Prosecutors seek death for 3 in murder case

Officials say the death penalty is warranted because each suspect has a criminal record and the slaying occurred during a robbery.

By Times staff writer

© St. Petersburg Times, published March 15, 2001

NEW PORT RICHEY -- Prosecutors announced this week that they will seek the death penalty against three men accused of the August slaying of 35-year-old Robert Dean.

Glen Oyer, 22, of St. Petersburg, his brother John Oyer, 20, of Holiday, and Ronald Spaulding, 22, of Palm Harbor, were indicted in December on first-degree murder charges.

Assistant State Attorney Mike Halkitis said two factors figured prominently in the decision to seek the death penalty in the case: Each of the three defendants had criminal records and the murder occurred during a robbery.

According to an affidavit by a Pasco Sheriff's Office detective, the three suspects showed up at a Holiday home where Dean was staying temporarily hoping to find a stash of drugs. Dean, the father of five girls, struggled with the men and was shot in the head, reports said.

The Sheriff's Office has not said who fired the fatal shot. Detectives found the murder weapon, a .38-caliber revolver, in a body of water near Moog Road.

A trial date for the three defendants has not been set.

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