26 Years Later, Brothers Sent To Prison In Woman's Death
WHITE CLOUD, Mich. (WWJ/AP) - Two brothers convicted of murder in the slaying of a young woman 26 years ago in western Michigan's Newaygo County received long prison sentences Tuesday.
Matthew Jones got the mandatory punishment, a life sentence with no parole, for first-degree murder. Paul Jones, convicted of second-degree murder, was sentenced to at least 30 years in prison. His maximum term is 75 years, although he'll be eligible for parole in his 70s.
The body of 18-year-old Shannon Siders of Newaygo was discovered in Manistee National Forest in 1989, three months after she disappeared. Authorities said she was sexually assaulted and killed while partying with the Jones brothers and other teens, north of Grand Rapids. An autopsy determined she died of blunt force trauma to the head.
Defense attorneys told jurors there was plenty of reasonable doubt, especially after so much time.
"For your murder convictions and your sentencing today some balance may result, but nothing in this world will ever replace the hole you created by taking the life of this precious soul or the lives you have injured including your own family," Siders' parents, Bob and Mary Siders, said in a prepared statement before the sentences were issued.
"Your behavior ... must be met by the most severe punishments allowable by law," they said in the statement. "However, nothing this court or the department of corrections can do will ever repair or replace what you took from this earth."
After the sentencing, Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette said the case shows the value of pursuing crimes, even ones committed long ago.
"This conviction and sentencing is proof that no case is too cold for a successful prosecution of someone who robbed a young woman of her life," Schuette said in a statement.
He said Paul Jones will spend decades behind bars, and "Matthew Jones will never have the chance to harm another young woman."
The investigation into Siders' death was reignited by state and local investigators in 2011. Her body was exhumed from a cemetery in 2012 as part of the investigation. The Jones brothers were eventually arrested in June 2014.
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