Valley man guilty of murder
Jury takes just 1 hour to convict Ronieque Requel
Trending
WARREN -- One hour of deliberations was all a Trumbull County jury needed to find Ronieque Requel guilty of the Feb. 5 home invasion turned shooting death of 28-year-old Adam Spaid.
The trial concluded on Thursday after four days of jurors hearing from 15 witnesses from the state, including several law enforcement officers. Requel served as the sole witness for the defense over the course of the past weeklong trial in Trumbull County Common Pleas Court.
After both sides rested their case, jury deliberations and the reading of the verdict picked up Friday.
Requel was found guilty of two counts of aggravated murder, one count of aggravated robbery, one count of aggravated burglary, one count of not being allowed to have a weapon and one count of intimidation -- all with firearm specifications, plus one count of receiving stolen property.
In his 33 years of working in the legal system, Trumbull County Assistant Prosecutor Christopher Becker said this was the first time he's seen an aggravated murder verdict be decided so quickly.
"That is 100 percent credit to the Warren Police Department and thoughtfulness and attentiveness of the jury," Becker said.
"These officers arrived at the scene within minutes and caught this defendant basically red handed with a murder weapon trying to escape," Becker said.
Specifically, Becker made mention of detectives Frank Tempesta, Brian Crites and Eric Laprocina, all of whom testified throughout the trial, crediting their "fantastic job" of putting together the physical evidence the prosecution used to get a conviction.
Pushing for a life sentence, Becker said he would make it clear to Common Pleas Judge Andrew D. Logan, who presided over the trial, that Requel is "greedy" and a "thug" who only wanted money and drugs.
"And the result is a person here in our community that is needlessly dead," Becker said.
The lack of DNA evidence on the gun said to be the murder weapon was a point of contention for the defense throughout the trial, but Becker explained that BCI experts say that not obtaining DNA from firearms is not uncommon.
That expert testified in court Wednesday, explaining that often, even if the person who owns the weapon had their firearm tested for their DNA, it doesn't have their DNA on it.
"What helped in this case was one, the defendant admitting to having the firearm and two, he was actually seen on one of the body camera videos having the firearm in his pocket," Becker said.
Becker told the media following the trial that Requel now faces life with no parole, stating that it's what the state and Spaid's family are pushing for.
Looking ahead, Becker said the prosecutor's office will be "ready to go" when the time comes to try Christian Chaney, 17, of Struthers, who was mentioned frequently throughout concluded murder trial.
Prosecutors say Chaney was one of the five men who kicked in the door of the Milton Street home where Spaid and girlfriend Gabrielle McCullough were the morning of Feb 5.
Evidence presented in court showed Chaney acting as a Grub Hub delivery driver who knocked on the door of the couple;s home in hopes of luring them out. When that proved to be unsuccessful, four masked men kicked in the door with Requel following behind shortly afterward.
Chaney will have a jury trial on Oct. 23. Sentencing for Requel will take place Aug. 15.
cmcbride@tribtoday.com