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Last updated on Friday, May 18, 2012
(SALEM) - A Washington Circuit Court jury found 24-year-old Tammy Spengler guilty of murder of the Timothy Orman and assisting in the death of Roy Orman.
She was also found guilty of aiding in Timothy Orman's death and invasion of privacy.
The jury deliberated for about ten hours before returning with their verdict at 12:10 a.m. Thursday.
Stephanie Taylor Ferriell of the Leader-Democrat reports Spengler could spend the rest of her life in prison. The minimum sentence for murder is 45 years and aiding murder carries the same penalty. Judge Larry Medlock could sentence Spengler to the maximum sentence of 130 years in prison.
The elder Timothy Orman and his brother, Roy Orman, died from multiple gunshot wounds in their home June 5, 2011. Their badly decomposed bodies were found in a shed a few feet from their home.
When the verdict was delivered Spengler's mother - cried.
Prosecutor Dustin Houchin was pleased with the verdict, but felt bad for Spengler's family saying there were a lot of victims in this case.
He said he believes the strongest evidence against Spengler was her admission to the crime.
However during the trial Spengler testified she had no involvement in the killings and was either asleep or passes out on drugs when the crimes happened. Her boyfriend, Tim ORman testified Spengler had nothing to do with the killings and that he alone shot his father Timothy Orman and his uncle Roy Orman and then wrapped the bodies in blankets and dragged them to a shed and then cleaned up the bloody scene.
Houchin says Tim Orman's testimony was a lie and he had to take apart his testimony so the jury could see Orman was lying.
Spengler testified that she wasn't telling the truth when she said she was involved in the shootings, including placing a 911 call to turn herself in about two weeks after the crime. She told the court she was trying to protect Tim Orman by lying and saying she was involved. Asked why she would do such a thing, Spengler said she loved Tim Orman and knew he had a criminal history. She said she thought if she said she did it, investigators would focus on her and not consider Orman's possible involvement.
The state produced recordings of numerous phone conversations in which Spengler admitted her involvement in the crime. Prosecutor Dustin Houchin also read from letters written in jail by Tim Orman and intended for Spengler. He told the court those letters were part of a plan to try to shift blame from Spengler.
The state called a crime scene investigator and forensic pathologist to the stand. Their testimony included that there were two different types of ammunition used in the assault and perhaps two different types of weapons. The guns used have never been found, although numerous other guns were recovered from the Rosebud Road residence.
Tim Orman's trial, on the same charges as Spengler, begins July 9 in Washington Circuit Court.
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