Jury convicts man of concealing body in 1997 slaying

SPRINGFIELD - An Effingham County jury has convicted a man accused of burying the body of a woman whose father killed and dismembered her in 1997. <br> <br> Joe Lawrence Aeger was convicted Wednesday of concealing the remains of 28-year-old Francesca Regina Wright in a septic tank for two months before telling anyone. <br> <br> The woman&#39;s father, Edward Clayton Wright, 57, was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole after he pleaded guilty in 2000. <br> <br> Prosecutors said he killed his daughter Nov. 25, 1997, then dismembered her, putting her body parts into seven plastic bags and burying them in a makeshift grave. <br> <br> Hours after the murder, Wright convinced Aeger, one of his employees at Wright Construction Co., to bury the bags near a septic tank on Aeger&#39;s property. Two months later, Aeger went to police after meeting with his minister. <br> <br> Defense lawyers argued that Aeger&#39;s actions were justified. <br> <br> ``Joe Aeger was motivated solely by his fear of the man with whom he was dealing,&#39;&#39; Robert L. Persse said Wednesday. ``Remember who he was dealing with...This is the man who killed his own daughter and sat down and had coffee while her body decomposed in his car.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> Ogeechee Judicial Circuit Judge William Woodrum delayed sentencing until March 6. <br> <br> Aeger, who was being held in Effingham County jail, could face up to 10 years in prison.