KANKAKEE, Ill. (AP) — An Illinois man accused of killing his wife and scattering her dismembered body in two rivers nearly 40 years ago has pleaded not guilty in the cold case.
The Daily Journal reports that a Kankakee County Grand Jury charged 70-year-old Thomas A. Small earlier this week with two counts of murder and one count of concealing a homicide.
Small is accused of bludgeoning his 26-year-old wife, Diane Marie Riordan Small, inside their home in Bradley on Oct. 15, 1980.
Court documents say Small hid his wife’s body in an attic for about two days before taking it to Coles County, dismembering it and tossing it into the Embarras and Vermillion rivers.
Small is being held on $2 million bond.
His arraignment is scheduled for April 28.
Small’s public defender didn’t immediately return The Associated Press’ call seeking comment.
