Cold case cracked as Illinois suspect charged in brutal 1993 killing of mother found slain in field

More than 30 years after an Illinois mother was found beaten to death in a rural field, authorities on Tuesday announced murder charges against a 70-year-old suspect in a cold case that investigators said never stopped haunting the community or the victim’s family.

Albert L. Zigler, 70, of Caseyville, Illinois, is charged with first-degree murder in connection with the 1993 killing of Randy Gail Sperino, 34.

In 1993, Sperino was bludgeoned to death and her body was dumped in a field in unincorporated Granite City, Illinois.

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Investigators recovered DNA from the scene, but no matches were identified in Combined DNA Index System (CODIS), according to a report from local outlet KMOV. Othram, a Texas-based genealogy company, recently identified Zigler as the suspect.

Despite the passage of more than three decades, investigators said sufficient evidence was developed to support the charges against Zigler.

Wes Sperino, Randy Sperino’s son, told the outlet he never thought an arrest would be made.

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“I thought I might pass and never know, but that all changed thanks to these guys behind me and to my side,” Wes Sperino said. “I was ecstatic and then I had immediate tears of joy, and I was just shocked that I was hearing the words of, ‘We got him.'”