Published: October 01, 2009 10:19 pm      

Counts piling up on convicted rapist

Brett Sisson charged for Walton burglary, carrying shiv in jail.

While a paroled convicted rapist sat in the Cass County Jail on charges of theft and drug possession, the prosecutor’s office served the man with arrest warrants for carrying a deadly weapon while incarcerated and the June break-in of a Walton residence.

As it stands this week, 46-year-old Brett Lee Sisson of Walton faces two class B felonies that each carry 20-year maximums and two class D felonies, which could result in a total of six additional years in the Indiana Department of Correction.

Sisson and 33-year-old co-defendant Belinda Jane Myers are accused of burglarizing a Walton residence and stealing nine guns and numerous pieces of jewelry. According to court records, Sisson broke in while Myers waited outside in the vehicle.

Through his investigation, Cass County Sheriff Detective Tom Helfin reported Sisson traded the guns for marijuana. The couple pawned the jewelry in Logansport and Lafayette, he stated.

Sisson and Myers each remain in jail where they have been since a probe into checks stolen from a mailbox on South River Road.

A woman believed to be Myers was captured on surveillance attempting to cash one of the checks at a tavern in Logansport. Acting on a tip generated by local news stories, sheriff deputies arrested Myers and Sisson at a campsite on the same road the checks had been stolen from.

In that case, Myers is charged with class C felony forgery and class D felony theft.

Sisson allegedly drove Myers to the businesses to cash the stolen checks and possessed pills not prescribed to him at the time of his arrest. Until Monday, he was charged with possession of a controlled substance and aiding, inducing or causing theft, both class D felonies.

The Cass County prosecutor’s office dropped the case, stating in a court document that the dismissal “is in the best interest of the State of Indiana.”

Prosecutor Kevin Enyeart could not be reached for comment.

On Sept. 22, a correctional officer at the jail reported finding a “thin pointed fingernail file” stuffed inside Sisson’s sandal. The file, which had been broken off from a set of toenail clippers, was deemed a “deadly weapon.”

Sisson denied any knowledge of the file. He reportedly said he recently acquired his roommate’s sandals. The prosecution charged Sisson with prisoner possessing dangerous device or material, a class B felony.

The state has filed a habitual offender enhancement against Sisson because of two prior unrelated felony convictions.

Sisson was released from prison in September 2008 after serving 11 years of a 20-year sentence for class B felony rape. The rape occurred in Cass County in 1996.

On June 5, 1989, he committed the offenses of auto theft and receiving stolen property in Carroll County.

The enhancement could add several years onto a sentence, if Sisson is convicted of pending felony counts.

• Kevin Lilly is news editor of the Pharos-Tribune. He can be reached at (574) 732-5117 or kevin.lilly@pharostribune.com.