Dark Downeast - The Murder of Frederic Alan Spencer (Maine)

Episode Date: August 7, 2023

MAINE, 1973: In April of 1973, the vibrant college town of Orono, Maine was shattered by a shocking murder that sent tremors through the University of Maine community. The victim was Frederic Alan Spencer, a promising UMaine graduate student with a bright future ahead. When Frederic's roommate came forward and confessed to the killing, it seemed like an open and shut case.However, as the trial of Richard Westall Rogers Jr. unfolded, it was clear the case was far from simple. Despite his admission of guilt, the proceedings took a surprising turn. Nobody in that courtroom could have known at the time, but the unexpected decisions made in the case of Frederic Spencer would set in motion a chilling and deadly ripple effect that only grew with intensity and consequence over the next few decades.Last Call: A True Story of Love, Lust, and Murder in Queer New York by Elon GreenLast Call: When a Serial Killer Stalked Queer New York on HBO  View source material and photos for this episode at darkdowneast.com/fredericspencer Dark Downeast is an audiochuck and Kylie Media production hosted by Kylie Low.Follow @darkdowneast on Instagram, Facebook, and TikTokTo suggest a case visit darkdowneast.com/submit-case

In April of 1973, the vibrant college town of Orono, Maine, was shattered by a shocking murder that sent tremors through the University of Maine community. The victim was Frederick Allen Spencer, a promising UMaine graduate student with a bright future ahead. When Frederick's roommate came forward and confessed to the killing, it seemed justice would be swiftly served, an open and shut case. But as the trial of Richard Westall Rogers Jr. unfolded, it was clear the case was far from simple. Despite his admission of guilt, the proceedings took a surprising turn, leaving many puzzled and questioning the very fabric of the justice system. Nobody in that courtroom could have known at the time, but the unexpected decisions made in the case of Frederick Spencer would set in motion a chilling and deadly ripple effect that only grew with intensity and consequence over the next few decades.

Years later, the same killer would resurface, leaving a trail of death and despair in his wake. At least two more lives would be lost at the hands of this elusive murderer, and evidence pointing to even more victims attributed to the man who would be labeled the Last Call Killer. I'm going to tell you Frederick Allen Spencer's story, as well as the stories of Peter Stickney Anderson, Thomas Mulcahy, Anthony Edward Marrero, and Michael Sequeira. Though these cases reach far beyond New England's six states, it all begins right here in Maine. I'm Kylie Lowe, and this is Dark Down East. In 1973, the town of Orono, Maine was on the verge of celebrating the bicentennial of its original settlement by American colonists. The region of Pines at the intersection of the

Stillwater River and the Penobscot River was originally occupied by the Penobscot Nation, an indigenous group native to Maine. Once the land was incorporated in 1806, it was officially given its name after the Chief Joseph Orono of the Penobscot tribe. Over its long history, the town of Orono has been known by several identities. Its location on the Penobscot River historically positioned Orono as an ideal location for sawmills as enormous logs from across the northern forests of the state floated south down the river towards the mills. Orono is also the home of the iconic Pat's Pizza, a local chain that has held its original home on Mill Street since it was founded by C.D. Pat Farnsworth in July of 1931. Orono is also, and perhaps best known, as the college town of the University of Maine's flagship campus.

My alma mater, the University of Maine, UMaine for short, was founded in 1862 and officially established in 1865. Throughout the history of the University of Maine system, Orono has remained the flagship site and primary research university of the state. While the university has seven campuses today with varying degrees and certificates, Orono remains home base. Undergraduate and graduate students come from across the country and the world to learn at UMaine, and the campus is especially attractive for those interested in scientific research due to its location with close proximity to many forests,

rivers, and the Atlantic Ocean. In 1973, Orono was home to nearly 10,000 full-time individuals with the addition of 8,511 University of Maine students during the academic year. The 1973 University of Maine catalog paints a picture of an academically rigorous and welcoming campus, with the 1973 University of Maine prism, the campus yearbook, reflecting the energy and life breathed into the towering brick buildings by the students themselves. In a note in the prism by Trish Riley, who was president of the UMaine student government at the time and remains very involved in the University of Maine system to this day, she characterized her class as a series of movements. The students of this time period were anti-war, hippies, environmentalists, and women's liberationists. They protested outside the house of the president of the university after the massacre at Kent State in 1970 and held fiercely to dreams and aspirations.

