Delpha Spunaugle

A former Edmond woman decided not to risk a possible death penalty
and pleaded guilty Friday to 1st-degree murder in exchange for a
sentence of life without parole.

Delpha Spunaugle, 49, admitted before District Judge Nancy Coats that
she participated with Edwin David Woodward in the 1993 slaying of her
fourth husband, Dennis Spunaugle.

The victim, a 40-year-old owner of an Edmond screen printing shop, was
beaten with an aluminum baseball bat by Woodward.

Woodward and Delpha Spunaugle then coiled a rope around the victim's
neck and pulled on it until he died, court records show.

Dennis Spunaugle's body was found in a rural Oklahoma County creek Aug.
20, 1993.

In March 1995, Delpha Spunaugle was found guilty by an Oklahoma County
jury of 1st-degree murder and was sentenced to death. Woodward also was
found guilty of 1st-degree murder by the same jury but was sentenced to
life without parole.

The jury foreman said that jurors chose the death penalty for Spunaugle
and not Woodward because they thought that "she was the driving force in
the crime, and Mr. Woodward was only following her instructions."


http://venus.soci.niu.edu/~archives/ABOLISH/oct98/0234.html