Spurgeon sentenced to 50 years; motion for new trial denied
Mar. 7—OTTUMWA — Following a jury's verdict finding an Ottumwa man guilty of second-degree murder, a judge on Monday sentenced him to a half-century in prison.
Judge Crystal Cronk sentenced 44-year-old Douglas Raymond Spurgeon Jr., of Ottumwa, to a total of 50 years in prison for the charge. He is required to serve a minimum of 35 years before he can be released.
Cronk also added 10 years for Spurgeon's conviction of assault while participating in a felony and five years for going armed with intent. But those sentences will be served at the same time as the sentence on the murder charge. He was also fined a total of $2,395 and ordered to pay $150,000 to the victim's family.
Spurgeon sat through a five-day trial in January, and the jury returned their verdict after about four hours of deliberating. Spurgeon had originally been charged with first-degree murder in the killing of 55-year-old Gerald William Sapp on Nov. 11, 2021 on Ottumwa's south side.
In Iowa, there are two degrees of murder: first-degree, which requires the state to prove premeditation, and second-degree, which does not include a premeditation factor. Had he been convicted of first-degree murder, the mandatory sentence would have been life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Sapp was stabbed 16 times, according to evidence presented at trial. Attorneys for Spurgeon had acknowledged that a couple of those wounds were caused by Spurgeon defending himself during an altercation, but claimed another individual inflicted the others.
In closing arguments for Spurgeon, defense attorney Robert Breckenridge said it's the state's theory that doesn't make sense because Spurgeon would have no reason to stab Sapp 16 times that day. "Sixteen times is personal — you have to have a reason to keep stabbing someone 16 times," Breckenridge said.
During trial, Wapello County Attorney Reuben Neff argued that for Spurgeon's account of events to work it would require that, in under 23 minutes, someone would have had to have stabbed Sapp 13 additional times, come up with a story that matches evidence at the scene, and then make the 911 call that continued until officers arrived on scene.
"Is that reasonable within minutes they come up ... [with] this story that just so happens to line up with all the physical evidence? No, it is absolutely not," Neff said.
Spurgeon and his counsel have continued to challenge the verdict since it was delivered in multiple court filings, including some handwritten filings made by Spurgeon himself. Cronk denied motions for a new trial and to set aside the verdict during Monday's hearing.
"No officer testified seeing anything that would lead them to suspect that [another individual on scene] were involved in the attack," Cronk wrote. "The evidence presented indicated that the only physical altercation that occurred was between Sapp and the defendant and there was no physical evidence that suggested that ... anyone else ... had any involvement in Sapp's death."
While there was no evidence of motive and the murder weapon was not recovered, Cronk wrote that Spurgeon had a considerable amount of time along and "his behavior was irregular and unusual prompting medical attention."
"The court finds the verdict is not contrary to the weight of the evidence and a new trial is not warranted," Cronk wrote. Spurgeon's attorneys have already filed a notice of appeal.
Kyle Ocker is the editor of the Ottumwa Courier and the Oskaloosa Herald. He can be reached at kocker@ottumwacourier.com. Follow him on Twitter @Kyle_Ocker.