The student body also shared a campus with Frederick Allen Spencer, a graduate research student at the University of Maine in the Department of Entomology. As part of the research for this story, we turned to Elon Green's book, Last Call, a true story of love, lust, and murder in queer New York. This meticulously researched and brilliantly written work served as an incredible resource for learning about the men at the center of these cases with a true victim focus, and it provided details and information not available in other reporting. The book has now been adapted into an HBO docuseries called Last Call, when a serial killer stalked queer New York. It's airing now in July and August of 2023. I'll link both Elon Green's book and the series based on that book in the show description of this episode. They're both worth a read and a

watch to learn more about these stories, including the story of born New Englander Frederick Alan Spencer. Frederick was born in Boston, Massachusetts on May 13, 1950. His parents, Dr. Claude Spencer and Louise Weibel Spencer, had met and fallen in love during their undergraduate tenure at the University of Michigan. Both Claude and Louise had studied chemistry during their time at Michigan, and they graduated together in 1942 and then got married just two years later in September of 1944. They both loved the outdoors and the study of science, and they were both dedicated academics. Their dedication to education was such that the Spencers eventually moved to

Boston in order to allow Claude to pursue his PhD in chemistry at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. It was during their time in Boston that the couple welcomed their first child, Frederick. Frederick would be the oldest of three children. Claude and Louise also had his younger siblings, Karen and Richard, and then when Frederick was nine years old, the whole family moved to Norwich, New York for Claude's job. Claude and Louise were devoted parents to their three children, and they worked hard to raise a close-knit family. During his childhood, Frederick Spencer took advantage of the vast areas of untouched nature surrounding his home. He was a Boy Scout, and he spent his free time volunteering and spending time outdoors, having learned from his parents to love science and the wilderness.

The Spencer family spent their summers in vacation land. It was in Maine that Frederick passed the days hiking in the rocky terrain of the state's mountain ranges, including portions of the Appalachian Trail that took him up thousands of feet in elevation and allowed him to experience the smell of pine trees and the joy of lakes and hidden wild blueberry patches that can only be found in summer in Maine. At home in Norwich, Frederick created a community for himself as well.

Throughout high school, he maintained a relationship with a young woman named Jenny Riley. Though the pair grew apart as they each pursued their dreams in separate colleges, she remained close to the family for years. In addition to his strong relationships with his friends and family, Frederick was very academically accomplished. announced that nine Norwich senior high school students have received letters of commendations honoring them for their high performance on the 1967 National Merit Scholarship qualifying test.

One of those students was Frederick A. Spencer. Just a few months later, on February 14, 1968, the same paper announced that Frederick held one of the top five scores in the county of a qualifying test he'd taken in October of 67. This accomplishment meant that Spencer would receive the Regents Scholarship, which made students eligible to receive an annual reward of $250 to $1,000 while attending any college in the state approved by the Board of Regents for this purpose. These announcements showcased the passion and dedication that Frederick displayed for his learning, even as a high school student. These accomplishments became even more apparent when Frederick left New York for his undergraduate studies.

Like his parents, he pursued science at the University of Michigan, graduating exactly 30 years after them in the spring of 1972. While many undergraduate students struggled to decide their path to pursue as graduation day approaches, Frederick did not. As a senior in college, he was recruited as a graduate student to the Department of Entomology at the University of Maine by Professor David E. Leonard. Frederick's interest in entomology, the study of zoology and insects, intersected perfectly with this opportunity. Plus, it offered Frederick the opportunity to return to Maine, the state where he had spent all those summers during his youth and where he had fallen even more deeply in love with science and the outdoors.

By the fall of 1972, Frederick had officially moved to Orono, Maine. He established his new life as a resident of 10 Main Street, a duplex just a mile off campus. Though it wasn't officially a dormitory, this house was frequently rented during the academic year as a home to students at the University of Maine. As a graduate student, Frederick opted to live with two roommates, who were both affiliated with the university as well. Their names were William Mazeroll and Richard Rogers. William would later share with Maine police officers that the three roommates were never close to one another during that year of living together.

