Three Virginia Men Convicted of Felony Murder,
Kidnapping and Other Charges in 2011 Slaying
-Victim Was Attacked on Successive Nights in His Northeast Washington Apartment-

      WASHINGTON –  Three Virginia men were found guilty by a jury today of felony murder, conspiracy, kidnapping, burglary, and other charges for the fatal beating of a man in 2011 in Northeast Washington, U.S. Attorney Ronald C. Machen Jr. announced.

      Theodore “Reggie” Spencer, 22, of Unionville, Va.; Terrell A. Wilson, 20, of Culpeper, Va., and Philip Swan, 21, of Orange, Va., were convicted following a trial in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. The jury found that the murder was committed in the course of an attempt to kidnap the victim and that the murder was especially heinous, atrocious and cruel.  With these enhancements, the defendants face the possibility of life in prison with no possibility of release. The Honorable Thomas J. Motley scheduled sentencing for Dec. 19, 2012.

      According to evidence presented at trial, Spencer’s mother had a long domestic relationship with the victim, Glenn Scarborough, 61. In the months preceding the murder, she was diagnosed with bladder cancer. She began treatment and remained in the care of Mr. Scarborough.  On June 17, 2011, she became very ill and was subsequently hospitalized.

      After seeing his mother in the hospital, Spencer became distraught and began blaming Mr. Scarborough for his mother’s condition. On the evening of June 17, 2011, he, Wilson and an unindicted co-conspirator drove to Mr. Scarborough’s home in the 1300 block of Levis Street NE. Spencer and Wilson pushed their way in.  They tied up Mr. Scarborough before they beat and pistol-whipped him, while Swan waited in his car. 

      The following day, Spencer received word that his mother had slipped into a coma. That evening, he and the other defendants again went to Mr. Scarborough’s home. This time, all three men went in.  They bound Mr. Scarborough by his ankles, shoved a cloth in his mouth and wrapped duct tape around his head to secure the cloth.  They again attacked Mr. Scarborough and tortured him by choking him with a belt and stabbing him with a knife.  The defendants then fled the scene, leaving Mr. Scarborough to die in a pool of his own blood.

      Spencer’s mother died later in June of 2011.

      In announcing the verdicts, U.S. Attorney Machen praised the efforts of the detectives and officers who investigated the case for the Metropolitan Police Department. He also praised those who worked on the case from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, including Paralegal Specialists Sandra Lane, Fern Rhedrick, Alesha Matthews-Yette, and Kwasi Fields; Litigation Technology Specialists Joshua Ellen, Paul Howell, and William Henderson; Marcy Rinker, David Foster, and Katina Adams-Washington, all of the Victim Witness Assistance Unit; Elizabeth Danello and Suzanne Curt, Deputy Chiefs of the Appellate Division, and Assistant U.S. Attorney L. Jackson Thomas. Finally, he acknowledged the work of Assistant U.S. Attorneys Vinet Bryant and Michelle Bradford, who investigated and prosecuted the case.