10 Years Later, Husband of Murder Victim Relives Tragedy During Trial

John C. Seigman cannot recall how many times he has told investigators and the courts about events on the night 10 years ago when gunmen broke into his Rossmoor home and kidnaped his three children and his wife, whose body was later found in a ditch.

He has testified at two preliminary hearings, two trials and numerous pretrial motions. He has had two taped interviews with police and another half-dozen less-formal interrogations.

“After one hearing, I thought to myself: ‘I’m really getting sick of this,’ ” said Seigman, who now lives on the East Coast. “But when the investigators say: ‘John, we need you,’ I’m ready to go.”

This week, Seigman may be reliving the tragedy in court for the last time.

Ronald L. Ewing, 36, of Bellflower is on trial in Orange County Superior Court for the death of Seigman’s wife, Johann. Seigman was the prosecution’s first witness Tuesday and may be on the stand all week.

William Gullett, 37, of Bellflower was convicted of first-degree murder in Johann Seigman’s slaying last year.

Door Left Open

Because of the hot temperatures on Aug. 25, 1976, the Seigman family had left the door open and the screen unlocked at their home. The Seigmans and their two sons, Paul, then 11, and John, then 16, had just finished dinner when two gunmen in makeup and wigs barged in and ordered them to lie on the floor. The Seigmans’ daughter, Cathy, then 18, came home during the confrontation.

The children and Johann Seigman were tied up and put in the family van. The abductors and the Seigman family drove in the van to the grocery store that John Seigman managed in Long Beach, and the kidnapers ordered him to go inside and empty the safe.

Seigman did as he was told, but when he returned the van was gone. The children were found a short time later in the van unharmed. But Johann Seigman’s body was found two days later in a ditch in Dominguez Hills. She had been shot five times in the back of the head.

Ewing and Gullett were arrested a short time later after a convicted burglar, Curtis R. Eddy, told police he had planned the Seigman kidnaping with them but had backed out.

Charges were dismissed against Ewing and Gullett a year later, however, after a judge essentially ruled that prosecutors did not have enough evidence.

It wasn’t until 1984 that the murder charges were refiled on the strength of new witnesses located by sheriff’s investigators.

Seigman said after testifying Tuesday that in the years after the case was dismissed in 1977, “I had given up hope, really.”

But he wasn’t bitter, he said. Seigman said his family has “a strong Christian background.”

“We knew that if the guilty were not brought to justice in this world, they would be dealt with in the next one,” Seigman said.

Ewing is suspected of helping plan the kidnaping and driving the escape car. A third suspect, Jack Bird, 44, of Garden Grove appeared at Gullett’s trial on court order, and Seigman identified him as one of the gunmen. Bird has never been arrested, and because the investigation is still open, Deputy Dist. Atty. Anthony J. Rackauckas refuses to say whether Bird will ever be charged. Nor will Rackauckas allow Seigman to discuss his feelings about Bird.

Have Adjusted Well

Whatever the outcome of this trial, Seigman said, he and his children, who are now grown and still live in Orange County, have adjusted well under the circumstances.

Seigman, 56, is remarried and about to retire from the grocery business. His son John and his wife are expecting Seigman’s first grandchild.

“We have always been a close family, and the children were very close to their mother,” Seigman said. “But we seldom discuss what happened. We’ve gotten on with our lives.”