Clay Waller pleads guilty to federal Internet threat charge

Clay Waller struggled to speak while he stood in front of U.S. District Judge Steven Limbaugh Jr. in Cape Girardeau on Monday afternoon. He paused before answering almost every one of Limbaugh's questions with one word answers.

When Limbaugh asked Waller if he understood the Internet threatening charges against him, his answer was more than one word.

"I understand," Waller told Limbaugh. "I sent the email. I did it."

Waller pleaded guilty Monday in federal court to a charge of making an Internet threat against his missing wife's sister.

Last month, he pleaded not guilty to threatening his sister-in-law on an online message board. Waller entered a motion to change his plea last week.

Waller faces up to five years in prison and up to a $250,000 fine for a charge of transmitting through interstate commerce a threat to injure.

Federal prosecutors say that Waller threatened to kill his wife Jacque Waller's sister, Cheryl Brenneke, if she hurt his three children. Brenneke has custody of the children. The threat is said to have taken place on an online discussion board.

Brenneke could not be reached for comment.

In Clay Waller's plea agreement, he waived his rights to appeal all nonjurisdictional, nonsentencing issues like discovery, pretrial motions and his guilty plea. He is also subject to up to three years of supervised probation after he serves time in prison, according to the plea agreement.

With Waller's guilty plea, his attorney, Scott Tilsen, withdrew his motion to revoke Waller's detention order. On Sept. 15, Magistrate Judge Lewis Blanton ruled Waller should be kept in custody until he goes to trial for the federal charges. Tilsen appealed the order, saying in a motion that Clay Waller does not pose a threat to the community and is not a flight risk.

Jacque Waller has been missing since June 1, and prosecutors have named Clay Waller as a suspect. Authorities believe Clay Waller was the last person to see his wife before she disappeared from the Jackson home where Clay Waller was staying.

Sentencing on the federal charge is set for Dec. 19. Tilsen asked Limbaugh to push the date up from after the new year because Waller has been in solitary confinement in the Pemiscot County Jail during his time in custody on the federal charges.

In addition to his federal case, Clay Waller faces harassment and theft charges in Cape Girardeau County court. A hearing scheduled for Sept. 27 was canceled because of his federal charges.

Probable-cause statements say Clay Waller accepted a check for $55,000 from the Delta Cos. in April 2010 for construction work he never did. The harassment charge stems from a complaint made the week before his Sept. 2 arrest by a former friend, Gary Hill, who told police that Waller threatened to kill him.

Waller's next circuit court date is Nov. 22, but because he will not have been sentenced for the federal charge, he may not be able to appear in court that day, said Scott Reynolds, Waller's attorney for the state charges.

Cape Girardeau County Prosecuting Attorney Morley Swingle is also seeking a deposition of Clay Waller's father in anticipation of filing murder charges against Clay Waller. State and federal authorities have said that Clay Waller's father said his son confessed to him that he killed Jacque Waller.

psullivan@semissourian.com

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