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Wednesday, March 25, 2015
SERVING DIXON AND THE SURROUNDING AREA SINCE 1851
DIXON | FIRST-DEGREE MURDER CASE
Wife’s killer gets 20 years Sigler gives a guilty plea in exchange for minimum sentence BY CHRISTI WARREN cwarren@saukvalley.com 800-798-4085, ext. 5521 @SeaWarren
DIXON – A Dixon man was given the minimum prison sentence of 20 years on Tuesday for strangling his wife 2 years ago.
Brian C. Sigler, 36, pleaded guilty to first-degree murder after admitting that he killed his wife, Yolanda, in a fit of rage and left her body under a blanket on the living room couch in 2013. The sentence was part of a deal Sigler made with prosecutors in exchange for his guilty plea. He must serve the full 20 years in prison, then be under supervised release for 3 years. Family members, along with police officers and detectives involved in the case, filled the courtroom benches to hear the long-awaited sentence Sheriff John Simonton was also there.
Then a Dixon police officer, he and his son, Dixon Police Detective Aaron Simonton, were the first to respond to a 911 call made Jan. 12, 2013, by the Siglers’ then-10-year-old son. They found Brian Sigler Brian C. in an upstairs bathroom, Sigler bleeding from selfinflicted stab wounds. The fatal fight was sparked when Sigler found sexual text messages on Yolanda’s cellphone, he told police.
After Judge Ron Jacobson accepted Sigler’s guilty plea Tuesday, three of the victim’s family members made their way to the witness stand, one by one, to read victim impact statements. Not once during any of those statements did Sigler look up as he sat, handcuffed, next to his attorney, Jim Mertes. Yolanda Sigler’s cousin, Amanda Coleman, talked through tears about her own history with an abusive relationship, and how much Yolanda’s death affects her and her family every day. MURDER CONTINUED ON A7
DIXON
STOCKING UP FOR SPRING IN ROCK FALLS
A clean slate: Chalk it up to Rita Crundwell
Parent Jennifer Tompkins fished out a trout Tuesday morning to show to the preschoolers who stopped by to watch the pond being stocked at Centennial Park in Rock Falls. Most of the kids even took the chance to touch the slippery guy.
Election could bring a fresh start – and new challenges BY MATT MENCARINI mmencarini@saukvalley.com 800-798-4085, ext. 5529 @MattMencarini
Photos by Alex T. Paschal/apaschal@saukvalley.com
Three and four-year-olds in Coloma Park District’s preschool program watch as trout are funneled into the pond. The Ilinois Department of Natural Resources stocked the pond with 1,900 pounds of the fish for trout season, which will begin April 4.
DIXON – Some people in Dixon want a fresh start – a whole new City Council come election time. If that happens, it would be one more step into new territory for the city that was thrust into the national spotlight when former comptroller Rita Crundwell stole more than $50 million. In November 2013, the city hired its first city administrator, David Nord. In November 2014, voters decided to change Dixon’s form of government from the commission form to the managerial form. DIXON CONTINUED ON A7
WASTEWATER PLANT
Morrison can’t afford to wait City will proceed with plan for new plant after EPA delay BY PAM EGGEMEIER peggemeier@saukvalley.com 800-798-4085, ext. 5570 @pam_eggemeier
HIT-AND-RUN ACCIDENT
Attempted murder charges dropped Sterling police chief says new evidence points to other people BY CHRISTI WARREN cwarren@saukvalley.com 800-798-4085, ext. 5521 @SeaWarren
MORRISON – Charges have been dropped against two Rock Falls men accused of critically injuring a Sterling man in a hit-and-run accident. Dayton J. Hicks, 19, and Jorden E. Johnson, 22, were arrested in July in Corpus Christi, Texas, on charges
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of attempted murder. Both pleaded not guilty. Whiteside County court documents filed March 13 and March 18 say the dismissals came after the Sterling Police Department learned of new evidence that led to further investigation. Chief Ron Potthoff said detectives were looking into information that came through the anonymous reward hotline, Crime Stoppers.
INDEX
ABBY ................... A8 BUSINESS ......... A14 COMICS ............. A11
“We’ve developed some information that points at, perhaps, other people,” he said. “There’s been some information developed that other people may have been responsible, or have been connected with the people who were in jail. ... In some sense, it seemed promising, so we’re just looking at it.”
MORRISON – The city is exploring alternatives to finance a new wastewater treatment plant after receiving disappointing news from the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency. The clock is ticking on the city’s 1930s wastewater system, but the city last year delayed the costly project another year at the EPA’s recommendation. The regulatory agency had told the city it was instituting new financing rules that could make the project, which could come with a pricetag of more than $20 million, more manageable. Now the EPA says there has been a change in plans. “The EPA suggested a year ago that we wait a year because they could then offer us a 30-year loan instead of 20 years,” Mayor Everett Pannier said. “Now EPA says it’s not in a position to do the 30-year loan.”
CHARGES CONTINUED ON A7
CROSSWORD.... A11 LIFESTYLE ........... A8 LOTTERY ............. A2
CAR CARE ....A12-13 OBITUARIES ........ A4 OPINION .............. A6
MORRISON CONTINUED ON A7
Today’s weather High 48. Low 28. More on A3.
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