‘Drugged’ grandparents shot to death

MANCHESTER - Autopsy results show a Manchester couple died of gunshot wounds, authorities said Wednesday.

Their bodies were found in their home on Mother's Day, and their grandson, 17-year-old Isaiah Sweet, faces two counts of first-degree murder. He is being charged as an adult.

An autopsy showed that Richard Sweet, 55, and his 62-year-old wife, Janet Sweet, were fatally shot, Delaware County Attorney John Bernau said. He declined to provide additional details, citing the ongoing investigation.

The couple's bodies were found Sunday afternoon when relatives arrived for a Mother's Day gathering.

According to a criminal complaint, Isaiah Sweet called a friend Friday evening and told her he'd “drugged his grandparents” and thought they were dead. He called again Saturday morning and said he had killed the couple, who were his legal guardians, the complaint said.

However, “The cause of death was a shooting,” Bernau said. “Not by poisoning.”

Sweet was arrested Monday night in Cedar Rapids after a short chase with police. He remained in the Buchanan County Jail under a $1 million bond Wednesday.

Bernau said Sweet's attorney, Steven Hodge, has requested that the teen be moved to the Dubuque County Jail to be closer to Hodge.

Even though Sweet is charged as an adult, Bernau said, “he has to be housed by sight and sound restrictions as a juvenile.”

A preliminary hearing is scheduled for May 25 in Delaware County District Court.

Saturday encounter

Also Wednesday, a Cedar Rapids woman said Isaiah Sweet had a hunting knife, marijuana and bottles of prescription pills when she saw him Saturday evening.

Kelli Fisher, 19, said Sweet drove her and some friends to a party about 10 p.m. It was the first time she had met Sweet, who she said was an ex-boyfriend of one of the other women.

“He was very nervous - visibly shaking,” Fisher said. “ ... He was showing off because we were all older than him. He was driving fast and we were telling him to slow down.”

After the party, she said, they went to a closed convenience store, where Sweet set off an alarm by trying to open the door. Responding officers found that his driver's license had been suspended and he didn't have permission to drive the truck he was using, which belonged to his grandfather.

Sweet was taken to the Iowa City Police Department, where he told officers they wouldn't be able to reach his grandparents because they were traveling. Police instead contacted his mother, who authorized the department to release him to a counselor from Cedar Rapids who knew him.

Fisher said Sweet mentioned his grandparents once that night, saying he hadn't graduated from high school was because his grandmother was always in the hospital being treated for leukemia.

“He seemed angry about it,” she said.