Guilty pleas in death of 13-year-old in 1982

Instead of picking a jury for a trial over the 1982 killing of a 13-year-old girl, lawyers on Tuesday worked out a plea deal that finally brought some, if not complete, closure to the case of Carrie Ann Jopek.

Jose E. Ferreira Jr., 51, was charged in October 2015 with the second-degree murder of Jopek after he confessed to a crisis line counselor, a TV station and his wife.  Long a possible suspect in Jopek's death, he made further admissions to detectives after his arrest.

But in recent months, his attorneys were trying to establish a defense that someone else may have killed Jopek. One man testified last week that his girlfriend at the time, Jopek's best friend, had told him her older brother John Mandt was responsible. Jopek's remains were found under the Mandts' porch, 17 months after she was last seen, by a carpenter hired to remodel the structure.

Mandt took the witness stand briefly Tuesday but indicated that on the advice of counsel, he wouldn't answer any questions. His sister Robin, who had also been subpoenaed by the defense, never even got that far. She said later that she never told anyone her brother had killed Jopek and said her long-ago boyfriend's claim was likely his effort to get out of prison on unrelated charges.

After a long day of lawyers' discussions with Circuit Judge Jeffrey Conen in his chambers, the deal was announced about 3:45 p.m. Ferreira would plead guilty to attempted second-degree sexual assault, with use of force, and false imprisonment, both as a party to the crimes. He faces a maximum of seven years total on the two counts at his sentencing March 17.

Because the statutes of limitations had long expired for those crimes, Ferreira had to expressly waive those defenses to plead guilty.

"I just want this over and done with," Ferreira said.

Jopek's parents, Carolyn and Frederick Tousignant, said they understood the problems facing the prosecution in a 34-year-old case and were satisfied with the outcome.

"It's better than taking a gamble and suffering a complete loss," Frederick Tousignant said.

His wife of nearly 40 years recalled Carrie Ann as an extremely smart girl. "She was a good kid but just grew up too fast," she said.

"I got my wish," she said of Tuesday's convictions. "But we still wonder why did it take him so long to admit it? Who can live with that in their mind for 33 years?"

Ferreira's story to detectives was this: Jopek and several other teens had skipped school and were at a party at Mandt's house in the 1900 block of S. 10th St., the same block on which they both lived. He said he offered Jopek a hit of marijuana, which she tried, but she coughed.

They agreed to go to the basement where he expected they would "make out," he said, but then Jopek expressed reservations. That's when, Ferreira said, he pushed Jopek and she tumbled down the steps. When he found her unconscious at the bottom, he groped her breasts. When he tried to pick her up, he said, he realized her neck was broken.

That's when, according to the complaint, he hauled her through the basement to an exterior cellar door, and access to space under the rear porch. In less than an hour, he had dug a 2-foot deep hole and buried Jopek.

Given those facts, Conen asked why both amended charges were as party-to-a-crime.

Assistant District Attorney Karl Hayes said, "It's well within the realm of reason and possibility that someone else or others were involved."