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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Pullman man found guilty of raping and murdering estranged wife

Jamie Wilson-Spray, 25, with her dog Derrick in the summer of 2023.  (Courtesy of Amber Moore)
From staff reports

A Pullman man was convicted of raping and murdering his estranged 25-year-old wife last spring as she tried to conduct a remote job interview.

Jamie Wilson-Spray, an aspiring chef, was killed the evening of March 26.

After deliberating for about four hours, a jury on Thursday convicted Jacob Spray, 36, of first-degree rape and first-degree murder in her strangling death.

Whitman County Chief Deputy Prosecutor Dan LeBeau credited the Pullman Police Department and the Washington State Patrol Crime Scene Response Team for the investigation that helped convict Spray.

“Without their efforts and the cooperation of countless citizens this verdict could not have been reached,” Whitman County Chief Deputy Prosecutor Dan LeBeau said in a news release.

Wilson-Spray had been on the phone for a job interview with Spokane’s Women and Children’s Free Restaurant and Community Kitchen when its executive chef testified at the trial that she suddenly heard the 25-year-old scream.

“It was a scream I will never forget,” Melissa Berry testified last week.

Wilson-Spray was three weeks out from completing her master’s degree at Washington State University. Police found her body around 7 that night. Nearby was a pizza she had ordered just before her killing left uneaten.

Spray, who cooked for a Pullman sorority, now faces 20 to 26.5 years in prison after he’s sentenced by Judge Gary Libey on March 24.

LeBeau said he will argue for the maximum end of that sentencing range.