The unthinkable happened on September 29, 2019, in the tiny town of Elkmont, Alabama. The Limestone County Sheriff’s Department (LCSO) was called to a home on Ridge Road to investigate the deaths of members of the Sisk family.
Thirty-eight-year-old John Wayne Sisk, 35-year-old Mary Sisk, 6-year-old Kane, 4-year-old Aurora, and 6-month-old Colson were found in their beds. All had been shot in the head, presumably by an intruder.
As the hours unfolded, it was soon discovered that this was not some sort of home invasion or robbery gone wrong. Instead, the culprit was the remaining family member, 14-year-old Mason Wayne Sisk.
On Thursday, a jury deliberated for only two hours before finding now-18-year-old Sisk guilty of multiple counts of capital murder for the execution of his family while they slept. Because of his age at the time of the murders, Sisk did not face the death penalty for the murders. Instead, he will be faced with life in prison.
In Sisk’s original statements to detectives with LCSO, he said he had been up late playing video games downstairs when he heard gunshots above. He claimed that he then came up to the home’s upper level and made his way outside to see a vehicle leaving the scene. It was then that he discovered his family and called 911, but it was revealed in court that he had called his girlfriend four times before calling for help.
Later, Sisk admitted that his claims of an intruder were untrue and told detectives that he had been the one who shot his family. He apologized for being dishonest, stating that he had family problems and claiming that his father came home drunk often. He mentioned that he had fights with his parents in the past.
“Yeah, they argue a lot, and I got fed up with it. And the kids were going through a lot,” Sisk told police in a video-recorded police interview.
The defense for Sisk contended that Mike Blakely, former sheriff of Limestone County, employed manipulative tactics in interviewing Sisk. They claim that the teen was tired from sleep deprivation and still experiencing the trauma of losing his family.
Sisk’s first trial ended in September 2022 in a mistrial after new evidence was finally recovered from the cell phone of Mary Sisk.
District Attorney Brian Jones indicated that he was very pleased with the outcome of the second trial. Defense attorney Shay Golden maintains that there was information not brought forth in the trial that was relevant and should have been considered, saying to reporters:
“We just feel like it’s inevitably going to have to be tried again.”
Sisk will be sentenced on July 24. His defense team has already indicated that they intend to appeal.
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