Hamilton County, Ind.—
The race to become the Republican nominee for prosecutor in Hamilton County has been marked with trash talk and warnings of payback according to opponents of the former frontrunner.Marion County Chief Trial Deputy David Wyser was the odds-on favorite. He had approximately $150,000 in campaign donations and the endorsement of nearly every important Republican in the county just north of Indianapolis until scandals about his boss, Marion County Prosecutor Carl Brizzi, broke in late January. Wyser's involvement in the controversial sentence modification of a convicted killer, along with campaign donations he accepted from the woman's millionaire father, encouraged opponents to consider challenging him.
"I had concerns, and a number of people had concerns," said Lee Buckingham, a veteran Deputy Prosecutor who eventually entered the race.
"The day after Fox59 News' story broke about the Willoughby case, we thought he had to be stopped," said Westfield attorney Tim Stoesz.
Stoesz considered whether his brother Steven should enter the race. The Stoesz candidacy never got off the ground, in part, due to pressure brought by a Wyser supporter and indications of payback.
"It was a specific statement as to what would happen to Steven as a criminal defense attorney in Hamilton County if Mr. Wyser was elected," said Stoesz. "Negative thing."
Wyser told Fox 59 News he never authorized that supporter to make that threat toward the Stoesz campaign.
Buckingham told Fox59 News that the day before the deadline to drop out of the race and leave Wyser uncontested, Wyser called him with a warning, "that if I remained as his opponent I would be gone. Anyone from my office who decided to run -- they better take their best shot because if he wins, they'd be gone because they're political opponents."
Wyser told Fox59 News that he told Buckingham his days at the Hamilton County Prosecutor's Office would be numbered because "that is the way it works" and "why would he want to work for me?"
The charges of hardball politics come at a time when Wyser is under increasing scrutiny for his role as Carl Brizzi's second-in-command. Wyser admitted to Hamilton County Republicans that he faces a disciplinary complaint for his role in approving the sentence modification of Paula Willoughby. Willhoughby was convicted of killing her husband after her father, Harrison Epperly, donated $2,500 to Wyser's campaign in May of 2009. Willoughby was released later that summer. Wyser returned the money in January of this year.
Wyser has also returned campaign donations to the wife of disgraced financier Marcus Schrenker, to embattled money man Tim Durham who is currently under federal investigation, and the firm of real estate broker John Bales who is an associate of Brizzi. Wyser also told a GOP forum in Noblesville that he would favor Brizzi's resignation if it appears that the prosecutor's role in several scandals and investigations were to result in the loss of jury confidence in Marion County criminal courts.
Candidates for prosecutor and sheriff in Hamilton County will attend a final debate at the Hamilton County Justice Center Monday night at seven o'clock in an appearance sponsored by the League of Women Voters.
