Phillip Charles Swan | Homicide Watch DC

Spencer, Wilson and Swan Sentenced to Three Decades for Brutal Death of Glenn Scarborough

Penny Ray — Wed, 19 Dec 2012 15:53:04 -0500

Theodore Spencer was sentenced today to 36 years in prison for his roll in the brutal death of Glenn Scarborough. Terrell Wilson and Phillip Swan were sentenced to 34 and 30 years, respectively, for their involvement.

The three men appeared before Judge Thomas Motley Wednesday showing no remorse for their actions. Wilson was the only one to address Scarborough's family.

"I'm sorry for the loss of your son," Wilson said.

In October, a jury found the men guilty of several charges including murder, conspiracy, burglary and kidnapping.

According to trial testimony, the three men entered Scarborough's home with hospital gloves and duct tape. They kicked and punched Scarborough repeatedly, before strangling him with a belt, stabbing him, and then suffocating him.

Spencer told detectives that he believed Scarborough had sexually assaulted his mother, who was severely ill, and had given her an STD. Swan and Wilson were friends of Spencer and agreed to help him go after Scarborough, according to testimony.

During pre-sentence allocution, Assistant U.S. Attorney Vinet Bryant argued that the beating of Scarborough took place over a two-day period. According to trial testimony, Spencer and Wilson beat Scarborough the night before the fatal beating, and went back to Scarborough's home the following night along with Swan. Bryant said that it was the first time she had seen an assault take place over a two-day period.

Scarborough died of strangulation and asphyxiation on June 19, 2011. At the time, Spencer's mother was hospitalized with a life-threatening illness.

"None of these things were done to protect Mrs. Spencer," Bryant said.

Bryant further argued that until two months prior to the incident Swan had not spoken to Spencer since high school, and Wilson didn't know Spencer at all prior to a couple months before Scarborough's death.

"Mr. Swan and Mr. Wilson never had a dog in this fight," Bryant said.

Before reading the terms of each sentence, Judge Motley said that he would not take the relationship between Scarborough and Spencer's mother into consideration.

“It is not your duty, by any stretch of the imagination, to right a wrong.” Motley said.

In November 2011, the men turned down a plea offer that would have given Wilson and Swan reduced sentences of 10 to 15 years if they pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter; Spencer would have received 25 to 29 years for the more serious charges of second-degree murder and first-degree burglary.

Sentencing documents have been added to this post.

Theodore Spencer Government Aid In Sentencing (PDF)Theodore Spencer Government Aid In Sentencing (Text)

Jury Finds Three Men Guilty in Murder of Glenn Scarborough

Jonah Newman — Mon, 22 Oct 2012 16:48:45 -0400

A jury today found Terrell Wilson, Phillip Swan and Theodore "Reggie" Spencer guilty of multiple charges including murder, conspiracy, burglary, and kidnapping in the gruesome killing of Glenn Scarborough in June 2011.

According to court testimony, the three men entered Scarborough's home with hospital gloves and duct tape. They kicked and punched him repeatedly before strangling him with a belt, stabbing him and suffocating him. The medical examiner determined that Scarborough died of strangulation and asphyxiation.

Last November, the three men turned down plea deals that would have given Wilson and Swan reduced sentences of 10 to 15 years if they pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter and Spencer 25 to 29 years for the more serious charges of second-degree murder and first-degree burglary. All three of them needed to agree to the deals in order for the offers to be valid.

Spencer was found guilty of the most charges--13 out of 18 against him--including conspiracy, first-degree burglary, kidnapping, simple assault, murder, and a related weapons charge. He was found innocent of assault with a dangerous weapon and four gun charges were dismissed.

According to testimony, Spencer told detectives that he believed Scarborough had sexually assaulted his mother, who was severely ill, and given her an STD. Swan and Wilson were friends of Spencer's and agreed to help him go after Scarborough.

Wilson was found guilty of 11 out of 18 charges, including conspiracy, burglary, kidnapping and murder. He was found innocent of four gun charges, robbery, and assault with a dangerous weapon.

The jury found Swan guilty of 7 out of the 8 charges against him, including conspiracy, burglary, kidnapping, and murder. He was found innocent of a weapons charge.

All three men are set to be sentenced Dec. 19 at 9:30 a.m.

"Not Guilty" Pleas in Death of Glenn Scarborough

Laura Amico — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 13:13:57 -0500

The three men charged with the brutal and fatal beating of Glenn Scarborough have each pleaded innocent to all of the charges against them.

Terrell Wilson, Phillip Swan and Theodore Spencer appeared in court Wednesday to answer to the charges against them. Those charges include murder, kidnapping, robbery, and various weapons charges, among others.

The indictment against the men alleges that they conspired to attack and assault Scarborough for mistreating Spencer’s mother, Sharon Spencer, who was gravely ill. The men also believed that Scarborough had failed to take proper care of Sharon Spencer during her illness.

She died in June.

