A new arrest made in an old case

Kentucky man arrested in shooting death

Twenty-four years ago a badly decomposed body was discovered in a Carbondale field.

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Wednesday, police made an arrest.

William Anthony Sisk, 46, was arrested and charged with murder in the shooting death of John Danny Sharp, both of Kentucky.

On Oct. 20, 1978, an unidentified body was found north of the former Kroger Store, 1270 E. Main St. No identification was found in the clothing and police could not immediately identify the body, according to Police Chief R.T. Finney.

Examination by the SIU-Carbondale Department of Anthropology determined the body to be that of a white male in his mid-20s and 5-feet-9-inches to 5-feet-11-inches tall. It was also missing four of its upper front teeth.

About a month after the discovery was made, one of Sharp’s family members spoke with Carbondale police and gave a description that matched that of the body. Sharp had been reported missing since September 1978. Finney said positive identification was made based on an autopsy and family identification of clothing found on the body.

Police interviews made in December 1978 pointed to Sisk as the prime suspect. Finney said Sisk was considered a prime suspect because he and Sharp were acquaintances during that period of time. He said both were employed by a construction company that worked out of several states and that they just happened to be in Carbondale at the time.

Finney said the case has been under investigation on and off for the last 24 years in the attempt to accumulate enough evidence for an arrest warrant.

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“It made the investigation extremely difficult because they were from out of state,” Finney said. “We reopened the case several times and most recently put a considerable amount of time and man-power to wrap this up.”

In April of 2002, new evidence was presented by family members to the Carbondale Police Department and the case was activated again. Finney said he was not at liberty to discuss the nature of the evidence.

On Tuesday, a Jackson County arrest warrant was issued for Sisk alleging the murder of Sharp between Aug. 23 and Sept. 6, 1978.

Sisk was arrested peacefully and is being held at the Christian County Jail in Hopkinsville, Ky., awaiting extradition.

His bail is set at $100,000.

Reporter Sara Hooker can be reached at [email protected].