ELKADER- A 17-year-old Manchester teen charged in a double homicide case made a first court appearance Tuesday afternoon in Clayton County.
Isaiah Sweet, 17, was captured in a wooded area of Cedar Rapids just after 7:00 p.m. Monday night. An arrest warrant was issued by authorities earlier yesterday naming him as a suspect in the deaths of his grandparents.
The bodies of Rick and Janet Sweet were discovered Sunday afternoon by relatives.
Sweet appeared in Clayton County because that was the closest available district judge to oversee his initial appearance. District Judge Monica Ackley said future appearances will take place in Delaware County.
Ackley set bond in the amount of $1-million cash. She also ordered the defendant to have no contact with any witnesses named in the criminal complaint.
A preliminary hearing date of May 25th was also set, but such hearings are routinely cancelled when the county attorney files what’s called trial information.
Sweet made no real comment in court, but did nod to someone sitting in back. That person later identified himself only as a friend from school but made no other comments.
Rick and Janet Sweet bought their home at 109 Deann Dr., with a current assesed value of $202,900, in July 2008, according to the Delaware County Assessor’s Office.
Janet Sweet had been contending with leukemia and had recently suffered a relapse.
Rick Sweet had worked in quality assurance at Exide Technologies, a Manchester-based battery manufacturer, from 2008 to 2011, according to human resources manager Tim Guyer, who declined to say why his employment there ended.
A charge of first-degree theft against Sweet was dropped Monday after Delaware County Attorney John Bernau learned of his death.
Sweet, who pleaded not guilty, had been arrested on Aug. 19, 2011, and had been scheduled to stand trial on July 11.
According to the complaint, filed Aug. 17, 2011, Sweet was the administrator of the living trust of his mother, Marie Ann Sweet. The complaint alleged he knowingly violated trust stipulations that he establish trust accounts for his two daughters, Stacy L. Sweet (Isaiah Sweet’s mother) and Alycia M. Sweet.
Each of the two daughters were to receive 10 percent of the estate, with each share being worth $40,000 on Oct. 12, 2006., according to the complaint.
Police last week had issued a criminal trespass warning for all Cedar Rapids school district property. The warning was issued after Chumley allegedly appeared at multiple district schools and asked security questions that weren’t public knowledge, police said.
