14yo old Christian Wilcox charged with raping and murdering his 4 yo half sister

[Ninja0980]

http://www.ketv.com/mostpopular/23516328/detail.html#

OMAHA, Neb. Authorities arrested a 14-year-old boy in connection to a house fire that killed his half-sister last week in Tekamah, according to the Burt County attorney.

Sierra Wilcox, 4, died in the blaze while she slept on a couch. Her mother, who was asleep upstairs, smelled smoke and tried to put out the flames that started on a kitchen stove top, investigators said. The mother was driven back by the thick smoke.

Christian Wilcox has been charged as an adult with first-degree murder and first-degree sexual assault. He was taken into custody on Monday, investigators said.

Burt County officials reported on autopsy results Tuesday that showed signs of blunt force trauma consistent with penetration. Doctors also noted no signs of smoke or soot in the girl's lungs or trachea.
The cause of death was noted in the autopsy results as smothering, investigators said. They believe the teen killed the girl while sexually assaulting her.

According to a probably cause affidavit, a funeral home director noticed injuries on the girl unrelated to the fire.

Investigators also found out that the teen was the only male in the house and that he was sleeping on the same couch as the girl.

"It's devastating," said Burt County Attorney Dan Smith.

The girl's family said the teen never acted any differently during the week after the fire. He kept telling them he was sleeping on the couch until he heard his mother's screams, when he said he got up to help put out the fire.

The family said the teen had moved to Tekameh three months ago from Kansas because he was struggling in school. The family said they wanted to help him get back on track. They described him as a polite and quiet person.

Pity this poor child was murdered by her animal of a brother. Only 14 and he's already a monster. Lock him up for life.

[AngelFire]

Oh this is just sickening

[TwiztidAngel]

The girl's family said the teen never acted any differently during the week after the fire

that statement alone leads me to believe this boy is truly psychotic

[Rockin Ma]

According to a probably cause affidavit, a funeral home director noticed injuries on the girl unrelated to the fire


I'm guessing it's the evidence of sexual assault. Why didn't the ME catch that?... or was that not done until after the funeral director brought it to their attention?

[wild_angel_1980]

This story reminds me of Gracie Ann Trentham..

[Silvahalo]

These types of stories are so, so disturbing. I'm sure the mother never thought she was bringing harm to her daughter by letting her son stay at her home.


The family has declined to comment, but her mother talked about Sierra in her obituary in the Burt County Plaindealder.

“The day Sierra came into our lives, we knew we had one special little girl,” Magill wrote in the obituary. “She was our little ray of sunshine. Her smile and big blue eyes would light up any room. Sierra loved her ‘sista’ and brother so much. She always made sure we bought two of everything for her and her sister.

“Sierra loved cats and every time we had baby kitties, she would name them all,” the obituary reads. “She never forgot to say thank you, and her favorite way for asking for something was, ‘Pretty please, with sugar on top.’

What a sweet child she was! I cannot imagine the nightmare the parents must be going through. Rest in peace little one.
http://i510.photobucket.com/albums/s341/silvahalo68/Fallen%20angels/FallenAngels2/SierraWilcox.jpghttp://i510.photobucket.com/albums/s341/silvahalo68/Fallen%20angels/FallenAngels2/SierraW.jpg

link (http://www.omaha.com/article/20100511/NEWS97/100519927)

[runecire]

How very sad. Rest in peace, Little Angel. You deserved far better than this.



I hope this boy never sees free light again. I am not often in favor of locking such young kids up for life, but if he truely did this, he will never be normal again. If he is set free, he will re-offend.

[Ninja0980]

Appears his family isn't standing by him... and I can't blame them one bit.
http://www.omaha.com/article/20100518/NEWS97/705199923

TEKAMAH, Neb. -- A teenager accused of sexually assaulting and killing his 4-year-old half sister sat alone Tuesday at his courtroom defense table.

Not even his father sat next to him.

