Directly
across the street from Cleveland Elementary was 6356 Lake Atlin Ave. It was a
normal family home painted light brown with white trim. The one story,
three-bedroom house with a two-car garage and ample off-street parking, was
built in 1959, about the same time as the school.
The
house was owned by single father Wallace “Wally” Spencer, who had been divorced
about eight years. He lived her with Brenda, his youngest, a junior at
Patrick Henry High School, the other her older brother Scott.
Just inside the door on the entrance
tiles were scattered cartridge casings and little else. The police report
listed them as 36 empty cartridge casings and two live rounds in an area about
7 by 6 feet.
“Entrance way was slightly wider than
it was deep and was a beige color tile,” said Det. Thwing. Just outside of the
entryway were the white folding knife and hunting knife sitting next to a small
bottle of Southern Comfort.
To detectives, the folding knife
looked to be for filleting or gutting fish and the hunting knife was dark with
a brown leather handle. The pint-sized bottle was listed as a quarter full
without its cap. There were no indications the alcohol spilled as the floor was
dry and clean. Thwing said saw no drug remnants or paraphernalia anywhere in
the house.
In the
hallway was a rotary telephone with a cord long enough that it could have been
transported anywhere throughout the house. Detectives saw no second phone and
concluded this must have been the phone Brenda used to communicate with
reporters and police.
The first bedroom was Brenda’s. It
was untidy and cluttered with a few magazines and clothes. A single bed was against
the wall with sage-colored shag carpet. On the bed was a brown and white
imitation leather gun case that detectives took into evidence. Next to the bed
was a night table covered with random electronics and a small lamp.
Brother Scott’s bedroom was in just
as much disorder as his sister’s. He had bunk beds and camping gear scattered
around. Bedroom three was clearly a
storage area. It was full of red camping coolers and camping gear like sleeping
bags. In the far corner was the C02 air rifle Wally had described. Police
listed this room as a bedroom in disarray, although that could have described
the entire home.
Wally’s room was much the same as the others with, clothes, food bowls, soda cans and papers on the floor. A large mattress and box spring directly on the floor sat in the corner. The table across from the unmade bed was built out of cinder blocks and wooden board. On the table was stacks of magazines and a TV in pieces.
The police report made no mention of the fort or the C02 pistols that Wally said were in his room. This space was not extensively searched, and detectives photographed it and moved on. Thwing described this room as “less cluttered than the other rooms” although pictures disagree with that assessment.The official police report called this area extremely messy and cluttered with various foodstuffs. The dining table was covered in pre-packaged snacks and various bottles.
The living room, just off from the kitchen, was covered in unvacuumed light brown shag carpet. Police reports listed it as having a large double lounger and two small couches but not much else. The report also describes a homemade TV set as being the only thing out of the ordinary.
Detectives never opened the sliding glass door or went into the backyard. The SWAT teams and Astrea helicopter surveillance was present for the past six hours, so this may have played a role in that. Though Brenda had spoken of pets, the officers saw saw no sign of any animals while they were in the house.
The official report was not time stamped and it is unknown exactly how long the detectives searched the house. We know the detectives arrived just after the surrender at 3:06 p.m., and the search was over in about two hours. Detective left just before it got dark, when the sun set at 5:18 p.m., and pulled the police tape from around the scene.
No comments:
Post a Comment