The woman accused of making up a story about witnessing the murder of missing TV anchorwoman Jodi Huisentruit will be charged with a pair of serious misdemeanors. The Mason City Police Department released a statement indicating that they have obtained arrest warrants for 25-year-old Cynthia Marie ?Cindy? Sweeney of Anoka, Minnesota.
Sweeney will be charged with giving a false report to a public safety entity and malicious prosecution. Both charges carry a maximum penalty of one year in prison and a $1,500 fine. On December 3, an interview with Sweeney aired on Minneapolis TV station K-M-S-P in which Sweeney claimed that she had witnessed the murder of the former K-I-M-T anchorwoman in June of 1995.
Sweeney had said that she was a runaway at the time and had been taken to a barn northwest of Mason City for a party. She claimed that the barn was where she had witnessed Huisentruit?s murder and that six men were involved in the crime. Following the interview, Sweeney was questioned by Mason City Police and officers from the Iowa Department of Criminal Investigation.
When she was re-interviewed last Wednesday, she recanted her story. Investigators allege that Sweeney intentionally provided information that she knew to be false. That information also included the names of the six men that Sweeney claimed were involved with Huisentruit?s abduction and apparent murder.