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Bonnie Woodward vanished after leaving her nursing-home shift in Alton, Illinois, on June 25, 2010. The 47-year-old’s red Chevy Avalanche was found in the parking lot with the windows down and her paycheck still inside, yet Woodward and stepdaughter Heather were missing.
Detectives soon focused on acquaintance Roger Carroll, who was housing Heather, but fingerprints on the truck alone were not enough for an arrest. The case revived in March 2018 when Carroll’s wife reported a domestic assault.
As per the ABC News report dated June 6, 2025, the couple's son, Nathan, then guided investigators to a burn pit and a creek on the farm, where 27 charred bone fragments were recovered. A Jersey County jury convicted Roger Carroll in March 2020, handing him a 65-year sentence. The Illinois Supreme Court approved his appeal last month.
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20/20 revisits the investigation in the two-hour episode I Have Killed For You, airing tonight at 9 pm ET on ABC and streaming tomorrow on Hulu.
5 key details about Bonnie Woodward's murder ahead of 20/20 on ABC explored
1) A husband’s words - “I have killed for you”- revived a dormant investigation
Bonnie Woodward disappeared from her workplace parking lot in Alton, Illinois, on June 25, 2010. The file gathered dust until March 2018, when Roger Carroll’s wife reported a domestic assault. She told officers her husband had said:
“I have killed for you.”
As per an ABC News report dated June 6, 2025, that statement prompted detectives to re-examine Bonnie Woodward’s case and secure an arrest warrant for Carroll. The renewed focus also brought 20/20 producers to Jersey County for the episode I Have Killed For You, airing tonight at 9 pm ET on ABC and streaming tomorrow on Hulu.
2) A son’s immunity testimony mapped the killing, the fire, and the ash dump
Carroll’s then-24-year-old son, Nathan, was subpoenaed before a grand jury in 2018. He received immunity and described hearing eight or nine gunshots on the family property the day Bonnie Woodward vanished.
Nathan said his father ordered him to keep the fire stoked all night, all day, to destroy the body, a recollection he repeated in court.
“It had to be stoked all night, all day, all night,” Special prosecutor Jennifer Mudge said regarding the same.
Nathan later led investigators to three sites: the shooting area, the burn pit, and a nearby creek where ashes were scattered.
3) Investigators found 27 bone fragments, leading to conviction by jury
Forensic teams recovered 27 charred fragments from the burn pit and creek. Laboratory testing could not confirm the remains belonged to Bonnie Woodward, but prosecutors argued the physical evidence, witness statements, and Carroll’s fingerprints on Bonnie Woodward’s red Chevy Avalanche proved murder beyond a reasonable doubt.
A Jersey County jury agreed, delivering a guilty verdict on March 16, 2020, after four hours of deliberation, as detailed by The Telegraph report dated October 1, 2020. Circuit Judge Eric Pistorius later called the slaying:
"This was a meticulously planned, senseless death."
4) Prosecutors say Carroll used Heather Woodward as bait
Heather Woodward, then 17, had left home days before her stepmother vanished. According to multiple sources, Carroll allowed the teenager to stay at his house but barred her from phones or computers. Prosecutors told jurors he used Heather to lure Bonnie Woodward to the rural property and then ambushed her.
The Telegraph report dated October 2020 quotes Assistant State’s Attorney Crystal Uhe describing the plot as "premeditated" and aimed at making sure Bonnie has to go away and not come back. Heather later testified that Carroll instructed her not to reveal where she had been living.
5) The 65-year sentence faces appellate review this fall
Judge Pistorius imposed a 65-year term, 40 years for first-degree murder, and a 25-year firearm enhancement.
“I didn’t get a fair trial,” Carroll told the court, as reported by The Telegraph.
He then vowed to appeal. Last month, the Illinois Supreme Court granted leave to appeal, and oral arguments could begin in the fall, as per The Telegraph report dated June 6, 2025. 20/20 will highlight the pending legal battle while revisiting how Bonnie Woodward’s family waited nearly a decade for answers.
Stay tuned for more updates.