Scarborough was found dead in his basement apartment on June 19, a day after Spencer, Wilson and Swan are alleged to have forced their way into the home, bound, suffocated, beaten and choked Scarborough.

A trial is set in the case for Sept. 24.

Culpeper Men Indicted in Death of Glen Scarborough

Laura Amico — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 17:45:53 -0500

An 18-count indictment against three Culpeper, Va. men was returned this week, charging them with the choking death of Glenn Scarborough in his Trinidad home in June.

Theodore Spencer, Terrell Wilson and Phillip Swan are due in court Jan. 11 to be arraigned on the charges.

The indictment alleges that the men conspired to attack and assault Scarborough for mistreating Spencer's mother, Sharon Spencer, who was gravely ill. The men also believed that Scarborough had failed to take proper care of Sharon Spencer during her illness.

She died in June.

The indictment alleges that Spencer, Wilson, and a third person known to the Grand Jury also forced their way into Scarborough's home on June 17.

Among the 18 crimes listed in the indictment are charges for burglary, kidnapping and weapons charges.

Read the indictment below.

Plea Deal in Scarborough Murder Case Would Pin Most Serious Charges on Theodore Spencer

Laura Amico — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 17:34:34 -0500

Three young Virginia men have just eight days left to decide on a plea offer that would allow two of them to walk away in 15 years with voluntary manslaughter convictions, but could send the third to prison for twice that length of time.

Court documents show that Phillip Swan, 20, and Terrell Wilson, 19, have been told by prosecutors that if they were to each plead guilty to voluntary manslaughter in the death of Glenn Scarborough, the government would agree to a sentencing range of 10 to 15 years. In addition, the government would not pursue any other charges against them related to the case.

Theodore Spencer, 21, has been offered a deal in exchange for pleading guilty to second-degree murder while armed and first-degree burglary. If he were to accept the plea, his sentence could range from 25 to 29 years.

The offers for all three men are wired, meaning that all must accept the plea offer in order for any offer to be valid. In the offer letters, prosecutors explained that "the role each defendant played in the crime" had been weighed.

Charging documents in the case and evidence presented at a preliminary hearing describe a brutal beating that ultimately killed the 62-year-old Scarborough.

MPD Homicide Detective Dwayne Corbett testified that all three men admitted to assaulting Scarborough twice— once on Friday, June 17 and again on June 18. In the June 18 attack, Corbett said, the men admitted to forcing their way into Scarborough’s Trinidad-area basement apartment, pushing him to the ground, kicking and punching him, stuffing a rag or paper towel into Scarborough’s mouth, choking him with a belt, and wrapping his head and feet in duct tape.

Corbett said Spencer believed Scarborough had sexually assaulted his mother, Sharon Spencer, and given her an STD, which hastened her death due to cancer. Swan and Wilson were friends of Spencer.

Spencer, Swan and Wilson are due in court Nov. 18, the day the offer expires.

Read the plea offers below.

Defendants Held in Scarborough Case Despite Concerns that Admissions were Coerced

Laura Amico — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 18:32:44 -0400

Two young men were ordered to remain behind bars Friday afternoon after Judge Thomas Motley decided that there was enough evidence to believe that they killed 71-year-old Glenn Scarborough in his home last month by beating him, gagging him, tying him up, and choking him.

Defendants Phillip Swan and Terell Wilson appeared in court Thursday and Friday for two days of a contentious preliminary hearing. Their co-defendant in the case, Theodore Spencer, was present Thursday but did not appear Friday because of a scheduling conflict with his attorney. Spencer is due to appear in court Aug 8 to complete his portion of the preliminary hearing.

MPD Homicide Detective Dwayne Corbett testified that all three men, all under the age of 22, admitted to assaulting Scarborough twice-- once on Friday, June 17 and again on June 18. In the June 18 attack, Corbett said, the men admitted to forcing their way into Scarborough's Trinidad-area basement apartment, pushing him to the ground, kicking and punching him, stuffing a rag or paper towel into Scarborough's mouth, choking him with a belt, and wrapping his head and feet in duct tape.

Corbett said Spencer believed Scarborough had sexually assaulted his mother, Sharon Spencer, and given her an STD, which hastened her death due to cancer. Swan and Wilson were friends of Spencer. Spencer also dates Swan's sister and Wilson dates Spencer's sister, Corbett said. He added that both women are believed to have been with the men when Scarborough was killed. He said all three men and the two women drove together to Scarborough's home and the women waited in the car for the men to return from the assault.

Said attorney Lauren Bernstein, who represents Wilson, "Frankly I think the two women in the car could be charged with murder, too."

No charges have been filed against them.

While the prosecution relied on the defendants' admissions to police to make probable cause in the case, attorneys for Swan and Wilson said they believe those statements were coerced and not reliable.

