Virginia man who once boasted that he’d appear on Dateline after murdering his estranged wife and hiding her body in a concrete slab has been sentenced to life in prison.
Frederick Lewis Wiggington, Jr., 38, was sentenced to life behind bars for the first-degree murder of 45-year-old Elsie Mae Wiggington, his wife of just over a year. He was also found guilty of using a firearm in the commission of a felony. The sentence follows a three-day trial in May where jurors took little more than an hour to convict him, according to CBS affiliate WDBJ.
Prosecutors said Wiggington carefully planned and executed the murder, referencing chilling testimony from an inmate who claimed Wiggington admitted to the killing and intended to frame his wife’s brother. “The truth didn’t stay buried,” prosecutors said in their closing arguments. “The truth is that he planned and executed his wife, Elsie Wiggington.”
According to the inmate, Wiggington had no remorse and seemed to glorify the act. “He ain’t got no remorse, he don’t give a damn,” the inmate testified. Wiggington reportedly said, “I’m going to be on Dateline,” showing more concern for his notoriety than his actions.
Elsie Wiggington, a nurse and devoted grandmother, was last heard from on June 23, 2023, when she sent a message to her foster sister saying, “He’s going to kill me.” She had plans to leave for Maryland the following day, but she never made it. Family members became concerned when Elsie’s daughter received a suspicious text two days later from someone they suspect was impersonating her. Elsie was officially reported missing on June 26.
It would be more than a year before her body was found. On August 14, 2024, authorities searching a property on Pendleton Drive in Amherst County discovered her remains concealed in concrete. Shortly after, Wiggington was arrested and initially charged with concealment of a dead body. He entered an Alford plea on that charge — not an admission of guilt but a concession that the evidence would likely result in a conviction.
Court documents reveal a troubled and manipulative history. The couple married in April 2019 but separated by June 2020 after Elsie accused Wiggington of adultery. She claimed he had returned to live with his ex-wife. He had also forged her signature to retitle her mobile home into his name and staged a fake robbery in 2019 to steal her belongings — including guns, jewelry, and household items — which he then brought to his ex-wife’s house.
“There is no prospect of reconciliation,” Elsie’s divorce filing stated.
The emotional toll on both families has been profound. “My niece and nephew lost their mom. We lost our sister. And Fred’s mom, well, she lost her son,” said Tracey Coleman, Elsie’s foster sister, in a statement to WDBJ. “Nobody walks away from this unscathed.”
Elsie was remembered as a compassionate caregiver and loving grandmother. A GoFundMe page set up in her memory described her as the director of nursing at a rehabilitation center and someone who “stood up for herself” in the face of domestic abuse.
“She doted on her grandchildren and devoted her time to members in her community that were in need,” the page said.
Now, with the trial over and sentencing complete, Frederick Wiggington will spend the rest of his life behind bars — a fate befitting the chilling and calculated crime he once seemed to revel in.
