PHILIPSBURG--Almost 21 months after the January 23, 2010, killing of model trainer Christian Lloyd, Anthony R. Spencer (41) was found guilty of murder and sentenced to twenty years on Wednesday.
Judge Monique Keppels told Spencer during Wednesday's sitting of the Court of First Instance that she considered murder proven, because no traces of destruction or a struggle had been found in Lloyd's home on Watermelon Road in St. Peters. Furthermore, police investigations had established that Lloyd had been killed "execution style" by a gunshot from probably a .38 calibre revolver that was put at his temple.
The Court further found it "legally and convincingly proven" that Spencer was responsible for the murder, because traces of his DNA had been found on a roll and a piece of duct tape that had been found under Lloyd's body. Lloyd was found dead in his bed, lying in a pool of blood.
The court also established that Spencer had been in the possession of a cell phone that belonged to the victim.
Two witnesses had informed the police separately that Spencer had told them he was responsible for Lloyd's murder. "Tony literally told me, 'You remember that murder that went on in St. Peters, the gay guy? We did it,'" the court quoted one of the witnesses as stating to the police.
Spencer was arrested on February 26, 2010.
The victim and his killer knew each other and had been in contact with each other over the phone on January 22, 2010. Considering that there were no traces of burglary, it could be assumed that the victim had opened the door for his killer, the court stated.
In establishing the length of the prison term, the court held it against the defendant that he had not cooperated with police investigations and had been convicted in the United States in the past for other violent crimes.
Ever since his arrest and throughout his trial, Spencer denied he had anything to do with the killing. He admitted that he had known Lloyd from the Sucker Garden car rental agency where he was working. He also confessed to being among the last persons who had called Lloyd on his phone before he was murdered, seeking his assistance in renting a vehicle.
However, Spencer denied that he had ever been in Lloyd's home. Lloyd's cellular phone he had bought from somebody "on the street," Spencer said during the court hearing.
The Prosecutor's Office considered Lloyd's killing premeditated murder. Prosecutor Bart den Hartigh said it would merit a life sentence and had requested 24 years in prison during the September 21 court hearing.
Attorney-at-law Remco Stomp said his client was the scapegoat in a fishy case. "A cloud of mist is hanging over this case," according to Stomp, who said it was more likely that Lloyd had been the victim of a crime of passion committed during sex games than that he had been the victim of a robbery with murder.
According to the defence lawyer, too many questions in this case remained unanswered, which had led him to request that the court acquit his client.
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