(Stillwater, Okla.) — A Cushing woman was charged today as the third murder defendant in the fatal stabbing of a woman whom she believed was stealing from her and not paying for her methamphetamine, court documents alleged.
Laurie Darlene Bacon, 41, was arraigned this afternoon from the Payne County Jail where she was ordered held without bail by Special District Judge Robert Hert.
The body of the victim, Amber Nicole “Nikki” Sporleder, 33, who was then living with Bacon, was found with her throat cut on May 24, 2013, on Harmony Road north of Riverbend Road near Yale, authorities said.
In a first-degree murder charge filed today, Bacon was accused of “aiding, abetting, encouraging and facilitating the acts necessary for the death to be carried out by Denny Allen Sisney, who stabbed and beat” Sporleder, court documents alleged.
Bacon was also charged today with a count of conspiracy to commit murder on May 23, 2013, by agreeing with Sisney and Justin Allen Kelley to murder Sporleder — “by discussing and planning with the other conspirators how the murder would occur and by allowing the use of her vehicle,” by Kelley and Sisney with the knowledge it would be used to carry out the murder, court documents alleged.
Two weeks ago at the close of a preliminary hearing in the slaying, Sisney, 36, of Cushing, was ordered to stand trial on a first-degree murder charge and a count of conspiracy to commit murder. He remains jailed without bail pending his trial court arraignment on April 4.
Kelley, 32, of Cushing, his co-defendant, who pleaded guilty to first-degree murder, testified against Sisney at the March 7 hearing in exchange for a 25-year prison term followed by probation for life, along with immunity from prosecution for other crimes.
During his testimony, Kelley said for about a year prior to the slaying, he had been an associate of Bacon in the methamphetamine trade, Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation Agent Marty Wilson wrote in an affidavit filed today.
“Bacon would go get the drugs, and Kelley would sell them. During that time, Kelley also provided protection and muscle for Bacon.
“Kelley never had to get physical with anybody; he was able to keep his clientele in line and make sure they paid, based solely on his reputation around Cushing,” the affidavit alleged.
“Sporleder had moved in with Bacon about four or five months prior to May 24, 2013. Around mid-May 2013, Bacon became upset with Sporleder because she suspected her (Sporleder) of stealing personal items from her and not paying for drugs provided by Bacon.
“On May 23, 2013, Bacon met with Kelley and Sisney and told them Sporleder needed to be ‘taught a lesson’ for what she had been doing.
“Bacon told Kelley and Sisney she wanted them to take Sporleder out and kill her,” according to Kelley’s court testimony, the affidavit said.
“Bacon knew Kelley would not do it because of Sporleder being a female, but Sisney said he would do it.
“According to Kelley, neither he nor Sisney had anything personal against Sporleder and neither one of them would have harmed her if Bacon had not given them ‘the green light,"” the affidavit alleged.
“During an interview with the OSBI, Bacon said Sisney told her, ‘I cut her throat. We lured her out there,"” the affidavit alleged.
“On May 23, 2013, Bacon had seen Sisney sharpening his knife,” which was camouflage-colored, the affidavit alleged.
“When Sisney was sharpening the knife, he was checking to see how sharp it was by rubbing his thumb across the blade. While doing this, Sisney got several small cuts on his thumb,” the affidavit alleged.
The day that the victim’s body was found, Sisney was arrested in Cushing on outstanding warrants from Creek County, the affidavit said.
“Sisney maintained he had been drinking tequila the previous night, had passed out, and could not remember anything after that.
“When told about Sporleder’s death and the fact other people were saying he had killed her, Sisney did not deny he had anything to do with her death, but said he could not remember anything.
“Several thin cut marks were observed on the pad of one of Sisney’s thumbs, and a small red scratch was observed just to the right of his nose,” the affidavit said.
During an interview the same day with OSBI agents, Kelley said he “was driving Sporleder and Allen Sisney around in a Dodge pickup owned by Laurie Bacon.
“They had driven from Cushing, Oklahoma, out to the bridge on Norfolk Road close to Yale to go fishing in the river. When they got to the bridge, they decided to go back to Cushing for cigarettes.
“Justin (Kelley) was taking the back roads back to Cushing when Sporleder ‘freaked out’ and said she wanted him to stop the truck so she could get out.
“When Justin stopped the truck on a dirt road, Sporleder got out of the truck from the passenger seat and Sisney got out from the back seat. Justin stayed in the truck and could hear Sporleder and Sisney arguing behind the truck,” the affidavit alleged.
“After a few minutes, Sisney came back to the truck on the passenger side. He was removing a pair of green rubber gloves from his hands.
“Once he got the gloves off, he threw them in the ditch beside the road, said ‘Get your ass in gear, I just stabbed the b….’ and got back in the truck. Sisney had blood on his hands,” the affidavit alleged.
“Sisney also said he had thrown his knife away. Justin had seen Sisney in the past with a camouflage-colored folding knife in his pocket. Sisney also had a small scratch on his face, and said Sporleder had scratched him,” the affidavit alleged.
Found in the grass west of Sporleder’s body were two green rubber gloves with blood-like stains on them, the affidavit said.
“Further west of the road, across a barbed wire fence in a field was found a camouflage-colored folding knife. The blade of the knife was out, and the knife had blood-like stains on it,” the affidavit said.
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