November 1, 2016 at 9:12 a.m.
Judge hands down probation, jail sentence to man who burglarized Ayers' home
'You had a choice,' judge says
Judge hands down probation, jail sentence to man who burglarized Ayers' home
Mark F. Spietz will also serve 18 months probation after a jury found him guilty of three counts of burglary of the site of the Ayers homicide in the town of Piehl and one count of theft between $5,000 and $10,000.
The state convinced the jury that Spietz entered the home where Ashlee Martinson killed her mother Jennifer Ayers and her stepfather Thomas Ayers on March 7, 2015 and took numerous items, including ATVs, lawn mowers, compound bows and even Jennifer Ayers purse containing her identification, credit cards and a checkbook.
All the items were recovered by the Oneida County sheriff's office.
Martinson pled guilty to two counts of second-degree intentional homicide March 11 and is serving a 40-year prison term.
At Spietz sentencing hearing Thursday, defense attorney Brian Bennett called a number of his client's family members and friends to provide character testimony for the man in hopes of convincing Judge Michael Bloom to be lenient. Several letters were also submitted to Bloom for his consideration. All of the witnesses painted a picture of a dedicated family man who went out of his way to help his parents and siblings and who built a successful business even while maintaining full-time employment at another job.
In his remarks to Bloom, district attorney Mike Schiek said that while the witnesses who testified spoke highly of Spietz's character, there are other factors the judge must take into consideration.
"We just heard from the defendant's loved ones, they know him better than I do, and they were able to give a little background to the court," Schiek said. "But there are also some legal repercussion that have to happen as a result of being found guilty of four counts."
Schiek argued Spietz has never really taken responsibility for his actions, although he was cooperative with the detectives working on the case and helped them recover the stolen items. Schiek also noted that some of Spietz answers when he testified at trial were troubling.
"The main point I want to bring up is whether or not he wants to take responsibility for his actions for some of this," Schiek said.
The biggest indicator that Spietz has not fully appreciated the wrongfulness of his conduct is that he didn't acknowledge that most of what he removed from the Ayers' home was personal property, Schiek argued.
"His definition of personal property was family albums, photographs and portraits on the wall and things of that nature," Schiek said. "When you have located in his house the purse of Jennifer Ayers, which contained her social security card, insurance card, drivers license, checkbooks and numerous other personal items, judge, I don't understand how he can try to push off what was taken. This includes the four-wheelers, trailers, bow and arrows, the court knows the list of what was taken, and then hide behind his definition and say those weren't items of personal property."
Schiek pointed out that under cross-examination Spietz said he would consider his own four-wheeler as his personal property.
Schiek said that while Spietz was originally on the property as an employee of TruAssets of Scottsdale, Ariz., which secures abandoned or foreclosed properties for banks, the work order that sent him there said he was not to take any property.
"Yet he said that the four-wheelers were to be for his children, the purse was something he thought his wife might like," Schiek said.
With no prior criminal history, the prosecutor said he doesn't believe Spietz poses a danger to the public.
"I certainly don't think he's going to go out and do this again," Schiek said. "I don't think there are any rehabilitative needs. There was never information presented to the court of any indication of a drug or alcohol problem."
What was left, Schiek said, was the gravity of the offense. He said the aggravating factor in this case is that even after Spietz learned what had happened to the Ayers in the house, he kept coming back and removing items.
"It was something that he did learn, it is something the victims in this case, the three young children, it was the property of their parents that were now deceased (he was taking)," Schiek said.
Later in his statement, Schiek said that the sentence Bloom was going to hand down had to serve as a deterrent to others who would take advantage of similar crime scenes as Spietz had done, which is becoming a problem.
"It's an issue that local contractors who do this type of work need to know that there is a proper procedure to go through, and this type of a case, it's not setting an example, but it is telling people in this type of business they better think twice about going in on property, thinking it's abandoned, without the proper paperwork and taking what they want," he said.
He then asked Bloom to withhold sentence, place Spietz on probation for either two or three years and have him serve between six and nine months in jail as a condition of that probation.
In his remarks to Bloom, Bennett said he was "in the uncomfortable position of appearing at a sentencing hearing for a man I still believe is innocent."
He added that he didn't think that Spietz would break into a house "in broad daylight" while using a trailer that had his name and phone number on the side of it. He also said if Spietz were truly stealing the ATVs, he wouldn't have gone to the trouble of finding their titles as he had done.
He also disagreed with Schiek's assessment that his client had not taken responsibility for his actions. He cited his cooperation with the detectives and willingness to make sure all the property he took was recovered as evidence of that.
"He was not using this job to feather his bed," Bennett said.
He then asked for Bloom to sentence his client to probation.
"This case does not cry out for incarceration, this case cries out for a stiff probationary sentence in recognition that he has been punished enough," Bennett said.
Speaking on his own behalf, Spietz said he felt bad for what had happened and the issues it has caused his family, as well as the daughters of Thomas and Jennifer Ayers.
"Never in a million years did I think I would be in this situation," he said.
He asked Bloom for mercy so that he could be allowed to raise his child and stepchildren and continue to help support his family and assist his parents, who both suffer from chronic health issues.
"I do believe everyone makes mistakes and everyone does deserve a second chance," Spietz said.
Bloom noted all of the testimony from Spietz' family and friends and the numerous letters of support he received.
"The upshot of all that is I believe Mr. Spietz to be a person of good character," Bloom said.
He then addressed Bennett.
"I know what it feels like to sit next to a client at a sentencing hearing that I believed was innocent," the judge said.
He then said he doesn't have the authority to overturn the jury's finding of guilt, and even if he did, he "would likely not use that liberty" in this case.
He noted there were a number of "red flags" that Spietz himself had noted about the situation and those should have prompted him contact the sheriff's office, at the very least, before he started removing items from the house.
The biggest was when he had learned through the Internet what had happened in the house.
"That is a very important juncture in this case," Bloom said. "You had a choice."
He then recounted to Spietz how just a few months ago he addressed Martinson as she sat in the same seat in the courtroom. He recalled how he told her that despite all the abuse she had endured in her young life she still had the choice of not killing her mother and stepfather.
He repeated that Spietz had a choice when he made the decision to keep coming back to the Ayers property to take more items that didn't belong to him.
Bloom also noted that in the wake of the housing market collapse, there were a large number of foreclosures, and that companies such as TruAssets had sprung up as a "cottage industry" to help secure these properties.
He agreed with Schiek's assessment that these companies have to be placed on notice that there is a right way and a wrong way to conduct their business.
Bloom then withheld sentence and placed Spietz on probation for 18 months.
As a condition of the probation, he ordered Spietz to serve 30 days in jail, allowing him to serve it in his home county if both sheriffs agree to it, with Huber privileges.
He ordered him to pay court costs as well as the balance of the towing charges the sheriff's office incurred from towing his pickup and two trailers used in the crimes to Oneida County.
Both Schiek and Bennett agreed to allow the truck and one trailer be returned to Spietz, while Bloom ordered the second trailer forfeited.
Bennett has indicated Spietz intends to appeal the conviction.
Jamie Taylor may be reached at jtaylor@ lakelandtimes.com.
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