DNA Names Suspect 33 Years After Woman Found in Field

A Field in Granite City, 1993

For 33 years, the man investigators believe killed Randy Gail Sperino walked free.

Sperino, 34, was found dead in a field in unincorporated Granite City, Illinois, on November 9, 1993. She had been struck repeatedly in the head. No suspect was ever charged - until this spring. In May 2026, a Madison County grand jury indicted Albert ‘Buddy’ Zigler, 70, of Caseyville, for her murder. Forensic genealogy DNA analysis - which did not exist as an investigative tool when Sperino was killed - had finally broken the case.

Randy Gail Sperino

Sperino was 34 years old. She was found in an open field, outdoors, with what court records describe as massive blunt force trauma to the head. The specifics of what connected her to Zigler, and the circumstances that brought her to that field, have not been publicly released.

For more than three decades, her case sat in a file. Her son, Wes Sperino, waited. The Madison County Sheriff’s Office never officially closed it.

Seven Years of Genetic Work

Following Sperino’s 1993 murder, an investigation was launched, but investigators ultimately ran out of leads. The case went cold.

It stayed that way for nearly 30 years. In 2019, Madison County Sheriff Jeff Connor - having watched the emergence of forensic genealogy as an investigative tool - authorized a new effort to apply advanced DNA analysis to physical evidence that had been preserved from the original crime scene. The work took years.

By spring 2026, genetic genealogy analysis had identified a family tree. Additional investigative work narrowed that tree to one person: Albert Zigler, then 70 and living in Caseyville, Illinois. A grand jury returned a first-degree murder indictment in May 2026. Zigler was taken into custody.

The Announcement

Madison County State’s Attorney Tom Haine announced the indictment alongside Sheriff Connor.

‘Seven years ago, Sheriff Connor had the foresight to know that a new investigative tool, even though it was just emerging, might be able to provide a breakthrough in this investigation,’ Haine said. ‘The sheriff and his investigators never wavered in seeking justice in this case.’

Haine credited both the original investigators who preserved the evidence and the cold case team who reopened it. ‘These tools are only effective because of the dedication, persistence, and professionalism of investigators who are willing to revisit evidence, follow leads, knock on doors, conduct interviews and continue pursuing the truth, no matter how much time has passed,’ he said.

Zigler faces a charge of first-degree murder. He is 70 years old. No trial date has been set.

33 Years

Wes Sperino spoke briefly at the press conference. His mother was 34 when she was found in that field. He has been waiting 33 years for this moment - for someone to stand before a judge and answer for what was done to her.

Albert Zigler is that someone. The trial is still ahead.

References: DNA breakthrough leads to arrest in grisly 33-year-old cold case investigators never gave up on | DNA breakthrough leads to arrest in grisly 33-year-old cold case investigators never gave up on

The Truth In Facts team was assisted by generative AI technology in creating this content