In the winter of 1987, a 44-year-old woman named Susan Tucker was found murdered in her Arlington, Virginia, condominium, a crime that would ultimately lead to a landmark legal case involving the use of DNA evidence. Her death was one of a series of brutal slayings that terrorized the Richmond and Arlington areas in the fall of that year.
Susan Tucker, a writer, was discovered in her Fairlington home on December 1, 1987, though it is believed she was killed on or around November 27.
She had been raped and strangled with a ligature. The scene was disturbingly similar to other recent homicides, leading investigators to suspect a serial killer was at large, a man the press would dub the 'Southside Strangler.'
The investigation led police to Timothy Wilson Spencer, a 25-year-old Richmond resident with a criminal record. A crucial piece of evidence connecting Spencer to the Arlington murder was the fact that he had been in the area for Thanksgiving, visiting his mother who lived just a mile from Tucker's home. He was arrested on January 20, 1988.
Spencer's trial for the murder of Susan Tucker, which began on July 11, 1988, was historic. It marked the first time in Virginia, and one of the earliest instances in the United States, that DNA evidence was used to secure a conviction in a capital murder case. The DNA evidence presented at trial linked Spencer to the crime scene, proving his identity as the perpetrator. He was subsequently convicted of rape, burglary, and capital murder and sentenced to death.
Following his conviction for the murder of Susan Tucker, Spencer was also tried and convicted for the murders of Debbie Davis and Susan Hellams in Richmond. While the DNA evidence was not as conclusive in the case of a fourth victim, 15-year-old Diane Cho, he was convicted for her murder as well. Timothy Wilson Spencer was executed on April 27, 1994, for his crimes.
