Piggott murder trial begins
Anne Warfield
From the [Springfield IL] State Journal-Register--
Piggott murder trial begins
Accused of strangling 80-year-old woman
By CHRIS DETTRO
STAFF WRITER
Prosecutors say John M. Piggott strangled Virginia Elshoff for her
money, credit cards and a ride out of town, while Piggott's attorneys
say the 80-year-old woman died of natural causes and their client put
her body in a closet "in a state of panic and fear."
Opening statements in Piggott's first-degree murder trial were heard
by a six-man, six-woman jury in Sangamon County Circuit Court
Wednesday. The trial, before Circuit Judge Patrick Kelley, is expected
to continue until the middle of next week.
First assistant Sangamon County public defender Bob Scherschligt said
Piggott will testify when the defense case begins.
Elshoff's body was discovered by one of her granddaughters, face-down
inside a closed bedroom closet, in her condominium in the 1900 block
of Jeanette Lane on Jan. 21, 2001. Authorities believe Elshoff was
killed two days earlier.
First assistant state's attorney John Belz said Piggott, 58, a distant
relative, was familiar with Elshoff and her family and in fact had
once lived in the same condominium complex in a unit he inherited from
an aunt.
But by the fall of 2000, Belz said, Piggott, who had moved back to
Springfield from the West Coast, had fallen on hard times. His
girlfriend, Shirley Lyles, had moved back to Oregon to live with her
daughter. Piggott's car had been repossessed, he had been denied a
bank loan, and he was having a problem finding a place to live. He had
asked another Elshoff relative for money, Belz said evidence will
show.
In January 2001, Belz said, Piggott paid for his rent at a local motel
with a forged check, and on Jan. 18, got in an argument with the
owner. After spending the night with a female acquaintance, he took a
city bus to Bruns Lane on Jan. 19 and was let in to Elshoff's condo.
"The evidence will show he had no car, no money and no place to live,"
Belz said. "But he wasn't out of opportunity. Virginia Elshoff was his
opportunity."
Belz said Elshoff had her hair done in her home about 9 a.m., and at
9:17 and 9:21 a.m. made phone calls to the shop where her car was
being worked on and to the rental car company whose 2001 Pontiac
Bonneville she was driving.
"Shortly thereafter, Piggott shows up," Belz said.
Cook County Medical Examiner Dr. Edmund Donoghue will testify that
Elshoff was strangled, said Belz, who is prosecuting the case along
with assistant state's attorney Steve Weinhoeft.
At 10:44 a.m., Belz said, Piggott called Lyles in Salem, Ore., and
told her he was coming to see her and that "I've done something
stupid."
He said Piggott then took a gold coin medallion, Elshoff's purse and
credit cards and her rental car and left Springfield. He was tracked
by credit card purchases to the Pacific Northwest.
When Piggott arrived in Salem, he asked Lyles to check on something in
Springfield, saying that he "may have seriously hurt someone," Belz
said.
He said the prosecution also will present evidence that Piggott lied
to police after he was apprehended, saying he didn't know Elshoff and
had never been in her condominium, and that he offered to pay someone
$20,000 to help him escape from the Sangamon County Jail.
Piggott was apprehended near Vancouver, Wash., after a nine-hour
manhunt. He had told Lyles he was going to Canada, Belz said.
Scherschligt said Piggott will testify that he did go to Elshoff and
ask for financial assistance, and she agreed to loan him money to get
back to Oregon. Elshoff and Piggott talked about the layout of her
condo, and she gave him a tour, Scherschligt said.
"At some point, she went to use the restroom in the bedroom, and when
she returned, she started to walk toward the bed and collapsed
face-forward onto the bed," Scherschligt said.
"She slid to the floor, and in a state of panic and fear, he put her
body in a closet."
He said Piggott drove Elshoff's rented car to a storage unit on North
Grand Avenue, where he retrieved some belongings, then went to the
downtown Hardee's restaurant where he met Bill Larson, and the two
headed west.
Belz said Lyles will testify that "Bill" is Piggott's alias or alter
ego.
"This case all boils down to the cause and manner of death of Virginia
Elshoff," said Scherschligt, who along with Springfield attorney Ralph
Williams is defending Piggott.
He said Elshoff had a history of diabetes and high blood pressure and
had surgery on her carotid artery only a couple of months before her
death. The artery is close to where the hemorrhage in the muscle
tissue of Elshoff's neck was found, he said.
"Her death can be attributed to natural causes," he said.
Before the trial began, the court allowed a defense motion requiring
prosecutors to pronounce Piggott's name as "Pi-zho," with a
French-sounding soft "G" and long "O," rather than "Pig-got."
Chris Dettro can be reached at 788-1510 or chris....@sj-r.com.
http://www.sj-r.com/sections/news/stories/N01232003,f.asp
--
Anne Warfield
indigoace at goodsol period com
http://www.goodsol.com/cats/
Anne Warfield
Agent: Piggott asked for help to escape jail
By CHRIS DETTRO
STAFF WRITER
An Illinois State Police agent testified Thursday that John M. Piggott
asked him for help escaping from jail.
Special agent Casswell Dawson was a witness during the second day of
the first-degree murder trial of Piggott, 58, who is accused of
strangling 80-year-old Virginia Elshoff in her Jeanette Lane
condominium on Jan. 19, 2001.
Dawson, who works in Collinsville, said he was contacted by
Springfield police on Oct. 28, 2002, and was asked to pose as a
relative of jail inmate William Greer. Piggott allegedly had told
Greer he wanted two police officers killed.
But when Dawson, posing as Greer's relative from Chicago, talked with
Piggott on a recorded phone line at the jail on Oct. 29, Piggott
allegedly told him he wanted help in escaping and that "there was no
need" for anyone to be hurt.
Assistant state's attorney Steve Weinhoeft played a tape-recording of
the conversation for the jury.
On the tape, Piggott offers Dawson $20,000 to help him escape and take
him to St. Louis. Piggott indicated he planned to break his own arm so
he would be taken to the hospital by two guards. Dawson was supposed
to somehow overpower the guards, preferably outside the hospital.
Also Thursday, paramedic William Kelley and emergency medical
technician Brian Huber testified about removing Elshoff's body from a
bedroom closet at her home on Jan. 21, 2001. Angela Tureskis, one of
Elshoff's granddaughters, earlier had discovered the woman's body
inside the closed closet.
Under questioning by first assistant state's attorney John Belz, both
Kelley and Huber said they observed petechia, or small spots of blood,
in Elshoff's right eye.
Forensic pathologists are expected to testify that petechia can result
from strangulation.
Earlier testimony Thursday included that of Diana Powell, who said
Piggott arrived at her mobile home about 3 p.m. Jan. 18 with torn
jeans and said he had ripped them climbing over a fence. He called his
girlfriend in Salem, Ore., from Powell's residence and told her he
would be there soon.
Powell testified Piggott left on foot _about 8 a.m. the next morning
and caught a city bus.
Josh Beechler testified he saw a tall, "scruffy" white man wearing
jeans and a black jacket get in Elshoff's rental car and leave around
11 a.m. Jan. 19. Elshoff's car was parked in the condominium parking
garage.
Piggott allegedly took Elshoff's purse, money and credit cards, a gold
coin medallion and the rental car and fled to the Pacific Northwest,
where he was apprehended in a Washington swamp after a nine-hour
manhunt on Jan. 24.
The trial, presided over by Circuit Judge Patrick Kelley, is expected
to conclude next week.
Chris Dettro can be reached at 788-1510 or chris....@sj-r.com.
http://www.sj-r.com/sections/news/stories/N01242003,i.asp