Convicted killer says new evidence will clear her of arson charges after state Superior Court agrees to hearing
May 2—BLOOMSBURG — Maria Sanutti-Spencer will be given the chance in Superior Court to argue her claims that newly discovered evidence would clear her of arson in a 2010 fire at her ex-husband's house in Millville.
Sanutti-Spencer, of Selinsgrove, who was convicted in 2015 by a Columbia County jury, of shooting to death her ex-husband, Frank Spencer, in July 2012, filed a Post Conviction Relief Act petition to the Superior Court late last year and was granted a hearing for oral arguments before a panel of judges in Wilkes-Barre, Luzerne County, on May 21.
She was also convicted of arson and other charges stemming from a 2010 fire at Spencer's Millville property.
Sanutti-Spencer claims in her appeal that Spencer removed important documents, birth certificates, photos, children's baby moments, prior to his house burning down, according to court documents.
She says in the filing, Spencer mother moved into the new house that Spencer was building and lived there until August.
Sanutti-Spencer said her children inherited the house and Spencer's junkyard and while her son was cleaning out the basement, he discovered a jewelry box and birth certificates in files in the basement, according to the filing.
She also claims her son found boxes of documents, family photos, elementary school agendas and those items should have been destroyed in the 2010 fire, according to court documents.
"Only Frank and Madeline Spencer had dominion and control of these items," she said in the filing. "The items found in the jewelry box were mine. Frank Spencer told me and the fire insurance agent that these items were destroyed in the fire at his home on Jan. 24, 2010. There is a charm in the jewelry box that my mother had made to memorize my birth. My name and date of birth is on the charm."
In the filing, Sanutti-Spencer also alleges documents, photos and other items were found in Spencer's conversion van were taken or purchased years prior to the fire.
"This new evidence indicates that Frank Spencer and/or his mother had advance knowledge of the fire and removed the items, then stored them for safe keeping," she wrote in the filing.
She alleges either Frank Spencer or Madeline Spencer removed items from their home prior to the fire for safe keeping and reported the items lost in the fire, according to court documents.
"The newly discovered evidence was not available to the defendant or the attorney general before, during, or after the trial because the victims concealed the evidence from the investigators and perjured themselves in court and under oath while they said the items were destroyed in the fire," Sanutti-Spencer wrote in the filing. "This is evidence that Frank Spencer and or his mother Madeline Spencer set the home on fire for insurance money and not the defendant."
Former Hazleton state trooper Cpl. Shawn Williams, now the Shikellamy School District police chief, was the arresting trooper in the case and previously said Sanutti-Spencer and her father, Anthony Rocco Franklin, plotted Frank Spencer's death.
Williams said and both Franklin and Sanutti-Spencer arrived at Frank Spencer's home while either Franklin or Sanutti-Spencer shot Frank Spencer from a wooded area while the other one-shot the man at point-blank range.
Both Franklin and Sanutti-Spencer were sentenced to life in prison without parole. Franklin is currently housed at SCI-Somerset, while Sanutti-Spencer is incarcerated at SCI-Muncy.
Sanutti-Spencer is being represented by Luzerne County attorney Frank McCabe.
