Jessica Ridgeway, 10, missing/murdered, Westminster, CO 10/5/2012

[chinchillas2cool]

Also found this interesting from the Denver Post article:

On March 23, he won second place in the Crime Scene Investigation division of the Health Occupation Students of America State Leadership Conference competition.

I am just glad he wasn't smart enough to cover all his tracks in this instance.

I guess that's why he got 2^nd place. Good thing he didn't get 1^st place!

[lbridgeland]

They have to charge him as an adult...don't they?

[Kip]

They have to charge him as an adult...don't they?

I don't know whether they HAVE to, but even if it's not a legal requirement, I'm sure they will due to the severity of the crime.

[chinchillas2cool]

The grandmother said she wanted to burn him, and she really means light him on fire and burn him all the way to hell.

I got a match and lighter fluid!

The death penalty is not possible because of his age. They say 40yrs max for the murder.... I'm sorry but that is bullshit!

[Jezreel]

On top of the below article, it is also being reported that Austin was treated for pornography addiction.

KDVR - WESTMINSTER, Colo. – Police set up a command post complete with a mobile crime lab, a van and tents Wednesday in front of the house of the teenager who told his mom he kidnapped and killed 10-year-old Jessica Ridgeway.
The suspect, 17-year-old Austin Reed Sigg was arrested at his home near 102^nd Ave. and Oak St. in Westminster Tuesday night after police, according to a source, received a phone from his mother.
A high-placed source in law enforcement tells FOX31 Denver’s Justin Joseph that Sigg confessed to kidnapping and killing the little girl.

The source says Sigg told police he drove by Jessica Ridgeway on the morning of October 5, turned his car around and grabbed her. He brought her into the car where he hog-tied her and then he strangled her to death.
Police want to find out how an abduction turned into a bizarre and gruesome murder. They hope to find those clues inside the suspect’s home.
The source tells Justin Joseph FBI evidence recovery teams found parts of the little girl’s body inside the crawl space at the house. -
Two sources say investigators came to the home after Sigg confessed the killing to his mother who then called police.
“It’s kind of terrifying to think that I knew him,” says a young neighbor.
Neighbors called Sigg’s behavior odd and unusual. “He was like always really quiet and he kept to himself.”
So unusual that around the neighborhood, Sigg’s stare was noticed.
“She was freaked out by a teenager staring at her at the park.” Emily Alexander says Sigg’s stare was so cold that her daughter remembered it days later.
“After Jessica was kidnapped she told me she knew who it was. She was sure she knew who it was and it was this teenager. A few days later he was walking by and she pointed him out and she said ‘That’s the guy!’ That was him.”
Authorities towed an SUV from Sigg’s home Wednesday. Sources say police were still in search of a secondary crime scene where Ridgeway’s body may have been dismembered as parts of it were discovered on October 10 in an open field in Arvada.
Parents around the neighborhood were in shock. “This is where we live. This is where my baby will grow up,” one says.
Many believe Sigg’s young age was one factor that made it possible for him to stay under law enforcement’s radar.
“Because he was 17. I didn’t believe her,” says Anderson. “I thought she was just being paranoid.”
The two main connections police had to their suspect were the torso found in the field and the little girl’s backpack which contained many of her clothes. It was found in a neighborhood in Superior two days after she disappeared.
A high-placed law enforcement source says Sigg confessed to leaving those things as a distraction for police.
Investigators expect to be at the suspect’s home for quite some time.



At the link and old video was seen on Austin's father Robert Sigg's website dating abck to 2009. There is a kid that looks Austin wearing what could be the cross police found. Also Austin's father Robert has a long criminal history but now seems to be living the life of riley in a mansion with his own business to boot.
http://kdvr.com/2012/10/24/old-video-cli...eway-case/

[nrkerr]

Colorado teen charged as adult in Jessica Ridgeway slaying

Prosecutors said a teenager who allegedly confessed to killing a 10-year-old Colorado girl and attacking a runner also sexually assaulted the girl.

Austin Sigg, 17, was charged as an adult with 17 counts in both cases Tuesday. They include four murder charges, including one for both murder and sexual assault.



Read more: http://www.kmbc.com/news/kansas-city/Col...z2AoH7Czcb

[HairOfTheDog]

UPDATE:



Despite confessing to his mother and then to LE (by phone) prior to his arrest, Austin Sigg, now 18, pleaded "Not Guilty" to charges including kidnapping, murder and dismemberment of Jessica Ridgeway. This was against his attorneys' advice - they wanted more time before formally entering a plea. There are 18 counts against him in all.

The judge scheduled his trial to begin on Sept. 20^th.

Note: His attorneys are also questioning the integrity of DNA testing which links him to an attack on a jogger.

Story here:
http://www.denverpost.com/breakingnews/c...geway-case

[HairOfTheDog]

GUILTY ON ALL COUNTS

Yesterday, ignoring his lawyer's advice, Sigg pleaded guilty to the kidnapping, murder and dismemberment of Jessica. He also pleaded guilty to the earlier kidnapping attempt of a female jogger.

