Prosecutors continued to call witnesses in 2018 Guntersville triple murder trial

Guntersville, Ala. (WAFF) - Prosecutors called more witnesses to the stand to testify against a man accused of killing three people in Guntersville in 2018.

The jury spent a few hours hearing witness testimonies, similar to the proceedings on Thursday.

On Oct. 20, prosecutors started the day with opening statements. The prosecution ran through the sequence of events from family members finding the bodies of Marie Martin and Colton Lee to Spencer confessing to the murders several times.

They also touched on Spencer’s time on parole. The state asserted that Spencer’s life looked like it was heading in a positive direction for a few months. He was employed and bought a trailer. Soon after, he lost his money and his car and trailer was impounded. At the time, he was doing odd jobs for the third victim, Martha Reliford.

The Assistant District Attorney said when he became desperate he went to rob Reliford and her neighbor, Martin. The ADA says that’s when he killed them and stole their money and valuable items.

Spencer’s defense attorney made a brief opening statement, asking the jury to keep an open mind and not to be swayed by media coverage.

Then, they moved to witness testimonies. The prosecution called Amanda Patterson, Martin’s granddaughter, to the stand. She says she was particularly close with her grandmother, she checked in with her multiple times a day so when she didn’t answer her phone on July 13, 2018, Patterson knew something was wrong. She says she and her father, Paul Young, went to check on her and found her home disheveled and askew.

They went to the guestroom and found Martin’s body and immediately called the police.

Young also testified and described a similar scene and shared more about the police arriving and finding the body of Martin’s great-grandson, 7-year-old Colton Lee.

Prosecutors concluded the day by interviewing a few police officers about arriving on the scene and finding Martin’s neighbor, Heliford’s body.

The defense did not cross-examine any witness.

Copyright 2022 WAFF. All rights reserved.