Former death row inmate Spann wins parole, plans move to Conn.

By Meg Kinnard, Associated Press Writer

May 3, 2006

COLUMBIA, S.C. --Former death row inmate Sterling Spann plans to move to Connecticut after winning parole Wednesday when the Probation, Parole and Pardon Services board voted 5-1 to release him.

Spann, 43, had spent 17 years on death row before he won a new trial on the charges involving the 1981 death of Melva Niell, 81, of Clover.

He was sentenced to 20 years to life in prison after entering a plea in 2002 that did not admit guilt, but conceded there was enough evidence that a jury might convict him.

The parole board voted against releasing him unanimously in 2004 and on a 3-3 vote in 2005.

Spann plans to move to Connecticut, where his attorney Lionel S. Lofton said a job is waiting for him. A couple from Monroe, Conn., saw Spann's story on NBC's "Dateline" several years ago and have become his benefactors, Lofton said.

The couple has no connection to Spann or to South Carolina. They own a string of tire stores across the country and "have adopted Sterling and his entire family," Lofton said.

"They have been working very hard to help Sterling and see that he's got good legal representation and make sure that he had a place to live and a job to go to," Lofton said.

The outpouring of support was unprecedented in Lofton's 30 years of practicing law. "It's really heartwarming to see that there are people like that in this country," he said.

Spann is currently at the Broad River Correctional Institution. Because his release to Connecticut must be approved by both that state and South Carolina, it could take up to 45 days before Spann is freed, said Pete O'Boyle, spokesman for Probation, Parole and Pardon Services.

Prosecutor Tommy Pope promised in Spann's plea deal to take no position on parole other than a letter stating Spann should serve the entire sentence. He did not immediately return calls from The Associated Press.

Lofton said Spann's good behavior while he was out on bond in 2002 might have helped his case for parole this time around.

"He had a track record for them to see that he hadn't done anything wrong" while out on parole, Lofton said. "Sterling's record since he's been back in prison has been exemplary."

Former death row inmate Sterling Spann wins parole

By Bryce Mursch - Wistv.com

May 3, 2006

Sterling Spann

February 17, 1999

The South Carolina Supreme Court granted a new trial to death row inmate Sterling Spann, convicted in 1981 of murdering 81-year-old Melva Niell of Clover. In a unanimous decision, the S.C. Supreme Court cited new evidence that suggests a serial killer murdered Niell and two other elderly Clover women. 

All three victims were strangled to death and sexually assaulted between July and November 1981. The three victims were elderly, heavy-set white women, living within 12 miles of one another. The first two victims were left in the bathtub, while the third victim was drenched in fruit juice because the bathroom was outside the house.

Much of the new evidence surrounds Johnny Hullett, a Bowling Green man convicted of murdering 69-year-old Bessie Kate Alexander -- the third murder in the series. He is also the suspect in another elderly murder case. In a diary kept by a relative, Hullett admitted to committing the murder blamed on Spann.

Skidmore said the diary entry included details of the murder that never came out in the trial or in subsequent appeals.

No one has ever been arrested for the first murder. Mary Ring, 57, was found dead in her bathtub in Clover on July 18, 1981. Spann's defense included three experts to try to prove the serial killer theory. Dr. Werner Spitz, a forensic pathologist, said the three victims were killed with a unique chokehold he had not encountered in his 43 years of practice.

A forensic psychiatrist, Dr. Emanuel Tanay, said a "sexual, sadistic murderer" committed all three crimes. The third expert was a former FBI ace-agent Robert Ressler who said the circumstances of the three murders indicated they were committed by a white male in his 20s or 30s with a dysfunctional marriage and a history of psychological problems. Spann is black, was not married in 1982 and was not diagnosed with mental problems. On the other hand, Hullett fit the profile, Ressler said in a 1996 appeal.