Photo Courtesy ADOCCR: Former Death Row inmate Paul Speer when he was first incarcerated, left, and his last prison photo before he hanged himself to death on Aug. 31.
Staff Reports
FLORENCE – The Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation & Reentry (ADOCRR) has announced that Death Row inmate Paul Bradley Speer, 45, ended his own life on Aug. 31 from an apparent act of self-harm by hanging.
Prison staff discovered Speer unresponsive in his housing unit on Aug. 31, and conducted life-saving measures until paramedics arrived onsite. Responding paramedics in consultation with medical staff pronounced Speer deceased.
Inmate Speer was admitted to ADCRR custody in 2007 after he was sentenced out of Maricopa County for First Degree Murder.
His assigned housing location was Arizona State Prison Complex-Eyman.
According to the death penalty case background, in 2007 a Maricopa County jury convicted Speer of first-degree murder and other offenses and he was sentenced to death. The Arizona Supreme Court, in its opinion affirming the convictions and sentences, described the facts surrounding the crimes. State v. Speer, 221 Ariz. 449, 452-54, 212 P.3d 787, 790-92 (2009). These facts are “presumed correct.” Atwood v. Ryan, 870 F.3d 1033, 1039 (9th Cir. 2017) (citing 28 U.S.C. § 2254(e)(1)).
On March 14, 2002, Speer and his half-brother Chris Womble burglarized a Phoenix apartment. The apartment’s residents, Adan and Enriqueta Soto and their three children, were not at home but a neighbor saw two men trying to open an apartment window and called the police. Other witnesses directed police to the apartment of Sabrina and Bill Womble, Speer’s mother and stepfather, where Speer and Chris were found and arrested. Officers searched the apartment and found items belonging to the Sotos.
Speer was held at the Madison Street Jail. He made telephone calls to family and friends, including his half-brother Brian Womble and an older man named Al Heitzman, with whom Brian lived. The calls were recorded under the policy of the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office (“MCSO”).
Speer spoke repeatedly with Heitzman and Brian Womble about posting Speer’s bond. Speer stressed that he needed to be released so that he could talk with the victims and convince them not to testify.
The necessary funds were not forthcoming, however, and Speer and Brian eventually moved on to “Plan B.” Speer told Brian to “make sure you take care of everybody in that house . . . there’s only like two.” In subsequent calls, Speer reiterated that Brian could do the job alone as there were only “two people in there,” that “everything in there has to go,” and that Brian should “make sure you talk to both people.”
On May 17, 2002, Brian proposed that he break into the apartment and wait for the Sotos to come home. Speer suggested instead that Brian pose as a police officer who needed to take photos for the upcoming trial. Brian said that he had staked out the apartment complex. Speer said, “Handle business fool, alright?”
On May 19, 2002, Speer called Brian again. This time they discussed a “surprise birthday party.” Speer said it would be a waste of a party if Brian did not get both people. Brian told Speer that he now had a silencer for his gun.
On May 24, 2002, Speer spoke to Brian, urging him to carry out their plan that night. He asked Brian: “Is it pretty sure you’re going to . . . you’ll be able to get it running tonight?” Speer also told him to make sure to throw away the evidence. Speer again asked: “I don’t have nothing to worry about, about you getting the car together, right?”
On May 25, 2002, at 3 a.m., the Sotos returned home from a party. At approximately 5 a.m., Enriqueta Soto called 911. When EMTs arrived, they found her on the living room couch. She had been shot but she survived her wounds. An EMT found Adan lying in bed with his arm around an infant. Adan was dead from a gunshot wound but the infant was unharmed.
When police arrived, they found the screen for the front window of the apartment removed. Brian Womble’s palm prints were identified on the screen.
On the day after the murder, Speer called Brian and asked him if he got “the car running” and fixed “both parts.” Brian said, “Yep, perfect.” Speer then told Brian that he needed to “get rid of those [engine parts].”
On June 10, 2002, Speer called Brian, who told him one of the Sotos was still alive. Speer said he was not worried. On June 19, Speer sent a letter to Brian reminding him to get rid of the “engine parts” and his shoes. When police later searched Brian’s bedroom, they found the letter and a book about silencers.
A grand jury indicted Speer on six felonies, including first-degree murder, in connection with the events of May 25, 2002. The State filed a notice of intent to seek the death penalty, alleging four aggravating factors: that Speer was previously convicted of a serious offense (armed robbery), A.R.S. § 13-751(F)(2); that he knowingly created a grave risk of death to the Soto’s infant, A.R.S. § 13-751(F)(3); that the murder was committed in a heinous or depraved manner (witness elimination), A.R.S. § 13-751(F)(6); and that Speer murdered while in custody, A.R.S. § 13-751(F)(7).
In January 2007, the jury returned guilty verdicts on the six counts related to the May 25, 2002, shooting, as well as two counts related to the March 14, 2002, burglary. The jury then found that all four aggravating factors had been proved beyond a reasonable doubt and determined that Speer should be sentenced to death for Adan Soto’s murder.
The Arizona Supreme Court affirmed. Speer, 221 Ariz. 449, 212 P.3d 787. After unsuccessfully pursuing post-conviction relief (“PCR”) in state court, Speer sought habeas relief in this Court, filing his petition on October 6, 2017. (Doc. 13.) He filed a notice of a request for evidentiary development on August 2, 2018. (Doc. 23.)
Speer was represented at trial and sentencing by Roberts Storrs, Bruce Blumberg, and Pamela Nicholson. The prosecutor was Jeanette Gallagher. Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Andrew Klein presided over Speer’s trial and subsequent PCR proceedings.