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NANCY GRACE

Teen Arrested in Jessica Ridgeway`s Murder

Aired October 24, 2012 - 20:00:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


NANCY GRACE, HOST: Breaking news tonight, live, Westminster, Colorado. 8:30 AM, this little girl, 10-year-old Jessica Ridgeway, walks three blocks en route to school. Mommy watches as she walks away from home. Jessica never seen again. Then a terrible find, the awful discovery, 10-year-old Jessie`s body dismembered, just a few miles from her own home.

Bombshell tonight. In the last hours, an arrest goes down in the murder and dismemberment of 10-year-old school girl Jessie, a 17-year-old college student, a crime scene tech wannabe, who dreamed of being a mortician.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have made an arrest in the Jessica Ridgeway case. Seventeen-year-old Austin Sigg is in our custody.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A warrant is being served on a home.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: An arrest has been made.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There are two charges, one and two, that are listed as first degree murder. Those are two counts related to the Jessica Ridgeway case. There`s a kidnapping charge, or charge number three, that is related to the Jessica Ridgeway case.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We notified the Ridgeway family of this arrest.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Justice for Jessica is a process. And this is the beginning of that process.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This arrest gives them some major closure in dealing with this horrible tragedy and loss they have suffered. We believe we have taken a significant step towards justice for Jessica.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don`t think I can look at this person, into his face, and not be judgmental. I think that I have -- it`s all I`ve got within me to not want to just burn him, and I mean burn him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Good evening. I`m Nancy Grace. I want to thank you for being with us.

Bombshell tonight. We are live in Westminster, Colorado. An arrest goes down in the last hours in the murder and dismemberment of a 10-year-old little school girl. Perp, allegedly a 17-year-old college student, a crime scene tech wannabe who dreamed of being a mortician.

And as we go to air, worse goes to worse, we are now hearing that the child`s body parts that were missing from the scene, the field where she was thrown away like trash beside a garbage bag -- those missing body parts apparently now being taken out of this 17-year-old`s home in crawlspaces in and below the home.

You know, for those of you like me who send your children to school -- this mother watches her child walk three blocks to meet up with friends to walk to school. She`s never seen again. And tonight, the alleged perpetrator, a 17-year-old college student, a student who competed in crime scene technology competitions, who dreamed of being a mortician, is now charged in dismembering this child`s body.

We are live on the scene there in Westminster with CNN correspondent Jim Spellman. Jim, what can you tell me?

JIM SPELLMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is Chelsea (ph) Park, Nancy. This is the park where little Jessica would come and meet her friends. And her home is just a couple of blocks this way. You can almost see it around the corner.

Shocking to find that this young man, this alleged murderer, Austin Sigg, just about a mile this way, Nancy. He lives very close to a lake that -- where police say in May, an alleged -- an attempted abduction took place. They`re able to somehow -- we don`t know how -- connect Jessica`s disappearance, that attempted abduction there, with this young man. He lives just about a block-and-a-half away from that lake here, everybody, unfortunately, neighbors in this case, Nancy.

GRACE: Well, I can tell you one way they`re going to be able to connect him, Jim Spellman -- everyone, Jim joining me there on the scene -- is because there`s going to be eyewitness identifications made of him.

Probably his other victims have already made photo identifications. You do that from a photo array, as police call it. You show the victim a series of five to seven photos, usually. One of them is the alleged perp, this college student, this mortician wannabe, and they pick him out. So you`re probably going to get photographic IDs. They`ll back that up with line- ups, in-person line-ups. And there`s always the possibility of DNA.

But you know, Jim Spellman, I want to hear about what they are finding in his home, in the home of 17-year-old Austin Reed Sigg, held right now on no bond, as he should be.

SPELLMAN: Sure. Some of CNN affiliates here in Denver, excellent reporters all of them, are reporting that in his confession, essentially, last night to police that he said that in that very home in the crawlspace that there were human remains.

We haven`t been able to independently confirm that, Nancy, but police have been searching there all day. We know they took away an SUV from the driveway in the front of the house, and there were investigators around the back of the house and in and out of the house all day. They set up sheeting to cover the view where they were bringing out evidence, and they blocked off that entire area to anybody but residents while they do their investigation.

