For background on this case, read the JFP's investigative feature, "Grant Me Justice."
George Bell III pled guilty this morning to kidnapping and capital murder in the 2007 beating-death of his girlfriend, Heather Spencer. Hinds County Circuit Court Judge Winston Kidd sentenced Bell, 33, to life without parole, plus another 30 years for kidnapping.
Bell sexually assaulted and beat Spencer to death on Sept. 10. Her body lay in the Jackson home of Bell's mother, Robbie Bell, until police recovered the body the next day. Prosecutors later charged Robbie Bell as an accessory to the murder.
Hinds County District Attorney Robert Smith said he had no comment about Robbie Bell's case.
"We're still discussing the case against the mother, so we'll hold those thoughts until the time comes," Smith told reporters.
Bell delayed his Sept. 11 arrest by publicly threatening to kill himself at a Northside Drive gas station, making local businesses and administrators at a nearby junior high school nervous. Lt. Gerald Jones—serving over the police impound lot but trained in hostage negotiation—talked Bell into surrendering later that day.
Spencer's mother, Linda Francomb, said both she and her daughter did not think Bell capable of murder, even though Bell had bludgeoned Spencer earlier that year with a hammer.
"The June incident was the first time he had ever done anything to her, and she totally thought it was the drugs, and he assured us that he'd never hurt her again. And that's why we thought, when he got out of rehab, that he would not ever do that to her again, and she totally believed that, so in that respect, her situation was not the same as someone who constantly lives in fear because she didn't feel that way," Francomb told reporters while holding a large poster of her smiling daughter.
Francomb said she did not blame the system for her daughter's death, even though it did little to prevent the second, more fatal, attack in September. She did advocate for better enforcement of a "cooling off period" for partners charged in domestic abuse.
"Maybe if George had been arrested the first time, maybe (the murder) would not have happened. I don't know," she said.
Bell stayed at an out-of-state rehabilitation clinic, after the June attack, allegedly detoxing from cocaine derivatives and steroids before returning home and committing the murder.
Judge Kidd told Bell that he did not believe Bell's rage was entirely the result of drugs, and Spencer's mother said she agreed with the judge's assessment. "He knew what he was doing. I believe he used the drugs to give him the courage to do what he wanted to do. He just wanted to finish what he'd started in June, for some reason. I don't know why," she said.
Bell, barely containing his emotion in court, read from the Bible as he apologized to Spencer's friends and family Monday morning. Spencer's mother said she did not feel Bell's apology was genuine.
"I've read letters George has written before. To me, it just feels like—I don't know if he really meant it. I just don't know if he meant it. I know he loved Heather in his own way, but I just don't believe a lot of the words he says. It just doesn't mean a lot to me," Francomb told reporters later outside the courtroom.
Spencer's brother, Xan Spencer, said God was capable of forgiving Bell. "I'm a firm Christian, and I do believe that God can forgive many times over, and that if George becomes saved and follows what God says and keeps the word of the Bible … I know God can forgive him," Spencer said.
Smith, who took the D.A. oath weeks ago, called the case "one of the most tragic we've ever seen since our administration's been in office," and said he was following the preferences of Spencer's family in not seeking the death penalty.
"Whenever you're considering the death penalty, you have to consider the wishes of the family, and sometimes families believe seeking the death penalty is the easy way out. Sometimes it is. You have to look at it both ways and consider what he family wants," Smith said.
"I feel like he will be better served having to live life in prison, knowing he'll never get out, and he'll have time to contemplate what he's done," Spencer's mother told reporters. "He'll be tormented with the memory of what he's done for the rest of his life."
Previous Commentsshow
What's this?More like this story
More stories by this author
Support our reporting -- Follow the MFP.
Comments
Use the comment form below to begin a discussion about this content.