He noted that Rogers and Spencer were not even friendly, and often got into small arguments with one another. However, he never witnessed the pair display any outward anger or violence. But after less than nine months in Orono, the life of Frederick Spencer would come to an end at the hands of that very roommate. According to the Press and Sun Bulletin, the same publication that had shared Frederick Spencer's many academic accomplishments just five years before, two bicyclists out for a ride in the neighboring Old Town on April 30, 1973, discovered the body of a man wrapped in a tent-like material. Once the cyclists realized what they had found, they contacted the police immediately. Investigation of the site revealed that the man had been dead for less than two days.

He had sustained significant blunt force trauma to the back of his head and had eight lacerations on his skull, damaging him permanently and nearly ending his life. The act that ultimately caused his death, though, was strangulation with a plastic bag. His body was dumped off a lonely road at the edge of a pine tree forest. Many years later, David E. Leonard, who had been Frederick Spencer's academic advisor, said in the Bangor Daily News, quote, I had the unpleasant task of identifying Fred's body, with his face so battered by his confessed slayer that recognizing him was both nauseous and difficult. End quote. Though investigators were unable to find any forms

of identification with the body, they did find a key. The key was tied to a post office box in Orono belonging to Frederick Spencer, and eventually it led police back to 10 Main Street, 10 miles away from where Frederick's body had been found. When law enforcement knocked on the front door, William Mazerolle answered. He told police that he did not know where either of his roommates were at the moment. He had not seen Frederick in a couple of days,

but their schedules didn't always align, and it wasn't unusual. William welcomed police into the home to look around for evidence as to what may have happened to Frederick. Everything about the duplex appeared normal at first. As police officers made their way through the building, they didn't notice any items overturned or anything out of place. But this all changed when they reached the bedroom of Richard Rogers. When they opened the door to the bedroom,

they found blood everywhere. There were bloody fingerprints and footprints on the door of the room and across the floor and droplets of blood spattered across the walls. There was also a blood-stained hammer sitting right in plain sight in the middle of the room. That hammer was soon identified as the murder weapon. Frederick Spencer didn't have any enemies or anyone who disliked him, as far as his roommate or friends were aware. Because of the

significant amount of evidence in the duplex that Frederick shared with his other roommate, Richard, there was never any suspect other than Richard Rogers. Police met Richard Rogers as soon as he walked through the door of 10 Main Street that night. He was immediately taken to the police station to be interrogated, and investigators drilled him about his whereabouts on Saturday night and his relationship with his roommates. It didn't take long for the truth to out. Richard Rogers confessed to killing Frederick Allen Spencer, and his is the only version of events we have of that night in April of 1973. According to Richard, he returned home

on Saturday, April 28, 1973, and walked to his room. When he opened the door, Rogers claimed that he found Frederick standing near his dresser. Some accounts note that Frederick was looking through the room and rifling through Richard's possessions. Richard stated that Frederick had turned towards him once he opened the door and attacked him with a hammer. In self-defense, he claimed, Richard wrestled the hammer from Frederick and struck him repeatedly in the head, and then suffocated him with a plastic bag. Rumors suggested that there was more to the attack. According to Last Call, some speculated that Spencer might have come on to Rogers. While this argument was never officially utilized in court, the so-called gay panic defense,

the idea that a heterosexual individual is justified in hurting or killing a member of the LGBTQ plus community because they panicked and lost control, it was not uncommon in this time period, and it's still used in some states today, though it is now prohibited in Maine. Richard Rogers was arrested and placed in the jail where he would spend the next six months. His intake was careful and conscientious. Orono police meticulously gathered information from Richard Rogers. They took note of his height and weight, and they were sure to catalog all 10 of his fingerprints,

