Jessica Ridgeway: Teen Gets Life For Murder

A Colorado teenager who killed and dismembered a 10-year-old girl has been jailed for life. Austin Sigg, 18, was sentenced to life in prison for the October 2012 death of Jessica Ridgeway. District Judge Stephen gave Sigg an additional 86 years for other crimes, including sexual assault and kidnapping of the girl and the attempted kidnapping of a jogger. Sigg eventually would have been eligible for parole on the murder charge because he was a juvenile at the time of the killing, but the extra sentences eliminated that possibility. "This case cries out for a life sentence," Judge Munsinger said. Sigg chose not to address the judge before being sentenced and showed no emotion as the judge issued his decision. The teen did not face the death penalty because he was 17 at the time of Jessica's death. On Monday, several of Jessica's friends and family members urged the judge to impose the maximum sentence allowed.

"A part of me died that cold October day in 2012," Scott Fischle, a close friend of Jessica's family, said. "She was a kind, sweet, innocent child who was bound for greatness in this world. ... My life is richer for having known her." Jessica Ridgeway Jessica's mother, Sarah Ridgeway, told the judge the killer does not deserve to know how the girl's death affected her, and his name soon will be forgotten. "Once we walk out of this courtroom we'll not remember his name and we'll only remember Jessica and the legacy she created," she said. The fifth-grader was abducted while walking to school, and human remains identified as hers were found five days later in a park. More of her remains were hidden in a crawl space in Sigg's mother's home, where he lived. Sigg, who reportedly had a fascination with death and was interested in mortuary science, pleaded guilty to kidnapping, sexually assaulting and killing the girl. He also acknowledged attacking a 22-year-old jogger at a Westminster park in May 2012. In that case, investigators said he used homemade chloroform to try to subdue the woman, who escaped. Defence attorneys told the judge that Sigg's mother inhaled paint while she was pregnant with him, and that trauma he suffered before and during his birth left him with head and intestinal deformities. Sigg dropped out of high school after the 11th grade and later earned a graduate equivalency diploma. Former classmates say he was intelligent, interested in mortuary science and was bullied for having a high voice. source:skynews