tuesday. The lawsuit from Kleutsch’s wife says he was recovering from outpatient cancer surgery and died on Aug. 28, 2018. He was serving a sentence for child molestation. The prison medical director was fired in 2019. As a result of the complaint, the Washington Medical Commission indefinitely suspended the former prison medical director’s license.