Alton, IL -Joshua Tharp charged with Murder & Dismemberment of Crystal Terpening

[JeffcoCitizen]

Murder Charges Filed In Crystal Terpening Case
East Alton Man Arrested for Murder

Edwardsville, IL. (KTVI-FOX2now.com) —
Madison County State's Attorney Thoma s Gibbons Wednesday announced murder charges at against East Alton resident Joshua Tharp. Tharp was arrest Tuesday in connect to the homicide of Crystal Terpening.

Crystal Terpening was last seen by her family on October 12, 2010. East Alton Police were called to the East Alton shopping plaza on November 4, 2010, after human remains were found on the property. Law enforcement authorities conducted an extensive search of the property over several days collection evidence and the dismembered remains of Terpening.

Following leads over the next six weeks, investigators interviewed individuals, collected more evidence and running through numerous scenarios. Which lead to the arrest of Joshua Tharp

Police learned that Tharp met Terpening on the night of October 12th at his home and subsequently got into an argument with her. He struck Terpening, killing her and dismembering her body and scattering the remains at the East Alton shopping plaza.

Tharp has been charged with first degree murder and is currently being held at the Madison County Jail without bond.

http://www.fox2now.com/news/ktvi-murder-charges-filed-crystal-terpening-case-122210,0,4224307.story

[JeffcoCitizen]

Rosewood Heights woman missing

November 04, 2010 1:27 AM

ROSEWOOD HEIGHTS - Authorities are looking for a 26-year-old woman who last was seen leaving her residence late Oct. 12.

The Madison County Sheriff's Department is investigating the disappearance of Crystal M. Terpening. She is described as white, 5 feet 4 inches tall, weighing 125 pounds, with brown hair and eyes and a piercing on the right side of her nose. She also has her name, as well as a butterfly, tattooed on her neck.

Terpening had been living for the last two years with her boyfriend, Jeremy Crawford, at his residence in the 700 block of East Rosedale Drive in Rosewood Heights, Terpening's mother, Deborah Schooler, told The Telegraph on Wednesday. She said the two got together about two years ago.

Schooler, of Granite City, said Terpening kept in regular contact with her because Terpening and Crawford's 1-year-old son lives with Schooler.

"I waited, thinking she would call me," Schooler said. "She always calls (her son) and keeps in contact with him, and she hasn't called."

Terpening also kept in regular contact with her father, Matthew Terpening of Alton, and her grandmother, Joann Crafton of Godfrey, neither of whom has heard from her since Oct. 12, Schooler said.

Crafton last saw her granddaughter Tuesday, Oct. 12, when she accompanied Terpening to a court date at 2 p.m. at the Madison County Courthouse in Edwardsville. Crawford also accompanied Terpening, who does not have a car or a cellular telephone, to court, and she left with Crawford in a vehicle after her court appearance. Schooler declined to say why Terpening was in court, except to insist that it was not for a criminal charge or anything to do with Crawford.

"I'm very concerned; she just disappeared," Schooler said. "That's what her boyfriend said: 'She just left.' I don't know if someone picked her up, if she called anybody."

Schooler said Crawford said Terpening might have left the house about 11 p.m. on Oct. 12.

"He seems to think it was around 11 at night; he really can't give us much information," Schooler said. "He says he doesn't know."

Crafton tried to reach her granddaughter after the court date.

"My mom didn't contact me until Saturday (Oct. 15) after the court date and said she couldn't get a hold of either one of them," Schooler said. "He said he lost his phone."

When Schooler still didn't hear from her daughter, Schooler said she reported Terpening missing Friday, Oct. 22.

"There is at least one reported incident where she was gone for a brief period of just days in March, but she was in contact with family," Lt. T. Mike Dixon of the Madison County Sheriff's Department said Wednesday. "But it was nothing to this extent."

Schooler spoke about Terpening's father, as well.

"Her dad is also very concerned," Schooler said. "They have a very good relationship, and he hasn't heard anything from her, either."

Schooler and her co-workers have put out fliers, and Crawford has helped look for Terpening, she said.

"The problem here is there are no leads - nothing to go on," Schooler said. "It's just that she's gone, and no one has heard from her."

Crawford could not be reached for comment.