Christian Wilcox, 14, is charged with first-degree murder and first-degree sexual assault in the death of Sierra Wilcox.

The skinny teenager entered the Burt County courtroom in handcuffs, wearing a blue flak jacket over a white T-shirt, faded jeans and tennis shoes. The bangs on his brown, mop-top hair nearly touched his eyes.

When Judge C. Matthew Samuelson called his case, the teen quietly crossed the room and sat at the defense table. Assistant prosecutor David Drew, sitting at the next table, placed a copy of the charges in front of the him.

Samuelson asked Wilcox if he understood the charges. A barely audible “yes” was the reply.

The answer was the same when the boy was asked if he was under 18 and whether his age was 14.

The judge then scanned the courtroom and asked if a parent was present.

Sitting in the third row, the boy's father, Phillip Wilcox, slowly raised his hand. The boy did not look back.

“Please come forward and sit at the defense table,” Samuelson said.

Phillip Wilcox also the father of Sierra Wilcox said he would not sit beside his son.

The judge, appearing slightly startled, told the 37-year-old father at least to sit in the front row in order to answer questions.

Christian Wilcox looked straight ahead. The boy, whose mother lives in Kansas, remained silent when the judge asked him if he wished to be represented by an attorney. The judge then asked the father if he could afford an attorney.

“I'm employed, but I'm not getting him no attorney,” the father said.

When the judge asked Phillip Wilcox to come forward and accept a questionnaire to verify whether the boy qualified for a court-appointed attorney, the father protested.

“I don't know what for,” he said. “I'm not paying for an attorney.”

[Dakota Valkyrie]

http://i46.tinypic.com/smvus3.jpg http://i45.tinypic.com/14b0ruv.jpg
Wearing a bullet proof vest, 14–year–old Christian Wilcox faced another day in court, accused of sexually assaulting and suffocating his half sister, 4–year–old Sierra Wilcox, back on May 1st in Tekamah.

Then, starting a small fire in the family's kitchen to try and cover up the crime.

Tuesday in court, investigators told the judge, the night before the fire, Sierra, Wilcox, and Sierra's mom all went dirt bike riding. They returned home around 9:00 PM, and Sierra's mom didn't feel like cooking, so they ordered a pizza. Wilcox then decided to go out, and didn't come home until after midnight.

When Wilcox returned, police say everyone was asleep.

Sierra was on the couch, wearing a t–shirt, shorts, underwear and socks. Around 4:00 AM, her mom woke up, discovered the fire, along with Sierra and Wilcox asleep on the couch.

She told Wilcox to dial 9–1–1 and went to get Sierra.

That's when she noticed the little girl's lips were blue, and she was only wearing a t–shirt.

Her shorts and underwear were on the floor.

An autopsy revealed, Sierra had abrasions around her genital area and there were no signs of smoke inhalation – which means, she died before the fire started.

Wilcox's defense attorney says his client only has a second grade reading level, and was enrolled in special education classes. He says his client doesn't have a clear sense of what's going on.
[...]
http://www.kptm.com/Global/story.asp?S=12617503

In court, investigators say they found bruises on Sierra's lower body consistent with rape. "She's been sexually assaulted and suffocated," says Philip Wilcox, Sierra and Christian's dad. Philip spoke with us when he first learned of the crime. When he chose not to support his son, the courts appointed an attorney for the teen.

For the first time we hear from Wilcox's attorney. He defending his client in court insisting the 14-year-old has a mental capacity of a 2nd grader. Attorney Stuart Mills is angry over police interrogating his client three times with no lawyer, investigators say he waived his rights. "I don't think he has the capacity to waive his right, says Mills. Mills claims his client can't read, is in special ed, and will demand a mental evaluation.

Today, the state also presents evidence backing the arson charge, including a brown paper bag, hair product, and paper towels, it claims Wilcox used to start the fire on the stove. His step-mom smells smoke, finds Christian on the couch, Sierra lying next to him, not breathing and with only a t-shirt on.

