Ripley capital murder trial scheduled for September

RIPLEY – A Virginian man, accused of killing his daughter’s boyfriend at his Tippah County home in late 2022, will have his day in court in a few months.

Circuit Judge Kelly Luther has set Sept. 23 at the Tippah County Courthouse for the start of the capital murder trial of Jeffrey Dean Spence, 67, of Sugar Grove, Virginia. Last month, his daughter, Caitlin Spence, 38, pleaded guilty to accessory after the fact to the capital murder of Kirby Carpenter, 36. In exchange for testifying against her father, Caitlin Spence will likely receive a 20-year suspended sentence.

Tippah County deputy sheriffs responded to the Dry Creek area of Tippah County on the afternoon of Dec. 2, 2022, and found Carpenter dead from a gunshot wound outside the County Road 600 house he shared with Spence. Authorities believe Carpenter was killed on Nov. 30, 2022, and that a substantial number of items were stolen from the Carpenter estate around the time of the murder. Carpenter owned multiple rental properties and was the owner of Mississippi Gold, Silver and Coin Exchange.

The lengthy investigation by the sheriff’s office and the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation led to the arrest of Jeffrey Spence, his wife Karen Spence, 65, and Caitlin Spence, a year to the day after Carpenter’s death.

The parents were arrested by U.S. Marshals in Sugar Grove, Virginia, on the morning of Nov. 30, 2023. Later the same day, Caitlin Spence was detained in Brookville, Pennsylvania. They were extradited to Mississippi and held in separate county jails. Karen Spence was released on a $150,000 bond in August 2024 and returned to her home in Virginia. Caitlin Spence was released on a $10,000 professional bond last month following her plea agreement. Jeffrey Spence remains held without bond in the Union County Jail.

All three Spences were indicted in April 2024 each charged with capital murder, as well as two counts of grand larceny and conspiracy. Only the capital murder trial of Jeffrey Spence has been scheduled. After spending 16 months in a Mississippi jail, Jeffrey Spence filed a motion in March to have the charges dismissed for the lack of a speedy trial.

Judge Luther dismissed that motion May 9 and then scheduled the trial for September.

While Caitlin Spence has already pleaded guilty to a lesser charge, her sentencing was deferred until after she testifies at her co-defendants’ trials. In exchange for her testimony, the state will recommend Spence receive a 20-year sentence, get credit for the more than 16 months she has already served, and have the rest suspended. She will also have to serve five years of post-release supervision.

The plea agreement also calls for the conspiracy and grand larceny charges to be dismissed.