Father of teen killed in Troy explosion and fire sues ex-wife, property owner
The father of an 18-year-old girl who died in an explosion and house fire near Troy in April has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the property owner and the family leasing it.
Among the defendants are Roberta Cissell, Robert Maxeiner’s former wife and mother of Madeleine Maxeiner, their daughter who was one of three people killed in the April 5 fire.
Maxeiner’s suit also names his daughter’s stepbrother, Colton Cissell; stepfather, Ken Cissell; and Dennis Grapperhaus, who owns the property at 8004 Kirsch Road, where the incident occurred.
The civil lawsuit, filed in Madison County, alleges the family kept dangerous, federally regulated explosives at the house without required permits or licenses, stored them improperly, and failed to maintain fire precautions, including working smoke detectors, “and other actions of negligence as determined through discovery.”
Grapperhaus is named as a defendant, the suit alleges, because he “knew or should have known” the explosives were being stored at a property he owned and because he is responsible for equipping the house with smoke detectors.
All of this amounted to “ultrahazardous activity,” the complaint states, and ultimately caused Madeleine Maxeiner a painful death.
Maxeiner is seeking “an amount far greater than $50,000,” plus court costs, on each of the suit’s 16 counts.
Attempts to reach Grapperhaus and the Cissells for comment were unsuccessful.
Multiple public safety and law enforcement agencies responded to the scene the evening of April 5 after 911 callers reported loud explosions. They arrived to find the home fully engulfed in flames.
One person was found with significant burn injuries and was later taken to a St. Louis-area hospital, the sheriff’s department said in a release issued the day after the fire.
Firefighters later discovered three people dead inside, each of whom were later identified through fingerprints or dental records.
The Madison County coroner’s office identified the victims as Madeleine Maxeiner, 18, of Troy; Ayden R. Hendrickson, 19, of Collinsville; and Paisley Nishwitz, 12, of Troy.
Others escaped the home without significant injuries, the release said.
Maxeiner was living at the home with her mother and stepfather, Roberta and Ken Cissell.
By 6:30 a.m. the following morning, the FBI, ATF, Illinois Secretary of State Bomb Squad and the Illinois State Fire Marshal were involved in the investigation. The area was closed for days as “controlled detonations” were conducted to disarm the explosives.
The investigation is ongoing. As of Tuesday, no criminal charges had been filed, either federally or by the Madison County state’s attorney’s office, according to public records.
Maxeiner’s civil suit says his ex-wife, her husband and their son were negligent, causing his daughter’s death, and that “those who engage in ultrahazardous activities are subject to strict liability for harm resulting therefrom, regardless of the degree of care exercised.”
