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MADISON, Wisconsin (AP) -- A member of a gang of drifters who was accused of helping to kill another woman in the group and of torturing the woman's 11-year-old son pleaded no contest Thursday to reckless homicide.
Candace Clark was a member of a gang of drifters and is accused of helping to kill another woman in the group.
In a plea bargain, Candace Clarke, 24, also pleaded guilty to child abuse and other charges. She had been scheduled to go on trial Monday.
Police found Tammie Garlin, 36, buried behind the gang's rented house in Portage in June 2007. Garlin's son was found in a closet, naked and severely abused.
Clarke pleaded no contest to second-degree reckless homicide, reduced from being a party to first-degree intentional homicide, Columbia County prosecutor Jane Kohlwey said.
She pleaded guilty to child abuse, causing mental harm to a child, false imprisonment and other counts, as well as no contest to a related count. Several other counts, including hiding a corpse, were dropped.
Clarke's attorney, David Geier, didn't return a message seeking comment.
Investigators said Clarke and her boyfriend, Michael Sisk, led a band of scam artists that traveled across the country.
Garlin, her son and her daughter were part of the gang. The group tortured the boy for bad behavior and at some point turned on Garlin and killed her, according to a criminal complaint.
Sisk is scheduled to go on trial next month.
Clarke could face a sentence of nearly 130 years in prison. She is to be sentenced after Sisk's trial ends, Kohlwey said.
Another member of the gang, Michaela Clerc, pleaded no contest in February to child abuse charges.
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
All About Crime • Murder and Homicide • Madison (Wisconsin)
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