Boyfriend accused when spear impales, kills woman

HALLANDALE BEACH A woman arguing with her boyfriend was killed when a spear she was holding onto snapped, impaling her chest, police say.

Now police accuse Silvia Galva’s boyfriend, Adam Reechard Crespo, of murdering her.

Officers came upon the dire scene Friday at a Hallandale Beach condominium: Galva, 32, was on a bedroom floor, bleeding from her chest while a friend was trying to save her life.

Found in the condo was the spear with a 12-inch, double-sided blade, which Crespo told detectives he pulled from her body.

Detectives arrested Crespo, 43, who faces the charge of murder without premeditation.

“There are a lot of unanswered questions at this point in time,” Crespo’s lawyer, William DiRenzo, said Tuesday. “Our hope is once the investigation is complete, he will be exonerated.”

The violence happened in

acondominium Crespo co-owns along Parkview Drive, just west of the Intracoastal Waterway and north of Hallandale Beach Boulevard, police said.

What Crespo told investigators is that he and Galva and one of her girlfriends had gone out to the nearby Diplomat Beach Resort Hollywood for an hour or so, and that after midnight, the three of them returned to Crespo’s home.

Galva’s girlfriend told detectives that the couple argued from a bedroom, but she didn’t know what it was about.

She heard Crespo tell Galva to leave the room, and then Galva screamed, asking Crespo if he wanted her to make a scene.

Galva had been drinking, and he wanted her out of the bedroom, Crespo told police. When she wouldn’t leave, he grabbed her ankles and began pulling her off the bed, he told police.

The spear was at the foot of the bed. The police report did not say if it was attached to the bed frame, and police declined on Tuesday to

discuss the weapon or other aspects of the investigation.

Crespo said Galva grabbed onto the wooden shaft of the spear and he turned away from her as he continued pulling her along the bed. Then, while he was still pulling her, Crespo said he heard a snap, according to the report.

Turning back toward his girlfriend, Crespo saw the blade had penetrated Galva’s chest, he said. He pulled it out, “hoping it was not too bad,” the report said.

Crespo then asked their friend to call 911 and he put pressure on Galva’s wound, he told police.

The girlfriend called police and began CPR on Galva, who was not breathing and did not have a pulse, the report said.

Galva was taken to Aventura Hospital, where medical staff told police the blade had pierced her sternum at an angle and there was a wound to her back that was consistent with a puncture, the report said.

Crespo’s actions caused Galva to grab the spear to keep herself on the bed. The force used by Crespo to remove Galva caused the spear’s shaft to break, and “in an unknown way,” caused the blade to pierce her, which caused her death, the police report said.

The Miami-Dade County Medical Examiner’s Office performed an autopsy examination over the weekend and a spokesman said Tuesday its investigation is continuing.

Two years ago, the couple were the subject of a police and Broward state attorney’s investigation.

It began with a report of a misdemeanor battery on Oct. 17, 2017, at Crespo’s condominium building.

Galva told police then that she had been dating Crespo for six months and they were living together. That night, he left her at a nightclub, she said.

About 4:30 a.m., a stranger gave Galva a ride home, where she began packing her belongings and told Crespo she was ending the relationship.

Crespo struck her face, Galva told police. Officers found blood on Galva’s face, hair and shirt. She also had a bruise on her right bicep, and scratches on her left arm and right knee, according to an arrest report.

Blood also was seen in the building’s elevator, in the hall leading to the apartment, on the unit’s front door and inside, on the floor.

There also was blood on Crespo’s hands, and he was arrested, the report said.

But in November 2017, Galva signed a waiver asking the state attorney’s office to not prosecute her boyfriend, saying that she did not agree with the facts described by the police. She asked that the battery charge be dropped and also requested that a no contact order be dismissed.

Despite Galva’s desire to have the case dropped, the state attorney’s office continued to prosecute it.

The case was set for a January 23, 2018 trial, but the victim did not respond to subpoenas and failed to appear in court, according to a memorandum from the case.

Prosecutors sought more time to get the witness in court but a judge denied that request. Without the witness and unable to present evidence to prove a battery was committed, prosecutors dropped the charge against Crespo, according to the memo.

Monday during a court hearing, Crespo was handcuffed and wore black and white scrubs as he faced Broward County Judge Jackie Powell.

Veronica Galva told Powell that her sister had “always been a caring and loving person,” but that when she began sharing her life with Crespo, “everything changed.”

Galva said her sister pulled away from her closest friends and from her family, but told Galva she wanted to get away from Crespo.

“But she couldn’t really do that,” Galva said. “He always found a way to get back into her life. He was always dominant with her, didn’t let her have friends, go out, have a job or even hang a painting she had made.

“I believe she was being manipulated by him and ended up being the victim in this scenario,” Galva said.

Powell set a bond of $65,000 and ordered Crespo to not contact Galva’s family.

If Crespo is released from jail before trial, he must wear a GPS monitor that would allow him to travel to work. He also must submit to random drug and alcohol testing and surrender his passport, Powell said.