Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, April 25, 1994 TAG: 9404250075
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Long
But it was Spencer's prosecution, not his crimes, that logged him a spot in criminal history. In 1988 he was the first capital murder suspect prosecuted using DNA evidence. And on Wednesday, barring last-minute delays, Spencer will be the first to die based on that genetic link.
"There is absolutely no doubt as to Spencer's guilt," said state prosecutor Donald D. Curry.
Three criminal laboratories have tested semen found at the crime scenes and all concluded it came from Spencer, court records show. Scientists said the chance the semen could match someone other than Spencer, who is black, is one in 705 million.
"There are only 10 million adult black men in North America. So when you say that you are saying, `He's the one,' " Curry said.
Spencer is scheduled to die in Virginia's electric chair for the murder of Debbie Dudley Davis, the first of three women from the southern section of Richmond murdered in a chilling string of break-ins in September and October 1987.
Davis, 35, died Sept. 18. Dr. Susan Elizabeth Hellams, 32, followed on Oct. 2. And on Nov. 22, 15-year-old Diane Cho was raped and strangled in her second-floor bedroom while her family watched television downstairs.
Prosecutors later alleged Spencer stalked the girl after spotting her at a local mall.
Spencer was caught after the Arlington murder of Susan M. Tucker, 44, on Nov. 28.
Circumstantial evidence against Spencer was strong. But several scientists and law enforcement officials have said it probably was not enough to convict Spencer.
"This was a DNA identification case. If it hadn't been for DNA we'd have never gotten the convictions," said William H. Parcell III, assistant commonwealth's attorney in Richmond.
Spencer was convicted in all four cases and sentenced to die for each.
"Tim has consistently maintained his innocence throughout all these years," said his lawyer, Barry Weinstein.
When Spencer was arrested, genetic testing was being introduced in criminal prosecutions and paternity cases. The technique had been used in a handful of courts nationwide the previous year but had never been tried in Virginia, Curry said.
Since Spencer's 1988 convictions, DNA has been used by law enforcement agencies worldwide.
DNA, or deoxyribonucleic acid, is a complex molecule found in the nuclei of human cells. It carries genetic information scientists say is unique to individuals.
The murders occurred while Spencer, of Arlington, was living in a prison halfway house close to the sites of the three Richmond murders. Tucker was killed while Spencer was home on a furlough.
"It is counted as the early DNA success," said Robert Ressler, a former FBI criminologist and expert on serial killers who studied the Spencer case.
Popular Richmond-based crime writer Patricia Cornwell based much of her book "Postmortem" on the Southside Strangler cases.
Spencer's lawyers say the genetic testing that helped convict Spencer was less sophisticated than methods available now.
"The DNA testing in the Spencer cases was flawed," Weinstein said.
Richmond Circuit Judge James B. Wilkinson rejected Spencer's request last week to submit two semen stains for retesting by an independent laboratory.
Weinstein gave Wilkinson an affidavit from Dr. David M. Bing, a Harvard Medical School expert who raised questions about the original Spencer DNA tests.
In a court petition, Weinstein said Bing and other experts "uniformly concluded that, as a matter of science, the results from the original DNA tests do not provide a sufficient foundation for a determination that there was a match between Mr. Spencer's DNA and the DNA extracted from the semen stains in any of the cases involving Mr. Spencer."
Bing later declined to testify on behalf of Spencer.
Spencer has appealed Wilkinson's ruling to the Virginia Supreme Court. "We will pursue all legal avenues open to Mr. Spencer," Weinstein said.
Curry said he expects no delays before Wednesday night's scheduled execution at the state prison in Jarratt.
Death penalty opponents are watching the case closely, less because of the DNA issue than because the doctor who regularly pronounces prisoners dead in Virginia has refused to participate.
Dr. Balvir L. Kapil said he is complying with an American Medical Association ruling that doctors' participation in executions is a breach of medical ethics.
Kapil is the first physician to refuse to attend an execution since the AMA's March 23 ruling.
"It's an important question because so many states require a physician be present," said Leigh Dingerson, director of the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty.
She said it is unclear whether absence of a physician could legally stop an execution. Virginia prison officials said another doctor will be present at the electrocution.
Although Virginia's General Assembly approved lethal injection as an alternative to electrocution this year, the law does not go into effect until July 1.
by CNB