Man sentenced after to-do list unravels plan to frame neighbours for attempted murder

A Pennsylvania man has been sentenced to more than seven months in prison after an elaborate hoax in which he injured himself and then accused his neighbours of trying to kill him. Police were alerted to the false nature of the alleged attempted murder after they discovered the man’s hand-written to-do list. It included items such as “Make sure I wear gloves when planting evidence” and “When ready to call 911 have evidence all planted.” Terry Sipe, 63, appeared before Judge Michelle H. Sibert for sentencing on Tuesday. He previously pled guilty to several charges including false alarms to agencies of public safety, stalking, and recklessly endangering another person. He was sentenced to serve over seven months in prison, to be followed by periods of consecutive probation. According to a release from the District Attorney’s office in Cumberland County, Penn., state troopers from Carlisle had responded to a 911 call. Sipes accused his neighbours, the Mixell family, of attempted murder, telling police that they had bound his hands with duct tape, placed a bag over his head, bloodied him and left him in a ditch. However, investigators found that Sipe had self-inflicted minor injuries and had bound himself. Troopers also found matching tape in Sipe’s home, and forensic evidence showed that only Sipe’s DNA and fingerprints were present at the scene. They also discovered a hand-written “to do” list written by Sipe. “During the sentencing proceeding, multiple members of the Mixell family gave powerful victim impact statements where they described the traumatic events of the initial police response including being removed from their home, permitting their home to be searched by police, and going to the police station to be interviewed,” the D.A.’s office said in its release. The statement accused Sipe of having “weaponized law enforcement.” The office also singled out state trooper Jacob Brown-Schields “for his diligent and thorough investigation.”

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