MINNEAPOLIS — *Editor's note: The above video first aired Tuesday, March 29, 2022.
One of the 12 jurors who convicted Demetrius Wynne of second-degree murder in the death of Susan Spiller is speaking out, in part because of misconceptions she’s read regarding their verdict not guilty for Count 2.
The juror asked to remain unnamed “for safety reasons based off of the strong reactions from the families that are understandably impacted,” but KARE 11’s Lou Raguse covered most of the trial in-person from the courtroom and confirms the woman was on the jury.
The jury deliberated for a full day before convicting Wynne of the most serious charge, murder in the second degree – with intent – not premeditated.
Regarding the not-guilty verdict for count 2, Murder in the Second Degree - without intent – while committing a felony, the juror said there was one element the state didn’t prove beyond a reasonable doubt. That crime required proving Wynne committed the crime of theft while in Spiller’s home.
Spiller’s cell phone was the only item missing from her home, and it was never recovered. Other items of value such as her purse and iPad were not touched. The jury could not determine beyond a reasonable doubt that Wynne committed theft, so they were forced to vote not guilty on that count, “although we believed the rest to be true,” the juror said.
Wynne was just 14 years old when the crime occurred and lived with his family next door to Spiller. Police questioned Wynne’s mother Anissa Moore the next day, but one detective testified that she gave him a phony name and date of birth for her son Demetrius. The juror found that “very incriminating.”
Then, when Wynne took the witness stand in his own defense, “he contradicted himself multiple times and couldn’t seem to keep his stories straight,” the juror said. “We aren’t exactly sure why he testified.”
Prior to Wynne’s testimony, the jury was told the DNA evidence under Spiller’s fingernails could only be narrowed down to a male in Wynne’s family. But under cross examination, Wynne admitted to the prosecutor within the first two questions that both the DNA and the fingerprints on the window where the intruder entered belonged to Wynne himself.
Wynne also gave conflicting testimony regarding a police interview he gave prior to being charged. Wynne admitted to his own attorney he lied to police, but then under cross-examination, claimed to the prosecutor he never lied.
“There was nothing reasonable that he said that was able to explain why his DNA and prints were found at the crime scene,” the juror said. “We also were extremely caught off-guard that the defense claimed he was recovering from ACL surgery, yet no medical records were provided nor were any photos of him in any sort of brace.”
Wynne used the ACL injury as an explanation why he could not have climbed through Spiller’s window, yet he testified about “running around, doing errands for his mom” and helping Spiller in the garden the day before her death without any alleged mobility problems.
“It was impossible to take anything that he said as a fact,” the juror said.
At one point prior to reaching a unanimous verdict, the jury passed the judge a note that said, “We can’t come up with a decision on Count #1.”
The juror explains that they were 11-1 in favor of convicting, but there was one juror who needed more information on exactly what “beyond a reasonable doubt” meant.
“We had very credible evidence, but one person had a tough time with things like, ‘Well, what if this couldn’t happened instead?’” the juror said, explaining that once they returned to deliberation, the holdout juror decided that based on the evidence presented in the trial, Wynne’s guilt was proven beyond a reasonable doubt.
“All 12 of us know we made the right decision and are glad that justice will be served for Susan Spiller and her family,” the juror said.
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