azathoth777
06-22-2007, 06:56 AM
PORTAGE, Wisc.— Prosecutors Wednesday charged a band of adults and children on the run from the law with murdering a woman in the crew, burying her behind their rented house and torturing her 11-year-old son who was found locked in a closet with severe injuries.
Police uncovered the crimes when an investigation into a missing 2-year-old Florida girl led them to the house in this town of 8,000 last Thursday.
Officers found the missing girl along with her mother who was sought in the parental abduction case.
But that was only the start.
After taking those at the house to the police station, investigators learned another child was left behind. They found the severely burned and blood-streaked boy in an upstairs closet.
Then questioning of the 11-year-old and the others on Friday again led them back, and they found the body of the boy's 36-year-old mother, Tammie Garlin, in a shallow grave in the backyard.
Columbia County District Attorney Jane Kohlwey said detectives believe the group made its living by stealing people's identities and using them in fraud schemes.
"You take just a child custody abduction and bring it to this town, it's a big case," said police Detective Lt. Mark Hahn. "Now you throw in a child abuse, which is a torture, in itself is a big case. Now you throw in a homicide with a buried body. That becomes a big case. And you throw in other things we're uncovering such as the identity thefts.
"We could have victims from all over in different parts of the country. Fortunately, it ended here," Hahn said.
Charged with being a party to first-degree intentional homicide were Candace Clark, 23; Clark's boyfriend, Michael Sisk, 25; Michaela Clerc, 20; and 15-year-old Felicia Mae Garlin, Tammie Garlin's daughter. They also face charges for abusing the 11-year-old boy and hiding Tammie Garlin's corpse.
They were not charged with identity theft, but Kohlwey said the investigation continues.
Circuit Judge Alan White set bail at half-a-million dollars for Felicia Garlin and $350,000 for Clerc. He denied bail for Sisk and Clerc, saying they pose a flight risk and have multiple aliases.
Kohlwey told White the group had been moving from state to state after Clark and Sisk kidnapped Clark's 2-year-old daughter from her foster parents in Florida.
Attorneys for the group asked the judge to set reasonable bail, saying the allegations were unproven. They don't have the money to flee, they added.
But Kohlwey told White investigators had discovered a number of money orders, each worth $500, in the house made out to the group's aliases. Authorities were still looking into how the group obtained them, she said.
According to court documents, investigators in Florida looking for the 2-year-old notified Portage police last Thursday that Clark and Sisk might be in town. Officers went to the address, a brick two-story house across from railroad tracks.
They met Clark, who gave them a false name, and noticed Clark's missing 2-year-old daughter in the house. They took everyone in the house, including Clark, Clerc, Felicia Garlin, Clark's daughter and Clark's 1-year-old and 3-month old children into custody. Clerc told them they had missed the 11-year-old boy in a closet.
Police returned to the house and rescued the boy from the closet.
The criminal complaint said he had suffered cuts to his head and had burn and whip marks from an extension cord all over his body. He also was missing a front tooth and was starving.
The boy told police the others in the house, including his mother and his sister, would pour scalding water over him, hog-tie him and put him in the bathtub, where they threatened to drown him.
He said he was whipped almost daily with a belt and extension cords, fed only one meal a day and forced to sleep naked in his sister's closet.
"I don't want to hurt no more," the boy told a doctor at University of Wisconsin Hospital.
Clerc said the boy's mother _ Tammie Garlin _ took part in the torture for a time before the others, including her daughter, turned on her. They began pouring hot water on her, too, and forced her into the closet with her son. The boy said his mother would rub cream on his burns.
Clark told police Tammie Garlin died before dawn on June 4. Earlier in the day Felicia Garlin and Clerc had kicked Tammie Garlin and had to carry her downstairs to the bathroom, where Clerc dropped her on her head.
Sisk went into the bathroom and shut the door. He came out a few minutes later and told them Tammie Garlin was dead. Clerc laughed, the complaint said.
An autopsy showed Tammie Garlin had been strangled. Clerc, Felicia Garlin and Sisk hid the body in the trunk of their car and buried her behind the house later that night, the complaint said.
Clerc and Tammie Garlin had been lesbian lovers for about five years in Florida, detectives said, but had broken up. Clerc believed Garlin had cheated on her, the complaint said.
Hahn said Clerc's parents were Clark's daughter's foster parents.
After Clerc and Tammie Garlin broke up, Clerc met Clark on the Internet. At some point they all went to Colorado, where Sisk joined them, and returned to Florida for Clark's daughter.
