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Boy held in sister's death
July 18, 2007
State Journal Wires, Staff
FARGO, N.D. -- A 15-year-old Sun
Prairie boy was arrested Monday in North Dakota in connection with
the asphyxiation death of his 16-year-old sister, police said.
Sergei Carlson, who lived in Sun
Prairie with his father, the Rev. Scott Carlson of Sun Prairie
United Methodist Church, was placed in detention and the case was
sent to juvenile court.
The uncle of the 16-year-old girl,
Whitney Carlson, said her death and the arrest of her brother have
turned the tragedy into "our worst nightmare."
Fargo police said an autopsy found
the girl died of homicide by asphyxiation. She was pronounced dead
shortly after 8 a.m. Saturday at her Fargo home, police said, after
she was found unconscious and not breathing by her mother.
"We're devastated by this," said
Mark Bourdon, the teenagers' uncle and a spokesman for the Carlson
family. "We hope you respect Whitney's family and her friends and
allow us the opportunity to process this information and to grieve."
Cass County (N.D.) State's Attorney
Birch Burdick said juveniles older than 14 who are charged with
serious crimes, including murder, begin the judicial process in
juvenile court before a transfer hearing is held to determine if the
individual should be charged as an adult. It is unknown whether
charges have been filed because juvenile matters are not open to the
public.
Bourdon said Sergei lived in Sun
Prairie but spent time with his mother in Fargo, including several
weeks in the summer and some holidays. He said the family saw no
signs of problems between the siblings. Details of which are still
unknown.
"We don't know all the details of
what the investigators uncovered," he said. "We had a family that
was a very typical family that got along well with one another."
Bourdon said Whitney Carlson
recently returned to Fargo after visiting her father, Scott Carlson,
in Sun Prairie. Sergei "had been here for a little while as well"
when she was killed, Bourdon said.
Sergei, who joined the family when
he was 7 after being adopted from Russia, moved with his father to
Wisconsin in 2002 after his parents divorced when Scott Carlson
started work here as a pastor. Before that, Scott Carlson was a
pastor at Fargo's First United Methodist Church from 2000 to 2002,
leaving for Wisconsin that summer, said Laura Owen, associate
director of communications for the Dakotas Conference of United
Methodist Church.
When Scott and Penny Carlson, now
Penny Ripplinger, divorced, "joint custody was something that they
both really wanted for the kids," Bourdon said. He said plans were
put into place when the move was made "so that the kids could
interact with each other and stay connected," referring to Sergei
and his older sisters Whitney, Amanda and Natalie Carlson. The
siblings spent holidays and summers together, alternating periods
with each parent. According to Whitney's obituary in the Fargo
Forum, she had two other sisters: Lindsay Rudkin of Wauwatosa and
Amanda Rudkin of Janesville.
Sergei was arrested Monday, after
his father brought him to police for questioning, Bourdon said.
Fargo police Chief Keith Ternes said investigators interviewed
several family members who were in the home when Whitney Carlson was
found. He said the boy was re-interviewed most of Monday before
being taken into custody in the afternoon.
Brittany Lawonn of the Fargo Forum,
Chris Rickert of the State Jouranl and The Associated Press
contributed to this story.
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