Man arrested in 33-year-old cold case of woman found bludgeoned to death in field: ‘We got him’

EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. (KMOV/Gray News) — New DNA technology has led to the arrest of a suspect in a 33-year-old unsolved murder in Illinois.

Albert Lee Zigler, 70, was charged with first-degree murder for the killing of Randy Gail Sperino in November 1993. He faces an additional first-degree murder charge as an alternative theory charge.

Sperino was last seen alive walking in Granite City, Illinois, before entering what a witness described as a dark-colored pickup truck.

Her body was later found in a nearby field beside a road. She was naked and bludgeoned to death. She was 33.

The Madison County Sheriff’s Office spent more than 30 years investigating and interviewing hundreds of people.

Investigators performed numerous tests using DNA samples collected from the scene and have run them through the Combined DNA Index System since 1998, to no avail.

But Madison County Sheriff Jeff Connor never lost hope that the case would be solved.

“About eight years ago, I looked at the case and started talking with the victim’s son, and guaranteed him with the new technology, I really felt confident that we would eventually be able to solve this case,” Connor said.

A lead opened after turning to Othram, a Texas-based company that specializes in modern forensic genealogy technology. The technology identified Zigler as the suspect.

Wes Sperino, Randy Gail Sperino’s son, thanked law enforcement officers for their continued work in the case. He said he can now have closure.

“I never thought that this day would come,” Wes Sperino said. “I thought I might pass and never know, but that all changed thanks to these guys behind me and to my side.”

He added, “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.’”

Zigler is in custody at the Madison County Jail.