Charges filed in decades-old Madison County cold case

Madison County prosecutors announced charges in a three-decades-old Granite City cold case, crediting commercial genealogical DNA testing with the breakthrough.

Albert L. “Buddy” Zigler, 70, was charged Friday with two counts of first-degree murder in connection with the 1993 death of Randy Gail Sperino.

Sperino’s naked body was discovered in a rural Granite City field on Nov. 9, 1993. She appeared to have been bludgeoned to death, court documents state.

“The charges we filed today represent an important step towards justice in a case that remained unsolved for more than three decades,” Madison County State’s Attorney Tom Haine said. “While nothing can erase the pain experienced by the victim’s loved ones, we hope this development provides some answers.”

Vaginal swabs revealed a suspect’s DNA, but the sample did not match any in law enforcement’s DNA database of known offenders, called the Combined DNA Index System, or CODIS.

Haine and Sheriff Jeff Connor said law enforcement used forensic genetic genealogy to identify Zigler as a suspect. This investigative technique, which Haine described as “revolutionary,” involves comparing a suspect’s DNA sample with DNA from individuals who used commercial genealogical testing sites like FamilyTreeDNA.

This is the second case in Madison County in which forensic genetic genealogy was used to charge a suspect. Last month, in part because of the technology, a jury convicted 42-year-old Timothy J. Dubois Jr. of Fayette County in a 2022 rape and kidnapping case that originated in a Collinsville Starbucks parking lot.