Graphic Warning: Segments of this report while accurate, are graphic and may be objectionable to some readers. It is definitely inappropriate for readers under the age of 18 without parental permission and recommended supervision.
Westminster, CO- Standley Lake High School dropout Austin Sigg told his Mother he kidnapped 10 year old Witt Elementary student Jessica Ridgeway the morning of Friday October 5.
Mindy Ashbaugh Sigg , divorced from Robert J Sigg, the father of the couple’s two teenage boys, called Westminster Police Tuesday evening to alert them of her son’s admission.
Upon arrival, Austin Reed Sigg confessed the unthinkable. Sigg told investigators he strangled the little girl after he snatched her into his Jeep, hogtied her in the back, and they could find the remainder of the child in a cooler located in a crawl space at his 102nd St address. By 7:45PM Sigg was arrested for the kidnapping and murder of Jessica Ridgeway, and the attempted kidnapping and attempted murder of a female jogger on May 28, 2012 a few hundred yards from his home.
The self-professed death mobile was impounded and inventoried at an undisclosed evidence bay for processing .
Although Sigg did not graduate High School, he earned his GED and was attending the alternative school Warren Tech last March where he won second place in the forensics category- a CSI award. Sigg was currently enrolled at Arapohoe Community College with the intention of fulfilling the prerequisite courses necessary to join the mortuary science program- which requires a background check for acceptance.
The irony of an award matching the letters on the backs of jackets combing through the Sigg home was not lost on the seasoned crime scene technicians fastidiously processing this newest crime scene in the case. (more…)
Jessica Christine Ridgeway , the grape-hued bespectacled 10 year old who lit up the court as a Stadley Lake pee wee cheerleader, left her Westminster home at 8:30am on October 5, 2012.
She was due to meet her walk-buddy Jeremy after speaking to him briefly from her Mom’s cell at 8:25am. When she did not show by 8:40am, he hitched a ride from his Dad to avoid missing the 8:50am bell. The drive route would not pass an “enroute” Jessica if she were to take the normal path to school.
Jessica never made it to Witt Elementary School (WES) and the school called her Mother’s cell by 9am to alert her to her absence.
Sarah Ridgeway, Jessica’s Mother, worked the night shift and never heard the cell phone she left downstairs. Later in the afternoon Sara retrieved the voice mail from WES, got in her car and began looking for her daughter.
Ridgeway reports her only child she shared with Jeremiah Bryant missing via 911 when she was unable to locate her. Jeremiah Bryant, Jessica’s Father, was alerted first by his employer when police were trying to determine his whereabouts, and then directly by investigators.
Despite the 6 hour delay Westminster Police reacted swiftly. They had interviewed children that normally walked to school with Jessica by the end of the school day and issued an amber alert by 9:15 PM Friday evening.
Victorious. This is the word splashed across Jessica’s pink backpack found by a neighbor in nearby Superior in the early hours of Sunday October 7th. It was believed to have been placed there between 6:45PM Saturday and midnight Sunday morning.
By Sunday afternoon Jessica’s family had confirmed the backpack ,complete with water bottle bearing her name , was hers. By Sunday afternoon investigators knew the chances of this ending well were lost when a clear and deliberate placement of a missing ten year old child’s backpack was a definite calling card intended for them.
The complete contents of the bag or any other evidentiary clues it yielded have not been released. (more…)
Desiree Young, Kyron’s biological mother and arguably the bravest soul in recent memory as far as the frantic and grieving mom’s of missing children’s set is concerned, believes her youngest son has been kidnapped by Terri Horman.
Or that she arranged for same by some unknown party and is demanding his location or the location of his remains.
Her recent civil suit filed by Eldon Rosenthal makes these direct allegations against the woman that by her own admission, she entrusted with the care of her toddler son in 2003.
Her suit is demanding $10 million dollars with a reservation to amend to include punitive damages later. The complaint is 5 pages long, or apparently $2million a page.
Last month a ruling by Judge Harry Kantor denying an abatement motion will allow the suit to proceed, for now.
The decision was widely seen as a win for Desiree Young in her tenacious quest to seek answers in the disappearance of her son Kyron from The Skyline School on June 4th, 2010. Headlines throughout the region and the evening talking head regulars praised the Judge’s decision for the Mom who has had no previous success in very public campaigns to engage Terri Horman’s cooperation in the investigation.
The legal community however, not so much. The decision to move the case forward relied largely on the fact that although it was patently clear from Ms. Young’s filing and subsequent public commentary by her and counsel Eldon Rosenthal that she alleges Horman has committed criminal acts resulting in the disappearance of Kyron Horman.
Terri Horman has neither been declared a suspect by police nor has she been indicted by a grand jury who continues to meet on the case.
Kaine Horman, Kyron’s father, learned about the suit filed by his former wife by a member of the media seeking comment on his reaction to it. He has not been made a party to the civil action although he was awarded primary physical custody of the couple’s son in March, 2004.
I count myself with the thousands that want this aggrieved Mother and Father to locate their child regardless of the outcome.