Wilcox's biological mom drove up from Kansas for the hearing, but left quickly after. Wilcox will be back in court August.http://www.action3news.com/Global/story.asp?S=12616986

[Jessiesgirl1108]

Wilcox then decided to go out, and didn't come home until after midnight.
He just moved there 3 months ago, who was he hanging with till midnight. And why was the 14 year old allowed to leave the house at 9 and stay out till midnight? I may sound strict but I would think that if I were the parent even if I would have let him go out at 9 I would have told him to be home by 11, at least before I myself went to bed. I really feel for the parents cause I'm sure they would have never thought anything like this would have ever happened. Guess I'm just reaching out for something that could have prevented this.

[Obsolete]

He just moved there 3 months ago, who was he hanging with till midnight. And why was the 14 year old allowed to leave the house at 9 and stay out till midnight? I may sound strict but I would think that if I were the parent even if I would have let him go out at 9 I would have told him to be home by 11, at least before I myself went to bed. I really feel for the parents cause I'm sure they would have never thought anything like this would have ever happened. Guess I'm just reaching out for something that could have prevented this.

Exactly! My daughter is 14 and she has a 9:00 curfew on night's that she doesn't have school and that's only if a friends parent is driving her home. If she's walking she has to be home by dark regardless of the time. Never do i fall asleep before both of my kids are home safely.

[Rawrehz]

Wow, this is so disturbing. I am in disbelief almsot. That poooooooor poor little girl and what she had to go through those last moment sof her precious life. I feel incredibly sad for this family. They just lost 2 children in the worst ways possible.

I am curious how they plan to punish him:questionmark:
With this crime I am sure general population with other young males will have him killed ..fast. A lot of these cases throw the kids in mental ward until a certain age, most likely 21 or so, and then throw them backin the streets after their gig is up.
This child should never be on the streets or in anyone's homes ever again. He is a danger to society and himself.

[AngelFire]

This story just grosses me out to no end. The description of how the mom, found her baby girl, just rips your heart out,and stomps on it. The dad not wanting to stand by his son's side, is heartbreaking too. These parents lost 2 kids, indeed. The father seems filled with rage, and I don't blame him one bit. I am sure his heart is torn to pieces.

I wouldn't want to be in their shoes. I don't know how I would react. I am sure that on one hand, he wishes his son was not in the position that he placed himself and wants to rescue him, on the other hand, he hates the person who raped, and killed his baby girl. Tough place to be as a parent.

[Dakota Valkyrie]

http://i0.simplest-image-hosting.net/168bf183b2abe8bc9188aacc163dd507/-dd-1937.jpg
A Tekamah teen will be tried as an adult in the rape and killing of his four-year-old half-sister.

A Burt County district judge this week refused to move Christian Wilcox's case to juvenile court. The 15-year-old faces charges of first degree murder, arson and sexual assault.
[...]

Wilcox's father, Phillip Wilcox, told KMTV Action 3 News in an exclusive interview that he'd moved Christian in with him to give him "a better life" but was horrified at what happened: "He was old enough to take these actions on his own so he's old enough to go through whatever he's got to go through."

The teen's attorney, Stuart Mills, has argued Wilcox has the mental capacity of a second-grader and criticized police for interrogating him three times without a parent or attorney present. Mills says Wilcox can't read and is a special education student.
http://www.action3news.com/Global/story.asp?S=13844191

[Momzilla]

A wolf in sheeps clothing for sure! He looks like a frail, shy little boy....... nothing at all like the monster we know he really is.
He could be the boy next door or my daughter's classmate........ we would never suspect the evil that lurked beneath the surface.
And THAT is what scares me so much!

[TKaz]

I'm rattled that he's a special education student & the family didn't KNOW what he MIGHT be capable of. I understand getting comfortable around your own child you've known & raised for 14 yrs.....but if he has the mental capacity of a 7yr old, wouldn't that mean he's NOT to be left alone with a four yr old?

