John Jefferson
Left: Matthew G. Speck. Right: Caitlin C. Speck and her dog, Bailey Mae (Ninth Circuit Solicitor’s Office).
A 37-year-old man in South Carolina will spend the remainder of his days locked up for killing his wife and dog, then staging the scene to look like a home invasion so he could run away with his girlfriend.
Berkeley County Circuit Court Judge Deadra Jefferson ordered Matthew G. Speck to serve a sentence of life in prison without the chance for parole in the 2020 slaying of Caitlin C. Speck, authorities announced.
According to a news release from the Ninth Circuit Solicitor’s Office, a jury voted to convict Matthew Speck of murdering his wife after a five-day trial. Matthew Speck was also found guilty on one count of ill treatment of animals and possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime in connection with the killing.
Authorities said that Matthew Speck on June 5, 2020, shot and killed his wife while she was asleep in their bed. After gunning down his own spouse, Speck shot and killed his dog, a Labrador retriever named Bailey Mae.
“Speck then shot himself in the arm and torso to create superficial wounds to trick police into believing his claim that home invaders had attacked all of them,” prosecutors wrote in the release. “After a diligent investigation involving forensic evidence, witness statements, and Speck’s five-hour interview by detectives from the Hanahan Police Department, Matthew Speck was arrested for killing both his wife Caitlin and their dog Bailey Mae.”
At his trial, jurors were shown physical evidence of the crime and heard testimony from doctors, crime scene technicians, one of Matthew Speck’s coworkers, and most importantly, Matthew Speck’s girlfriend. Matthew Speck’s co-worker testified that the defendant had complained to them about his marriage
During her testimony, the girlfriend testified that before the murder, Matthew Speck told her he was going to divorce his wife and that he and her would then be “moving away together to start a new life.”
Prosecutors also provided evidence showing that prior to the shooting, Matthew Speck “researched homicidal strangulation, choking death and cyanide poisoning,” the release states.
In addition to the life sentence without parole, Jefferson also sentenced Matthew Speck to five years each for killing his dog and possessing a weapon during a violent crime. Those sentences are to run concurrently, meaning at the same time.
“Speck earned his sentence after his brazen betrayal and premeditation,” said Assistant Solicitor F. Alexander Myers, who prosecuted the case along with Nicholas Young.
The solicitors office on Wednesday posted a photo to Facebook showing Caitlin Speck and her dog, writing, “Rest in peace, Caitlin and your fur baby, Bailey Mae.”
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