Alleged attackers of transient appear in court

Bond was set at $500,000 Monday for each of the two men accused of stabbing, beating and burning a transient. The man survived.

Justice of the Peace David Ortley set bond for Edward Grogg, 27, charged with attempted homicide, and Jeremy Raskiewicz, 24, charged with accountability to homicide.

Ralph Sisco, 45, was hospitalized a day after he was attacked. He was treated for about five stab wounds to the abdomen, burns to his arm and chest, and injuries from being beaten.

According to a court document filed Monday by Deputy County Attorney Dan Guzynski, the assault happened Wednesday night. Renditions of what happened have changed, but Raskiewicz reportedly said he beat Sisco to unconsciousness and then burned him with a frying pan. He said Grogg then stabbed him about four or five times with a knife that had about a 4-inch blade. The men reportedly believed that Sisco was dead and left to get a room at a hotel.

The court document says that Grogg admitted beating Sisco and stabbing him with his camp knife because he was "tired of Sisco running his mouth and stealing stuff."

Sisco reportedly bullied the younger men and there was some mention of him killing one of the men's cats.

Sisco reportedly lost consciousness after the stabbing and awoke on Thursday. He walked to a business on East Idaho Street, from which he was taken by ambulance to Kalispell Regional Medical Center.

There were conflicting statements about where the attack occurred. Sisco first said it happened in the woods behind Wal-Mart, where transients are known to camp. Grogg, though, said it took place in Lawrence Park.

Later, Sisco reportedly said the assault happened at the southern edge of Lawrence Park but hadn't said so because he did not want his friends who are camping there to be driven out by police.

Guzynski said the sheriff's department did an excellent job investigating.

"Flathead County Sheriff's Office investigators took what otherwise would be a very chaotic situation and produced a case that's open and shut for the county attorney's office to prosecute. I congratulate them for that," Guzynski said.

Ortley assigned David Stufft to represent Grogg and Tiffany Lonnevik to represent Raskiewicz.

They will be arraigned on April 14.