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Accomplice takes plea deal in 2000 murder
By CARY DAVIS, Times Staff Writer
NEW PORT RICHEY -- Ronald Spaulding did not fire the bullet that killed Robert Dean, authorities said. His gun, in fact, wasn't even loaded. From a legal standpoint, those distinctions mean nothing. He still is a murderer. Spaulding, 24, pleaded guilty Monday to second-degree murder, accepting a deal with prosecutors that calls for him to serve 30 years in prison for his role in Dean's slaying. Until Monday, Spaulding also had faced a first-degree murder charge and a possible life sentence. As a condition of his plea bargain with prosecutors, Spaulding will be required to testify against his cousins, brothers Glen and John Oyer, both of whom face first-degree murder charges in the case. Pasco-Pinellas Circuit Judge Daniel Diskey approved the plea bargain at a brief hearing Monday. Spaulding was scheduled to stand trial this week. Trials for Glen and John Oyer are set for July. Dean, 35, was housesitting for his landlord, Terry Nelson, when he was shot and killed Aug. 27, 2000. Nelson, not Dean, was the intended target of a robbery scheme crafted by the Oyer brothers and Spaulding, prosecutors say. Nelson sold drugs out of his house on Flora Avenue in Holiday and was known to carry several thousand dollars in cash in his pocket, prosecutors say. On the night of the murder, Nelson was in Tennessee watching a stock car race. Dean, a handyman with five daughters, agreed to stay in Nelson's house. Dean ventured outside when he was startled awake by a loud noise, prosecutors say. He was met by three men, each dressed in black and carrying handguns. Glen Oyer's weapon was the only one loaded. A scuffle ensued, and Spaulding pointed his gun at Dean, prosecutors say. Then Glen Oyer took over, yelling at Dean to "get down," Spaulding told detectives. "No sooner did (Glen Oyer) tell (Dean) to get down, bam!" Spaulding told detectives, according to court records. Prosecutors say Glen Oyer shot Dean once in the head. Spaulding said he and Glen Oyer went through Dean's pockets. They got about $4. Spaulding was indicted under a Florida law that says a person who participates in a felony that leads to a homicide can be convicted of murder. John Oyer was indicted under the same statute. Dean's wife walked out on him seven years before the killing, leaving him with the couple's five daughters. Dean couldn't afford to make a home for his daughters on the money he made as a handyman, so the girls went to live with their grandparents. Dean visited the girls several times a day and always kissed them good night. Four of Dean's daughters attended the hearing, accompanied by their grandmother, Katena Hiou. At the end of the hearing, Spaulding's mother walked across the courtroom and, with tears dripping from her eyes, took Hiou's hand. "I'm so sorry," she said. "I don't blame you," Hiou said.
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