GREAT FALLS — Levi Patrick Peppenger and Cecil Thomas Rice have been charged after a makeshift weapon was found in their cell in the Cascade County Detention Center last week.
Court documents state that a detention officer found a piece of broken pipe that had been "shaved down to a sharp tip."
The toilet paper holder welded on to the sink in the cell had been covered by a full roll of toilet paper, Behind the broken sink/toilet (one piece), the officer found the item. It had been broken off of the plumbing behind the sink.
When questioned about it, both Rice and Peppenger declined to make a statement.
The cost to repair the broken sink/toilet is estimated at $2,356.
Rice is serving a 70-year sentence for deliberate homicide. Rice was convicted of pushing Anthony Walthers off the Old Steel Bridge into the Flathead River in 2017, causing his death.
Peppenger is serving a minimum 10-year sentence for several convictions in Yellowstone County and Custer County, including burglary, theft deceptive practices, and criminal possession of dangerous drugs.
Both have been charged with possession of a deadly weapon by a prisoner, with a possible alternative charge of criminal mischief for the destruction of property.
