Woman pleads guilty to 2016 murder The burned body was found in the woods along East Main
A southern Illinois woman has been sentenced to about 40 years in prison in connection with the murder of a woman whose burned remains were found in Carbondale in 2016.
State's Attorney Mike Carr says Tiesha D. Anderson, 25, of Collinsville previously pleaded guilty to charges of first-degree murder and concealment of a homicidal death in connection with the death of Robin L. Stief, 39, of Salem.
According to Carr, on Aug. 30, 2016, officers from the Carbondale Police Department were called to the scene of a fire in a wooded area located in the 900 Block of East Main Street after firefighters discovered the burned remains of a human being. An extensive investigation later identified the remains as being those of Stief, who had been reported missing.
The investigation ultimately resulted in the arrests of Anderson, Lauren Stinde and Robert J. Dennis. All defendants have remained in custody since the arrests.
At Anderson's plea July 19, she admitted that she, together and with others, performed acts that caused the death of Stief. The evidence established that Stief was hit in the head with a hammer, strangled with a belt and suffocated with a pillow before she died at an apartment located on South Marion Street in Carbondale. After she died, her body was placed in a large trash can and wheeled from the apartment to a location on East Main Street, where it was set on fire to prevent the discovery of her murder.
Anderson was sentenced to serve a prison term of 35 years for first-degree murder, followed by a three-year term of mandatory supervised release, and a consecutive term of five years for concealment, followed by a one-year period of mandatory supervised release. All of the murder sentence must be served, and Anderson must serve at least 50 percent of the concealment sentence.
Stinde has previously agreed to cooperate, pleaded guilty to the charge of murder and awaits sentencing. Dennis has pleaded not guilty and awaits jury trial.