Sigg charged as adult, faces 17 counts in Jessica Ridgeway murder case
Posted on: 10:46 am, October 30, 2012, by Will C. Holden, updated on: 01:32pm, October 30, 2012
JEFFERSON COUNTY, Colo. The 17-year-old accused of abducting and murdering Jessica Ridgeway will be charged as an adult and will face an array of counts, including first degree murder and sexual assault on a child.
Westminsters Austin Sigg appeared in front of a Jefferson County judge in a Golden courtroom Tuesday morning for a brief hearing, where he heard the 17 charges being filed against him.
There will be 11 in the Ridgeway case and an additional six for an attack at Ketner Lake on May 28.
The courtroom was flowing over Tuesday, with a small contingent of Siggs family and a larger contingent of his friends most of them from Standley Lake High School.
FOX31′s Marika Lorraine approached two girls who said they had attended the hearing to support Sigg. The two were outside the courtroom. When asked why they were not inside, they told Lorraine there was no more room.
Among the sizable contingent inside the court was Siggs father. FOX31′s Hendrik Sybrandy said Robert Sigg sat two rows behind his son and was visibly shaking.
Ridgeways family showed up with more numbers for the hearing. Sybrandy said that large group was once against dressed in purple, the favorite color of the slain 10-year-old, and showed no visible emotion.
The next step in this case will be a reverse transfer request, scheduled for Nov. 27. Sybrandy explained the process of this particular court proceeding on Colorados Everyday Show shortly after the hearing concluded.
In the old days, prosecutors would file charges against Sigg as an adult and this case would proceed straight to a district court, with the next step being an adult hearing, Sybrandy said. Nowadays, the defense attorneys get a chance to make an argument against Sigg being charged as an adult.
That is what will take place at the reverse transfer request.