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http://www.jconline.com/article/201...ex-Purdue-student-s-part-in-fatal-WL-shooting
A former Purdue University student could face a jury for his involvement in an alcohol-fueled prank in August that ended in the fatal shooting of a childhood friend.
William J. Calderon, 22, of Fort Wayne pleaded guilty in January in Tippecanoe Superior Court 5 to pointing a firearm, a Class A misdemeanor.
But Judge Les Meade rejected the plea following a 40-minute hearing this morning - noting that he believed the criminal charges, and thus the plea, were too lenient.
Meade also pushed Calderon to be truthful about the events of Aug. 22, 2009, when Calderon's roommate, Cory Lynch, pointed Calderon's handgun at Landon Siela and pulled the trigger.
A bullet struck Siela, 21, in the throat, killing him. The shooting took place at 204 Wiggins St. in West Lafayette, two days before classes began for Purdue's fall semester.
"He loaded the gun. He kept it loaded in his nightstand," Meade said of Calderon. "He knew full well it was loaded."
According to Calderon, the three friends had spent Aug. 22 drinking beer, taking shots of alcohol and shooting a neighbor's airsoft gun at each other.
An airsoft gun shoots plastic pellets at relatively low velocities.
Calderon said today that a pistol belonging to Siela was sitting atop a bedroom dresser and that it was originally Lynch's idea to prank him. Further pressed by Meade, Calderon then admitted it was his idea to use real handguns.
He grabbed Siela's. Lynch then retrieved Calderon's Kimber .45-caliber handgun, which Calderon kept loaded in their apartment for protection.
"This is the first time you told any investigator, or openly, that it was your idea, isn't it?" Meade said. "You know the gun Mr. Lynch picked up was loaded because he picked up your gun?"
Calderon nodded in response.
He told Meade that Siela brought his firearm because they planned to visit a shooting range that weekend. Asked where, Calderon said the range was near Chauncey Hill Mall in West Lafayette.
Meade said he was unaware of any shooting ranges near there.
Siela was visiting that weekend for Boiler Gold Rush, Purdue's annual new-student orientation, Calderon said.
Under Calderon's plea agreement with the Tippecanoe County prosecutor's office, an additional charge against him of false informing, a Class A misdemeanor, would have been dropped if Meade accepted the plea agreement.
Lynch, 23, pleaded guilty in January in Tippecanoe Circuit Court to reckless homicide, a Class C felony.
He was sentenced last Friday to two years on community corrections - some combination of work release, house arrest and day reporting - and one year on supervised probation.
Meade also heard testimony today from Siela's father, Ron Siela of Fort Wayne. During Lynch's hearing, Ron Siela told Judge Don Daniel that his family was in agreement in asking for leniency for Lynch.
The family, however, disagreed on Calderon's possible sentence.
"We felt that Cory was just the unfortunate one ... that Cory was getting the harder end of the deal," a tearful Ron Siela told Meade. "No matter what, Will was the leader of the pack. He always kept Landon in check.
"You run the realm you're in, where there's always a leader and always a follower. Landon could be both when he wanted to be. But Landon didn't stand a chance in that house."
For more on this story, read Wednesday's Journal & Courier.
A former Purdue University student could face a jury for his involvement in an alcohol-fueled prank in August that ended in the fatal shooting of a childhood friend.
William J. Calderon, 22, of Fort Wayne pleaded guilty in January in Tippecanoe Superior Court 5 to pointing a firearm, a Class A misdemeanor.
But Judge Les Meade rejected the plea following a 40-minute hearing this morning - noting that he believed the criminal charges, and thus the plea, were too lenient.
Meade also pushed Calderon to be truthful about the events of Aug. 22, 2009, when Calderon's roommate, Cory Lynch, pointed Calderon's handgun at Landon Siela and pulled the trigger.
A bullet struck Siela, 21, in the throat, killing him. The shooting took place at 204 Wiggins St. in West Lafayette, two days before classes began for Purdue's fall semester.
"He loaded the gun. He kept it loaded in his nightstand," Meade said of Calderon. "He knew full well it was loaded."
According to Calderon, the three friends had spent Aug. 22 drinking beer, taking shots of alcohol and shooting a neighbor's airsoft gun at each other.
An airsoft gun shoots plastic pellets at relatively low velocities.
Calderon said today that a pistol belonging to Siela was sitting atop a bedroom dresser and that it was originally Lynch's idea to prank him. Further pressed by Meade, Calderon then admitted it was his idea to use real handguns.
He grabbed Siela's. Lynch then retrieved Calderon's Kimber .45-caliber handgun, which Calderon kept loaded in their apartment for protection.
"This is the first time you told any investigator, or openly, that it was your idea, isn't it?" Meade said. "You know the gun Mr. Lynch picked up was loaded because he picked up your gun?"
Calderon nodded in response.
He told Meade that Siela brought his firearm because they planned to visit a shooting range that weekend. Asked where, Calderon said the range was near Chauncey Hill Mall in West Lafayette.
Meade said he was unaware of any shooting ranges near there.
Siela was visiting that weekend for Boiler Gold Rush, Purdue's annual new-student orientation, Calderon said.
Under Calderon's plea agreement with the Tippecanoe County prosecutor's office, an additional charge against him of false informing, a Class A misdemeanor, would have been dropped if Meade accepted the plea agreement.
Lynch, 23, pleaded guilty in January in Tippecanoe Circuit Court to reckless homicide, a Class C felony.
He was sentenced last Friday to two years on community corrections - some combination of work release, house arrest and day reporting - and one year on supervised probation.
Meade also heard testimony today from Siela's father, Ron Siela of Fort Wayne. During Lynch's hearing, Ron Siela told Judge Don Daniel that his family was in agreement in asking for leniency for Lynch.
The family, however, disagreed on Calderon's possible sentence.
"We felt that Cory was just the unfortunate one ... that Cory was getting the harder end of the deal," a tearful Ron Siela told Meade. "No matter what, Will was the leader of the pack. He always kept Landon in check.
"You run the realm you're in, where there's always a leader and always a follower. Landon could be both when he wanted to be. But Landon didn't stand a chance in that house."
For more on this story, read Wednesday's Journal & Courier.
