Rapist, kidnapper of Southeast student gets life in prison

Jeffrey M. Lazier, 44, of Yorkville, Illinois, most likely will spend the rest of his life in a Missouri prison.

Lazier pleaded guilty Monday to first-degree sodomy in Cape Girardeau County Circuit Court. He then was sentenced to life in prison without parole by Judge Benjamin Lewis.

Lazier kidnapped a 22-year-old Southeast Missouri State University student May 12 in Cape County Park South, forcing her into his red pickup truck at knifepoint. He then drove around with her for six hours in Missouri and Illinois. The victim said Lazier sexually assaulted her repeatedly and forced her to obtain money from several banks.

The woman escaped the truck near an off-ramp in Effingham, Illinois, and shouted for help from nearby motorists.

Lazier later abandoned his truck at Cape County Park South, where it was found by police and processed for evidence. Cape Girardeau police and the FBI investigated, and Lazier was arrested by Illinois State Police.

Lazier originally was charged with robbery, kidnapping, armed criminal action, first-degree sodomy and first-degree sexual assault.

Lazier was convicted Monday as a persistent sexual offender, having been convicted of aggravated criminal sexual abuse in May 2007 in Grundy County, Illinois.

A news release from Cape Girardeau County Prosecuting Attorney Chris Limbaugh said that charge was equivalent to statutory sodomy in the first degree in Missouri. Lazier waived the right to sentencing assessment Monday and a subsequent sentencing hearing.

Lazier was sentenced to 35 years in federal prison in December in U.S. Eastern District of Missouri Court. But because Cape Girardeau County filed charges first, Lazier first must serve the prison sentence in Missouri before being transferred to federal prison.

Although Lazier's plea Monday was unexpected, Limbaugh was pleased with the case's outcome. He praised assistant prosecuting attorney Angel Woodruff, who led the case against Lazier.

"Not having to put the victim on the stand, to have to relive the ordeal over again, is a huge benefit to this outcome," Limbaugh said.

bkleine@semissourian.com

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