Alabama man convicted of stabbing man, dumping body in well
Published 5:31 am Monday, May 17, 2021
An Alabama man has been convicted of killing of a 72-year-old acquaintance whose body was found shot, stabbed and dumped in a well on the suspect’s property.
A Lee County grand jury on Friday found Hubert Timothy Sprayberry, 59, guilty of intentional murder in the December 2019 slaying of James Edmund Clarke, The Opelika Auburn news reported.
Clarke was stabbed 22 times, shot three times and found dumped in a well on Sprayberry’s Beulah property with cinderblocks weighing him down, according to testimony presenting during a preliminary hearing.
Investigators said the men knew each other, but did not comment further on their relationship. Sprayberry was named a suspect after rope and duct tape matching items found with Clarke’s body were discovered in Sprayberry’s van, the district attorney’s office has said.
Lee County Sheriff’s Office Investigator Greg Sumner previously testified that investigators responding to Sprayberry’s property found the 24-foot-deep (7-meter-deep) concrete well covered by a concrete lid. The body was later pulled from the bottom and a knife was also discovered inside it.
Sprayberry was set to be sentenced at a later date. He faces up to life in prison.