RIPLEY, Miss. (Court TV) — A Mississippi man was sentenced to life in prison immediately after a jury found him guilty of killing his daughter’s boyfriend.
Jeffrey Spence is placed into handcuffs after his sentencing. (Court TV)
Jeffrey Spence, 67, was convicted of first-degree murder in the death of Kirby Carpenter, 36. The jury acquitted him on charges of capital murder and manslaughter. Judge John Kelly Luther immediately handed down the mandatory life sentence after the jury rendered its verdict.
This was the second jury to consider the facts in the case. Jeffrey Spence’s first trial ended with a hung jury in 2025.
Carpenter was dating Jeffrey Spence’s daughter, Caitlin Spence, at the time of his death. Caitlin Spence pleaded guilty to accessory to murder in an agreement with prosecutors that had her testify at both of her father’s trials. Caitlin Spence told both juries that her father confessed his involvement to her after she found Carpenter’s body. Caitlin Spence described her father as being “aggressive” and “short” with her after her boyfriend’s death, saying that it wasn’t her job to find his killer.
Prosecutors told the jury that Jeffrey Spence was motivated by money and greed; the victim was known to carry large amounts of money with him as well as a bag containing $200,000 to $300,000 in cash, silver or gold. Jeffrey Spence’s defense had tried to paint Carpenter as an abusive drug dealer.
Jeffrey Spence’s other daughter, Carolyn Aquayo, also testified at his trial. She told the jury she comes from a “criminal family” and said she called her parents “Bonnie and Clyde” and no longer had a relationship with them.
Karen Spence, Jeffrey’s wife and Caitlin’s mother, pleaded guilty to grand larceny after the fact for her role in the crime one day before jury selection in her case. She was sentenced to 10 years in prison.
