Pimp found guilty of killing ‘hero’

A Spokane drug dealer and pimp faces four or five decades in prison for the murder of a man prosecutors described Tuesday as “a modern-day hero.”

Robert Tracy Spencer, 42, apparently didn’t pull the trigger, but was held responsible for the Nov. 16 shooting death of James Alan Johnston, who twice prevented Spencer from beating a woman he had previously kidnapped. Spencer was trying to force Jonna Pacello, an independent prostitute and drug addict, into accepting him as her pimp.

Johnston “stepped right in the middle to protect me,” Pacello testified.

A Superior Court jury took about four hours Tuesday, including lunch, to convict Spencer of second-degree murder in the Nov. 16 shooting death of Johnston in a downtown apartment.

The jury also convicted Spencer of two counts of second-degree assault, first-degree kidnapping and first-degree promoting prostitution.

Witnesses said Spencer slapped and punched Pacello in an apartment above the Red Lion Barbecue, 128 N. Division, where she had taken refuge from him. When Johnston intervened, Spencer left and came back with his nephew, 25-year-old Bryan M. “Squirrel” James.

Spencer again began to attack Pacello. Johnston intervened again and Spencer struck him in the forehead with a metal pipe — a bicycle seat post that cut to the bone.

The 5-foot-3, 140-pound Spencer, whose nickname is “Shorty,” had a 1-inch, 50-pound advantage over Pacello. But he was no match for Johnston, who was more than 6 feet tall, prosecutors said.

Although Spencer gave Johnston a blow “that would have knocked most men down,” Johnston fought back, Deputy Prosecutor Mark Cipolla told the jury. That’s when, according to Pacello and other witnesses, James shot Johnston to death.

“James Johnston is a modern-day hero,” said Deputy Prosecutor Matt Duggan, who served as co-counsel with Cipolla. “He was protecting people who could not protect themselves.”

Johnston had done the same thing for another woman, Duggan said.

Spencer testified that he would have tried to prevent James from shooting Johnston if he had known James had a gun and intended to use it. James testified that he didn’t see who fired the shot, but it wasn’t him.

Under Washington law, all parties may be held equally responsible for a crime that causes the death of a victim.

James faces trial in October on the same charges as Spencer, plus one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm. He was sentenced this week to 64 1/4 years in prison on two unrelated, attempted-murder convictions.

Abigail Meckle also is awaiting trial for allegedly helping Spencer hold Pacello against her will in a downtown motel while trying to coerce Pacello into accepting Spencer as her pimp. Pacello said she got away after 24 hours and went to Mark Lambert’s apartment above the Red Lion Barbecue.

Testimony indicated Spencer and James had been dealing drugs in the tavern. Spencer allegedly kicked in Lambert’s door to get at Pacello.

Court-appointed defense attorney Dennis Dressler agreed Johnston acted heroically, but tried to poke holes in the evidence against Spencer. Dressler emphasized inconsistencies in Pacello’s testimony about how long events lasted.

The jury rejected a first-degree murder charge, a first-degree burglary charge and a third count of second-degree assault. Even so, Duggan said Spencer faces a standard range of 43 1/4 to 55 1/2 years in prison when Judge Harold Clarke III sentences him on Sept. 9.

Jurors ruled the murder was committed with a firearm and one of the assaults was committed with a deadly weapon, findings that added several years to Spencer’s standard sentencing range.

The range is based in part on Spencer’s previous convictions, for two counts of second-degree assault, drug possession and attempting to elude police.