Spencer: Doug 'going to kill his wife'

CENTREVILLE, Mich. (WOOD) - The prosecution's main witness against Doug Stewart testified Monday Stewart asked him to be his alibi when he killed his wife, and that Stewart already had a burial spot picked out.

Stewart is accused of killing Venus Stewart. Her body has never been found.

Ricky Spencer said he and Doug Stewart met in December 2008 playing XBox Live and often played 6-10 hours a day. He described Stewart as his "best friend," and said they were "brothers from another mother."

In April 2010, Spencer testified, he met Doug in person for the first time. Spencer traveled from his home in Delaware to Stewart's Virginia home.

"He said he was going to go kill his wife," Spencer testified. Doug said he could sneak into an area without being detected and "could take people out."

Doug asked him several times to be his alibi when he killed Venus, Spencer said, and he finally agreed to do it because he believed Stewart's two children were in danger living with Venus. Doug told him Venus slapped their children, he said.

Spencer was upset Doug was telling him "all this stuff," and Doug put him in a choke hold. He was scared and couldn't breathe, he said, adding Doug said if a person was in a headlock for 30 seconds they die.

Doug, he said, was also going to get prepaid cell phones and had a burial spot selected.

Initially, Spencer said, Doug was going to kill Venus on April 15, 2010. But Doug was pulled over by an Ohio trooper that week and delayed the plan.

Stewart's defense attorneys, Jeffrey Schroder and Kymberly Schroder, asked for a mistrial during Spencer's testimony because of a perceived threat to the jury. Judge Stutesman rejected the motion.

His testimony continued. Stewart, he said, gave him a cell phone, clothes, credit cards and keys to make it look like Stewart was in Virginia. The prosecution admitted a picture of Spencer driving Doug's car and trying to avid a camera in Doug's apartment parking garage.

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After a weekend of research, Judge Paul Stutesman ruled the defense can question Ricky Spencer about his immunity deal from the prosecution. The defense maintains it goes directly to Spencer's credibility.

Spencer, the Delaware man who is the main prosecution witness, took the stand again on Monday. On Friday afternoon, before any questions could be asked, defense attorneys objected to his appearance.

Spencer was granted immunity in St. Joseph County in exchange for his testimony against Doug Stewart. In a preliminary exam last July, Spencer said he met Stewart through online games and agreed to travel to Virginia to impersonate Stewart on the day Venus Stewart disappeared in April 2010.

She has not been seen since and is considered to be dead. Her body has never been found.

On Friday, Spencer said he wanted to testify even though he knows he might face the death penalty in another state for this crime. Virginia, Ohio and Delaware all have the death penalty, and all are part of the prosecution's crime theory.

Spencer's immunity in St. Joseph County, Michigan is valid only if he tells the truth in the trial, and he will serve up to a year in jail on manslaughter charges.

But in order to get that deal, he has to testify about how he broke the law and helped Doug carry out the alleged murder plan.

Court adjourned for the day just before noon. It will resume Tuesday morning.

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