MINNEAPOLIS — A Hennepin County jury has found Demetrius Wynne guilty of second-degree intentional but unpremeditated murder in the death of his Minneapolis neighbor Susan Spiller in 2015.
The jury did find Wynne not guilty on a second count of second-degree murder with intent. The panel received the case Monday afternoon, and took less than a day of deliberations to deliver their verdicts.
KARE 11's Eva Andersen says Wynne’s family was extremely emotional after the verdict was read, audibly screaming and crying. His father says they plan to appeal the decision.
"(The jury) didn’t believe he broke into the home to commit a crime, that sort of eliminates the felony murder piece of it," said Ira Whitlock, Wynne's attorney. "And so I understand the verdict, from a humanistic standpoint it is either all or nothing. So I am disappointed for him and the family."
Spiller’s family and supporters were calm and contained, saying that justice was served.
"My family and I are very pleased that justice has been served today for my mother, Susan Spiller, as this has been almost seven years in the making," said Jason Spiller, Susan's son. "The jurors heard the evidence provided and came to the same conclusion."
Wynne, who was 14 years old when Spiller was killed, is now 21.
Jury selection began on Monday, March 21, 2022, nearly seven years after Spiller's death. In July 2015, police found Spiller's body inside her home while doing a welfare check. The 68-year-old artist and community activist died of "complex homicidal violence," according to the Hennepin County Medical Examiner, but the person responsible for Spiller's death remained a mystery.
For four years, the case went unsolved until Wynne's fingerprints made their way into the police database in connection with another case.
In opening statements March 22, the prosecution alleged that Wynne's reason for killing Spiller may never be revealed.
"Maybe he was trying to steal from her; maybe something more sinister. We don't have to prove why," said Assistant Hennepin County Attorney Dan Allard.
Prosecutors rested their case Thursday, March 24 after showing that Wynne's fingerprints were lifted from the window where the intruder entered Spiller's home, in addition to another window on her house that had been tampered with.
The DNA found under Spiller's fingernails could also be narrowed down to a male in Wynne's family.
Wynne's mother was the first person called by the defense, and testified that she believed there was no way her son could have snuck out of the house the night of Spiller's murder.
Wynne then took the stand in his own defense Friday and did not contest the prosecution's DNA evidence. When Allard asked Wynne if his fingerprints were on Spiller's window, he replied "yes, sir."
"That's your DNA under her fingernail, isn't it?" Allard asked.
"Yes, sir," Wynne said.
Before Wynne's testimony, jurors were told throughout the entire trial that police could only narrow down the DNA match to a male in the defendant's family, because it was a partial Y-chromosomal profile.
When questioned by his own attorney Ira Whitlock, Wynne said he was surprised his fingerprint was found on the windows, but said it wouldn't be surprising if a fingerprint was elsewhere inside the home because Spiller had let him in before to use the bathroom.
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