A good amount of time has gone by since May and even since Jessica disappeared.

GRACE: Well, Jim...

SPELLMAN: They have to...

(CROSSTALK)

GRACE: Let me go back to Jim Spellman, please.

SPELLMAN: ... of what`s gone on since.

GRACE: Jim Spellman, I can tell you this much. I don`t know exactly what they`re pulling out of that house, but when you have local crime scene techs and police pitching a tent in your driveway, they`re getting evidence, all right? That`s what`s happening right now.

Now, I guarantee you this vehicle that you see being put up, towed away, they`re taking it straight to the police department where it`s going to be combed over by crime scene techs for hair, for fiber, for DNA, for blood, anything they can find.

Jim Spellman, CNN correspondent, joining me there live at Westminster. Jim, can you tell me what`s the cops` thinking? How did he allegedly get the little girl into his vehicle? What happened?

SPELLMAN: Well, we haven`t really heard an exact theory on that. But you know, he must have known this neighborhood so well, and it`s a lot of curvy streets and cul-de-sacs and dead ends. But someone who lives in this -- there are no major streets between Jessica`s home and his home. He would have known the area very well.

And just driving through here and getting familiar with this area, you can see how it really wouldn`t be that difficult for somebody who`s 17 years old to dealing with somebody who`s only a precious little girl who`s 10 years old, try to get her into a vehicle and be out of here in a matter of minutes.

GRACE: Joining me, Jim Spellman. Also with us tonight, investigative journalist Rita Cosby. Rita, he had tried this on about, that we know of, three or four people already. So if you look at those MOs -- modus operandi, method of operation -- we know what he did. If you don`t know a horse, Rita, look at his track record. Hello?

There he was at Ketner Lake -- let`s see a shot of Ketner Lake, Liz -- where several of his other alleged victims were. One was a boy he tried to drag over a fence. There was a female jogger. There`s reports there may be another. He approaches them, typically may use a chemical-soaked rag to put over their face. And then that`s it. The rest is history. It`s all over.

All right, what do we know, Rita?

RITA COSBY, INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER: Well, the good thing, as you pointed out, Nancy, that jogger -- this was the case in May that Jim was talking about -- actually saw him go by. He had a baseball cap and glasses on. But she was able to give cops a good description.

The other thing we know is this guy, this, you know, monster, this mortician wannabe, Austin Reed Sigg, 17 years old, has indeed confessed to his police. Apparently he first confessed to his mother. His mother got suspicious of something, maybe saw something, heard something, who knows what. Then she called police, and then he confessed.

We do know how little Jessica got into the vehicle. Apparently, he told authorities that he saw her and grabbed her and pulled her into his vehicle, which is why that Jeep Cherokee is now being inspected head to toe, as you point out. And then he says he strangled her and left some of her body parts in that crawlspace under the house. He apparently told authorities exactly where to look. It`s a little small dank crawlspace under the home. Again, as you point out, the other parts of her remains were found about seven, eight miles away.

It is just absolutely horrific! But the good news is he is talking. We don`t know what other cases he`s connected to, as you pointed out Nancy. He could be connected to a lot of cases.

GRACE: You know what I`m wondering? The fact that they pitched a tent, literally pitched a tent in his driveway, is suggesting to me that he may have done the dismemberment of this child in that home. Now...

COSBY: That`s what I thought, too.

GRACE: ... here`s my next question. Where was his mother while he`s dismembering a body in the home? She had to know that this child was missing. It was all over the news. We were covering it every night. And did the mother turn him in? What happened? What do we know?

COSBY: Yes, the mother did turn him in. We don`t know where the mother was during this. And I thought exact same thing as you did, Nancy, that they -- when they pitch up tents -- you and I have covered so many of these cases -- they clearly have some very significant evidence. And for them to right away pinpoint the remains belonging to Jessica -- they have some substantial stuff. And who knows what else is in that crawlspace, maybe other remains, other clues to other cases in the area.

We know the mother apparently got some information. Then he confessed to the mother. So maybe she found something, discovered something. As you point out, it was all over the news. She called the cops. He confessed first to her, and then he confessed to the cops. So we know that he has been describing in graphic detail at least this case. We don`t know about other cases. As you point out, usually, it`s not the first time, as we know.

