Jessica Ridgeway Murder Case Update, Austin Sigg: Sex Charge Added, Suspect Admits 'I Have Proof I Did It,' Scatters Remains in Home

Prosecutors confirm that a sexual exploitation charge was recently added to the murder, kidnapping, sexual assault, and robbery charges against Austin Sigg, a Colorado teen accused of kidnapping and killing 10-year-old Jessica Ridgeway back in October. During a preliminary hearing on Friday (Feb. 22), a 911 dispatch call made by Sigg on Oct. 23 was played during court, where Ridgeway's murder suspect is heard stating, "I murdered Jessica Ridgeway. I have proof that I did it." Attorneys for the state confirm that two charges against Sigg were ultimately dropped, but three counts of sexual exploitation were added due to child pornography footage found in Sigg's possession during the investigation.

As Mstarz originally reported:

Austin Reed Sigg, a 18-year-old from Denver, Colorado, was arrested on Oct. 23 in connection with the shocking abduction and murder of 10-year-old Jessica Ridgeway. Sigg was also arrested for attacking a jogger back in May. According to police, a call from Sigg's own mother led authorities to the teenager, who then willingly turned himself in.

Young Jessica Ridgeway disappeared Oct. 5 while walking to school in Westminster- her body was eventually found five days later in an open park field. Colorado authorities recently connected Ridgeway's case to an attempted kidnapping of a 22-year-old runner on May 28 at another nearby park.

Sigg's mother Mindy confirmed in a tearful phone call to the AP before hanging up, "I made the phone call, and he turned himself in. That's all I have to say."

A judge then ordered Sigg to stand trial and be held without bail for Ridgeway's slaying and the attack on the female jogger at Ketner Lake. During Friday's hearing,  it was revealed that Rigg kidnapped Jessica as she walked past his car back in October. He bound her arms and her legs with zip ties, placed her in the back seat, drove around for a little bit, then took her to his house where he tried to strangle her, first with zip ties and then with his own hands He later dismembered the body and scattered some of the child's remains in the cross-base of the home, and disposed of the rest in garbage bags. Investigator Michael Lynch also testified that Sigg used homemade chloroform concocted with a recipe found on the Internet to attempt to subdue the jogger back in May.

Following Ridgeway's murder, Sigg later confessed to the morbid crimes to his mother, Mindy. She then called the police after her son revealed further details, including that several of Ridgeway's remains were buried in the house. When Sigg got on the phone with the dispatcher to give further details, he stated - "I don't exactly get why you're asking me these questions. I murdered Jessica Ridgeway. I have proof that I did it. You have to send a squad car down here, and I'll answer any questions you want to ask me."

He also admitted, "The only other thing that I have done was the Ketner Lake incident where the woman got attacked. That was me."

This 911 recording was played in court on Friday.

Although Sigg admits to the murder, he also claims that he didn't "rape or torture" Ridgeway. Lopez testified that the young girl ultimately died of asphyxiation.

The judge originally ordered Friday's hearing to be closed to the public, but the Colorado Supreme Court sided with media organization, arguing that the judge failed to show that holding the hearing in public would jeopardize Sigg's right to a fair trial.

Sigg is to enter a plea during an arraignment set for March 12.