Co-defendant in Polk County detective murder case pleads guilty
Kristen Hearne’s family thankful to have part of tragic incident resolved.
The man accused of murdering Polk County Police Detective Kristen Hearne during an altercation in 2017 pleaded guilty in Polk County Superior Court on Thursday, March 31, bringing Hearne’s biological and law enforcement family one step closer to closure.
Seth Brandon Spangler entered the plea Thursday morning in front of Tallapoosa Circuit Superior Court Judge Mark Murphy and was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, according to the Polk County District Attorney’s office.
Spangler and Samantha Michelle Roof were both charged with killing Hearne as well as shooting officer David Goodrich while the two officers were investigating a suspicious vehicle on Sept. 29, 2017. Goodrich survived his injuries thanks to his protective vest, but Hearne was not wearing such a vest at the time due to the nonviolent nature of the call.
The district attorney’s office stated that the case against Spangler’s co-defendant, Roof, remains pending and it could not comment on her case due to an existing order in the case as well as ethical rules that prohibit public comment from its office.
District Attorney Jack Browning announced soon after Hearne’s murder he intended to seek the death penalty against the Spangler and Roof. Thursday’s plea deal allows Spangler to escape that possibility and instead serve the rest of his life in prison.
According to Browning, Hearne’s family expressed that while they felt a death sentence would be justified it would not fill the void and the loss in their life brought on by Spangler’s actions. “Nor would it be enough to end or allow us to forget the pain he caused our family, Kristen’s law enforcement family, and an entire community,” the family said in a statement.
The trial for Spangler and Roof had been delayed due to multiple reasons in the four years since the incident.
The restrictions placed on the court by the Statewide Judicial
Emergency Order from March 2020 through June 2021 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic were followed by Spangler getting a new defense team and their request to have more time to prepare for a trial.
During the time since Hearne’s death, Browning stated that the family has focused not on the man who took away so much from them, but instead on who is most important — Hearne’s son, Isaac, who was 3 at the time of his mother’s murder.
The release states that a plea deal avoids the family of having to constantly relive the tragedy through the trial and death sentence hearing that would have come, along with the appeals that would have all but guaranteed them “years without closure and finality.”
Hearne’s mother, Trish Brewer, expressed her gratitude in a statement for “the work and support of the entire law enforcement community — Kristen’s law enforcement family — and the district attorney’s office during this long, traumatic experience, in bringing about this closure.”
Brewer stated she was relieved “knowing that there is now finality for the fate of the man who took my daughter’s life, my grandson’s mother, and a young lady who was loved by an entire community and all who knew her, and in knowing that we will never have to deal with him again nor live our lives around him getting his day in court, and that he’ll never have the opportunity to be a danger to the public again. We can now finally begin the healing process for ourselves and, most importantly, for our Isaac.”
Hearne and Goodrich were investigating an abandoned vehicle near the intersection of Santa Claus Road and Ga. 100 south of Cave Spring when Spangler and Roof returned to the vehicle, which was later discovered to be reported stolen. When confronted by Goodrich, Spangler pulled out a handgun and fired upon both officers.
Browning stated that Spangler, who was from the Chattanooga area, had a documented history of mental health and substance abuse issues which included psychiatric hospitalizations and suicidal attempts.
Approximately one week before the shooting, Spangler had checked himself into a Chattanooga area hospital due to mental health issues, including having suicidal hallucinations, visible marks of having attempted suicide, and acute psychosis.
Browning said attorneys negotiated with the district attorney’s office on the sentencing as part of the plea deal, which was a long time in the making but something Browning was pleased to have happened.
“When a defendant has these sort of documented mental issues your hands can get tied, not only in the sentencing, but being able to even conduct hearings. That played a pretty good role in the time it took us to get here,” Browning said.