By Andy Hoffman
The Hawk Eye, Burlington, Iowa
FORT MADISON, Iowa — An inmate serving a 45-year sentence at the Iowa State Penitentiary has been charged with attempted murder in the stabbing last October of a correctional officer at the maximum security prison in Fort Madison.
Kieth M. Piper, 33, also is charged with going armed with intent and assault on a correctional officer in connection with the attack.
Piper is accused of using two “homemade shanks” (knives) to attack correctional officer Jesse Burgher as he was preparing to move Piper to another area of the prison. Burgher was stabbed six times and required treatment at Fort Madison Community Hospital and the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics. He was released from the Iowa City hospital a day after the attack.
A second correctional officer, Dave Eid, also was assaulted by Piper who was “slashing at (the guard) with the two homemade knives,” according to court records unsealed recently in North Lee County District Court. Eid was attacked as he attempted stop the assault on Burgher, authorities said.
Eid was not seriously injured, but was placed in fear of immediate danger, court records indicate.
If convicted of the charges, Piper could face 35 years in prison, in addition to the 45-year sentence he already is serving out of Jasper County in central Iowa. He was convicted in 2016 in Jasper County on several felony counts of willful injury. He also was determined to be a habitual criminal by the sentencing judge.
According to the attempted murder charges filed by Lee County Attorney Ross Braden, “Piper did, with the intent to cause the death of another person and not under circumstances which would justify his actions ... set in motion a force or chain of events which would cause or result in the death of (Burgher).”
Burgher hasn’t been able to return to work since Piper stabbed him, and, he said recently, isn’t sure if he ever will. Friends and coworkers two weeks ago organized a benefit at the LULAC Club in Fort Madison to help with expenses related to the attack.
According to Burgher, the incident happened within a blink of an eye.
“It just happened so fast,” Burgher said at the benefit. “I didn’t realize what was going on. I just saw a guy coming out of the cell running at me, and he had two things in his hands. I didn’t know what those were.”
It is not known publicly if the attack on Burgher was racially motivated by Piper, who has identified himself as a white supremacist.
Guards at the prison aren’t allowed to carry weapons, so Burgher said he had only his hands for protection.
“I fought the best I could,” he said.
North Lee County District Associate Judge Ty Rogers appointed the Lee County public defender’s office to represent Piper on the new charges. Rogers ordered him to next appear in court 11 a.m. Feb. 9.
He did not set a bond for Piper.
“The defendant is currently incarcerated in the Iowa prison system on unrelated charges (out of Jasper County) with a discharge date several years away,” Rogers wrote in court documents. “The court finds that setting a bond is unnecessary to assure the defendant’s appearance in court and to protect the public from further criminal actions by the defendant.”
©2018 The Hawk Eye (Burlington, Iowa)