I feel the parents really failed him. If they moved to "get him on track" they could've been putting that effort into the fact that he was hitting puberty & whatever his issue was, was going to get bigger. He is now wasted flesh. If he goes to prison he'll be abused, if he goes to a mental hospital he'll never have a chance that he COULD have had if his parents had been more observant.

They have lost two children. I hope the other daughter is in counseling.

[Mega Ultra]

I'm rattled that he's a special education student & the family didn't KNOW what he MIGHT be capable of. I understand getting comfortable around your own child you've known & raised for 14 yrs.....but if he has the mental capacity of a 7yr old, wouldn't that mean he's NOT to be left alone with a four yr old?

He wasn't left alone with the sister, the parents, or at least the mother was upstairs resting from the dirt bike ride she earlier took with Sierra. I don't think you should be blaming the parents here for leaving two children downstairs, I'm sure they didn't imagine that he would do something so horrible. Even if he has the mental capacity of a 7 year old, most 7 year olds don't rape and kill their step-siblings.

[Dark Star]

There is a lot going on with this young boy under the surface for sure. I would like to know his history, his past home life etc. I'm wondering if he was sexually abused himself. How sad that his Father could not even sit with him. I cannot fathom the pain and anguish this family must feel. I just don't know if I could abandon my child for any reason. I keep rolling it in my brain. What if....and oh my gods it is a horrid thought. I feel for everyone in this situation. RIP Sierra Wilcox.

[witzah]

Hold up...IF he's mentally a 7 yo, wth was he doing going out alone 9 pm til 4 am???

Either bad call by parents, if true, or, example of defense being a bunch of bs.

[Tundratot]

Oddly, I had interpreted the statement that Wilcox went out until midnight to mean the father went out. The entire family went biking. The family ordered pizza. Wilcox went out until midnight. I figured Dad went out to prop up a bar with the boys. I was slightly irritated by that, but . . . I never thought, until you brought it up, that the reporter meant the boy went out until midnight. I have to assume they knew where he went. Maybe to a friend's house?

This one really bothers me. I wonder about his life before he was brought to live with his father. How much of a victim is he himself? If his lawyer is correct, I imagine the worst possible scenario was likely his lot at his mother's home. Now he's being thrown to the wolves by a father who at the very least did not understand just how much help he needed before he raped and killed his little sister, and then burned down the house.

[Gidget]

If this kid is also a victim, I am truly sorry that his life has sucked. But that doesn't make what he did any less of a crime. Many people have survived horrific abuse and became productive members of society without raping and killing small children.

[Ninja0980]

Whatever his past is..when you rape and murder a innocent little girl, let alone your sister,you are pretty much beyond the point of no return.

[Mega Ultra]

There is a lot going on with this young boy under the surface for sure. I would like to know his history, his past home life etc. I'm wondering if he was sexually abused himself.

I think you bring up a good point. There could have very well been some sort of abuse to that boy to make him think that he could rape his sister and then try to cover up her death. I'd look into the mother further since he was living with her before he was sent to his father. And remember, he was sent to his father because he had been acting out; I don't know if that means he was acting out recently but maybe he could have been acting out due to some abuse that had recently happened to him and instead of seeing the signs his mother just shipped him off??

[Dakota Valkyrie]

HOLY COW! What a twist!!! Charges dropped. For now? Forever?

http://i0.simplest-image-hosting.net/168bf183b2abe8bc9188aacc163dd507/clipboard0177.jpg

All charges have been dropped against a Tekamah, NE teenager accused in the rape and killing of his 4-year-old half-sister.

This all after a surprise witness came forward.

An attorney for 15-year-old Christian Wilcox says a witness claims that someone else may have been in the family's home between the time that Wilcox came home and when a fire started in the house in May of last year.

Prosecutors had said Wilcox sexually assaulted his half-sister, smothered her and then set a fire to the home to try to cover up the crime.

