Spell is convicted of murder

By Jeanne Starmack

Investigators don’t know why the woman was murdered.

NEW CASTLE, Pa. — A city man has been convicted of first-degree murder in the slaying of a woman two years ago.

Gaylord Spell, 46, of East Long Avenue sat silently as the verdict was read in Lawrence County Judge J. Craig Cox’s common-pleas courtroom Thursday shortly after 5 p.m.

The trial began Monday with testimony that evidence pointed to Spell as the one who killed SueAnn Brest, 40, of East Reynolds Street.

The two did not live far from each other on the city’s south side.

Brest’s nude body was found in the parking lot of the Lawrence County Career and Technical Center in Shenango Township on March 1, 2007.

Her bloody clothes, including jeans, a bra and a sweater, were found strewn along a road in Adams Township, Butler County, along a route that District Attorney John Bongivengo argued could easily have been taken by Spell as he made his way from New Castle to work at Traco off Route 19 in Cranberry Township, Butler County. Found along a road in Portersville, Butler County, was a bloody sofa arm cover that investigators ultimately matched to the couch in Spell’s home. Brest’s blood was found on the door frame of Spell’s car above the window, which is evidence that he is the one who threw her clothes out on the road, Bongivengo said.

Investigators named Spell as a suspect after DNA evidence from Brest matched his in a national database. He had been convicted of an assault charge in Virginia in 1991. The discovery clearly exposed an earlier lie that he didn’t know Brest, Bongivengo said.

Brest was struck in the head 10 times with a blunt object with such force that her brain was lacerated twice, he said.

The jury was to choose between first- and third-degree homicide. To convict of first-degree murder, the jury had to be convinced that there was premeditation and intent to kill, Bongivengo said. He said that premeditation can happen very quickly. He argued that the number of times Brest was struck clearly showed intent to kill.

Spell’s attorney, public defender Harry Falls, said the jury couldn’t presume an intent to kill. “There’s no evidence whatsoever how death occurred in this case,” he said,

He also said the evidence in the case, which was circumstantial, doesn’t lead to a fact that Spell caused her death.

Investigators don’t know what object was used to strike Brest, and they don’t know how she and Spell knew each other.

There was never a motive established for the killing, but Bongivengo pointed out that he was not required to prove a motive to prosecute the case.

The jury also returned a guilty verdict on the charge of abuse of a corpse.

The penalty phase of the trial begins Monday, with Bongiveno intending to ask for the death penalty.