11-09-2010, 03:33 PM
GUILTY. LIFE SENTENCE.
"I could go on for days and days and days about the depth of your depravity, but it is sufficient to say that you belong in a cage,"
"I sentence you to the maximum, for the rest of your pointless life." - Hillsborough County Superior Court Judge Gillian L. Abramson
NASHUA, N.H. — A teenager accused of killing a mother and wounding her daughter with a machete during a home invasion was convicted today of first-degree murder and other charges.
Jurors deliberated for about 90 minutes before returning their verdict against Steven Spader, 19, of Brookline.
Under New Hampshire law, the first-degree murder conviction carries an automatic sentence of life without parole. Spader also was convicted of attempted murder and other felonies.
He has been sentenced to life in prison.
As required by law, the judge imposed the sentence today after a jury found him guilty of all six charges he faced, including first-degree murder.
Spader was the first person to go on trial in the October 2009 attacks that left Kimberly Cates dead and her 11-year-old daughter, Jaimie, gravely wounded.
David Cates, who was traveling on business when his family was attacked in their Mont Vernon home, was expected to deliver a victim impact statement later Tuesday before Spader is sentenced.
Spader, whose birthday is today, showed no reaction to the verdicts. As the jurors were being polled individually on each of their six guilty verdicts, several glared at Spader and responded emphatically.
Spader’s mother, Christine Spader, wept briefly; his father was stoic.
"I could go on for days and days and days about the depth of your depravity, but it is sufficient to say that you belong in a cage,"
"I sentence you to the maximum, for the rest of your pointless life." - Hillsborough County Superior Court Judge Gillian L. Abramson
NASHUA, N.H. — A teenager accused of killing a mother and wounding her daughter with a machete during a home invasion was convicted today of first-degree murder and other charges.
Jurors deliberated for about 90 minutes before returning their verdict against Steven Spader, 19, of Brookline.
Under New Hampshire law, the first-degree murder conviction carries an automatic sentence of life without parole. Spader also was convicted of attempted murder and other felonies.
He has been sentenced to life in prison.
As required by law, the judge imposed the sentence today after a jury found him guilty of all six charges he faced, including first-degree murder.
Spader was the first person to go on trial in the October 2009 attacks that left Kimberly Cates dead and her 11-year-old daughter, Jaimie, gravely wounded.
David Cates, who was traveling on business when his family was attacked in their Mont Vernon home, was expected to deliver a victim impact statement later Tuesday before Spader is sentenced.
Spader, whose birthday is today, showed no reaction to the verdicts. As the jurors were being polled individually on each of their six guilty verdicts, several glared at Spader and responded emphatically.
Spader’s mother, Christine Spader, wept briefly; his father was stoic.