The Sheriff's Department is seeking the community's assistance in locating Terpening. Investigators ask anyone having information related to her whereabouts to contact the department at (618) 692-4433. Callers who wish to remain anonymous may do so by calling the Anonymous Tip Line at (618) 296-3000.

http://www.thetelegraph.com/articles/schooler-46797-terpening-crawford.html

[JeffcoCitizen]

East Alton body identified as missing woman

Posted: Friday, November 5, 2010 10:30 am

EAST ALTON • Authorities said they have identified human remains found in a wooded lot Thursday as Crystal M. Terpening, a missing woman who lived about three miles away.

Authorities said they don't know the cause of death yet but do not believe her death to be accidental.

"We're investigating it as a homicidal death," said Capt. Brad Wells with the Major Case Squad.

Terpening had been missing from her home since Oct. 12, according to a missing person report made Oct. 22. But Wells said she had been seen alive since then.

Wells would not say whether investigators had any suspects in the case but said they were "questioning a lot of people."

"She shoud not have died the way she died and she should not have been found the way she was found," Wells said.

He said investigators identified the remains as Terpening through fingerprints.

more at link
http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/article_51489184-b957-504d-bb05-fc96a274bf15.html

[JeffcoCitizen]

Four being questioned in Terpening case

December 16, 2010 10:05 PM

Four people were taken in for questioning this week in southern Missouri in connection with the homicide investigation into the death of a 26-year-old Rosewood Heights woman.

The Major Case Squad of Greater St. Louis contacted the police department in Mount Vernon, Mo., on Wednesday so that four individuals in the rural community could be questioned about Crystal Terpening's death.

Mount Vernon Police Chief Garry Earnest told the Lawrence County Record that investigators came to town to interview two individuals from East Alton - a 30-year-old man and a 31-year-old woman. He said his officers arrested the Illinois duo, as well as a local man and woman, all of whom were staying at the latter's home just outside of city limits.

Mount Vernon police were asked to respond to the scene by Major Case Squad investigators, who had received a tip that the East Alton man and woman were en route to Mount Vernon.

Local investigators said the four had not been "arrested" and only were taken in for questioning.

more at link

http://www.thetelegraph.com/articles/questioned-48375-slaying-terpening.html

[JeffcoCitizen]

East Alton man charged in Terpening murder

December 22, 2010 9:45 PM

EAST ALTON - Authorities Wednesday charged a man with a long history of crime and violence in the beating death of Crystal M. Terpening, whose partial remains were found in a wooded area near the suspect's home.

Charged with first-degree murder in Madison County Circuit Court was Joshua J. Tharp, 27, of the 200 block of Virginia Avenue, East Alton. He is accused of punching the victim with a bludgeon, causing her death. The cause of death was blunt force trauma to the head.

Officers said the case unfolded on the evening of Oct. 12, when Terpening had an argument with her boyfriend at their home in Rosewood Heights and left. Family members later reported her missing. Police initially treated it as a missing persons case until a worker clearing brush discovered Terpening's remains in the woods on Nov. 4.

The killing may have occurred early Oct. 13, authorities said Wednesday.

The investigation determined that Tharp first met Terpening on the night of Oct. 12, the night she last was reported seen by her boyfriend. They subsequently got into an argument at Tharp's residence in the 200 block of Virginia Street in East Alton, which is only four houses from the property where the body was found.

more at link
http://www.thetelegraph.com/news/developing-48602-murder-police.html

[JeffcoCitizen]

Man charged with obstructing justice in Crystal Terpening homicide probe

Monday, Jan. 03, 2011

EAST ALTON -- A 24-year-old East Alton man is facing felony obstruction charges after he allegedly gave police false information during the Crystal M. Terpening homicide investigation.

Steven L. Peterson, of the 100 block of North Shamrock Avenue, was charged with obstructing justice Thursday in Madison County Circuit Court for allegedly giving police false information. The charges state that Peterson knowingly furnished false information with the intent to obstruct due prosecution.

East Alton Police Chief Dwynn Isringhausen said that Peterson accused a family member and another person of killing Terpening and disposing of her body.

"He knowingly lied to investigators, and they spent a week pursuing it when they could have focused their attention elsewhere," Isringhausen said.