GRACE: Joining me right now is renowned professor of forensic science Dr. Henry Lee. Dr. Henry Lee, thank you for being with us. Henry, a search warrant is being served right now. It`s been going on for hours and hours and hours at the suspect`s home. We believe that there are some of the child`s body parts still in the home, that they are recovering in crawlspaces.

Henry Lee, what are they looking for, and how long is this arduous task going to take?

HENRY LEE, PROFESSOR OF FORENSIC SCIENCE: Well, basically, they are going to link first those body part to Jessie. If additional body parts that could be a serial killer. And of course, how the body was dismembered. Did he use a saw, a knife, an axe? So more likely, they`re looking for weapon. And because the body part (INAUDIBLE) in his crawlspace at his home, that`s already (ph) direct linkage.

Of course, some of the clothing was found in a backpack. They`re probably looking for shoes, look for other material. And whether or not there are other body buried under the crawlspace, that`s probably they`re going to also looking for (INAUDIBLE) Going to be long process to check the home very thoroughly and methodically and try to find every piece evidence to put this whole case together.

GRACE: Dr. Henry Lee, everyone, chaired professor of forensic science, University of New Haven, renowned scientist in his field -- Henry...

LEE: Terrible (INAUDIBLE)

GRACE: ... if he dismembered this child, this 10-year-old girl, in the home, where did he likely do it in the home? I`m saying basement or bathroom? And how will police be able to determine if this is, for instance, a secondary crime scene?

LEE: Yes, that`s a good point, very good point, whether or not -- the kidnapping obviously is near the park. So if (ph) the van was used, whether or not he strangled the kids (ph) in the van or not. Of course, dismembering, we have to look at it, the sink trap, bathroom trap to check everything. Of course, the weapon would tell us, yes.

And because the body was found about eight miles away, so definitely have a vehicle involved. So plastic bag, whether or not put in a plastic bag, whether or not put in some other sheet and paper bag to wrap around the body. In addition, school bag, her school bag, yes, also 6.4 miles away.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... pleased to announce that today I believe that we have taken a significant step towards justice for Jessica.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hoping and praying that she comes home safely.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I just want her back home.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have made an arrest in the Jessica Ridgeway case.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The arrest was made today.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why would somebody do that?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: We are live and taking your calls. We are live in Westminster, Colorado. In the last hours, an arrest goes down in the murder and the dismemberment of a 10-year-old little girl walking to school. Who is the perp? The prime suspect is a college student, a crime -- a crime scene aficionado who wants to be a mortician. There he is, Austin Reed Sigg.

At this hour, tents are pitched by police in front of his home as they search for additional body parts of this 10-year-old little girl. She is just walking to school that morning.

We are taking your calls. Joining me right now there in Westminster, along with Jim Spellman, Nia Bender, TNN Denver. Nia, what`s the latest?

NIA BENDER, OPERATIONS MANAGER, TNN DENVER: Well, the latest is at this point is, apparently, the suspect has now told police that he will tell them where additional body parts are. And as you know -- you kind of know the rest -- is where he`s sitting right now. His first court appearance is tomorrow morning at 8:00 AM in Jefferson County court.

GRACE: OK, Nia, you and I have been covering this case from the very beginning. I`m trying to just take in what you just said. So you`re telling me that he`s telling police where additional body parts are. He didn`t just throw them away. He didn`t put them in the trash dump. He basically horded them. He hid them where he could have access to the body parts?

The last time I heard of anything being hidden in a crawlspace was John Wayne Gacy, the serial killer. So this guy is hiding the little girl`s body parts in the crawlspace in his home. And there`s a third spot? He`s hidden her body parts somewhere else, Nia?

BENDER: All right, we don`t -- we don`t have confirmation that, you know, he has them in his home or anything like that. All he -- or all that was released to us by Westminster police was the fact that he had told them he will tell them where the other body parts are.

GRACE: Out to Matt Zarrell, also on the story. Weigh in, Matt.