That said, it is ridiculous to think a woman whose criminal attorney has advised her not to respond to a twice- renewed restraining order precluding her from seeing her now 3 year old daughter is going to utter a syllable outside of assertion of her 5th amendment rights during any deposition she is compelled to participate in.
On June 4, 2010, Terri Horman, acting alone or in concert with others, intentionally kidnapped Kyron Horman from ; Skyline Elementary School. Kyron has not been seen or heard from by either of his parents since prior to Terri Horman taking Kyron to school that morning.
Did Not Miss The Memo
The Honorable Harry Kantor penned an accompanying order memorandum to his ruling following oral arguments on August 18th, It is worthy of the Honorable Belvin Perry’s stamp of approval- with the exception of course that is does not contain the phrase, “no earthly idea.”
It did however; contain the first ever direct statement that Terri Horman is a suspect in the investigation, a PRIME suspect, no less. In pertinent part:
“..The focus of the defendant’s motion is to stop the prosecution of this civil case while an ongoing active criminal investigation into both young Kyron Horman’s disappearance in 2010 and a murder-for-hire plot against Kyron’s father, Kaine Horman, is pending, so that the defendant (Terri Horman, Kyron’s step-mother and Kaine’s wife) is not required to decide whether to exercise her constitutional rights against self-incrimination under the United States and Oregon Constitutions before it is necessary to do so in any criminal prosecution which may follow the investigation. The plaintiff is Kyron ‘smother. The defendant is a prime suspect in the investigation …” (emphasis added by me)
Interestingly, Judge Kantor takes it upon himself to declare Terri Horman a prime suspect in BOTH the ongoing criminal investigations of a murder for hire plot and Kyron’s disappearance.
While it is a fair statement to say that both sides agree that Terri Horman is the subject or focus via “laser pointer” of the investigation into Kyron’s disappearance and her attorneys used that point to support abatement. At no time and in no document or filing has either side said Terri Horman was a prime suspect of anything? Where does Judge Kantor come by such information?
For his Honor to state his concern over tainting a jury pool, and then to allege, or divulge, as it were, that Terri Horman is a prime suspect in a murder for hire plot in an ongoing criminal investigation- is he privy to such information from some alternative source that is not contained on the record?
A request for any exparte information should be forthcoming. Where is the conversation with District Attorney Rod Underhill or his office read into the record? It has not been.
Lea Conner, Washington Family Attorney and BOC legal analyst sees Judge Kantor’s take differently:
“…The judge is not referring exclusively to the Desiree Young lawsuit.
Kaine Horman claimed in his TRO petition that law enforcement provided him with probable cause to believe that Terri Horman had attempted to hire someone to kill him.
He again made the same claim in papers filed after the TRO petition (specifically alleging that Terri was sexting the landscaper who she wanted to murder him, then allegedly sexted Michael Cook).
Kaine reiterated his allegations a third time in papers he filed last fall in response to Terri Horman’s motion for parenting time.
Kaine once again claimed Terri Horman tried to hire a hit man when he sought to renew the restraining order in 2011. There was an additional line added to the renewal, and though it sounded like something new, it was just Kaine reiterating the same allegations.
The Confrontation Clause of the Sixth Amendment applies to criminal matters, and it does not allow prior testimonial statements of witnesses to be admitted where the witness has since become unavailable. Crawford v. Washington, 541 U.S. 36 (2004).
Here, we are talking about a civil matter. The Confrontation Clause and the holding of Crawford do not apply to civil matters or other non-criminal proceedings…”
In Oregon, a special appearance is used by a party who wishes to vacate an unauthorized proceeding without consenting to jurisdiction of the court:
A “special appearance” is made by a party when he or his attorney seeks to obtain from the court an order vacating some proceeding which, it is insisted, has been undertaken by the adverse party in an unauthorized manner; such an appearance being thus limited to prevent conferring jurisdiction of the person. Again, Ms. Conner’s thoughts:
…” The more I think about it, the more I am convinced that the judge’s point was the last couple of pages that says Terri Horman’s lawyers cannot make any motion without appearing. This is to say that a special appearance allows a challenge as to the validity of a specific action, but it does not otherwise allow an attorney (nor a party) to file other types of motions or to seek other relief, as was done here.
The abatement that the attorneys sought would act as a protective order. Abatement is not a challenge to the propriety nor validity of the underlying action. As such, Terri Horman’s lawyers needed to appear before filing a motion as to the issue of abatement. ..”
Judge Kantor chose the teamwork approach in an adversarial proceeding, and instructed Terri Horman’s counsel they will need to file an appearance. He attempts to present the case’s challenges to both sides and seeks input as to how best to protect the rights of the defendant, in pertinent part:
The court does not have any particular length of time for this delay in mind at this juncture. lnstead, the court would like the parties and their lawyers to consult and confer about the following and then report back:
1. Should the court require the defendant to file an answer to the complaint which admits or denies the plaintiffs allegations or simply allow the defendant to litigate as if she denied those allegations? If so, by when and for how long?
2. Should the plaintiff be required to establish “reasonable suspicion” or “probable cause” (as defined in criminal cases) that the defendant has done what is alleged through other evidence before the defendant is required to answer oral or written deposition questions under oath?
