State v. Spencer

The opinion of the court was delivered by

Price, J.:

The defendant, Bobby Joe Spencer, was charged with and convicted of murder in the first degree in the killing of Mrs. Rubie S. Blanton. The jury, under the provisions of G. S. 1949, 21-403, fixed his punishment at death. His motion for a new trial was overruled, the verdict of the jury was approved, and he was sentenced to be hanged. This court ordered a stay of execution (G. S. 1949, 62-2414) pending determination of his appeal.

At the outset it should be stated that in his oral statements to the officers, in his signed question-and-answer…