In an edition of “YOU CAN’T MAKE THIS STUFF UP”, we check back in with Dr. Ray Spencer. If you are unfamiliar with Dr. Spencer, I’ve covered his wrongful conviction, as well as his civil suit in several articles. Wrongfully convicted of sexually molesting his own children, he was fully exonerated and received a judgement for one of the largest, if not the largest civil award in the state of Washington. Life was settling in, going along as it does for most people.
Someone, it seems, was not going to let that go unnoticed. Multiple news sources reported that the settlement Dr. Spencer received was, in fact, far less than what he was awarded. However, someone decided to try and cash in anyway. It becomes rapidly apparent that research was not this person’s strong point. Are you curious yet? Well, check this out. Someone has sent Ray Spencer an extortion letter. In it, they demand $15,000.00 or else they will expose his past. They will tell his wife (gasp!) all about his dark past. And they sum up with the usual threat to not go to the police.
What’s a guy supposed to do in a situation like this? Well, if you are Ray Spencer, you do what they ask, and don’t notify local police. Instead, he notified the FBI and the Postal Inspector. Funny enough, the Feds don’t find a lot of humor in stunts like this, and they don’t take it lightly. There’s no fear that his wife might find out, either. She opens the mail, and she married him while he was in prison. There’s every possibility that she knows exactly what his past is. After all, she worked two and three jobs at a time in order to pay lawyers while he sought his exoneration. But, just in case she doesn’t know, Norma, I apologize for outing his past in a way you might accidentally stumble upon.
Besides being covered by myself, Ray Spencer has also appeared on Michelle Malkin Investigates as an advocate for Daniel Holtzclaw. Last, but not least, he has written a book about his wrongful conviction and eventual exoneration. You can purchase it here. I highly recommend it, if my recommendations mean anything to you. All of this isn’t what makes a Darwin Award Nominee, though. I mean, I suppose that you might have missed all the extensive coverage of his exoneration, and his civil suit where he was represented by powerhouse attorney Kathleen Zellner. That’s all possible.
In order to be nominated for a Darwin Award, you need to show stupidity in epic proportions. Like putting your return address on the envelope. Or including the information for your Bitcoin account in the body of the poorly researched extortion letter. Or signing your name. To be fair, they stressed the fact that the name was an alias. But, anyway…
Residents of the great state of Kentucky, start planning the celebratory banquets, order the red carpet, and get ready for the fanfare! One of your own is in line to be labeled as the 2018-2019 Dumbest Criminal of the Year. So if you’ve got a neighbor getting excited about a potential future windfall, hide your smile behind your hand and watch their house for the arrival of the police’s police. I suggest casual attire for any future awards ceremony involving said neighbor.
Criminal Justice Reform Journal 