Brenda
moved in with a new cellmate named Brandee in 1993. Brenda always had the lower
bunk because of her continued seizures.
For
the next 15 years they would share a very small space. Brenda is younger by
three years but looks considerably more. The two bunkies did have a short
sexual relationship but settled on a friendship. They became incredibly close for
life and share everything, even when Brandee is released.
Brandee
Sisemore was convicted of murder in the same year as Brenda. She was convinced
by her step- father to kidnap and murder a ten year old child who was causing
problems for him. Brandee, her younger husband Hilton Tripp and his best friend
Randy Cook abducted and strangled little Tami Carpenter in Avila Beach, near
San Luis Obisbo.
Her
stepfather, William Record had been accused of molesting Tami and her older
sister Betty. Days before they were set to testify against him the plan was
hatched to kill them both. Brandee was a family friend of the pair and she
arranged to take Tami on a swimming trip. Instead they went to a secluded
campsite she shared with her husband. Brandee watched as the two men tortured
and strangled her.
Her
young and scared husband soon confessed. The police found the body buried in a
shallow grave near their tent, just as Hilton said it would be. Brandee
eventually pleaded guilty (in a plea deal) to second-degree murder in 1981 and
was sentenced to 15 years to life.
Record
died in prison 4 years after his conviction and the other two geniuses are
serving life sentences with little hope of ever getting out. Brandee legally
divorced Tripp in 1982 and assumed her maiden name.
When
Brandee was just three years old her younger brother passed away just 10 months
after his birth. Her mother, Mary Jenkins, never fully recovered. When Brendee
gave birth to Kaitlyn in 1978, Mary was jealous and looked to adopt. She later adopted her own daughter named Venna
and would raise both children like sisters after Brandee’s arrest.
Since the age of seven
Brandee claims she was molested by her stepfather and was afraid of him. She says
this was the reason she complied with his demand to help murder Tami Carpenter.
She and Brenda shared horror stories about their home lives. Brenda had not made
an official statement about abuse in her family despite multiple rumours after her
father’s marriage to Sheila.
It would take years before she could deal with what had happened. “He had alot of control over me,” Brandee told the parole panel. “He manipulated me into doing t hings that a normal child would never, ever do. And it took a lot of counseling to get past that.”
