Colorado Springs has a military population of 40,000 soldiers at five military bases in the area. They are the region’s largest employer.
On Jul 19, 1986, Tracy Spencer knocks on his neighbor’s door. His friend isn’t home. He sees something odd in another neighbor’s window–a body. So he gets his wife and they return to the apartment. She removes the screen, climbs in the window, and sees the woman is dead, so they call 911. The woman is 22 year old Micki Filmore.
Micki was naked on the floor on top of some clothes. She has marks around her neck and bleeding around her hyoid bone indicating she was strangled to death. It also appears she was raped.
Her wallet and cash are there out in the open. Nothing is stolen. So the sole purpose of this home invasion was to rape and kill Micki.
Police question Lisa and Tracy Spencer. Lisa saw Micki the previous evening. She was happy and having pizza. Micki was pregnant and her fiance had left her.
Police question her neighbors Dexter and Dwight McNeil, brothers. Dwight went with Micki to a nightclub the night before, the Korean Club. While there, another black male came up to Micki and talked to her. They obviously knew each other. At 2 am, he and Micki left the club, but as they were leaving, Micki slipped a piece of paper to that other black male. They returned to Micki’s apartment where they talked until 3 am. Then Dwight goes home. At around 4 am he heard someone knocking on Micki’s door. He sees the same black male from the club knocking on her door.
Dwight’s upstairs neighbor confirms his story. She heard a scream at 3:45 am followed by thumping then no sound at all.
Autopsy report shows she was not drunk, not on drugs, and was not pregnant.
Police are able to contact Micki’s boyfriend, Mr. Davis. He left to get a divorce from his wife so he could marry Micki. He was 1700 miles away during her murder. He asked his friend Frank Lynch to keep an eye on Mickey. So they speak to Lynch. He is not really keeping an eye on her. She has his phone number if she needs him.
Police are contacted by Decarlo Dowden. He’s the guy who was at the Korean Club. She gave him her address so he went to her apartment, but she didn’t answer the door, so he left. He willingly gives them his DNA. Dwight McNeil confirms Dowden was the guy he saw knocking on Micki’s door.
On August 12, three weeks after Micki’s murder, another woman is found dead in the same building, 24 year old Barbara Kramer. She’s a registered nurse who has never missed work. So when she doesn’t show, they call her sister. She goes to Barbara’s apartment and finds her dead. There were signs of a struggle just inside the door. Barbara was in the bedroom dead. The crime scene is almost identical to Micki’s. Death between 4 am and 7 am.
Decarlo Dowden has an alibi. He was with someone.
At 6:45 am a female neighbor of Barbara Kramer says she saw Tracy Spencer pounding on Barbara’s door. She eventually let him inside and Tracy slammed the door shut. He is now their prime suspect.
Police speak with Lisa Spencer. She eventually admits she lied. Tracy was not with her. He was talking to Lisa about Barbara Kramer too. He had her mail. He claimed he found it blowing around on the ground outside. But the mailboxes are locked. This is not possible.
Police arrest Tracy Spencer. They search his apartment and find the envelope to Barbara Kramer in the trash. It’s empty. So they question Tracy and he claims he gave Barbara a piece of her mail that was mistakenly delivered to him. Then he left. Police lie and tell him that they found his semen and pubic hair inside of Micki Filmore. He changes his story and says he was having an affair with Micki.
The blood at Micki’s apartment was Tracy’s. Hair found at Barbara’s apartment are a match to Tracy too.
Tracy Spencer is sentenced to life in prison plus 24 years. Eligible for parole in 2032.
Lisa Spencer was not charged with any crimes although her lies allowed her husband to murder a second woman.
Bibliography
Homicide Hunter Season 1 Episode 3: A Killer Always Rings Twice, air date: Nov 7, 2011
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