A convict serving a life term for the sexual assault and murder of an elderly woman has raised a disturbing claim nearly 27 years after the victim’s lifeless body was discovered in her home bathtub.
Jeremy Motyka, now 50 years old, was found guilty in 2001 for the premeditated killing and sexual assault of Angela Spence-Shaw, 66. The tragic incident took place in May 1999 in Little Compton, Rhode Island, over the Memorial Day weekend.
The heinous act involved the victim being sexually assaulted, beaten, and left submerged in the bathtub with an operating hairdryer. Motyka, who was part of a construction crew working on the victim’s house at the time of the crime, has persistently claimed his innocence. He is now alleging that law enforcement planted DNA evidence as he seeks a new trial.
At the time of the brutal murder, Motyka was 23 years old, and it marked the first homicide in Little Compton in half a century. Angela’s autopsy report revealed that she succumbed to “multiple blunt-force injuries and drowning,” indicating she was likely alive when she was immersed in the bathtub.
The victim’s severely battered body was discovered on May 30 by a friend after she failed to report to work at Peckham’s Greenhouse. Angela was a cherished member of her community, with over 300 neighbors gathering for a memorial service approximately a week following her tragic demise.
Just before her untimely death, Angela had adorned window boxes at the local community center with a variety of flowers and was set to assume the presidency of the Little Compton Garden Club. Motyka was charged with murder and sexual assault after authorities matched DNA from his blood sample with semen detected at the crime scene.
Motyka is pursuing post-conviction relief, making various arguments and assertions, particularly focusing on his defense attorney’s alleged failure to engage expert witnesses to dispute the recorded time of Angela’s death and to exclude him as a suspect. He claims innocence, citing an alibi from May 29, 1999, 8:30 am to the early hours of the following day when the victim is believed to have died.
Furthermore, he contests that fingerprints found at the scene, including one in Angela’s blood on a door, could not be linked to him. He also disputes the reliability of the DNA evidence connecting him to the crime, alleging mishandling and contamination by the investigating officer. Motyka also alleges that crucial exculpatory DNA evidence disappeared from the rape kit. He contends that state police fabricated evidence transferred to the laboratory.
He further argues that law enforcement noted his lack of injuries shortly after the murder, despite evidence suggesting a fierce struggle between Angela and her assailant at the bloody crime scene. Serving his sentence in a high-security facility, Motyka claims prosecutorial misconduct and accuses the judge of providing erroneous instructions to the jury.
Recently, his case was discussed in Washington County Superior Court, where both parties were requested to submit legal arguments for review later this spring. This development followed a 2017 ruling by the Rhode Island Supreme Court requiring an evidentiary hearing for Motyka after his earlier plea for post-conviction relief was dismissed without a hearing.
Motyka’s former attorney, Mr. DiLaurio, informed the court that the defense lacked essential information to effectively represent him during the trial. The Rhode Island Attorney General’s Office stated that while Motyka is entitled to a hearing, they are confident that the Superior Court will reject his petition as baseless after the evidentiary hearing.
Prosecutors argue that Motyka has not presented any new evidence and is attempting to re-litigate facts already decided by a jury. During his sentencing, a judge described Motyka as the “embodiment of wickedness” as he received a life sentence without the possibility of parole. The former Superior Court Judge O Rogeriee Thompson remarked, “The malevolence in this case wears the mask of an angel.”
