US teen who killed, dismembered 10-year-old girl gets life in prison

GOLDEN, Colo. – A U.S. teenager who killed and dismembered a 10-year-old girl last year was ordered Tuesday to spend the rest of his life in prison.

Austin Sigg, 18, would have been eligible for parole on the murder charge in 40 years because he was a juvenile at the time of the October 2012 killing of Jessica Ridgeway.

But the judge added on sentences for other crimes that Sigg pleaded guilty to, eliminating that possibility.

“This case cries out for a life sentence,” District Judge Stephen Munsinger said.

Sigg showed no emotion as the judge handed down the terms. He did not face the death penalty because he was a juvenile at the time of the killing.

He earlier pleaded guilty to kidnapping and killing Jessica. The girl 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 park in May 2012. In that case, investigators said he used homemade chloroform to try to subdue the woman, who escaped.

After Ridgeway disappeared, a resident contacted authorities to alert them to Sigg because he reportedly had a fascination with death. FBI agents took a DNA sample from the teen, and days later his mother, Mindy Sigg, called police, saying her son wanted to confess.

Investigators said Sigg told them he used his hands to kill the girl before he dismembered her body in a bathtub.

Former classmates say Sigg, who dropped out of school, was intelligent, interested in mortuary science and was bullied for having a high voice.

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