Nicole Speirs
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Nicole Marie Speirs (born November 3, 1983) made headlines in the area of Tooele, Utah as a domestic violence murder victim. She was killed March 25, 2006 at age 22, by her then-boyfriend and father of her twins, Walter Smith. On the night of Nicole's death, Smith reported that he found her dead in her home, drowned in her bathtub, after returning from a trip to Idaho. The autopsy confirmed that drowning was the cause of death. Tooele is located approximately 18 miles west of Salt Lake City.
Smith, her 24-year-old boyfriend and a member of the United States Marines who had returned from Iraq, was not immediately known to have killed her until December 12, 2006, when he confessed to the killing. According to police, Smith walked into a Veteran's Administration hospital building and confessed eight months after the fact. Smith was since discharged from the Marines.
On August 14, 2007, Smith pleaded guilty to a second-degree manslaughter charge as part of a plea bargain[1]. He was originally charged with first-degree felony murder.
[edit] References
- ^ Stephen Hunt, War-haunted former Marine pleads guilty, Salt Lake Tribune, August 15, 2007
[edit] Additional references
- Tooele Transcript Bulletin, Mary Ruth Hammond, Boyfriend accused of killing young mother, December 4, 2006
- KSL News, Sam Penrod, Man Admits to Taking Part in Girlfriend's Death, December 12, 2006
- KUTV.com, Police Say Man Confessed to Girlfriend's Death, December 12, 2006
- Nicole Speirs' MySpace and Yahoo profiles
- Section of Bonnie's Blog of Crime - tracking media coverage of Speirs murder
- KSL news, Sam Penrod, Man Accused of Murdering His Girlfriend Deemed Competent to Stand Trial, June 5, 2007
