Killer Steven Spader Accepts Responsibility, Drops Pursuit Of Reduced Sentence

Just shy of 18, Steven Spader orchestrated and executed a brutal attack on a mother and daughter amidst a Mont Vernon, New Hampshire home invasion on October 4, 2009, with accomplices Christopher Gribble, then 20, Quinn Glover, 17, and William Marks, 18.

The group of misfits made up the “Disciples of Destruction,” a criminal brotherhood founded by Spader the month before, created because of his obsessive preoccupation with violence and famous killers.

Armed with a machete, Spader hacked Kimberly Cates, a 42-year-old nurse, to death. The attack left her with 32 strike-injuries including a split skull. The woman died of massive exsanguination.

Her daughter, 11-year-old Jaimie, endured similar injuries, as she was struck and stabbed 18 times. Jaimie’s jaw was shattered, skull split open, and the assault almost severed her left foot. The girl managed to cling to life but had to pretend to be dead. David Cates, Kimberly’s husband and Jaimie’s father, was away on business.

Testimony later revealed the random killing was considered a final initiation into the gang, a way of sealing their commitment with innocent blood. It was disclosed in court that Spader wanted to break into houses, steal stuff, kill people, stay the night, and make a scene for the media with their victim’s bodies, even going as far as fanaticizing about cannibalism.

According to court records, neither Glover nor Marks participated in the actual killing but were in the home.

Items taken from the home were pawned within hours, garnering a grand total of $130. The disposal of evidence was disorganized, and the group was impulsively loquacious with immediate friends, carelessly divulging details of their crime in boast. The braggadocio was their ultimate downfall, as a mother of one of the friends overheard the murder conversation and informed authorities.

On his 19th birthday, Spader was found guilty (as seen on video) on charges of first-degree murder, attempted murder, burglary, murder conspiracies, and witness-tampering. He was sentenced to life without parole. All of Spader’s immediate accomplices accepted some type of plea deal which required them to testify against the young man at trial.

Gribble was also found guilty on charges of first-degree murder, attempted murder, burglary and murder conspiracies, and witness-tampering. He was sentenced to life without parole and currently resides in the maximum-security unit of the New Hampshire State Prison.

Marks pled guilty to accomplice to first-degree assault, murder conspiracy, and burglary conspiracy. He was sentenced to 30 to 60 years in prison; his earliest parole date is September 19, 2039.

Glover pled guilty to robbery and burglary. He was sentenced to 20 to 40 years in prison; his earliest parole date is September 21, 2029.

Even a friend who falsely provided an alibi and disposed of the bloody clothing for the teenagers was sent to jail. Autumn Savoy, the co-conspirator who helped cover up the 2009 home-invasion slaying of Kimberly and the attack on her daughter Jaime, was sentenced to five years in prison in April 2011.

In November 2010, Superior Court Judge Gillian Abramson imposed a mandatory life sentence against Spader, quoted in the Boston Globe as saying, “I could go on for days and days and days about the depth of your [Spader] depravity. It is sufficient to say that you belong in a cage for the rest of your pointless life.”

Spader has since been appealing the life-long sentence, requesting a reduced term after a US Supreme Court decision outlawed mandatory sentences of life without parole for juveniles convicted of murder. Again, he was a month from 18 at the time of the killing.

The US Supreme Court ruled that mandatory life sentences for those under age 18 when the crime was committed amounted to cruel and unusual punishment. In the 5-4 ruling, the justices said the trial judge must weigh the convict’s age, maturity, and any mitigating factors before sentencing.

Spader waived his right to be in court Monday and, according to his representation, forbade his lawyers from submitting evidence on his behalf in a bid for a reduced sentence. In a shared statement read by his attorney, Spader expressed, “I choose not to slip by on some technicality. Instead I choose to accept responsibility for my actions.”

[Image via Shutterstock]