Colo. teen who killed girl to spend life in prison

[Xipe Totec]

GOLDEN, Colo. (AP) — A judge on Tuesday ordered a Colorado teenager who killed and dismembered a 10-year-old Denver-area girl to spend the rest of his days behind bars, describing his crime as "evil" and saying the case that rocked the community "cries out for a life sentence."

District Judge Stephen Munsinger gave Austin Sigg, 18, life in prison for Jessica Ridgeway's death and an additional 86 years for other crimes, including sexual assault and kidnapping.

"Evil is apparently real," Munsinger said after handing down the sentence. "It was present in our community on Oct. 5, 2012. Its name was Austin Sigg."

(snip)

Sigg did not face the death penalty because he was 17 at the time of Jessica's death.

http://news.yahoo.com/colo-teen-killed-girl-spend-life-prison-194047552.html

[rug]

1. Evil has nothing to do with it.

If the judge feels compelled to battle "evil" from the bench by sentencing a 17 year old to life without parole, he should also pull out from his morality bag the concept of redemption.

[chillfactor]

3. this kid kidnapped, raped, killed, and chopped a child into pieces.....

he does not need "redemption"...he needs to burn in hell....

[rug]

11. Ok, throw out the law books and replace it with Deuteronomy.

[Xipe Totec]

32. I get what you're saying. Sarcasm and all

I respect where you are coming from.

I understand your objection to the Judge's Evil spiel and all.

I get it.

There is no but here; no except; no exit clause.

I understand.

And I wish things were different.

[mike_c]

26. because justice in America is all about revenge, rather than rehabilitation....

This kid has his whole life to figure out how to become a better person. You would deny him that opportunity just to feel forthright about obtaining sufficient punishment and revenge? The past cannot be changed, but the future can. This judgement seems more about revenge today than about finding solutions for senseless violence tomorrow.

[Xipe Totec]

29. Sometimes the wiring is messed up and it's not about rehabilitation

It's about keeping us safe from him, and keeping him safe from us.

I wish we could reset whatever went wrong and start over. Reboot as it were.

But that works for software, not wetware.

[mike_c]

35. but is it really possible to know that at the beginning of someone's life?

I was pretty much a waste of space for the first couple of decades of my life, and I certainly was on a trajectory that wasn't going to end well. Today though-- at nearly 60-- I've had a successful career in science and service to society. I didn't turn myself around until well into my late 20's, and even then it was a long process of self renewal.

I don't agree that we should ever throw away the key. Periodic case review, parole hearings, whatever-- there should always be a mechanism for recognizing and rewarding rehabilitation whenever there is also a mechanism for imposing punishment. I don't believe we can predict, at the onset of someone's life, that they can never overcome their demons.

[Xipe Totec]

42. Redemption begins with contrition and compunction.

As long as there is no death penalty, the governor can always commute or even pardon.

A judge's word need not be the final word.

But I have not yet heard a word of remorse or contrition from this individual, nor any compunction.

He has a whole life to think about it and figure out a way to redeem himself.

I hope he chooses that path.

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

43. Did you ever seriously consider torture and murder as a teenager?

With all due respect, you are completely out of your depth comparing your early years as a slacker or maybe some petty thief to that of a criminal sociopath who has already committed a violent pathological crime and assaulted another women with intent to do the same.

[Katashi_itto]

38. Oh hell no. He's wired wrong.

[mike_c]

41. I'll have to defer to your knowledge...

...because I don't know anything more about this case than I've read in the media, and I'm certainly not an expert on human psychology and rehabilitation. I presume that you are, or that you have data about this young man that I don't?

[Katashi_itto]

45. yep he...kidnapped, raped, killed, and chopped a child into pieces.

[Ranchemp.]

47. And showed no remorse when sentenced.

That's all I need to know.

[Lizzie Poppet]

48. And only ONCE, during the entire trial, showed even a hint of emotion.

Moreover, this isn't one of those "if only he'd gotten some help" cases. According to reports, he got help, and apparently plenty of it beginning back when he was 12 and his stepmother discovered child pornography on his computer. Despite this, he raped, strangled, and dismembered a 10 year old girl and attempted to assault a woman.

If there is any possibility this young man can be rehabilitated, I'm all for it. But the first priority in cases like this must be to protect society from a proven deadly threat.

[nomorenomore08]

7. In most cases I would probably agree with you. But did you read the details of this one???

[rug]

12. Yeah, pretty horrible.

But bad facts make bad law.

[nomorenomore08]

15. Yeah, I'm not all that comfortable with moralizing from the bench myself.

So I guess I can see what you mean.

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

23. Yeah, shit happens, eh? nt

[rug]

28. More shit doesn't help, eh?

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

37. Where's the shit?

This kid spends his life behind bars, it's highly unlikely another 10 year old is killed, dismembered and dumped?

Isn't that a positive outcome for you?

[rug]

39. It's unlikely he will kill again if he has the chance at parole.

He will be sat on and watched for decades.

[CFLDem]

51. Oh don't worry, he'll be sat on and watched

by Bubba. And he'll be thankful if that's all Bubba does.

[rug]

52. Are you giddy at the prospect of prison rape?

[CFLDem]

54. No just emphasizing karma. n/t

[rug]

55. That explains the smiley.

[Ranchemp.]

