Memorial planned Saturday
URBANA — A friend of a woman found murdered and dismembered in her Urbana apartment said she thinks the killing may have been in retaliation.
Jessica Rae Sacco, 21, was found dead inside her bathtub at 625 W. Light St. on Friday. Urbana police said she was killed March 22.
They’ve arrested five people in connection with the killing: Matthew Puccio, 25, Christopher Wright, 37, and Sharon Cook, 25, all of Urbana; and Kandis Forney, 25, and Andrew Forney, 26, both of Michigan.
Amanda Erb, who said she attended Graham High School in St. Paris with Sacco, described her as a sweet girl who was sometimes bullied by others. But she was too nice to fight back. That’s why Erb said she’s doesn’t believe a friend of Puccio’s who alleged Sacco was killed in self-defense.
“I don’t believe that. Not for a moment,” Erb said. “Jessica would never hurt anybody.”
She said she’d had discussions with Sacco that she was having problems with Puccio, who lived with her in her Light Street apartment. Erb said she’d been encouraging Sacco to kick him out.
“Maybe that’s what set the whole thing off. Maybe she finally had had enough and was going to tell him to leave,” Erb said.
A candlelight vigil for Sacco is planned for 7 p.m. Saturday in front of the Light Street where she was killed. Erb said it is her hope people will learn more about the person her friend was before she became a victim of a violent crime.
“Nothing is ever going to bring her back, but I just want people to know what kind of person Jessica was and that she wouldn’t hurt anybody,” Erb said.
In arrest affidavits obtained by the Springfield News-Sun, police further outlined the alleged roles each of the suspects played during the murder.
Puccio is charged with felonious assault, murder, abuse of a corpse and tampering with evidence.
According to the arrest affidavit, Puccio allegedly suffocated Sacco with a plastic bag.
He then reportedly stabbed her in the torso, and cut off her legs and one arm.
The affidavits also indicate Wright and Cook allegedly helped Puccio cut off Sacco’s legs. Both Andrew and Kandis Forney then reportedly helped Puccio conceal the body parts and transport them to Hamilton and Covington, Ky., for disposal, the reports said.
At a video arraignment in Champaign County Municipal Court on Tuesday, Puccio’s bond was set at $100,000. A preliminary hearing has been set for 10 a.m. April 17.
Both Forneys also had video arraignments Tuesday and had their bonds set at $50,000 each, according to court records.
Kandis Forney will face a preliminary hearing at 10:30 a.m. April 13. Andrew Forney’s preliminary hearing has been set for 10 a.m. April 10.
All five suspects are in the Tri-County Jail.
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