of Juneau County
The Messenger ROYALL FAMILY FUN NIGHT VOL 14, NO. 35
LOOK INSIDE FOR YOUR LOCAL NEWS:
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County: Page 3 Wonewoc: Page 10 Hillsboro: Page 14
Classifieds: Page 15 Legals: Pages 7, 9, & 16–21
THE AWARD WINNING OFFICIAL LEGAL NEWSPAPER OF JUNEAU COUNTY THURSDAY, MARCH 28, 2013
Judge rules to vacate 2nd degree homicide convictions BY EVA MARIE WOYWOD
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Former Necedah man convicted of 3rd degree sexual assault BY EVA MARIE WOYWOD
On Tuesday, March 26, Juneau County Circuit Court Judge John Roemer ruled on a motion and allows John G. Tetting to withdraw pleas of no contest in the 2007 drug related shootings resulting in the deaths of Joshua Alderman and Tabatha Nealy. Tetting had been convicted of 2 counts of 2nd degree John Tetting reckless homicide - party to a crime and sentenced to 30 years in state prison - a sentence which now has been vacated . The motion to vacate and leading to the recent ruling was filed by Tetting and after authorities received a 2011 written statement from David Turner, a co-defendant, who claimed after the convictions that Tetting did not have a role in the shootings nor was he present within the car when the shootings occurred. Turner has been convicted of the shootings and sentenced to 40 years in prison. Additionally, Tetting asserted in his motion he did not have an adequate legal understanding of what being party to a crime meant. This was an assertion he attempted previously and after he had pled no contest to the charges but prior to being sentenced in 2009. After the Tuesday ruling Juneau County District Attorney Michael Solovey released the following statement: "The Juneau County District Attorney's office has received the decision of the Circuit Court allowing Mr. Tetting to withdraw the plea he entered to two counts of reckless homicide occurring on March 11, 2007. It remains confident in the integrity of the charges and the investigation conducted by the Juneau County Sheriff's Office, and is immediately preparing to seek justice in the trial of this very important matter." Tetting is being represented by defense attorney Ruby Cole. He is currently being held in the Juneau County Jail on $150,000 cash bond. A status hearing has been scheduled for April 4, 2013 at 2:30 p.m.
On Tuesday morning the close finally came to a child sexual assault case that was filed in 2010 for a crime committed in 2009. Thirty-six year old Benji Parpart, formerly of Necedah, pled no contest to and was convicted of 3rd degree sexual assault resulting in Judge Richard O. Wright sentencing him to 3 years in state prison followed by 3 years of extended supervision. Parpart will have 845 days of credit applied to his prison sentence for time served in the Juneau County Jail. Although Parpart was convicted of 3rd degree sexual assault he was originally charged in 2010 with 2nd degree child sexual assault and contributing to the delinquency of a minor. Due to a plea agreement the sexual assault charge was amended and the contributing to the delinquency of a minor was dismissed. The charges Parpart was originally facing were formally filed on June 10, 2010 and stem from an incident that allegedly occurred in May of 2009. According to the criminal complaint on August 11, 2009, Detective Tim Andres of the Juneau County Sheriff's Department received a report from the Monroe County Sheriff's Department claiming a sexual assault of a child occurring in Necedah. Parpart was identified as the alleged perpetrator and was already known as a registered sex offender. The female victim would have been only 14 years old at the time the crime was reported to have taken place. The complaint went on to state that on August 12, 2009 Detective Andres met with the victim at the Juneau County Sheriff's Department. During that interview the victim reported that the incident happened on or about May 10, 2009 and after she sent Parpart, who was known to her and the family, a text message inquiring about marijuana. The victim is said to have told Detective Andres that Parpart replied to the text stating that he had "some" and asked if she wanted him to get her drunk. After replying yes to him, the victim claimed that Parpart replied with a text saying he would come to her residence after her mother went to work, and also told her not to tell her mother about it.
Then a sexual assault occurred, according to the complaint, later that same day when Parpart came over and after he supplied her with alcohol and smoked a cigarette with her. She claims that Parpart told her the cigarette had marijuana in it. The victim claims that later Parpart apologized to her and asked her not to tell her mother. The girl then also claimed that he told her if she did her mother would think she was crazy and send her to live with her father in another state. The girl also claimed that after the incident Parpart bought her gifts to keep her quiet. After the charges were filed in 2010 and law enforcement was unable to serve him with court papers, a warrant was issued for Parpart. Parpart was found in Missouri and extradited back to Juneau County in July of 2011. He was placed on a cash bond and held in the Juneau County Jail where he remained up to Tuesday morning's plea hearing and sentencing. Parpart has an extensive prior record including a 1998 conviction of 2nd degree sexual assault and a 2003 conviction on a felony cocaine charge. In addition to Tuesday morning's prison sentence Parpart was fined $852.70 in court assessments, and ordered not to have contact with the victim. He will also need to undergo sex offenders treatment.
Mauston pair charged with ID theft
BY EVA MARIE WOYWOD
Janey Guist and Gregory Shaw, both from Mauston, have been charged in Juneau County Circuit Court with being party to felony theft and identity theft. The charges were filed by assistant district attorney Jake Westman last Thursday, March 21st. According to the criminal complaint on July 12, 2012 Juneau County Sheriff's Department deputy Colleen Beier was dispatched to a home in Mauston for a report of fraud. Upon arriving on the scene deputy Beier was met by Guist who allegedly stated that there had been fraud on her Wisconsin Department of Health Services IRIS account, a program that helps peo-
ple get basic care services that they cannot provide for themselves. Guist reportedly told the deputy that she believed her live-in boyfriend, Shaw, may have forged her and another person's, Albert Babcock, signature on IRIS program paperwork. Guist went on to state that she has been on the program from April 2011 to June 2012. Babcock was listed as Guist's paid in home caretaker as part of the IRIS program and a debit card was issued in Babcock's name during that time. After gathering needed information the deputy investigated the claim which showed employee wage history documents revealing that between January of 2012 and July of 2012 Babcock had
been paid $12,199.09. However, according to Babcock he stated that he only received checks through December of 2011, and had not filed a timesheet since December 16, 2011. On September 12, 2012 the deputy met with Guist again to conduct an interview. The criminal complaints states that it was during that interview Guist admitted she had forged the time sheets in Babcock's name after December 16, 2011 through June 30, 2012 and that she acquired a debit card in Babcock's name so that the IRIS wages could be deposited into that account. Guist is reported to have said those actions were done without Babcock's knowledge. See IDENTITY THEFT, Page 3