Court Sentences Man for Spear Killing of Girlfriend

A Florida man has been sentenced to life in prison for the murder of his girlfriend, a crime committed using a spear that served as a bedroom decoration.

Adam Crespo, 49, was convicted of murder by a jury in August, six years after the tragic death of 32-year-old Silvia Galva. According to Law&Crime, Crespo claimed to police that Galva “must have grabbed onto the spear” during an argument on their bed on July 12, 2019, leading to her fatal injury.

Despite Crespo and his defense team’s efforts to portray Galva’s death as an accident, arguing she accidentally impaled herself with the 12-inch spear, the jury needed less than two hours to deliver a guilty verdict.

As reported by NBC affiliate WTVJ, Judge Andrew Siegel announced Crespo’s life sentence in court on Friday. The judge remarked that Crespo appeared to lack remorse for Galva’s death, as noted in WTVJ’s coverage.

The trial included expert testimonies and reenactments, complete with a replica of the couple’s bed, to illustrate the incident. Prosecutors argued that the spear had penetrated Galva and pierced the sheets below, and medical examiners testified that such a wound could only result from deliberate force, pointing to homicide.

Assistant State Attorney Jaclyn Broudy from the Broward State Attorney’s Office stated that Crespo was “clearly guilty of second-degree murder,” describing him as harboring “ill will, hatred, and spite” towards Galva, with a desire to remove her from his life.

Crespo’s defense attorney Christopher O’Toole disagreed with the prosecution’s version, saying, “There is no physical evidence, there is no evidence Adam gripped that spear and used it. Why is there no physical evidence? Because it was an accident. There’s not going to be physical evidence that there was a murder.”

According to police, Crespo said that he had turned his back during his fight with Galva and “heard a snap.” When he saw Galva with the blade buried in her chest, he pulled it out, “hoping it was not too bad.” He then yelled for his neighbor to call 911 while he put pressure on Galva’s traumatic chest wound.

At his sentencing, Crespo did not react when he learned of his life sentence. He told the court, “I still love her and I regret my actions that night.”