Jack Owen Spillman

Background

Jack Owen Spillman III was known as “The Werewolf Butcher.” Crimes evidence developed in the investigation of the murder of a woman and her teenage daughter in East Wenatchee, Washington led to Spillman’s arrest.

A later account described “Spillman would declare to Miller (his cellmate) that he wanted to be the world’s greatest serial killer.” According to court documents, he also described his ambition to be the most famous serial murderer in the country.

The offence

In April 1995, Spillman killed and sexually mutilated Rita Huffman and her teenage daughter, Mandy Huffman, in East Wenatchee, Washington. Rita Huffman was described as 48, and Mandy Huffman was described as 15.

The record also described a 1994 killing in which Spillman pleaded guilty to the slaying of Penny Davis of Tonasket; Spillman pleaded guilty to that slaying as a crime he was not formally charged with until the day before the guilty plea.

A further account stated that Spillman confessed to the slaying of a 9-year-old Okanogan County girl and that the investigation was unable to determine how the little girl died.

The described conduct included sexual mutilation and evisceration of the victims, including removing Rita Huffman’s breasts and excising and stuffing Amanda’s genital area into her mouth; Mandy Huffman was described as having been stabbed and bludgeoned in the head, raped, and then having a baseball bat shoved into her vagina, followed by being eviscerated, with skin from her genitals onto her face.

Investigation

In the described double homicide, a witness described that when the bodies were discovered both were smeared in a great deal of blood. The account stated there was no sign of forced entry, and investigators assumed the victims had either known their killer or that he had watched them long enough to know about a rear door that had always been unlocked.

Investigators observed that the victims had been sexually mutilated in a variety of ways. The account stated that investigators looked for evidence around the house, and an examination of the bodies later at the morgue narrowed the time of death for both to between 11:00 P.M. and 3:00 A.M.

The account stated that on Amanda’s wrist a stopped watch indicated a struggle around 11:35. Amanda had been stabbed and bludgeoned in the head, then raped, after which the killer had shoved a baseball bat into her vagina. The account also stated the killer eviscerated Amanda, placing skin from her genitals onto her face, and she lay on her mother’s bed.

Rita was described as having been stabbed thirty-one times and viciously mutilated, with her breasts removed and placed near Amanda; her genital area was described as being excised and stuffed into her mouth, and her body was posed for exposure.

Detectives checking incident reports learned that a man garbed in black named Jack Owen Spillman III had been arrested at 2:00 that morning not far from the crime scene on suspicion of burglary. A search turned up a bloody knife, and the blood was matched to one of the victims.

The account stated that detectives found a witness who had seen the truck near the crime scene at 11:30. It also stated that while Spillman had been released from custody, detectives watched him while they looked into his background. They noted a record for rape and burglary, along with attempted rape, and that he was suspected in the disappearance of the daughter of a woman he had been living with; the girl was described as still missing.

While under surveillance, the account stated Spillman tossed out an item that was retrieved and turned out to be a blood-soaked ski mask. The blood would match one of the victims, and it described a blood stain near an opening in the mask as if he had put his mouth to a wound. It further stated that it was later learned he had drunk Amanda’s blood.

More questioning was described as producing reports that Spillman had been seen in the vicinity of Amanda’s activities. The account stated he was arrested and his car and residence were searched. Evidence described as blood, hair, and fibers was said to implicate him, and it stated he had no alibi. The account also stated Spillman was employed as a butcher.

The account stated that to avoid the death sentence, Spillman confessed to the double homicide and added a third—the missing girl—and that when she was exhumed it appeared she had been buried in precisely the same position as Spillman had left Amanda on the bed.

The account included that Geberth indicated Spillman’s cellmate told authorities Spillman had “bragged that his ambition was to be the most famous serial murderer in the country.” It also stated Spillman thought of himself as a werewolf, stalked “prey” the way a ravenous beast might do, and studied other killers to learn how to avoid being caught, including shaving his body hair. It described that he had long fantasized about torturing girls and wanted to cut out the heart of a victim to eat it, desired to keep victims in a cave, and complained his first one had died too fast while he was torturing her with a knife. It also stated that after burying her in the woods, he apparently exhumed her body several times for sexual purposes.

Arrest

The account stated that Spillman had been arrested at 2:00 that morning not far from the crime scene on suspicion of burglary. After surveillance and evidence gathering, it stated Spillman was arrested and his car and residence were searched.

Trial

Spillman pleaded guilty under threat of the death penalty.

Spillman pleaded guilty to three counts of aggravated murder, including the 1994 rape and murder of a nine-year-old girl, and the April 1995 killings of Rita and Mandy Huffman. The record described that prosecutors had planned to seek the death penalty, and it stated trial had been set for August in the Huffman slayings.

The record stated Superior Court Judge Carol Wardell sentenced Spillman after the guilty pleas.

Sentencing

On April 30, 1996, Superior Court Judge Carol Wardell sentenced Spillman to life in prison without possibility of parole for the Huffman slayings. The record stated Spillman also received a 45 1/2-year sentence for killing the Tonasket child, Penny Davis. The record stated these sentences were for fatally stabbing Rita Huffman, 48, and for the bludgeoning death of Mandy Huffman, 15.

Appeals

No appeal information was provided.

Outcome

Spillman received life in prison without possibility of parole on April 30, 1996, after pleading guilty to three counts of aggravated murder.

Other details

The record stated Spillman still faced charges of first-degree rape and robbery in an attack on a woman in a Kent business two years ago, and a burglary charge in Spokane County.

The record stated that prior criminal history included pending charges on rape in King County and burglary in Spokane County.

The record described Spillman’s age at the time of the plea as 27.