MATT ZARRELL, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER (via telephone): Yes, Nancy, in addition to searching at the home, one thing that investigators are looking at is reports that they`re examining the contents of what looks like a construction dumpster across the street from the suspect`s home. So if he did allegedly dismember her, maybe they`re looking for additional evidence inside the dumpster.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He`s 17 years old.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Seventeen-year-old Austin Sigg is in our custody.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It`s all I`ve got within me to not want to just burn him.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We hope also that knowing that an arrest has been made in this case can cause our community to rest a little easier.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: A 10-year-old girl walks to school. She is never seen again. Tonight, we are hearing reports that a 17-year-old who lived not far from the little girl is responsible for her death and dismemberment.

I want to go straight out to a neighbor of Austin Sigg, that 17-year-old college student. Brooke Olds is with us. She is just 13 years old. And she lives there in the neighborhood. Brooke, thank you for being with us, dear.

BROOKE OLDS, NEIGHBOR OF ACCUSED KILLER (via telephone): Hi.

GRACE: Brooke, thank you for being with us. Brooke, how did you know 17- year-old Austin Reed Sigg?

OLDS: We used to play a lot when we were younger.

GRACE: And what is he like, Brooke? Was he different from any of the others in the neighborhood?

OLDS: He was really quiet and shy. And I never really saw him hang out with anybody other than, like, us, really.

GRACE: Brooke, I understand he played with a lot of the neighborhood girls, like, hide the flag, different games with girls?

OLDS: Yes, he liked to play capture the flag and tag and hide and go seek. And we just -- I don`t know. I never really saw him hang out with anybody other than us or, like, any guys or anything.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have made an arrest in the Jessica Ridgeway case. Seventeen-year-old Austin Sigg is in our custody.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A warrant is being served on a home.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: An arrest has been made.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There are two charges, one and two, that are listed as first degree murder. Those are two counts related to the Jessica Ridgeway case. There`s a kidnapping charge, or charge number three, that...

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: In the last hours, an arrest goes down in the kidnap, the death and the dismemberment of this little 10-year-old school girl, Jessica Ridgeway. After an entire nation is riveted on her disappearance, the answer to the riddle was close to home. A man now suspected in multiple attempts on others, including children -- it was never publicized, nor was he apprehended -- is now behind bars in the death and dismemberment of 10- year-old Jessica.

Why weren`t those attacks publicized? Could this have been stopped?

With me right now is a little girl, in my mind, so blessed because on many, many occasions she played with this 17-year-old college student, Austin Reed Sigg.

With me is 13-year-old Brooke Olds, Sigg`s neighbor.

Brooke, again, thank you for being with us. You mentioned earlier that he used to play with you and other of your little girlfriends. Did he ever creep you out? And if so, why?

OLDS: Yes. Sometimes he did because he only wanted to play with us. And the only times he wanted to was if he could come over to our house or come in our house or come in our backyard. He just wanted to find some way to be able to hang out with us. And he would ask and ask constantly. And a lot of the times we would say no because it would kind of creep us out.

GRACE: Is it true that he often wore black and chains on his body?

OLDS: Yes. He often wore black pants. The same -- it kind of looked like they`re the same black pants. And they`re, like, had the chains and zippers all over them. And -- yes.

(LAUGHTER)

GRACE: Did he have a lot of friends? And what games did you guys play?

OLDS: He didn`t have many friends other than us that I know of. Because he never -- like, whenever I saw him on his scooter in the neighborhood he was always by himself. And he never talked about other friends. He only talked about playing with us. And the games that we normally played were capture the flag and, like, hide and go seek and tag.

GRACE: And so he is several years older than you but yet he is playing hide and go seek with little girls?

OLDS: Yes.

GRACE: We are taking your calls but first I want to go to Marc Klaas, president and founder of KlaasKids Foundation.

Marc, I want to hear your input.

MARC KLAAS, PRESIDENT AND FOUNDER, KLAASKIDS FOUNDATION: Well, this guy is a situational offender. He is a budding serial killer. He is a superpredator. And if they hadn`t gotten him off the streets blood would have thrown through the streets of suburban Denver until they did. So, you know, now Jessica`s parents know who did this. Their fear that turned to anger now has a recipient as does the anger of the entire community and I hope that they can use this opportunity to increase surveillance on school routes, to increase surveillance within the community, and to find other ways to protect those vulnerable citizens who are the prey of individuals like this character, Sigg.

