Mo. Man Charged 26 Yrs. After Killing

[Dark Star]

Looks like justice was finally served in this case.

DENT COUNTY, Mo. -- A 65-year-old Beaufort Mo., man was arrested today for the murder of a 21-year-old Salem, Mo., woman more than two decades ago, the Missouri Highway Patrol said.

The suspect, Donald R. Nash, was arrested for the murder of Judy Lynn Spencer, a 21-year-old switchboard operator for the Salem Memorial District Hospital in March of 1982.

Nash was charged with capital murder for the March 10, 1982 murder, court records show.

Police did not say what evidence led them to the arrest; he was arrested by the highway patrol and the Dent County Sheriff's Department at 12:10 p.m.

Spencer's body was found in a ditch off Highway FF in rural Dent County. She had been strangled with a shoestring and shot in the neck with a shotgun.

Her body was found by two farmers going to feed cattle, newspaper accounts at the time said.
http://tinyurl.com/yu5fqz

 

[Sugar Cookie]

A jury found Appellant Donald Nash guilty of capital murder for the 1982 killing of Judy Spencer.

He was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole or probation for 50 years.

Appellant argued on appeal that he was wrongly convicted under a section of state law that had been repealed in 1983, and that no other statute replaced it that criminalized the murder for which he was charged. Furthermore, Appellant argued that he was convicted on insufficient evidence at trial, because the trial court excluded his evidence that someone else committed the murder. The Supreme Court was not persuaded by Appellant’s interpretation of the statute in question, finding that “the apparent purpose of the 1983 enactment of the new section . . . was to make clear that an offense committed in 1982 should be charged and prosecuted according to the laws existing in 1982” and not after the changes were enacted. The Court also found that the evidence presented at Appellant’s trial was sufficient to support the jury verdict against him. The Court affirmed Appellant’s conviction and sentence.

State of Missouri, Respondent vs. Donald R. Nash, Appellant.

A jury found Appellant Donald Nash guilty of capital murder for the 1982 killing of Judy Spencer. He was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole or probation for 50 years. Appellant argued on appeal that he was wrongly convicted under a section of state law that had been repealed in...

law.justia.com

From 2020

Donald “Doc” Nash may be free from prison within weeks following the Friday recommendation his conviction for Judy Spencer’s 1982 murder be vacated.

The referral comes from retired 11th Circuit Court Judge Richard K. Zerr, who was appointed by the Supreme Court of Missouri to act as special master over three days of evidentiary hearings in St. Charles March 3-5.

The hearings were ordered in response to a habeas corpus petition filed with the state supreme court by

Nash’s St. Louis-based legal. In it, they challenge the validity of evidence used to convict Nash in 2009 and present new evidence they claim casts doubt on his guilt.

“It is a very good, very detailed report,” Nash’s attorney, Charles A. Weiss, said of Zerr’s 200-page report, when reach for comment Friday by The Salem News.

Judge recommends Nash murder conviction be vacated

Donald “Doc” Nash may be free from prison within weeks following the Friday recommendation his conviction for Judy Spencer’s 1982 murder be vacated.

www.phelpscountyfocus.com

Nash released from custody Saturday to await state retrial decision

Donald “Doc” Nash walked out of the Dent County Jail on Saturday as crowds gathered on Fourth Street for Salem's annual Independence Day parade. The scene came one day after

www.thesalemnewsonline.com

 

[Sevens My Charm]

If I were truly innocent.. I would not make 11 years hoping somebody would finally listen to me..