Burt County Attorney Daniel Smith did not give a reason for dropping the charges, but the charges could be re-filed.http://www.ktiv.com/story/15048720/charges-dropped-against-tekamah-neb-teen


Burt County Attorney Dan Smith tells Channel 6 News that law enforcement has interviewed the two men who are believed to have been either at or near the house the night of the girl's death. Investigators only learned that information on Wednesday. He said he could not in good conscience proceed with murder charges against the teenager knowing this new, credible information had come forward.

According to investigators, one of the men claims the other guy was at the house before the fire and that he saw him after wards. No one has been arrested. Smith says it's early in the investigation.

Christian Wilcox left for Kansas with his biological mother after being released from custody on Thursday.

Smith says if this new information doesn't pan out, he would likely need new evidence to proceed with the case against Christian Wilcox.http://www.wowt.com/news/headlines/125231044.html


Now that murder and sexual-assault charges against 15-year-old Christian Wilcox have been dropped, Burt County Attorney Dan Smith must confront a nagging question: Who killed 4-year-old Sierra Wilcox?
[...]

Defense attorney Stuart Mills of Pender, Neb., said a woman contacted him the day before the trial was to start last month and indicated that a man knew more about the case.

Mills said he spoke with that man, who told him he had information that someone else was in the house between the time Christian Wilcox came home around midnight — after being with other teens in a city park two blocks from the house — and his stepmother awoke about 4 a.m. to the smell of smoke.

Mills took that information to Smith, and the trial was delayed.

Thursday, Mills and Smith appeared before District Judge John Samson, and Smith offered a motion that all charges be dropped.

Smith said Friday that he could not “present the evidence I had, which was essentially all circumstantial, and prove my case beyond a reasonable doubt.” As a prosecutor, he said, “I have an ethical obligation to step back and reassess, and that's exactly what we're doing.”

The next step, Smith said, “is to try to verify the credibility of this additional evidence that has come to light. All we have now is just somebody saying that he was with somebody who may have gone into the house. That's all we know. We're trying to further investigate that.”

No one else has been arrested in the case, Smith said. And while Smith has dismissed charges against Christian Wilcox, he said the boy remains a suspect.

“Certainly he's still a suspect,” Smith said. “We know he was there. He has never maintained he wasn't there. What happened to this little girl was violent, and it's possible that he slept through this. But there are still some questions in my own mind.”

In a February interview, Smith said the absence of DNA connecting Christian and Sierra didn't weaken the case.

“There were four people in that house on the night Sierra was raped and suffocated,” Smith had said. “One is dead, the mother and (7-year-old) sister were upstairs, and that leaves the defendant. I think that speaks for itself.” Smith said then that the only logical explanation for Sierra's death was that she was suffocated by Wilcox to cover up the sexual assault.

Smith said Friday that DNA on the couch that Christian and Sierra were sleeping on was “DNA that you would expect there. Certainly there was Christian's DNA, but he lived in the house. There was (DNA from) the little girl. There was Wilcox DNA all over the couch.

“There was other DNA there. I'm sure that will be in play as part of our ongoing investigation.”

Mills, the defense attorney, said Thursday that “I'm comfortable as we stand here today that they (charges) won't be refiled” against his client.

“That night was a terrible tragedy,” Mills said. “Whatever happened to Sierra wasn't done by Christian Wilcox.”

Mills said Wilcox was “very emotional” when he told him about the dismissal. “He cried and hugged me, and seemed very appreciative that I had hung in there and stood by him,” Mills said.

Christian Wilcox has steadfastly maintained his innocence.
[...]

Sierra's parents, Kaylee Magill and Phillip Wilcox, were in the courtroom briefly but left before the proceeding began. Phillip Wilcox, reached later by telephone, said he was “stunned” by the turn of events and hung up without further comment.