GRACE: You know, Marc, I`m just sick because he had tried to attack several people according to reports around the lake, Ketner Lake.

KLAAS: Yes.

GRACE: And it was never publicized. Fliers were not put up. Don`t you know, Marc Klaas, if a mother like myself, had seen a flier out neighborhood, there`s no way I would let my child walk even three blocks to school with some perv out trying to grab little boys and joggers. No way. But there were no fliers. There was nothing posted. Nothing. Nothing. Nobody knew.

KLAAS: And even if his mother had known before she might have done something. I mean it`s so unusual for a mother to turn her own child in. We see so many parents who turn a blind eye, the Anthonys, et cetera, et cetera, that maybe she would have taken action before and little Jessica could have been saved.

GRACE: Unleash the lawyers. Mickey Sherman, criminal defense attorney, author of "How Can You Defend Those People?", Anne Bremner, high-profile lawyer, Seattle, Jennifer Smetters, family law attorney, Chicago.

First to you, Mickey, the fact that his mother turned him in, there is no privilege under the law between mother and child. What he tells her absolutely will come into court.

MICKEY SHERMAN, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY, AUTHOR OF "HOW CAN YOU DEFEND THOSE PEOPLE?": I agree. His confession to her is going to come in. And that`s not unusual. The mother of the Unabomber, Kaczynski, his brother turned him after that. But this guy is like a junior Jeffrey Dahmer, and I don`t mean that to be in any flip way. He is obviously insane. I know you`re going to jump all over me for that. But we will never judge him insane because his crime was so evil that the community wants him to be punished as harshly as possible including the death penalty.

GRACE: Well, insane under the law, as you well know, is the old M`Naughten test brought over from Great Britain under our American common law. Do you know right from wrong at the time of the incident.

And Anne Bremner, all three of us, all of us have tried a lot of cases, we know the fact that he covered up his crime, lied about his crime, shows that he did know it was wrong, Anne. Come on, Anne. how else can I put it out there? What`s a nice way to say it? They`re still looking for body parts, Anne, according to reports.

ANNE BREMNER, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Yes. They are. And it`s horrific. But you know what, in Colorado, look at James Holmes` case, you know, the theater murders, in Colorado the state has to prove that he`s sane, that the defendant is sane. I mean, think about that. You know that, it`s like the one place that`s still like the federal law was before Hinkley. And the fact they`re trying to prove that someone is a sane, proving that this guy is sane, with body parts and the need more body parts --

(CROSSTALK)

GRACE: You know what, Bremner?

BREMNER: Playing with little girls --

GRACE: I like you a lot but don`t tune up with me. Second verse same as the first.

Clearly, Smetters, try to talk sense into her. This guy is not insane under the law. Just because what he did is heinous does not mean he is insane.

JENNIFER SMETTERS, FAMILY LAW ATTORNEY: One does not equal the other. And his acts are vile. And as Mr. Klaas said, he shows a pattern of behavior, a predatory behavior, of prior bad acts. And it`s all going to add up and show that he had a plan.

GRACE: We are taking your calls, straight out to Mona, Arizona. Hi, dear. What is your question?

MONA, CALLER FROM ARIZONA: Nancy, earlier I`ve been watching this as it broke news today. They -- one of the neighbors mentioned that the mother had a boyfriend that moved out about a month ago. I want to know who this boyfriend is, where he works. Was he in a mortuary? What influence he had on this boy?

GRACE: You know, I`d like to know that, too, Mona in Arizona. But I will tell you right now regardless if he had a bad influence on him, if they played these crazy games together -- I`m going to go to you on that very quickly, Matt Zarrell. Unless he took part in this crime he`s not going to be charged.

Matt Zarrell, what are some of these games he played?

ZARRELL: OK, Nancy. He was known as an intense gamer. One of them is "Call of Duty" which is a military shooting game. A violent military shooting game. Another is called "World of War Craft" which is an online fantasy game played with hundreds of thousands of people in a fantasy world, so to speak.

