Detective honored for work on attempted murder case

HANCOCK COUNTY — Standing on the steps in front of the prosecutor’s office Hancock County Sheriff’s Department Detective Tim Cicenas was taken back. The 21-year veteran of law enforcement didn’t know until the last second he was being honored for the work he did on a recent attempted murder case.

Cicenas was selected by prosecutor Brent Eaton to receive an annual award recognizing those in the community who help crime victims. The longtime detective was instrumental in helping the prosecutor’s office secure a guilty verdict in the attempted murder trial of Ronald Lee McClure in February.

Eaton, his chief deputy prosecutor Aimee Herring, and the victim in the case, Millie Parke, surprised Cicenas outside on the steps with the award Thursday, May 6. Cicenas was accompanied from the nearby Sheriff’s office by Sheriff Brad Burkhart and other Sheriff’s officials under a false pretense so he wouldn’t suspect anything about the award.

“For the past several years, I’ve always tried to recognize someone who has done exceptional work on the behalf of crime victims in our county, and detective Cicenas went above and beyond in this case,” Eaton said.

Eaton credited Cicenas for all the investigative work he did leading up to the arrest of McClure and his continued work through the trial, even going days without getting sleep to make sure the case was on solid ground.

“After McClure was in custody, detective Cicenas kept going, collecting all the evidence we would need to put McClure in prison for 80 years,” Eaton said.

Parke, who said she had several issues with law enforcement in Marion County not listening to her concerns and fears that McClure might try to take her life one day, had nothing but gratitude and high praise for Cicenas as she handed him the award.

“For the first time I honestly felt heard, and I’m so grateful for it,” Parke said. “I’m forever grateful for this small town.”

Cicenas worked closely with Parke to collect key information when she was in the hospital after being stabbed multiple times by McClure outside of a Speedway store at 5972 W. U.S. 40 in May, 2021. Officials then noted if it were not for another Sheriff’s official, deputy Nick Ernstes, who happened upon on the scene when he pulled in to get gas and ended up rendering medical aid, Parke would have more than likely died that night.

Parke noted county law enforcement went above and beyond to get the conviction against McClure, who will spend decades in prison for trying to kill her and referred to Cicenas and Ernstes as well as the other county officials in the case as “a gathering of angels.”

A humble man of few words, Cicenas called the work he did on the case a small part of a total team effort where he was simply doing his job.

“In a case like this, it takes everyone working together, everyone doing their part and everything in this case just kind of fell into place,” Cicenas said. “We’re a team.”

Herring, who prosecuted the case for the state along with Eaton, noted the sentence was a true testament to the teamwork Cicenas talked about.

“Tim happened to be the lucky one on call who landed this case, and he was the spearhead and was out there in front of it, but he worked with other departments with a full team of professionals,” Herring said. “Everyone worked together to get that right outcome… that 80 years would have never come if everyone had not worked together.”

Eaton added that so many little things had to fall into place for Parke to be standing on the steps happy and alive with the conviction of McClure secured.

“A lot of things we see that may be similar to this kind of case don’t have a happy ending,” Eaton said. “This is the rare case were something horrible happened and we end up with a happy ending… It’s about the closest thing to a miracle I’ve ever seen.”