Timothy Spencer
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Timothy W. Spencer | |
|---|---|
| Alias(es): | Southside Slayer |
| Died: | April 27, 1994 |
| Cause of death: | Execution |
| Penalty: | First trial-Life imprisonment: Second Trial-Death |
| Killings | |
| Number of victims: | 5; Carol Hamm, Debbie Dudley Davis, Dr. Susan Hellems, Diane Cho, Susan Tucker |
| Span of killings: | 1984 through 1987 |
| Country: |  . |
| State(s): | Virginia |
| Date apprehended: | January, 1988 |
Timothy W. Spencer, or the "Southside Slayer," was an American serial killer who committed four rape/murders in Richmond, Virginia in the fall of 1987.[1]. In addition he committed another murder in 1984, which a different man, David Vasquez, was wrongfully convicted of and served five years in prison for, until he was reprieved in 1989[1]. Spencer became the first murderer to be convicted on the basis of DNA evidence in Virginia.
Contents |
[edit] Crimes
Spencer's first reported victim was thirty-five-year-old Debbie Dudley Davis. Spencer raped and strangled her in her apartment, where her naked body was discovered lying on the bed, in September[1]. Two weeks later, Dr. Susan Hellems was found dead and partially stripped in her bedroom wardrobe. Like Davis, she too had been raped and strangled as well as having been gagged[1]. On the twenty-second of November, another victim was found in her apartment outside the city, this was Diane Cho, a teenage student. She too was raped and strangled[1]. Spencer's final victim, Susan Tucker, age forty-four, was reported missing in December. After a week her body was found in her apartment. Her injuries left detectives certain that her death was caused by the murderer now dubbed by the press as the "Southside Slayer."[1]
[edit] Investigation
At this point the hunt for the Southside Killer took an odd turn. Two women were found dead on the same day, January 16, 1988, Rena Chapouris and, a few blocks away, Michael St. Hilaire. Though initially thought to be the work of the Southside Slayer, Chapouris's death was determined to be the work of a copycat, as she had not been raped as previous victims, and St.Hilaire's death was ruled a suicide[1].
Later that month, Spencer was arrested by Arlington police and charged with the murder of Susan Tucker, his most recent victim. DNA evidence later connected him to the murders of Davis and Hellams[1]. He was never tied to the Cho murder due to an insufficient amount of semen recovered at the scene, though he remained the prime suspect due to the nature of her death[1]. DNA evidence also tied him to the 1984 murder of Carol Hamm, a crime which David Vasquez had been convicted of. Vasquez was eventually acquitted after having served five years of a thirty-five year prison sentence and was the first American to be exonerated based on DNA evidence[1].
[edit] Trials
Spencer's first trial was in July of 1988, charged with the murder of Susan Tucker, he was convicted with DNA evidence, the first case in Virginia in which DNA was used to prove identity[1], and sentenced to life imprisonment. At a later trial he was found guilty of raping and murdering Debbie Davis and Susan Hellams, and sentenced to death[1]. He was executed on April 27, 1994. He was never tried for the Cho murder due to insufficient evidence.
[edit] References
[1]Lane, Brian and Wilfred Gregg, The Encyclopedia of Serial Killers. Berkley Books ISPN 0-425-15213-8 P. 324