Peterson allegedly told Detective Thomas Cromer of the Madison County Sheriff's Department, a member of the Major Case Squad of Greater St. Louis that investigated Terpening's death, that his family member and another person were involved in Terpening's death.

Terpening's remains were found Nov. 4 in a wooded lot behind East Alton Plaza 22 days after she last was seen leaving her house following an argument with her boyfriend.

Read more: http://www.bnd.com/2011/01/03/1536289/man-charged-with-felony-obstruction.html

[JeffcoCitizen]

DNA led law to suspect in Terpening slaying

January 07, 2011 8:31 PM
Lab work was break in case, documents show

EDWARDSVILLE — A test of DNA evidence found on murder victim Crystal Terpening’s body was apparently the break in the case that led to the arrest of Joshua J. Tharp, who told police the death was "an accident," court documents show.

The DNA evidence was found after authorities performed a criminal sexual assault exam on Terpening’s remains. The results showed the presence of Tharp’s semen, and authorities apparently already had samples of his DNA from previous cases.

Tharp has a criminal history dating to 2001 and has served time in the Illinois Department of Corrections.

The results of the test became available to the St. Louis Major Case Squad from the Illinois State Police Crime Lab on Dec. 21. Tharp was arrested that same day. Officers said on Dec. 22 that evidence from the lab was a major break in the case.

The document does not state if Terpening was sexually assaulted. Tharp has not been charged with sexual assault.

An affidavit filed in Madison County Circuit Court as part of a request for a search warrant documented the DNA evidence and made a brief reference to Tharp’s claim that the death was "an accident."

He is charged with first-degree murder in that he allegedly punched the victim with a bludgeon, causing her death. The cause of death was listed as blunt trauma to the head.

Tharp is also charged with dismembering a human body and concealment of a homicidal death.

read more at link http://www.thetelegraph.com/news/led-49168-slaying-suspect.html

[JeffcoCitizen]

Tharp pleads guilty to first-degree murder of Crystal Terpening

June 20, 2011
EDWARDSVILLE - Joshua Tharp pleaded guilty Monday to the first-degree murder of Crystal Terpening of East Alton and to one count of dismembering a human body.

Under the plea agreement in Madison County Circuit Court, Tharp immediately was sentenced to 30 years in prison for the murder and 25 years for the dismemberment. He will have to serve every day of the murder sentence and at least half of the dismemberment sentence.

The victim's mother told Tharp that his ultimate judgment will come from God.

Assistant Madison County State's Attorney Jennifer Vucich said Monday during a hearing on Tharp's guilty plea that Terpening, 26, last had been seen alive on Oct. 12, 2010, after a fight with her boyfriend.

She had been missing for 10 days when a worker clearing brush found parts of her body in a wooded area of East Alton near Tharp's home in the 200 block of Virginia Avenue.

Vucich told Associate Judge James Hackett the evidence at trial would have shown that Terpening asked Tharp for a ride after she left home following the argument with her boyfriend.

Vucich said the two took drugs and had consensual sex, but then became involved in an argument. Tharp's neighbors said in interviews after Tharp's arrest that Tharp and others often would gather around a "burn pit" at the back of the Virginia Avenue home to take drugs.

The neighbors reported suspected drug activity in the wooded area where Terpening's body was found.

After her body was found, agents from the Illinois State Police crime lab found semen, examined it and found Tharp's DNA. He was arrested but told police the death was "an accident."

Tharp was charged in Madison County Circuit Court with first-degree murder and dismembering human remains.

Tharp has a record dating to 2001, when he was convicted of burglary. He also has convictions for probation violation, possession of drug paraphernalia and other charges.

His DNA was on file from previous cases.

He will have to serve his entire 30-year murder sentence and at least half of the sentence for dismemberment for a total of at least 42 years.

Terpening's mother, Deborah Schooler, told Tharp after the hearing Monday, "You took the life of a precious girl. This is man's judgment. The ultimate judgment will come from God."

Tharp apologized but insisted it was an accident, the same story he told police. However, Vucich said a report from forensic pathologist Dr. Raj Nanduri proved that Tharp was lying about the accident.

The injury was to the top of Terpening's head, which would have ruled out Tharp's story that she fell backward and struck her head on a log, Vucich said.


http://www.thetelegraph.com/news/first-55494-guilty-murder.html