At issue, Bernstein said, is what MPD detectives told Wilson during his taped interview. Bernstein, who viewed the video Thursday, said in the course of the interview detectives told Wilson that telling what happened then was his opportunity to "save himself" from a 60-year prison term. He was also warned that his girlfriend, who was also at the police station at that moment, was also "on the hook" for first degree murder and that he could "save her" if he would "man up."

Bernstein also drew the court's attention to inconsistencies and impossibilities within the confessions of all three men. In particular, she said, each claimed to have wrapped the duct tape around Scarborough's head and feet.

"Everyone's admitting to the exact same conduct and I don't think that's possible," she said.

While prosecutors argued that Spencer, Swan and Wilson were intimately knowledgable about specifics relating to Scarborough's case, details that only someone who committed the crime would know.

Attorneys for Swan and Wilson argued that those details were not only generic (that Scarborough had a TV, stereo, and refrigerator in his home), but that they showed the limitations of their clients' knowledge (the men couldn't say what time the assaults took place, for example, or whether or not Scarborough was wearing a shirt when he answered the door).

Motley said there was some truth to the defense attorney's arguments, but said those arguments, particularly those about whether or not confessions were coerced, was a matter for trial and not a preliminary hearing.

"If this was proof beyond a reasonable doubt, I'd have some questions," Motley said. "But this is probable cause."

In a preliminary hearing, the government only has to prove that there is enough evidence to try a defendant.

Motley went on to say that "at this point and time" he did not find the confessions "unreliable." Saying that the men's distance from D.C. (both live in Orange County, Va.) made them a flight risk, he ordered them held at least until their next scheduled court appearance. That hearing is scheduled for Oct. 14.

VA Man Told Cops he Believed Trinidad Murder Victim had Sexually Assaulted his Mother

Laura Amico — Fri, 08 Jul 2011 14:54:05 -0400

Theodore Spencer, a 21-year-old man from Orange County VA, was visiting his mother in the hospital last month when he overheard doctors talking about her health.

His mother, he heard, had been sexually assaulted and had contracted an STD, which had caused her cancer to worsen.

Spencer, who was arrested on suspcion of first degree murder on Thursday, blamed his mother's boyfriend, whom he had never liked.

That's according to charging documents filed Thursday in DC Superior Court. Spencer, Terrell Wilson and Phillip Swan were arrested Thursday and each confessed to a roughly similar story of how, and why, Glenn Scarborough was killed.

After leaving the hospital, Spencer said, he drove with two friends, Wilson and Swan, both 19 years old, to Glenn Scarborough's house in Northeast DC. Once there, they put on hospital gloves. Spencer put on a mask. They knocked on the door and when 61-year-old Scarborough answered, they knocked him down and "began to kick and punch [Scarborough] about the head and body."

In charging documents, investigators said that Scarborough was found bleeding on the floor of his basement apartment on June 19 and had been beaten, bound, gagged, stabbed and strangled.

An autopsy showed that he had died of strangulation and asphyxiation, but also had been severely beaten.

Spencer, Wilson and Swan all appeared in court Friday to be presented with the charges. Attorneys for Spencer and Swan did not dispute the government's preliminary arguments, but Lauren Bernstein, on behalf of Wilson, argued that while the men told police they beat Scarborough in June, no date was ever proffered, leaving open the possibility that they could have beat him before June 19 in a crime unrelated to Scarborough's eventual murder.

The men were ordered held on probable cause, however, pending their preliminary hearing in front of Judge Motley on July 28.

Three VA Men Arrested in Death of Glenn Scarborough

Laura Amico — Fri, 08 Jul 2011 11:27:32 -0400

Three Virginia men were arrested Thursday on suspicion of killing Northeast DC man Glenn Scarborough at his home in Trinidad on June 19.

Phillip Charles Swan, 19, Theodore Spencer, 21, and Terrell Antwuan Wilson, 19, are suspected of first degree murder in the case.

MPD's press release is after the jump.

July 7, 2011

Three Arrests Made in the Homicide of Glenn Scarborough

(Washington, DC)-Detectives from the Metropolitan Police Department’s Homicide Branch have announced that three arrests have been made in the homicide of Glenn Scarborough.

On Sunday, June 19, 2011, at approximately 5:45 pm, units from the Fifth District responded to the 1300 block of Levis Street, NE to investigate the report of an unconscious adult male. Upon arriving on the scene, officers located an adult male victim inside of a location. DC Fire and Emergency Medical Services personnel transported the victim to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead. On Thursday, July 7, 2011 members of the Capital Area Regional Fugitive Task Force arrested:

19-year-old Phillip Charles Swan of Orange, Virginia, at the Orange County Sheriff’s Office;

21-year-old Theodore Spencer of Unionville, Virginia, at the Orange County Regional Jail;

19-year-old Terrell Antwuan Wilson of Culpepper, Virginia, at Routes 3 & 20 in Culpepper, Virginia;

The three suspects were arrested pursuant to DC Superior Court Warrants charging each with First Degree Murder while Armed.