3. Should the plaintiff be required to serve written deposition questions, which would be subject to court review upon proper motion, and review the answers before taking the defendant’s oral deposition?
Once the court has the parties’ answers to these questions, I will meet with the lawyers to form a schedule and plan for this case. Further briefing and hearings may be required as well.
Defacto Suspect Is Defacto Parent?
History is rife with hellacious stories of parents killing their own children, their own families, and ones parent status should not be considered a reason to exclude anyone. In fact, as we all know, it is 90% more likely that Kyron disappeared due to the actions of a parent or family member and all law enforcement investigators begin a parallel investigation of all with access or motive, from the start.
A hypotenuse only exists within a right triangle. This case is anything but.
Horman, through her attorneys has already certified she will protect her right not to incriminate herself and considering one of the remedies Ms. Young is seeking is that she does just that- who chaired the risk vs. reward strategy meeting in this case in its current form?
In Horman’s favor, Oregon law is one of few in the country that specifies that a jury cannot take the fact that she pleads the fifth and ostensibly cannot or is very limited in her ability to defend her case into its deliberation considerations.
Has Desiree Young been appropriately prepared for the litany of possibilities that might arise out of this filing?
Like, say, a counter suit or an effective defense resulting in a dismissal with prejudice? An award for Horman’s attorney fees ?
For the record, for those of you cringing while reading that remark, I cringed at writing it. (more…)
Drew Peterson, former Chicago policeman and suspect in the disappearance of his fourth wife, Stacy Peterson, has been convicted of murder in the death of his third wife, Kathleen Savio.
“…He has dug to the core of his problem [and] has gained all of the insight necessary for a successful adjust to society….” It is anticipated that Reldan will probably be one of the most successful people who ever graduated from the Rahway treatment unit..” William E Prendergast, Jr- Quotes contained within his report for parole for Robert Reldan, convicted rapist, eventual career criminal.
William E Predergast Jr, who was never a licensed psychologist, was in his first year on staff at the Rahway Treatment Center.
He gave his best Dr. Frederick Chilton impression with a third gushing and seemingly smitten report in 1968 of his 350 + hours of treatment of registered sex offender Reldan
.
Reldan began his criminal career before he had a drivers license and committed two sexual assaults by his 27th birthday. His juvenile record was sealed, so his rape conviction in the eyes of the court made him a first time adult offender who was sentenced to a prison hospital for 3 years.
Not the the 30 year sentence he should have received, or that his family cash could repel.
The Charmer, indeed.
Thus sets the stage for the tale of how one of New Jersey’s most sadistic serial rapists became a rapist-murderer with the unintended help of the Bergen County court system and the effective ATM of an aunt who had the great fortune of marrying well.
As you will read, THIS Ms. Booth was fine with the play, other than that unpleasantry, for sure.
The Charmer is co-written by by former Deputy Attorney General Charles Buckley who ultimately slammed the cell door on RRR and esteemed Bergen County prosecutor and Buckley protegee Richard Muti.
Prendergast’s myopic view is one of many contained in the chronology of how the man of means – the son of the owner’s of the Sweet Sue Bakery in the Bronx , which consequently is the name of both of his murder victims and his own sister, charmed his way through the criminal justice system, prison, and his marriage to the former wife of an executed Chicago mobster. “Judy, Judy, Judy.”
Reldan was the Madoff of crime before Madoff was could spell ponzi, or was a criminal.
Similarly to Madoff’s not so silent alarm, there is a confluence of events that SHOULD have been Revere-esque in stopping this man’s tortuous rampage.
“The Reldan is coming, the Reldan is coming”.
I heard it in my ears as the chapter’s tides dared me to meet it’s rip.
Muti and Buckley provide the perfect combination of chronology, facts and page-turning prose that make this non-fiction work a must read for true crime enthusiasts.
Sadly, it is also an avuncular handbook for law enforcement looking to bend the rules in an effort to be right about a suspect. While they absolutely were, there was dire consequences.
DiLuzio is a Di-loser in my professional opinion. You will have to read for yourself to digest the reference.
As a criminal investigative analyst with recent advanced education in the sexually motivated offender profile(s), The Charmer had me dog-earing pages with margin notes and highlighter saturation.
What can I say- with my schedule I am an avid audio book and occasional kindle reader, but the crisp pages and artful weave of reality loomed with eye- bulging twists, prompted more than a few illustrious phrases from this Jersey girl.
The addition to my non-virtual library is a treat.
The change to legislation to accommodate a civil litigation on behalf of a victim’s family made me like former Governor Corzine for the time it took me to come up with an acronym for MF global.
Reldan was bionic for a bit thanks to an un-addressed legacy will. No kryptonite involved .
Reeve was the best Superman’s real last name. Read THE CHARMER for your decoder ring.
Disclosure: I have not nor will I receive any remuneration for endorsement of this publication. The reviews of S. Christina Stoy, Editor In Chief of www.blinkoncrime.com, are at the request of authors who have been advised they will have no creative input and may not reflect a positive review at my discretion. The review is based solely on the publication provided.
