Investigators tell WEAU 13 News more about how they were able to break the Alisha Sidie murder case on Saturday.

Investigators say two things happened at once- a key witness changed his story and said he knew Alisha had been killed. Then the Jackson County dive team found the handgun prosecutors say Doug Sidie used to kill his ex-wife Alisha Sidie.

Sergeant Pat LaBarbera, with the Jackson County Sheriff's Department, says a man who was in the Sidie house when the murder happened changed his original story. On Saturday, Nov. 15, he admitted although he did not witness Alisha’s murder more than a week earlier, he did know that she had been killed.

Around the same time, LaBarbera says the volunteer Jackson County Dive Team found a handgun where an orange marker now floats in Morrison Creek. Prosecutors say Doug Sidie used that gun to kill Alisha.

For diver Gary George, the work was a personal mission.

"It meant a lot to me because Alisha was a friend of mine so it felt good to do what we did for her,” Gary George says.

22 volunteers on the dive team spent all week looking for evidence.

“We were diving with water that was zero visibility. Water temperatures were running 40 to 42 degrees, so it was very cold for the divers," says Keith Cormican, who directs the Jackson County Dive Team.

Sgt. Pat LaBarbera says the dive team was crucial to solving the murder. All the dive team volunteers say they're thankful they could help the sheriff's department and help Alisha's family find some closure.

"As volunteers we come in here and do this so that these efforts can move along quickly,” says diver and team trainer Ed Davis.

LaBarbera says on Saturday, investigators confronted Doug Sidie with the new facts and evidence, and that's when he confessed to shooting and killing Alisha Sidie in front of their home after an argument.

Wednesday, Doug Sidie was charged with first degree intentional homicide, hiding a corpse, eight counts of obstructing an officer, and one count of misdemeanor bail jumping in his ex-wife's death.

The judge also judge ordered Doug Sidie be held without bond and delayed further proceedings until he gets a lawyer.

The judge will also recuse himself from Doug Sidie's next court appearance.

The judicial assistant says Judge Thomas Lister is removing himself from the case because he represented Doug Sidie in a 2002 personal injury civil lawsuit. That case was dismissed in 2003. An out-of-county judge will be brought in to hear the case.