GUILTY VA - JoAnne Spencer, 55, found murdered, Crimora, 11 Dec 2003

Crimora Man Denied Bond for Second Time

Posted: Jul 16, 2013 5:27 PM EDT
Updated: Jul 30, 2013 5:50 PM EDT


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A Crimora man behind bars on a slew of charges will stay there for the time being. Charles Melvin Spencer is suspected of attempting to kill his live-in girlfriend.

Spencer was already denied bond in Augusta Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court on attempted second degree murder charges in June. Tuesday, another judge denied him bond on gun charges and drug charges.

He will be back in court later this month on strangulation and attempted second degree murder charges for trying to kill his live-in girlfriend.

This is the same Charles Spencer who was a suspect in his wife's murder. Joann Spencer's body was found six weeks after she first went missing in December of 2003. No arrests were ever made in the case.

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Crimora man charged in wife's 2004 murder

The Augusta County Sheriff’s Office said Wednesday that a cold murder case of more than a decade has been solved and the husband of the deceased woman has been charged.

Augusta County Sheriff Donald Smith said Charles Melvin Spencer, 69, of Crimora, was arrested Monday night in Fishersville and charged with first-degree murder in the death of his wife, Jo Ann. Spencer is being held at Middle River Regional Jail.

Jo Ann Spencer was found shot to death in late January 2004 in McDowell County W.Va. Smith said the West Virginia medical examiner determined the woman died of multiple gunshot wounds. Her family had reported Jo Ann Spencer missing from her Crimora home in mid-December of 2003.

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Monday, a Crimora man was indicted by a grand jury in Augusta County for allegedly murdering his wife.

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An affidavit recently unsealed by an Augusta County judge shows that Investigators from the sheriff's office believe a Crimora woman found slain nearly 13 years ago in West Virginia was actually killed inside her home.

And investigators are hoping a chemical that can detect blood as far back as 25 years will help them in their case against Charles "Melvin" Spencer," a 69-year-old Crimora man charged earlier this year with the 2003 killing of his wife, Joanne Spencer, 56.

Long a suspect in the slaying, Spencer remained uncharged until March when arrested by Augusta County authorities for first-degree murder.

A two-day jury trial on the murder charge is set to begin Oct. 4. Court records show that one of the witnesses set to testify will be an inmate that is currently being held at Middle River Regional Jail.

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The two-day murder trial for a Crimora man suspected of killing his wife in 2003 will begin Tuesday in Augusta County Circuit Court, almost 13 years after the body of 56-year-old Joanne Spencer was discovered in a West Virginia coal-mining region.

For many years the woman's husband, Charles "Melvin" Spencer, was eyed as a suspect in the slaying, but he remained uncharged. Shortly after Augusta County Sheriff Donald Smith took office, and newly-elected Tim Martin ousted A. Lee Ervin, the former Augusta County Commonwealth's Attorney, in March the 69-year-old Spencer was charged with first-degree murder in the slaying of his wife of 36 years.

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Almost 13 years after the body of his wife was dumped on a remote West Virginia mountain, an Augusta County jury sentenced 69-year-old Charles "Melvin" Spencer to life in prison Wednesday after finding him guilty of first-degree murder, ending a two-day trial.

Spencer had long been a suspect in the slaying of his wife, 56-year-old Joanne Spencer, but authorities didn't charge him until this year.

The Crimora man was convicted on the strength of a confidential informant that taped 35 to 40 hours of conversation he had with the suspect beginning in February, culminating in a recorded confession on March 6. Augusta County authorities arrested Spencer the following day.

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Although the jury recommended a life term, Spencer won't be formally sentenced until Jan. 19.

Questions still remain in the disappearance of Spencer's former girlfriend, a West Virginia woman who began living at his home in 2007. Margaret Gail-Stamper White, 35, hasn't been seen by family or friends since 2008. The case remains unsolved.

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A Crimora man will spend the rest of his life behind bars for killing his wife.

Thursday, January 19, an Augusta Circuit Court judge upheld the jury's recommendation of life in prison for 70-year-old Charles Melvin Spencer.

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