4 charged with homicide, abuse in Wis.

[Ban Hammer 13,346]

PORTAGE, Wis. - Police initially went to a rental property in this sleepy Wisconsin town in search of a 2-year-old girl kidnapped from her Florida foster home by her mother last fall.

What they found was a house of horrors, detectives say: A roving band of suspected identity thieves who had killed one of their own, buried her in the backyard and locked her bloody and beaten 11-year-old son in an upstairs closet.

"It's crazy. Weird," said next-door neighbor Angie Turley, who moved from Milwaukee to Portage to get away from crime. "It can happen anywhere."

Charged Wednesday with being a party to first-degree intentional homicide, hiding a corpse and child abuse are Candace Clark, 23; Clark's boyfriend, Michael Sisk, 25; Michaela Clerc, 20; and Felicia Mae Garlin, 15.

The teen is the dead woman's daughter and the sister of the boy in the closet.

Police said the group arrived in February in Portage, a town of 8,000 about 40 miles north of Madison that touts itself as "Where the North Begins."

The group was joined by Garlin's mother, Tammie Garlin; her 11-year-old brother; and three other children, including the kidnapped girl.

Detectives said the group was running from the law in several states. Clark was wanted in Florida in her 2-year-old daughter's abduction, as well as in Kentucky on felony warrants for financial fraud, Columbia County District Attorney Jane Kohlwey said.

Sisk was wanted in Colorado for not returning to jail after he was let out on work release, Kohlwey said. In the past year, the group had lived in Florida, Maine, Tennessee, Kentucky and Colorado, and came to Wisconsin to see snow, a criminal complaint said.

The group was making a living through financial fraud using aliases, prosecutors said. Kohlwey said investigators found a stash of money orders in the house, each good for $500, made out to the fake names.

They tortured the 11-year-old — identified in the complaint only by his initials — by whipping him, withholding food, scalding him with hot water and pulling his genitals with pliers, the complaint said. The group sometimes choked him until he nearly passed out and forced him to sleep naked in his sister's closet, prosecutors said.

His mother and sister helped torture him, prosecutors said.

At some point, the group turned on Tammie Garlin, burning her and forcing her into the closet with the boy, he told authorities. She was the only one who helped him, by putting cream on his wounds, he said.

The complaint said Tammie Garlin and Clerc had been lovers but had separated, and that Clerc was upset because she thought Tammie Garlin had cheated on her. Detectives, however, said they weren't sure why the others turned against Tammie Garlin.

Police said Clark told them Tammie Garlin died June 4. According to the complaint, Felicia Garlin and Clerc had kicked her, then later that day carried her into the bathroom, where Clerc dropped her head on the floor.

Sisk went into the bathroom and shut the door. He emerged a few minutes later, announcing Tammie Garlin was dead. Clerc laughed, the complaint said.

They buried her in the backyard. The landlord said Sisk approached him a few weeks ago asking if he could plant a garden in the spot.

He never got around to it. Florida detectives were closing in.

Portage officers, alerted by sheriff's deputies in Lake County, Fla., went to the house June 14. They found the missing toddler, along with Clark's two other children, and caught her trying to give them a false name, the complaint said.

Police found the 11-year-old sitting on the closet floor with his knees pulled to his chest, his body a mess of cuts, burns and scars. His feet were burned so badly he couldn't walk.

The complaint said the boy told a doctor, "I don't want to hurt no more."

Police captured Sisk at a Milwaukee bus terminal with a ticket to Kentucky the next day. Police caught him because his bus had been delayed, police Lt. Mark Hahn said.

A judge on Wednesday denied bail for Sisk and Clark, identified by prosecutors as the group's leaders. He set bail at $500,000 for Felicia Garlin and $350,000 for Clerc.

Defense attorneys said the allegations in the complaint are unproven and they don't have the money to flee. But Judge Alan White said all four posed a flight risk.

Hahn said investigators were trying to piece together the group's activities and whereabouts across the country.

"We could have victims from all over in different parts of the country," he said. "Fortunately, it ended here."

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[Nessa 23]

wow. I can't believe those things actually happen.

[Yaads 0]

Whoa I hope that they get the highest sentence they can get. That boy is going to be scarred for life Such sickos

[Jamie76 0]

I seen these idiots pictures in the news paper today. They look like they could have been best friends with Charlie Manson.

[Aymerlu 3]

What the hell is wrong with people these days?

[Sinergy 3]

seriously, i was speachless on this when i saw it on the news and im still speachless, no comment, god will punish me if i comment what is in my head

[Ban Hammer 13,346]

I seen these idiots pictures in the news paper today. They look like they could have been best friends with Charlie Manson.

post their pic please

[Jamie76 0]

Here's a link to their pictures: http://www.channel3000.com/slideshow/edito...505/detail.html

[boo boo 1]

This is a very sad story, the 11 yr old boys name is Andrew....he is a sweet boy. The whole family (Tammy, her lover Michelle, and kids Andrew and Felicia) lived in my apartment complex for 2 years, but moved last year. They seemed alittle dysfunctional...but nothing to this extreme...I can't believe that Felicia would be apart of any violent acts like this.... but I believe she did have anger management issues. I was on "friendly terms" w/ the family, but not a friend...just a neighbor. My son played w/ Andrew alot...he spent the night afew times.....always would call me "Miss Crystal" , very well mannered....please keep him in your prayers.

I also heard that he only got one meal a day...and then forced to drink alot of water until he vomited...then he would get beat again. He would be tied w/ hands behind his back and legs tied and then force him into scalding hot bath water (sister laughed while doing it)....when the police found him, he cried "please don't take me to jail"...not only are his legs in bad condition, but his hands have mummifed because of the burns. I hope that justice pervails and this little boy can recover and be w/ people who will love him, nurture him.....guide him, direct him to a life that he deserves.

[Ban Hammer 13,346]

Here's a link to their pictures: http://www.channel3000.com/slideshow/edito...505/detail.html

went there and made a copy of the pics. my gawd you're right, it's the manson family II!

looks like some of the "things" i've seen at the local wal-mart

I seen these idiots pictures in the news paper today. They look like they could have been best friends with Charlie Manson.

[Ladylethal 12]

That's a horror story indeed! Wow, hard to believe it's true.

[ivona 0]

I cannot believe the hatred on that 15yo face.... what is this world coming too? so sad