Judge: Enough evidence to hold suspect

Sam Skolnik

Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2007 | 7:02 a.m.

A District Court judge refused to release William Sites from prison Tuesday, ruling that although his wife's body has never been found, prosecutors introduced sufficient evidence to a grand jury that showed he may have murdered her.

District Judge Valorie Vega pointed to the pool of blood found under the recliner chair Janice Gay "Jan" Sites was sitting in when she was killed, as well as blood splatters found on nearby walls that could prove she was struck at least three times.

William Sites has admitted to police that he killed Jan Sites in October 2005, dismembered her body and threw the remains in the trash. Metro Police have concluded there is no way they'll ever find them.

After police were alerted by relatives that she was missing, Metro questioned Sites several times last year. His story frequently changed, each version seeming to make him more blameworthy.

Eventually he confessed to police that he killed her after an incident in which she belittled him and told him of a previous affair. He told police that she was holding a knife at the time, although it is unclear whether she was attempting to rise out of her chair when Sites struck her in the head with a hammer.

Sites, 69, was arrested in October and indicted the following month. Jan Sites was 60 when she was reported missing in early 2006.

Sites' public defender, Norman Reed, argued that his client should be released because of the corpus delicti rule, which requires that a defendant's confessions are inadmissible unless prosecutors can show probable cause that a death occurred, and that it was caused by a crime.

Deputy District Attorney Tim Fattig countered by arguing that various types of admissible circumstantial evidence pointed to murder, including the blood stains and her driver's license and other personal items of hers that police found in their West Vegas Drive apartment.

During one police interview, Fattig said Sites "seemed more concerned about playing bridge than about his missing wife."

Ultimately, Fattig argued, a jury should decide whether a crime caused Jan Sites' death.

Vega agreed.

Sites' trial is scheduled to begin July 9.