Judge denies bond reduction for two Springfield EMS workers charged with first

by: Theodora Koulouvaris

Posted: Feb 6, 2023 / 07:41 PM CST

Updated: Feb 6, 2023 / 08:03 PM CST

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WCIA) – A judge denied bond reduction for two Springfield EMS workers charged with first-degree murder.

Peter Cadigan and Peggy Finley are accused of killing Earl Moore Jr. after placing him face down on a stretcher with restraints. The bond for both Cadigan and Finley is set at $1 million each.

During a hearing Monday, Judge Robin Schmidt said their bond is "appropriately set" given the seriousness of the charge they face and the sentence that it carries, which is 20 to 60 years in prison.

"The fact that the first-degree murder charge inherently with the large sentence potentially has hanging over the defendants heads, that there is an inherent risk that they will not appear in court at future appearances," Schmidt said.

Both Cadigan and Finley's lawyers argued that the two EMS workers face no threat to the community and are not a flight risk and that there is no reason they wouldn't appear for a future court date.

Finley's lawyer called the bond "oppressive" and asked for her bond to be reduced to $100,000.

"At the time of the alleged occurrence, she was employed as an EMT paramedic, making $22 an hour, she's living like most people do paycheck to paycheck," W. Scott Hanken, Finley's lawyer, said. "In order to obtain the education necessary to do a job that she loved, she incurred $60,000 in student debt, which she still owes. She has other debt along with just basically rent, utilities, food, gas, things that everyone has."

Cadigan's lawyer asked for him to be released without bond, or if the judge deemed it necessary to set one, for it to be lowered to $50,000 or an amount below that.

"We’re trying to raise funds to compete with the state's medical experts in this case," Justin Kuehn, one of Cadigan's lawyers, said.

A lawyer representing Earl Moore Jr.'s family in a civil lawsuit they filed against both Cadigan, Finely and Lifestar, the private ambulance company they work for, testified in court describing the impact the case has had on the family.

"The family is grieving," Jennifer Hightower, one of the family's lawyers, said. "I think it was even stated by one of the defense attorneys that this case is hard to wrap your mind around. Well, that is one of the few statements that I agree with today. This is hard for the family to wrap their mind around the fact that Earl Moore [Jr.] is gone. The fact that their son, their brother, their nephew, their uncle, that he's gone, and he's never coming back."

Hightower also said the family is satisfied with the judge's ruling on Cadigan and Finley's bond.

"We are very pleased with the decision of the judge to keep the bond in place as is," Hightower said.

Last week, Sangamon County State's Attorney Dan Wright filed a motion where he said Finley attempted to influence the recollection of one of the Springfield Police officers who responded to the call.

Wright is also asking the judge to forbid certain statements the two EMS workers along with their lawyers made during the preliminary trial from being used in court again.

Cadigan's lawyers filed a motion in response to that asking the court to deny Wright's motion connected to Cadigan.