GRACE: All right. To Bethany Marshall, we need to shrink. No offense, lawyers. Yes. Psychoanalyst, author of "Dealbreakers." "World of War Craft?"

BETHANY MARSHALL, PSYCHOANALYST, AUTHOR OF "DEALBREAKERS": Nancy --

GRACE: His lifelong dream, he wants to be -- embalming people?

MARSHALL: Nancy, this guy reminds me of Jeffrey Dahmer. With Jeffrey Dahmer, it was not enough to kill. Jeffrey Dahmer wanted to incinerate, burn, destroy, melt body parts. Remember Jeffrey Dahmer -- would drill holes in his victim`s skulls. He would put torsos in plastic buckets full of chemicals so that the torsos would melt. He gathered the body parts so that he could have control over them and for his sexual satisfaction.

So with this guy I think you`re seeing not just a pattern of homicide but almost either cannibalism, fetishizing of body parts, a perverse wish to have control over the body. And there may be more parts in that house.

GRACE: Interesting that he is hoarding body parts.

To the lawyers, Smetters, Sherman, Bremner. All right. Mickey, another question is this.

Let me see Mickey, please.

Mickey, I have seen offenders confess to a murder but they will not confess to molesting a child. I mean the best we can pray for here, Mickey, is that he knocked her out with some type of, you know, knock out gas on a rag like he tried to do to the jogger. But then how can you explain all of Jessica`s little clothes neatly folded up in her book bag.

SHERMAN: I think most experts will tell this is not a sexual offense. This is an offense borne out of power and some other type of insanity.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have made an arrest in the Jessica Ridgeway case.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: A little girl snatched while simply walking to school.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How safe is our neighborhood?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We really want to determine if there is any connection to those.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Rita Cosby, investigative journalist, I`m getting in facts as we`re on the air right now. What`s the latest?

COSBY: Yes, there`s some new very disturbing details, Nancy. KDVR, which is a local affiliate there in that area, saying that he apparently, Austin Sigg, confessed to hogtying her and then strangling Jessica Ridgeway. Then leaving her torso in a particular area of the park and then taking her backpack and leaving that several miles away in order to, quote, "distract authorities." I think this just further shows how much he was plotting and planning. Again according to KDVR authorities.

GRACE: Rita, we`ve covered a lot of cases, but I just want to tear him apart with my bare hands. Hogtied a 10-year-old little girl and smothered her? Then put her torso in one spot and the book bag in another spot to throw off the cops?

Hold on, didn`t you leave something out there, Rita? How did her body, her hogtied strangled body suddenly just be a torso? Aren`t you leaving out the dismemberment, Rita Cosby?

COSBY: No, you`re absolutely right. And the other thing, too, Nancy --

GRACE: Rotten. Kill.

COSBY: Wait. The other thing that`s also interesting, friends are saying -- we don`t know how he dismembered the body but friends are saying he had a fascination with knives and he was collecting knives and different weapons in his home. It`s horrible.

GRACE: C.W. Jensen, retired police captain, weigh in.

C.W. JENSEN, RETIRED PORTLAND POLICE CAPTAIN: I think we`re all thankful that his mother called after whatever she -- whatever horrible thing she found because this kid, and thankfully he`s going to be tried as an adult, would have reoffended and reoffended and reoffended.

GRACE: How do I know, Jensen, that he hasn`t already? And all this while you`re giving thanks? Listen to this, Jensen. He has -- he can participate in a road course, Frisbee, golf, soccer, kick ball, basketball, volleyball, gardening, read, visitors, his (INAUDIBLE). Where is he? The jail amenity at Mount View Youth Services Center, while he hogtied a 10- year-old little girl and strangled her? And now he`s out playing Frisbee? No.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GRACE: Right now, to Dr. Henry Lee. Renowned forensic scientist.

Dr. Lee, you`re hearing more and more of the facts as they unfold. What can you tell me, what are we going to be looking for forensically and why is it so important that these crime scenes be preserved? They`re multiple crime scenes.

