GOLDEN — The father of murder suspect Austin Sigg asked the public to pray for the family of 10-year-old slaying victim Jessica Ridgeway on Thursday after his son’s first appearance in Jefferson County juvenile court in connection with the crime.
“There are no words to express the sorrow that I and my family feel for their pain they are suffering. We are devastated by the knowledge that my son … has been arrested and will be charged with the murder of their beautiful daughter Jessica,” Rob Sigg said in a written statement Thursday afternoon.
He also lauded his ex-wife’s “courageous act” in alerting authorities Tuesday to their teenage son’s alleged involvement, calling it “unimaginably painful for any parent.”
Austin Sigg confessed to the crime at the time and agreed to be interviewed, Westminster police said. Other law enforcement sources said he was interviewed for more than six hours that day.
The 17-year-old mortuary-science student learned in court Thursday morning that the 1st Judicial District Attorney’s Office intends to try him as an adult, a decision that could leave him in prison for up to 40 years — rather than seven — if he is convicted.
Because of his youth, seeking the death penalty is not an option, District Attorney Scott Storey said. U.S. Supreme Court rulings in other cases also prohibit juveniles from being sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole.
The chief prosecutor declined to say exactly what charges will be filed against Austin Sigg when he next appears in court Tuesday, but he said charging him as an adult is “the right thing to do.”
In May, a woman jogging around Ketner Lake, near Sigg’s home, told police a man tried to place a chemical- soaked rag over her mouth. Prosecutors say it was the boy’s first known attack.
Jessica disappeared on her way to school Oct. 5.
Part of her body was discovered Oct. 10 in a field near Pattridge Park Open Space in Arvada.
“We have an attempted kidnapping at Ketner Lake followed (four) months later by what can only be described as a horrific murder,” Chief Deputy District Attorney Hal Sargent said. “The evidence is overwhelming.”
Sargent told the court that DNA and the confession linked Sigg to Jessica’s slaying.
Law enforcement sources told 9News on Thursday that Sigg had been directly interviewed during a neighborhood canvas after Jessica disappeared and that his home had been searched.
Sigg’s public defenders are asking for a gag order in the case; no details of the evidence against Sigg have been released, and documents already filed in the case have been sealed.
During the hearing, Sigg’s family sat weeping on a bench behind the defense table.
When deputies led the heavily shackled and bushy-haired teen into the courtroom, his younger brother doubled over sobbing while his mother tried to console him.
Fourteen sheriff’s deputies and police officers stood guard in the courtroom.
The Ridgeway family, including Jessica’s mother, wore purple — the little girl’s favorite color — Thursday morning and were hurried through a back hallway when the hearing ended.
Sigg, described as “cooperative” in arrest papers, is being held without bail on suspicion of first-degree murder and kidnapping in Jessica’s case and with criminal attempt to kidnap and murder in the attack on the female jogger at Ketner Lake.
He will remain at the Mount View Youth Services Center in Lakewood, though prosecutors will ask that he be transferred to county jail once charges are officially filed.
Jessica Fender: 303-954-1244, jfender@denverpost.com or twitter.com/oh_fender
