COURTS: DEATH, LIFE SENTENCE INAPPLICABLE IN KILLING

OTTAWA, Ill. -- A Scott City, Mo., man accused of murdering a woman and then dismembering her body can't be sentenced to death or life in prison under Illinois law since the killing was not "heinous," a LaSalle County prosecutor said.

When the trial of Richard G. Meyer, 42, begins Monday, the LaSalle County state's attorney's office will seek a sentence of 20 to 60 years in prison, said Brian Towne, first assistant state's attorney. It is the maximum the law allows in Meyer's case, Towne said.

Meyer faces two counts of first-degree murder, one count of concealing a homicide and one count of criminal damage to property in connection with the July 11 death of Ernestina M. Hinojosa, 43, of Kennewick, Wash.

Police believe that Meyer met Hinojosa in a motel bar, then a few hours later took her to his room where she was killed. Meyer told police he put her remains into the coolers and dumped them in a cornfield five minutes from his motel in Peru, Ill.

A trial date was scheduled at a hearing on Friday. Meyer was found competent to participate in his own defense after a psychiatric examination requested by the state's attorney in October.

To seek the death penalty, a crime must have at least one of 20 aggravating factors named in Illinois statutes, Towne said. Some of those factors are murders committed for hire, killing a person 60 or older, and using torture.

Hinojosa's death, which investigators believe was the result of several stab wounds from a knife, must be considered separately under the law from the subsequent dismemberment of her remains.

"Death can only be sought if it is a particularly brutal or heinous murder," Towne said. "We have a brutal and heinous concealment, but the murder itself does not fit that definition in the statute."

The investigation began when employees at an EconLodge summoned police to the room that was registered to Meyer. Motel staff had entered the room to investigate blood dripping from the ceiling beneath his second-floor room.

Motel staff told police Meyer had indicated to them that he had spilled Kool-Aid on the carpet.

In the room police found a large amount of blood and a bloody hacksaw and knife. Police also found a woman's dress with holes consistent with knife wounds.

The killing also falls outside sentencing guidelines for life imprisonment, Towne said. Typical criteria for considering life in prison for homicide include cases with multiple victims, a child victim or the death of a police officer or firefighter.

Towne said he has explained what punishment will be sought to Hinojosa's family and that one of the victim's 11 siblings will testify during the trial.

Members of Hinojosa's family could not be reached for comment on Tuesday.

Towne expects the trial to last a week or more.