LEE: Yes. You`re right, Nancy. At least five different area from primary scene, to the park, hogtied and then removed the body, dismembered the body, and deposit the body and the handbag. And now, of course, I disagree with some of the speakers think that`s no such activity involved, just remove her clothing. So that alone is consistent with a sexual assault.

Of course, we`d have to wait for DNA result. Whether or not semen was found. And this is a planned case. He probably followed the little girl and he had to bring a rope with him. And try to remove the clothes. Everything looks like a premeditated.

GRACE: You know, Dr. Henry Lee, you`re right. There`s going to have to be rope, which means he had to plan to bring it. He had to know where to find the little girl. He had probably watched her many, many times.

To Dr. Bill Manion, medical examiner and joining out of Philly.

Dr. Manion, will be ever be able to tell whether she was molested?

DR. BILL MANION, M.D., MEDICAL EXAMINER, BURLINGTON COUNTY, NJ: Yes, I think they can do DNA swabs and whatever body parts they can recover, they will -- as appropriate they will do DNA testing and see if they find any evidence of his -- any sexual activity. It sounds to me like he`s keeping some body parts as a trophy which is consistent with a lot of serial killers. And this may not be his first case. I agree with you. This sounds like it was planned out. He got away with it for several weeks. And certainly didn`t make any mistakes. The only mistake he made was I guess around the house when his mom found something.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GRACE: We`ll be right back with the developments in the discovery of the body of Jessica Ridgeway, and the arrest.

American hero. Army Corporal Bryant B.J. Luxmore, 25, New Windsor, Illinois. Bronze Star, Purple Heart. Loved teaching his son to play baseball. Parents Brenda, Leonard. Brother, Brock. Widow, Jamie. Son, Lane.

Bryant B.J. Luxmore. American hero.

Please stay with us.

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GRACE: We are live in Westminster and taking your calls. With me, a little girl that is the neighbor of the suspect, Austin Sigg. Brooke Olds is with us.

Brooke, when you learned that Austin Sigg is likely responsible for the murder of this little girl, 10-year-old schoolgirl, were you shocked or did it just not surprise you?

OLDS: I was extremely shocked. I could never, like, ever imagine him doing something like this.

GRACE: Why?

OLDS: I don`t know. It just doesn`t seem that he would have done it. No matter how strange he acted, I just could never imagine someone that close to me doing something like that.

GRACE: You know, I want to go to Nia Bender and Jim Spellman there on the scene.

What is the reaction of the neighbors, of the community, of Jessica`s mother? I just don`t see how she can even put one foot in front of the other, even get up out of her bed knowing just the little bit that we know tonight about what happened to her daughter, Nia.

BENDER: I can`t -- I can`t imagine, either. And the one thing I do know is that this -- that the community is breathing a sigh of relief tonight, but, no, as a mom who`s lost a child, I know how he -- how he passed away. I can`t even imagine, you know, the horror of thinking about what that little girl went through prior to being killed.

GRACE: And Jim Spellman, why -- why is he in a facility where he can play Frisbee and soccer and check out books and have visitors and watch TV? Why?

SPELLMAN: Well, I spoke to a court official today who told me that could well change after the hearing tomorrow morning at 8:00. Remember, he is a juvenile even though he`s been charged as an adult. He`s in a juvenile facility. That may well could change tomorrow. He could go into probably some sort of isolation, Nancy.

GRACE: And I want to go to you, Dr. Bethany Marshall, a lot of the neighbors can`t believe it, but I mean, look what we`re learning about him. Fixated on dead bodies. Played with little girls almost exclusively. A loner. A white male. There in the neighborhood.

MARSHALL: He fits the profile and so creepy, every time he went into those little girls` homes you know he was scoping out the bedrooms, trying to find out how to enter a window at night, how to render them helpless. He had a whole fantasy life going. And Dr. Lee is right, there`s a sexual component. Remember, sadism is one of the five perversions.

GRACE: Everyone, for those of you just joining us, an arrest has gone down in the last hours of a young man in the death and the dismemberment of a 10-year-old girl. And tonight, while many want him to rot in hell, our prayers are with her and her family and that they find peace at this hour.

"DR. DREW" is up next. I`ll see you tomorrow night, 8:00 sharp, Eastern. And until then, good night, friend.

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