Poplar Bluff man indicted on murder, robbery charges

UNION CITY, Tenn. -- A Poplar Bluff, Mo., man recently appeared in Obion County Circuit Court after he was indicted by a grand jury there on multiple charges, including first-degree murder and aggravated robbery.

During its October term, the Obion County grand jury handed down a five-count indictment against Jarrod Reese Spicer, charging the 42-year-old with three counts of first-degree murder, aggravated robbery and theft.

Spicer is accused of strangling to death John Thomas Hood, 77, of Troy, Tenn., on March 3, 2008, according to Obion County chief deputy Kent Treece.

Treece said it had taken more than three years for the investigation to unfold.

"He was established as a person of interest pretty early on in the investigation," Treece said.

During the investigation, information was "developed that indicated Mr. Spicer was more of a suspect than a person of interest, and within the last few months, enough evidence has been collected to go on and make a presentation to our grand jury," according to Treece.

"A true bill was granted by the grand jury, and thus a capias warrant was issued for his arrest."

Treece said Spicer, who had moved to Missouri, had to be extradited back to Tennessee.

Spicer faces three murder counts, which are worded a "little bit different [and are] the three possible ways, the three theories on what happened," according to a spokesman for the Obion County district attorney's office. "… One murder, three theories."

Count one alleges Spicer "unlawfully and feloniously" killed Hood "in the perpetration or attempted perpetration of and while intending to commit robbery," while count two alleges the death occurred "in the perpetration or attempted perpetration of and while intending to commit theft. ..."

Count three alleges Spicer "unlawfully, feloniously, intentionally and premeditatedly" killed Hood.

The district attorney's spokesman indicated the variation in wording on the charges is similar to Missouri's felony murder doctrine, which says if a person dies during the commission of another felony, such as robbery, the suspect may be charged with second-degree murder.

If convicted on any of the murder charges, Spicer "could get life," the spokesman said.

A clerk in the Obion County Circuit Clerk's office said Spicer, who is being represented by a public defender, is due in court at 9 a.m. Nov. 26.

At the time of Spicer's Oct. 7 indictment, he was incarcerated in the Pemiscot County Jail, having been charged in August with second-degree statutory rape, and appeared in court there before Associate Circuit Judge Byron Luber, according to entries in Casenet, Missouri's online court reporting system.

Spicer was supposed to appear before Luber for a preliminary hearing Oct. 7, but it was reset for 10 a.m. Oct. 28.

In addition to the pending charge, Spicer also is on probation through Dunklin County after pleading guilty to the possession of a controlled substance in 2011. The case was moved to Dunklin County on a change of venue from Pemiscot County.

At the time of his plea, Spicer was sentenced to five years in the Missouri Department of Corrections, with suspended execution of the sentence, and placed on four years' supervised probation through SEMO Community Services.

Spicer also was serving a two-year term of unsupervised through Butler County after having pleaded guilty in June 2012 to passing bad checks.

The state filed a motion in September 2012 to revoke Spicer's probation, but that motion was withdrawn in April and Spicer was continued on probation.

A search of Case.net also revealed Spicer pleaded guilty to passing bad checks in 2005 in Dunklin County; passing bad checks in 2004 and failure to return rental property in 2002, both in Pemiscot County; and driving while intoxicated in 2002 in Pemiscot County.