Teenage psychokiller Austin Reed Sigg made a formal court appearance today in Jefferson County Colorado where he finally learned the extent of the charges he will have to face for the kidnapping, sexual assault, murder, and dismemberment of schoolgirl Jessica Ridgeway earlier this month.
Some of the 17 counts brought against Sigg pertain as well to the attempted abduction and murder this past spring of an adult female in the park across from where Sigg lives and close to where his 10-year-old victim also resided. He unsuccessfully tried to use a chemical-soaked rag to overcome that particular victim. The woman managed to escape and reported the incident to police.
But the majority of the charges against Austin Sigg--some 11 in all--relate solely to the Ridgeway girl's slaying. These include four counts of murder in the first degree, two counts of second-degree kidnapping, robbery, and sexual assault on a child.
For the record, one of those murder counts has been additionally described as 'after deliberation'. The kidnapping and sexual assault charges are also each accompanied by a 'crime of violence' sentence enhancer, indicating the eagerness of prosecutors to put this dangerous predator away for as long as legally possible.
Sigg, who will be tried now as an adult and will therefore no longer have the same measure of case secrecy as he's thus far enjoyed, sat shackled and grimfaced at the hearing. However, despite having the book thrown at him (so to speak) some of the privileges of being a juvenile will still linger to his advantage: Even a youth who is tried, convicted and sentenced as an adult cannot be put to death or jailed for life without parole, because, according to the US Supreme Court, both kinds of sentences when applied to a minor are "cruel and unusual" punishments.
The maximum amount of time Sigg will serve for his heinous crime spree then is 40 years.
Sigg, who will be tried now as an adult and will therefore no longer have the same measure of case secrecy as he's thus far enjoyed, sat shackled and grimfaced at the hearing. However, despite having the book thrown at him (so to speak) some of the privileges of being a juvenile will still linger to his advantage: Even a youth who is tried, convicted and sentenced as an adult cannot be put to death or jailed for life without parole, because, according to the US Supreme Court, both kinds of sentences when applied to a minor are "cruel and unusual" punishments.
The maximum amount of time Sigg will serve for his heinous crime spree then is 40 years.
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