Man linked to killing sentenced
By Michelle Starr
Staffwriter
A man convicted of possession of
a firearm that may have been used in a
the shooting death of Brandon
Pickinpaugh last year received two
years probation on Thursday.
Dennis “Denny” Sciscoe, 20,
pleaded no contest on Jan. 24 to
reduced charges of possession of a
firearm; original charges included
accessory to a felony.
“I’m happy,” Sciscoe said after
sentencing. “That’s all I can say.”
Five years in prison is the maxi
mum sentence for possession of a
firearm.
Sciscoe’s attorney, Steve Lefler,
told Lancaster County District Court
Judge Karen Flowers during the sen
tencing that Sciscoe only was helping
his friends and did not have anything to
do with the murder.
Pickinpaugh was murdered when
a robbery went awry in the Van Dorn
Plaza Shopping Center on Feb. 18,
1999.
The 17-year-old was shot once in
the head when three men attempted to
steal about three-fourths of a pound of
marijuana and $950 that Pickinpaugh
had with him in the parking lot.
Pickinpaugh was found dead on
the ground near the car he had been
driving, police said.
Derek Graves, Jeremy Kurtzer and
Jedidiah Ngirchoimei, all of Lincoln,
were arrested in connection with
Pickinpaugh’s death.
Graves, charged with first-degree
murder and the alleged gunman, is in
custody and awaiting trial in Lancaster
County District Court.
In November, Ngirchoimei, origi
nally charged with first-degree mur
der, posted a $10,000 bond and is also
awaiting trial in Lancaster County
District Court
Kurtzer posted 10 percent of a
$300,000 bond in October 1999 and is
also charged in connection with the
murder.
Tanner Andrews, Graves’ room
mate at the time of the murder, was
arrested and given two years probation
for possession of cocaine found in his
apartment during a search for evidence
connected to the murder.
Andrews was not connected to the
murder.
Lefler said over the past year, he
has gotten to know Sciscoe and is not
only his attorney but his friend. Since
Lefler began practicing law 24 years
ago, he has never worked for someone
with as much passion and potential as
Sciscoe, Lefler said.
Sciscoe, who had been released on
bond, lives with his mother in Omaha
and attends Metropolitan Technical
Community College in Omaha. He
also has maintained employment.
Lefler said Sciscoe, though he was
involved in previous incidents involv
^ I won’t mess up again. Please give me
another chance.”
Dennis “Denny” Sciscoe
Omaha man
ing police, has changed since the
crime.
“Denny was a punk,” Lefler said.
“He’s not a punk anymore. He holds a
full-time job ... I think he has
changed.”
Sciscoe asked Judge Flowers to
acknowledge his improvements and to
trust him.
“I won’t mess up again,” Sciscoe
said. “Please give me another chance.”
Flowers said Sciscoe came close to
severely messing up his life, especially
considering his past.
“Punk is probably a nice word to
describe the kid described in the police
reports,” Flowers said.
t>ut blowers also said she thought
Sciscoe had made improvements and
that she trusted him enough to put him
on probation.
According to the terms of proba
tion ordered by Flowers, Sciscoe has to
maintain full-time employment or full
time school and avoid social contact
with people with criminal records.
Sciscoe cannot move out of
Douglas County or leave the state
without asking a probation officer,
unless it is work-related because his
job often takes him to Iowa.
He cannot possess firearms or
weapons, and law enforcement offi
cers have the right to search his home
or vehicle with or without a search
warrant to look for weapons, Flowers
said.
He cannot consume drugs or alco
hol and cannot go into a bar when he’s
21 years old. And because of prior
drug use, he must get a drug and alco
hol evaluation.
Depending on the outcome of the
drug evaluation, Sciscoe might have to
have regular drug tests, Flowers said.
Lefler said it was possible for the
court to bring back the charges of
accessory to a felony, and he was
unaware of the number of years the
court would be able to do this.
But Lefler said it would be unlike
ly unless Sciscoe did not follow his
probation.
Flowers was positive about
Sciscoe’s future.
“There isn’t a reason in the world
you can’t successfully complete this
probation,” Flowers said.
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Woman to
command
cadet corps
■ One of the first women
admitted to institute to be
battalion commander.
LEXINGTON, Va. (AP) - It took
158 years to get women admitted to
the Virginia Military Institute, bul
virtually no time at all for a female
cadet to advance to a top leadership
post.
hrin Nicole Claunch of Loudoun
County, one of the women who broke
VMI’s gender barrier in 1997, will
become one of the college’s two bat
talion commanders this fall, leading
half of the 1,200-member cadet corps
during her senior year.
VMI officials said Claunch’s
selection for the second-highest mili
tary post in the student body had
nothing to do with her gender.
The selection panel of VMI
administrators and students thought
she was the best-qualified candidate
in terms of grades, leadership ability
and physical fitness, school
spokesman Mike Strickler said.
VMI Superintendent Josiah
Bunting III said he was surprised that
a woman was able to scale the ranks
at VMI so quickly but not surprised
that Claunch was the one to do it.
“She has really set the gold stan
dard, not only for a female cadet but
for any cadet at VMI,” Bunting said.
Claunch, 20, is a physics major
who is preparing for a career with the
Air Force. She hopes to become an
astronaut. She is the daughter of a
retired Air Force major and is on the
cross-country team.
“I hope that women can look at
me and see that it’s possible to
accomplish things here, but that’s not
my primary goal,” she said. “I want
to do the job right and make sure my
battalion is well-organized.”
She ranks 15th academically in a
class of 298 students.
The school requires cadets to do
60 sit-ups in two minutes, do five
pull-ups and run 1 Vi miles in less
than 12 minutes. Strickler said many
women have trouble with the pull
ups because of the upper-body
strength the exercises require.
Claunch beat the average score
among all cadets, men and women.
She was able to do 84 sit-ups and 15
pull-ups and ran the llA miles in 10
minutes and 43 seconds.
“I think it was just a matter of her
being qualified for the job,” said
Justin Wood, 21, of Taze\*?ell, a VMI
senior and member of the nine-per
son selection committee.
VMI admitted women after the
U.S. Supreme Court ordered the
state-supported school either to
accept female applicants or become a
private institution. Women account
for less than 5 percent of the student
body.
r
On the
’ cutting edge
of
TECH
NOL
0
GY
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