Ten Years After Horrific Slaying In Camdenton, David Smith Pleads Guilty, Sentenced To Prison

CAMDEN COUNTY, Mo. — A 10-year-old murder case came to a sudden conclusion on Monday, when David Smith received 19 years in prison in exchange for pleading guilty to the 2006 slaying of Shawn E. Spencer.

David Smith, finally charged in 2015 with the 2006 murder, entered a negotiated plea of guilty on Nov. 16, 2016 in the Circuit Court in Camden County.

He was originally charged with 1st Degree Murder, a Class A Felony. The amended charges are Voluntary Manslaughter {Felony B RSMo 565.023} and Abandonment of a Corpse {Felony D RSMo 194.425}.

David Smith’s wife, Carolina Smith, spoke with authorities on June 3, 2015, saying David had described the incident as a drug deal gone awry. Carolina Smith told authorities that her husband said after he had shot Spencer once, Spencer had begun running down the street, and he shot him again. She told authorities that she had been garage-sale shopping with her three children that morning, and when she arrived home, a neighbor kid told her that law enforcement had been at her house.

By that time, Carolina said, David had taken a chain and dragged Spencer’s body into the woods with his vehicle. She said she then took her children and stayed at a friend’s house in Buffalo, Mo. over the weekend.

Deputies say they had responded to a report of gunfire that afternoon, spoke with David Smith and searched his property, but left the scene, thinking the call had been unfounded.

Carolina Smith told authorities when she got home, David Smith told her to purchase bags of lime to cover the smell of the body.

A man who said he lived at the Smiths’ residence for one or two years told authorities David cut up Spencer’s remains, pulled out all of his teeth, and burned the remains. Powell said the dental remains are somewhere on the property.

Carolina Smith said she was burning a pile of trash on the property in the days following the incident when a bag came loose from the fire and human hands fell out of it. She presumed they belonged to Spencer, but said her children were standing nearby and asked her about the hands. She told them they were Halloween decorations, according to the statement.

She told authorities David Smith later went into the woods and burned the remains.

The investigation surrounding the disappearance and killing of Shawn Spencer began when Spencer went missing in April of 2006. After a lengthy investigation, Smith was arrested on June 9, 2015 for the killing of Spencer.

The sentence was imposed by the court at the time of the plea. In the first charge of Voluntary Manslaughter, the Court imposed a sentence of Incarceration in the State Department of Corrections beginning on Nov. 28, 2016 and lasting for 15 years. In the second charge, Abandonment of A Corpse, Smith received a sentence of 4 years. According to the Prosecuting Attorney’s office, these sentences will run consecutively for a total of 19 years’ incarceration. These sentences are the maximum sentence for each of these crimes.

The State’s offer to allow the defendant to enter a plea of guilty to a lesser charge has saved the state the time and cost of an extended trial. But, in addition to the savings in money, time and labor, the negotiated plea guarantees a positive outcome for the prosecutor because any jury trial is a gamble. When the defendant enters a plea of not guilty, the burden falls upon the state to overcome the presumption of innocence and prove every element of the charge. If the state fails to prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt, the result will be acquittal of the charge. The negotiated plea may carry a lesser sentence but delivers a definite win for the state and the victim.

This victim, his family and friends, have waited ten years for justice in this instance. On Monday, it was handed down in the Circuit Court of Camden County in the 26th Judicial Circuit of Missouri.