Christian Wilcox had come to live with his father and Magill and their two children about three months before the crime. A special education student, the teen had not been minding his mother in Topeka, Kan., so his parents agreed that he would live in Tekamah.

The Tekamah teenager had been held without bail since May 10, 2010, when he was charged as an adult with first-degree murder, first-degree sexual assault and first-degree arson.
[...]http://www.omaha.com/article/20110708/NEWS97/707089995/1031898

[Tundratot]

Jeez! So he will go back to the mother he wasn't behaving well for. His father actions seem to indicate disappointment that he's not the perp. Did dear old dad want him to be the one? Was it easier to send his son to prison with adult men than try to help him out?

[AngelFire]

So I read about DNA on the couch, but was any DNA found on the little girl? Now with these new revelations, I am now wondering if this kid really did it, or if these 2 men committed the perfect crime, so to speak.

[Dakota Valkyrie]

Jeez! So he will go back to the mother he wasn't behaving well for. His father actions seem to indicate disappointment that he's not the perp. Did dear old dad want him to be the one? Was it easier to send his son to prison with adult men than try to help him out?
There's a huge difference between "not minding your mom" and killing a little kid. I'm sure his time in jail has added more than the 14 months of maturity he would have otherwise gained.

As for dad, he still has a dead daughter. Now he has to come to terms with what he thought for over a year may not be true. How would you feel if you had basically disowned your son and later found it to be based on misinformation? "Stunned" does not seem like an abnormal reaction to it. I don't blame him for hanging up on the media.

[MinorAbrasions]

Christian Wilcox had come to live with his father and Magill and their two children about three months before the crime. A special education student, the teen had not been minding his mother in Topeka, Kan., so his parents agreed that he would live in Tekamah.


Mills said the teenager has special needs, cannot read and functions at the level of a second-grader.

"He had no clue what a jury trial is," Mills said, recalling his first meeting with Christian Wilcox in May 2010. "I explained it wouldn't be all 14-year-olds."

Read more: http://journalstar.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/article_36953ad2-aa01-511b-b09f-c1bdda6c51f0.html#ixzz1Ram1EoFv

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say his mother didn't know how to deal with a special needs teenager.

[Cassy]

I'm missing something. They thought he killed her, then set a fire to cover the crime, but fell back asleep on the sofa with the dead girl, while the fire was burning? Even if he did it, there doesn't seem to be the intellect to plan a crime or understand consequences here, but...something is missing.

Why were the children sleeping on a sofa?

Where was dad?

Would a boy who was that unskilled in setting the fire, etc.. actually be able to smother the child without waking mom or the other sibling, while the rape occurred? Normally I'd say it's possible, but if the rest of it were true, I'd highly doubt it.

I think the boy was abandoned by dad and dad went off to start his second family as so often happens. Then boy is eventually sent to live with dad, but dad doesn't really care much about boy anyway. (background). The real rapist just stumbled upon a crime of opportunity, short and simple. Maybe he saw dad at the bar, or wherever he was and thought he could grab something worth stealing. That man raped and murdered the child and set the fire and left. At some point the older boy heard something and woke up. Maybe he heard the little one cry out and thought she was having was a nightmare. He then curled up on the other end of the sofa with her and fell asleep, completely unaware she was dead or there was a fire burning.

It's even possible he saw the man and thought it was his father.

Where was dad again?

[Ninja0980]

Wow...didn't see this one coming. Just goes to show sometimes there IS more evidence we don't know about.

[V...]

Perhaps the girl was already dead when the boy came home and went to sleep with her on the couch.

[Bella Morte]

No need to burn down houses when Misty Croslin is around to get advice on hiding crimes. Poor kid getting blamed for something he didnt do maybe his dad acted upset he was innocent because he had something to do with it. RIP kiddo.

[sleepingwithghosts]

What a buzzkill.. I was getting anxious reading this thread for the first time.. the twist threw me off and I thought for certain that the real killer would be revealed.. but alas.:noidea: