DNA breakthrough leads to arrest in grisly 33-year-old cold case investigators never gave up on

This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. ©2026 FOX News Network, LLC. All rights reserved. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. Market data provided by Factset. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. Legal Statement. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by LSEG. Fox News correspondent Matt Finn reports on the FBI's use of genetic genealogy in the Nancy Guthrie probe on 'The Story.' For more than three decades, the murder of Randy Gail Sperino haunted investigators in southern Illinois — a cold case centered on a young woman beaten to death and left in a rural field while her killer seemingly vanished without a trace. Investigators spent decades chasing leads and revisiting evidence, but the case remained unsolved. Now, prosecutors say a breakthrough in forensic genealogy and decades-old DNA evidence finally cracked the case wide open. Madison County State’s Attorney Tom Haine announced first-degree murder charges Tuesday against Albert L. "Buddy" Zigler, 70, of Caseyville, in connection with Sperino’s 1993 killing, calling the arrest "an important step toward justice in a case that has remained unresolved fo

May 26, 2026 → May 26, 2026