The plea deal comes after Sigg initially entered not guilty pleas despite early media and police reports that he'd confessed to both crimes.

Jessica, a fifth-grader, disappeared from her home while on her way to school. Just days after she was kidnapped, authorities found Jessica's backpack abandoned in a suburb in nearby Superior and then on Oct. 10, her torso was found inside of a black trash bag discarded in a secluded park.

Since Sigg was legally a minor when the crime was committed, he is not eligible for the death penalty, according to Colorado law.

Jessica was killed a year ago on Saturday (10/5).


RIP

Sigg faces a sentence of life in prison with the possibility of parole after 40 years.

[HairOfTheDog]

Sentencing Hearing Begins Today

I didn't realize that Sigg was already on the radar before his mom turned him in.

A resident contacted authorities on Oct. 19, 2012, to alert them to Sigg because he reportedly had a fascination with death. FBI agents took a DNA sample from the teen. Days later, Sigg's mother called 911, saying her son wanted to confess.

Anyway, hope prosecutors get the judge to hand down a sentence which will prevent him from ever getting out of jail.

Sigg could be eligible for parole after serving 40 years in prison on the first-degree murder charge. But prosecutors want District Judge Stephen Munsinger to impose consecutive sentences on some of the other charges involving Jessica so that Sigg spends the rest of his life in prison.

Source:
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_162-5...colo-girl/

[HairOfTheDog]

Austin Sigg Gets Life In Prison



The prosecutors did a good job; they got separate sentences for each of the crimes to which he pleaded guilty - he will never leave prison.

It's not like the defense didn't pull out all of the stops, though. Here's the sob story.

Snip:
Dr. Anna Salter told the court that Sigg may have been aroused by the dismemberment. She said that in 2008, when he was 12, Sigg's family had discovered him watching violent pornography and sought treatment for him.

Sigg's attorney told the court that Sigg was taken to "Christian counseling" where he told counselors he was concerned the pornography was "affecting my whole life." She also said that Sigg was diagnosed with anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorder and put on medication at age 14.

Sigg's attorney told the court that according to medical records Sigg's mother told doctors that she had fallen down stairs while pregnant, and "breathed some strong paint fumes." She said that the labor was "complicated" and a vacuum was needed to deliver him. She also discussed an intestinal condition that required hospitalization when he was an infant, and his family history of mental health issues.

Dr. Salter testified that, although he committed the murder as a juvenile, the crime did not meet the markers of typically adolescent crime, including impulsivy and seeking peer approval. Sigg used homemade chloroform to subdue Ridgeway after finding a recipe for the substance on the internet.

Full story:
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_162-5...-ridgeway/

I'm happy that he'll be caged for life and hope that psych experts can learn something that might help them predict/prevent other youths with desires to commit such horrific crimes. This kid was a rapist, killer, mutilator, necro...you name it. Something more than pornography created such a monster. IMO.

[Midwest Spy]

http://kwgn.com/2012/10/05/westminster-p...-old-girl/

Westminster police say Jessica was last seen leaving her home to walk to school at 8:30 a.m. Friday. She never made it to school.

“Mom gets home about 7:30 a.m., gets her daughter ready for school, 8:30… sends her off,” says Westminster police spokesman investigator Trevor Materasso. “The normal procedure is Jessica walks to a park, meets classmates and they, as a group, walk to school.”

Jessica never made it to Chelsea Park, and the group walked to school without her. The School called her home to report her absent, but her mother sleeps during the day, and didn’t get the message until 4 p.m. That’s when she called police.

10 years old and walking to school.

Fucking animals waiting like predators to take our precious kids.

I may walk my daughter to school myself until she graduates from high school.

[sally]

http://kwgn.com/2012/10/05/westminster-p...-old-girl/

Westminster police say Jessica was last seen leaving her home to walk to school at 8:30 a.m. Friday. She never made it to school.

“Mom gets home about 7:30 a.m., gets her daughter ready for school, 8:30… sends her off,” says Westminster police spokesman investigator Trevor Materasso. “The normal procedure is Jessica walks to a park, meets classmates and they, as a group, walk to school.”

Jessica never made it to Chelsea Park, and the group walked to school without her. The School called her home to report her absent, but her mother sleeps during the day, and didn’t get the message until 4 p.m. That’s when she called police.

10 years old and walking to school.

Fucking animals waiting like predators to take our precious kids.

I may walk my daughter to school myself until she graduates from high school.

I'm not kidding, I drove my daughter to school until she was old enough to get in the car and drive herself. Same with my son, I still drive him to school every morning until he can drive himself next year. Not that I think anyone is going to kidnap him at this point, he's 6'2 180 lbs. and goes by himself everywhere else, but I still feel better just dropping him off at school in the morning.

[Maggot]

Yeah, years ago it may have been cool but not today. The bus stops in front of my house now.