JERSEYVILLE – A Jerseyville man charged with the murder of East Alton woman, Bonnie Woodward, was given an additional charge of aggravated kidnapping in Jersey County.
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The special prosecutor appointed to the case, Jennifer Mudge, of the Madison County State's Attorney's Office, said the additional charge of kidnapping was added to Roger Carroll's already-daunting list of charges in Jersey County. He has been charged with three counts of first-degree murder regarding the death of Woodward, each carrying 20 years to life, as well as one charge of concealment of a homicidal death, which carries a possible sentence of two to five years in prison. He was also charged with aggravated kidnapping in Madison County.
Carroll is accused of luring Woodward to his car outside her employment at Eunice Smith Nursing Home in Alton on June 25, 2010. He then allegedly drove Woodward to his property outside Jerseyville where authorities said he shot Woodward several times “about her body” with a Stoeger Cougar 9mm pistol. Authorities then said Carroll burned Woodward's body to conceal the deed.
Cadaver dogs were used in a search of that property in 2010, but could not find the body at that time, due to the method of concealment. Alton Police Chief Jake Simmons said the discovery of this grizzly crime was due to a tip from the public.
The additional kidnapping charge in Jersey County comes after a preliminary hearing in which it was decided there was enough evidence against Carroll to carry the case through to trial. Mudge said that charge is required with the felony murder charge.
“In order for a jury to convict someone for felony murder, they also have to convict them for the underlying charges,” Mudge said. “In this case, those underlying charges are aggravated kidnapping. While he may have done the initial kidnapping in Madison County, it did continue into Jersey County.”
Outside of being the special prosecutor appointed to this case, Mudge also works in the Madison County State's Attorney's Office to solve a pile of cold cases. Madison County State's Attorney Tom Gibbons said Mudge selected the case of Woodward as the first she wanted to reopen during a press conference to announce the initial charges against Carroll.
