John Jefferson
Background: The home where Carol Long killed her ex-husband Walter Sigmon (WSET). Inset: Carol Long (Franklin County (Va.) Sheriff’s Office).
A Virginia woman who told police she “messed up” after the body of the man she lived with was discovered with almost 100 stab wounds has pleaded guilty.
Carol Long, 63, is facing 15 to 20 years behind bars after admitting she murdered Walter Sigmon on April 11, 2021, according to a court filing obtained by Law&Crime. Court records show she entered a plea of guilty to second-degree murder on Tuesday.
Long will also serve an additional 20 years of “active probation,” the plea deal says.
According to a criminal complaint, the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office received a 911 call requesting a well-being check on Sigmon and Long, who lived together. That caller told dispatchers “that his ex-wife lives with Walter and called him crying.”
When deputies arrived, Long came to the door and, when asked about Sigmon, said: “I killed him.”
She also told deputies that she “stabbed him,” the complaint says.
Local ABC affiliate WSET reported that Long also said that she and Sigmon were fighting inside their home. Long allegedly claimed that Sigmon was choking her, so she stabbed him with a kitchen knife.
She reportedly confessed almost immediately.
“I messed up,” she said in a phone call to an unidentified recipient who subsequently called police, WSET reported. “Walter is gone, he’s dead.”
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Authorities responded to the welfare check request at around 11:20 a.m., Roanoke NBC affiliate WSLS reported.
His body was found in the garage with more than 90 stab wounds, the WSET story said.
Sigmon was remembered in an obituary as “a loving father and friend to everyone who always tried to put a smile on your face.”
“He worked extremely hard during his life to provide for his family,” the tribute said. “He had a passion for hunting and fishing and loved being in the outdoors.”
Franklin County court records show that a presentence report is due on Dec. 10.
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Editor’s note: This story was updated to clarify that Walter Sigmon was not the ex-husband of Carol Long.
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