Kohlwey said Sisk is wanted in Colorado for not returning to jail, where he was released to go to work.
____________________________________________
It's amazing the things that people will do.
Police uncovered the crimes when an investigation into a missing 2-year-old Florida girl led them to the house in this town of 8,000 last Thursday.
Officers found the missing girl along with her mother who was sought in the parental abduction case.
But that was only the start.
After taking those at the house to the police station, investigators learned another child was left behind. They found the severely burned and blood-streaked boy in an upstairs closet.
Then questioning of the 11-year-old and the others on Friday again led them back, and they found the body of the boy's 36-year-old mother, Tammie Garlin, in a shallow grave in the backyard.
Columbia County District Attorney Jane Kohlwey said detectives believe the group made its living by stealing people's identities and using them in fraud schemes.
"You take just a child custody abduction and bring it to this town, it's a big case," said police Detective Lt. Mark Hahn. "Now you throw in a child abuse, which is a torture, in itself is a big case. Now you throw in a homicide with a buried body. That becomes a big case. And you throw in other things we're uncovering such as the identity thefts.
"We could have victims from all over in different parts of the country. Fortunately, it ended here," Hahn said.
Charged with being a party to first-degree intentional homicide were Candace Clark, 23; Clark's boyfriend, Michael Sisk, 25; Michaela Clerc, 20; and 15-year-old Felicia Mae Garlin, Tammie Garlin's daughter. They also face charges for abusing the 11-year-old boy and hiding Tammie Garlin's corpse.
They were not charged with identity theft, but Kohlwey said the investigation continues.
Circuit Judge Alan White set bail at half-a-million dollars for Felicia Garlin and $350,000 for Clerc. He denied bail for Sisk and Clerc, saying they pose a flight risk and have multiple aliases.
Kohlwey told White the group had been moving from state to state after Clark and Sisk kidnapped Clark's 2-year-old daughter from her foster parents in Florida.
Attorneys for the group asked the judge to set reasonable bail, saying the allegations were unproven. They don't have the money to flee, they added.
But Kohlwey told White investigators had discovered a number of money orders, each worth $500, in the house made out to the group's aliases. Authorities were still looking into how the group obtained them, she said.
According to court documents, investigators in Florida looking for the 2-year-old notified Portage police last Thursday that Clark and Sisk might be in town. Officers went to the address, a brick two-story house across from railroad tracks.
They met Clark, who gave them a false name, and noticed Clark's missing 2-year-old daughter in the house. They took everyone in the house, including Clark, Clerc, Felicia Garlin, Clark's daughter and Clark's 1-year-old and 3-month old children into custody. Clerc told them they had missed the 11-year-old boy in a closet.
Police returned to the house and rescued the boy from the closet.
The criminal complaint said he had suffered cuts to his head and had burn and whip marks from an extension cord all over his body. He also was missing a front tooth and was starving.
The boy told police the others in the house, including his mother and his sister, would pour scalding water over him, hog-tie him and put him in the bathtub, where they threatened to drown him.
He said he was whipped almost daily with a belt and extension cords, fed only one meal a day and forced to sleep naked in his sister's closet.
"I don't want to hurt no more," the boy told a doctor at University of Wisconsin Hospital.
Clerc said the boy's mother _ Tammie Garlin _ took part in the torture for a time before the others, including her daughter, turned on her. They began pouring hot water on her, too, and forced her into the closet with her son. The boy said his mother would rub cream on his burns.
Clark told police Tammie Garlin died before dawn on June 4. Earlier in the day Felicia Garlin and Clerc had kicked Tammie Garlin and had to carry her downstairs to the bathroom, where Clerc dropped her on her head.
Sisk went into the bathroom and shut the door. He came out a few minutes later and told them Tammie Garlin was dead. Clerc laughed, the complaint said.
An autopsy showed Tammie Garlin had been strangled. Clerc, Felicia Garlin and Sisk hid the body in the trunk of their car and buried her behind the house later that night, the complaint said.
Clerc and Tammie Garlin had been lesbian lovers for about five years in Florida, detectives said, but had broken up. Clerc believed Garlin had cheated on her, the complaint said.
Hahn said Clerc's parents were Clark's daughter's foster parents.
After Clerc and Tammie Garlin broke up, Clerc met Clark on the Internet. At some point they all went to Colorado, where Sisk joined them, and returned to Florida for Clark's daughter.
Kohlwey said Sisk is wanted in Colorado for not returning to jail, where he was released to go to work.
____________________________________________
It's amazing the things that people will do.