ALFRED — Kimberly Spampinato pleaded guilty Wednesday to one charge of arson and one charge of murder for killing her husband, Christopher Spampinato, by dousing him with gasoline and lighting him on fire on Jan. 8. He died a little over a week later with burns covering more than 85 percent of his body.
Assistant Attorney General Lisa Marchese said Wednesday in court that Kimberly Spampinato told officers at the Wells Police Department she lit her husband on fire after he told her he had a relationship by phone with another woman and wanted a divorce. Kimberly Spampinato told police that voices were telling her to hurt her husband so he would feel the pain she was experiencing, Marchese said.
After Christopher Spampinato fell asleep, Kimberly Spampinato doused him in gasoline she had bought that day, which she said was for the apartment building’s snowblower. She then placed rolled-up newspaper around his body and lit him on fire with a lighter, according to police reports.
When emergency personnel responded to a neighbor’s 911 call, they found a man outside the 42 Harbor Road apartment building where the Spampinatos lived, whom they later identified as Christopher Spampinato.
He was immediately transported to Southern Maine Medical Center and then later to the burn unit at Massachusetts General Hospital. Spampinato died nine days later, on Jan. 17, due to burns on more than 85 percent of his body, sepsis and multiple organ failure, according to the Massachusetts Medical Examiner’s Office, Marchese said.
At the Rule 11 hearing ”“ for plea change ”“ Wednesday, Kimberly Spampinato told Justice Paul Fritzsche that she understood the charges against her and that if she pleaded guilty she would waive her right to a trial. Fritzsche told Spampinato that the minimum sentence for a murder conviction in Maine is 25 years in prison and up to life. She told Fritzsche she understood and was entering a plea of her own free will.
Spampinato, in response to Fritzsche, said she is currently taking three prescriptions drugs including Prozac and two other medications to treat depression, post-traumatic stress disorder and anxiety. Spampinato said she was thinking clearly and capable of making her own decisions.
Spampinato’s attorney Sarah Churchill said Spampinato had some issues with medication while in custody, but the current regime of prescription drugs seemed to be working much better. Churchill said she had no reservations about her client entering the plea.
Following the guilty pleas, Marchese outlined the witnesses and evidence she would have presented in the case of trial. Marchese had statements from Officer Gregory Roy of the Wells Police Department, Dennis Talagnon, the Spampinatos’ landlord and the neighbor who made the 911 call on Jan. 8.
Marchese also planned to enter three letters into evidence that she said were written by Kimberly Spampinato.
In a letter to Niki Lowhorn, the woman with whom Christopher Spampinato was having a phone relationship, Spampinato wrote that she always knew she would kill her husband, calling him “worthless,” Marchese said. Kimberly Spampinato also wrote a letter to Jennifer Cabot, Christopher Spampinato’s sister, in which she wrote she only regretted that he had not been in pain longer. In another letter, Kimberly Spampinato wrote to her ex-husband, Donald Stevens, she said she had killed several other people, Marchese said.
“The State is seeking a life sentence because of the defendant’s claims she has killed several other people; her lack of remorse for the murder of Chris as well as the fact she has claimed she would hurt others if she had the opportunity,” Marchese said in an e-mail today.
Following the hearing, Christopher Spampinato’s mother, Ann Cabot, said she feels the judge will do “the right thing in giving her a life sentence.”
“I knew for some time the relationship he was in with Kimberly was not healthy ”“ for either one of them ”“ and over the last year I was aware of her suicide attempts and her becoming violent,” Cabot said. “Chris told me that he told Kim about the relationship with his ex-girlfriend, and I told him that was a big mistake. I told him two days before the fire, ”˜do not spend another night in that house with her.’ My only regret is that I didn’t have the resources to get on a plane and fly to Maine.”
Cabot, who lives in Florida, plans to return for Kimberly Spampinato’s sentencing.
Fritzsche ordered a pre-sentencing investigation and said he will sentence Spampinato on Oct. 29 at 2 p.m. at York County Superior Court in Alfred.
— Staff Writer Robyn Burnham can be contacted at 282-1535, Ext. 329 or rburnham@journaltribune.com.
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