EXCLUSIVE VIDEO
See the exclusive interview with Matthew Puccio in the Tri-County Jail where he confesses to killing Jessica Rae Sacco.
URBANA — The suspect in a homicide case in which the victim was dismembered has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity.
Matthew Puccio, 25, has been charged with aggravated murder, gross abuse of a corpse, abuse of a corpse, felonious assault, two counts of tampering with evidence and three counts of possession of criminal tools.
He’s accused of stabbing and suffocating his ex-girlfriend, 21-year-old Jessica Rae Sacco, inside her Light Street home in Urbana on March 22. The two lived together.
Kirk Ellis, Puccio’s attorney, requested his client be evaluated for sanity and competency to stand trial.
Champaign County Common Pleas Court Judge Roger Wilson ordered the evaluations and said a hearing would be scheduled once results were received. Ellis declined to comment on his client’s defense until then.
Police believe Puccio called four friends after he killed Sacco to help cut off her limbs and dispose of them in northern Kentucky before going to stay with a friend in Hamilton.
The four others involved in the case also entered not guilty pleas.
Sharon Cook, 25, of Urbana, pleaded not guilty on charges of complicity to abuse of a corpse, complicity to obstructing justice and complicity to tampering with evidence. Her attorney, Cathy Weithman, also asked for a competency hearing.
William Singer, Cook’s father, said he came to the hearing to support his daughter. He said Cook and Christopher Wright, 37, are dating and only knew Puccio for a few days before the killing.
Singer said he has been receiving calls from people calling his family “murderers” and believes Wright is to blame for getting his daughter involved.
“Sharon’s downfall was with Christopher Wright. We tried to tell her he was no good to begin with,” Singer said. “And she didn’t listen because love is blind, you know?”
Wright, along with Andrew Forney, 26, of Fenton, Mich., and his wife, Kandis Forney, 25, of Fenton, Mich., face charges ranging from abuse of a corpse to tampering with evidence and obstructing justice. They all entered pleas of not guilty Tuesday.
A pre-trial hearing has been set for Thursday for the Forneys and Wright.