completing his profile in Penobscot County Criminal Records. Richard Westall Rogers Jr. had led a rather unstable life up to that point. He was born in Plymouth, Massachusetts on June 16, 1950, to a quintessential New England family. His father worked on boats in the Atlantic Ocean as a lobsterman, while his mother worked a customer service job. When Richard was still young, his parents chose to move the family to the southern end of the East Coast, Florida. Those who knew Richard as a young man described him as small and, quote, effeminate, unquote, which was not always accepted while he was in school. Reports share that Richard struggled with bullying throughout high school. Though the exact events are hazy, it seems that

this bullying eventually led to a breakdown where Richard allegedly stabbed a neighbor. After this event, he spent time receiving treatment in a mental hospital. Richard, nevertheless, managed to graduate high school on time in 1968 and matriculated to Florida Southern College. His four years in Lakeland, Florida were quiet. Richard obtained his degree in French and graduated in 1972 without causing so much as a ripple in the college social scene. Though he became more involved after he graduated, even going on to serve on his class committee and helping to plan reunion events, few classmates recall many details about Richard from his time as a student. After completing his undergraduate education, Richard

Rogers returned to New England as an adult to pursue his graduate degree in French at the University of Maine in Orono, beginning in 1972. By May 4th, 1973, the Press and Sun Bulletin in Binghamton, New York had shared that Richard Rogers had been arraigned in Bangor for the murder of Frederick Spencer. Though Rogers pleaded innocent, he would still need to wait six months for his fate to be decided at trial in Bangor Superior Court. Richard Rogers never denied that he murdered Frederick Spencer. However, he was insistent that the killing was done in self-defense. The trial of Richard Rogers, charged with the murder of Frederick Spencer,

began on October 29th, 1973. The trial was overseen by Justice David G. Roberts with the prosecution of Richard Rogers led by the Assistant Attorney General Fawad Saliam and the defense argued by Errol K. Payne. At the beginning of the trial, as Elon Green reports in Last Call, many believed that the case was already decided.

The evidence clearly indicated that Richard Rogers was responsible for the death of Frederick Alan Spencer. But would the jury find the self-defense narrative convincing? As testimonies began on October 31st, 1973, Richard Rogers took the stand to argue in his own defense. He stated that he had entered his room that evening to find Frederick Spencer already standing there by the dresser, holding a hammer. According to Richard, Frederick attacked him with the hammer out of nowhere. The two had had small arguments before, but never enough to prompt this kind of attack. Reacting in self-defense, Richard fought back

and was able to wrestle the hammer away from Frederick, he said. Panicked and unsure what to do, Richard stated that he proceeded to hit Frederick Spencer in the head with the hammer eight times and then placed the plastic bag over his head. On the stand, Richard Rogers stated that he was terrified at that moment and he didn't know what to do. Afraid to call the police, he decided that his best course of action would be to clean up the scene, attempt to get rid of any evidence, and then continue on as though everything was normal. Despite the doubts about the motives behind Richard's actions and the veracity of his statements, the trial took a significant and impactful turn on November 1st, 1973. According to an article by Jim Wright in the November 3rd, 1973 edition of the Press and Sun Bulletin,

that day, Errol K. Payne requested that the murder indictment of Richard Rogers be dismissed. He argued that his client Richard acted in self-defense and there was no malicious intent, meaning that the charge would be in violation of a Maine state law that required malice of the defendant to be proven to constitute murder. Essentially, no malice, no murder. Justice Roberts considered the motion, and in a surprising move, he agreed to drop the murder charges. The trial proceeded, though, with an updated charge of manslaughter. Richard Rogers' defense team and the prosecution continued to fight for their case.

Rather than attempting to argue Richard's intent at the time of the killing, the prosecution focused on the actions that Richard Rogers had taken after the killing. Rather than contact a friend, someone at the university, emergency responders, or literally anyone, Richard Rogers attempted to clean up the crime scene and then he removed Frederick's body. He moved the body of his roommate out of the house and brought it to his car. He drove 10 miles up a secluded straight and abandoned Frederick Spencer by the side of the road in a remote area. Rogers told no one of the incident and managed to conceal any impact it may have had on him. Over the next couple of days, he continued to behave normally and to move through his days as though he thought his actions might not catch up to him. At the trial, Richard Rogers stated, quote, I didn't want to kill him. I just didn't know what