53. Yep, child rapists/murderers don't fare well in prison,

this young criminal is looking at a lifetime of segregation if he's lucky.

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

8. The type of killer who does that to people, especially children, cannot be redeemed or rehabilitated

I'm sorry if that disrupts your worldview.

[rug]

13. An opinion stated as fact remains an opinion, no matter how uniformed.

Sorry if that interrupts your chest pounding.

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

18. Most noted criminal forensic and pathological experts would agree

A murderer who kidnaps, tortures and dismembers another human is too far removed from reality to be helped. This is not a 17 year old kid who got nervous during a holdup and pulled a trigger by accident.

But of course, I'm sure they are all in on "the racket" and not "informed" too, right?

[rug]

19. Then it should be a simple task to link to.

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

21. Not really

If it was that simple, then I wasted a lot of money on college and time on books with volumes of case study.

[rug]

30. It appears you did waste a lot of money.

[mike_c]

27. how do you know that...?

I simply do not believe it's true.

[rug]

31. He doesn't. It's bullshit.

http://www.hrw.org/reports/2005/us1005/index.htm

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

40. If he isn't free to kill and dismember another 10 year old....

....that's about as positive an outcome as you can get out of this. I'm not interested in making society a petri dish for your very optimistic world view about the mind of serial killers.

[Nuclear Unicorn]

20. The judge isn't responsible for the convict's redemption.

And he is perfectly capable of finding redemption inside of prison and still seeing his sentence through.

[rug]

33. Rehabilation is one of the three core purposes of criminal sentencing.

Of course he is responsible for fashioning the appropriate sentence.

He's a judge, not Cotton Mather.

[Codeine]

22. There's no such thing as redemption.

I believe in mercy and forgiveness, but redemption is a myth in my opinion.

[rug]

34. Without the last, the first two are meaningless.

[DisgustipatedinCA]

2. At what age should teens be tried as adults

I understand the nominal answer is 18, but there are lots of teens tried as adults. Legal types, please feel free to correct my assumption, but I believe that juveniles are tried in different courts because the justice system recognizes that young people aren't adults, that their brains haven't fully come into adulthood, etc. If this is the case, then why isn't there a standard from which courts don't deviate.

By the way, I only read the excerpt in the OP, not the full story. Just the excerpt makes me believe this was an especially heinous murder. I don't know what this 17-year old deserved/deserves for this crime, but I do wonder if we should set a standard and stick with it.

[Xipe Totec]

6. I have no assumptions. I'm posting only for information

I'm conflicted on this topic myself, and not prepared to give a supportable personal opinion.

[DisgustipatedinCA]

14. Thanks....this definitely wasnt a "shoot the messenger thing". The story just made me think about

...juveniles being tried as adults, and that made me wonder why it's done that way sometimes.

Thank you.

[Blue_Tires]

10. Teens are usually tried as adults for the really psychopathic, premeditated stuff

There might still be a few states where it's pretty much impossible to try a 13 year old as an adult, even if he guns down a classroom or something....

[DisgustipatedinCA]

16. Right--it does seem to be reserved for big, violent crimes.

And although I'm not sure what should have been done with the 17 year old in this case, I'm pretty sure I'd be against trying any 13 year old as an adult for any reason.

[Blue_Tires]

17. I do remember a lot of states pledging to change the law after this case:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westside_Middle_School_massacre

Big shocker that they were still trying to buy guns after release...

[TheCowsCameHome]

4. Sounds reasonable.

Make yourself comfortable, Austin.

[Yo_Mama]

5. Unless there's treatable mental illness

He most certainly should spend his life in jail.

Kidnap, rape, murder and dismemberment of the body of a little girl is a shocking crime and unless we know how to "fix" the person who did it, there is no excuse exposing society to such a person. Much less children.

[Xipe Totec]

46. Well, now we have a lifetime to figure out if it's treatable

Life sentence means he'll still be alive, if we figure out a way to fix his wiring.

Meantime, he's in a place where we're safe from him. Though I can't say if he's safe from us, knowing what I know about prisons.

[Yo_Mama]

49. Don't they have to do a mental evaluation?

Wouldn't that be the first thing one would do in a case like this? I confess I am having trouble imagining that he's not, although I do understand that whatever they call sociopathy or psychopathy nowdays is not treatable and not excusable under the law.

Maybe in ten years we will be able to treat him.

[Xipe Totec]

50. Maybe in ten years, or twenty.

Science and technology keep advancing.

There is always hope.

Nothing would please me more.

[Buns_of_Fire]

9. Good.

For some people, there is no rehabilitation, there is no redemption.

[Deuce]

24. "There is something simply broken in him that can't be fixed."

[JI7]

25. the Tsarnaev brother should get the same thing

no death, just the rest of their very long long lives in prison.

[DevonRex]

36. Good. We lived through that nightmare. I'm so sorry for her parents.

Whatever you do, if you have a hard time with forgetting violence against children, do NOT read the details. Please. It will stay with you and wake you up at night.

The murderer was in college to be a mortician. He shouldn't ever be allowed to have the opportunity to rape and murder (and much more) another little girl.

[Ranchemp.]

44. No problem with this,

from what I've gleaned from the news, this criminal committed a most heinous crime and showed no remorse for his actions.
He should spend the rest of his life in prison so he can't commit another heinous crime like this.