Tiffanie Rae Pierce entered pleas of guilty to two charges on Thursday in a case in which two people were murdered and their bodies dismembered and placed in vats of acid.

During her appearance before District Judge James Wheelis, Pierce specifically said she was guilty of attempted deliberate homicide by stabbing or slashing the throat of a young woman who was at a house on on Montana Street.

As Judge Wheelis was leading Pierce through the plea agreement, she broke down in tears and left the courtroom with her attorneys for about 10 minutes, but returned composed and ready to continue.

Prosecutor Jennifer Clark walked Pierce through the admission.

“In count one, you say that you slashed the victim, correct?” asked Clark.

“Yes”, said Pierce.

“And you did that multiple times?”

“Yes.”

“And one of those was across her throat,” she asked.

“Probably, it was dark and I couldn’t see,” replied Pierce.

“And, you admit that that would likely cause her death?” continued Clark.

“Yes, if I were to slash someone in the throat, then I suppose that could cause her death,” Pierce said.

This charge stemmed from a previous assault at a home on Montana Street.

The other charge was accountability for deliberate homicide in the death of Marilyn Pickett on August 17, 2017. Clark questioned Pierce about Pickett’s death.

“You aided Augustus Standingrock in the death of Marilyn Pickett,” she said. “Would you agree that you did that by tackling Marilyn when she tried to run and holding her?” asked Clark.

“I didn’t tackle her,” said Pierce. “I prevented her from leaving, yes.”

Clark continued.

“And by preventing her from leaving that assisted Augustus Standingrock in committing the homicide?” asked Clark.

Pierce replied simply “Yes.”

Following the plea hearing, Clark said both of the agreements call for two life sentences for Pierce and Standingrock. The plea agreement also waives their right to appeal the sentences.

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Lisa Kaufman, co-counsel for Pierce said the plea agreement did not admit that she actually committed a homicide.

“We entered into a voluntary negotiated plea agreement and she pleaded guilty without any sort of admission that she killed anybody, because she didn’t,” said Kaufman. “She was only 23 years old when she was arrested and had never been in trouble in her life. She has no criminal record and this was a frightening, terrifying experience for her. In an effort to support her I was willing to give her a hug that she was missing from her family because she’s in jail.”

Judge Wheelis has requested a pre-sentence investigation, and the sentencing date will be set following that report.

 

 

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