to do. I wanted very much to go to the police, but by then I felt it would look very suspicious, end quote. The prosecution argued that the entire case did, in fact, look suspicious. But in the words of court officials, according to a November 2nd, 1973 article by Jim Wright, quote, it was Rogers' testimony against that of a dead man, end quote. On November 2, 1973, the trial came to a rapid close. Many years later, David Leonard, Frederick Spencer's academic advisor, would comment on the trial in an opinion editorial in the Bangor Daily News. He wrote, quote, After viewing slides of Fred's body at the trial, I left the courtroom to get some fresh air. I returned an hour or so later to find the courtroom empty. During my

absence, the trial ended. End quote. The Bangor jury deliberated for just three hours after closing statements were given by both the prosecution and the defense. When they returned with their verdict, the jury acquitted Richard Westall Rogers Jr. of the murder of Frederick Alan Spencer. According to reporting by Jim Wright, Rogers had, quote, gasped and smiled, saying, I just had no idea of how it

was going to turn out. I mean, I'm not guilty, but I'm really thankful. There are a lot of things I won't take for granted anymore, end quote. With these final words, the legal battle for justice in the death of Frederick Spencer ended. However, the memory of Frederick and the impact of his story did not. The news of the death of Frederick Spencer and the subsequent acquittal of Richard Rogers traveled quickly in both Orono and in Frederick's hometown of Norwich, New York. Days after Frederick's death, his body was returned to his family so he could be properly laid to rest. His memorial service was held at the United Church of Christ First Congregational Church of Norwich, and his burial was held at Mount Hope Cemetery. Claude and Louise held on

to the accomplishments and positive memories of their eldest son. After his death, they sought to establish a fund at the University of Maine to accept donations in memory of him, though it's unclear if this ever came to pass. Though both parents have since died, each of their memorials fondly mentioned Frederick. Many years later, on June 22, 2001, Professor David Leonard, Frederick's graduate advisor, wrote in memory of Frederick in the Bangor Daily News. He remembered that Frederick had been recruited from the University of Michigan based on his outstanding academic record and future promise as a research scientist.

Leonard added that the Spencers were and had every justification to be proud of Frederick's character, academic accomplishments, and acceptance for graduate work at UMO. Speaking with the Bangor Daily News in 2001, Louise Spencer shared that Frederick's death was extremely painful, and quote, it wasn't a happy thing for us that Rogers went free, end quote. Richard Rogers went free, and two decades later, that freedom proved dangerous. Justice David G. Roberts' choice to decrease the charges from first-degree murder to manslaughter, the decision to hear and trust the testimony of a confessed killer, and then the jury's acquittal despite evidence that showed the brutality of the murder and the steps taken to

conceal what had happened. Each of those individual decisions may have felt like the right choice at the time. Richard Rogers certainly felt it was. Professor Leonard noted in 2001 that Richard's comment to the jury following his acquittal was, quote, Thank you very much. I assure you that you did the right thing. End quote. However, evidence uncovered nearly 30 years later cast those decisions in a much different light. In the next episode of Dark Down East, you'll hear the interconnected stories of Peter Stickney Anderson, Thomas Mulcahy, Anthony Edward Marrero, and Michael Sakara. I'll dig into how a multi-state task force and a several years-long investigation finally reached a conclusion with the help of advancements

in fingerprinting technology and a laboratory scientist here at the Maine State Crime Lab, who finally identified the Last Call Killer. Thank you for listening to Dark Down East. This episode was researched and written by Dark Down East contributing writer Natalie Jones, with additional research, writing, and editing by me, Kylie Lowe. Sources cited and referenced for this episode are listed at darkdowneast.com,

including links to Elon Green's book, Last Call. Please follow the show wherever you like to listen, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or whatever app you're on right now. And the best way to support this show is to leave a review and share this episode or any episode with your friends. If you have a personal connection to a case and you want me to cover it on this podcast, please contact me at hello at darkdowneast.com. Thank you for supporting this show and allowing

me to do what I do. I'm honored to use this platform for the families and friends who have lost their loved ones and for those who are still searching for answers in cold missing persons and homicide cases. I'm not about to let those names or their stories get lost with time. I'm Kylie Lowe, and this is Dark Down East.