Going West: True Crime - Savannah Spurlock // 176

Episode Date: February 19, 2022

In January of 2019, a 22-year-old woman headed out to a bar with a couple friends in Lexington, Kentucky. But after being seen on surveillance footage leaving with 3 men, she disappeared. An extensive search was done to find out what happened to her, and when her remains were eventually found, it was clear who was behind her murder. This is the story of Savannah Spurlock. BONUS EPISODES patreon.com/goingwestpodcast CASE SOURCES https://www.orpfh.com/obituary/savannah-spurlock https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6674525/Son-missing-mom-Savannah-Spurlock-celebrates-birthday.html https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7235657/FBI-human-remains-known-location-missing-mother-four-Savannah-Spurlock.html https://cafemom.com/news/220452-savannah-spurlock-mother-speaks-out-death/303722-for_six_long_and_agonizing_months_ellen_would_continue_to_hope_that_her_daughter_would_be_found_alive_while_also_fearing_the_worst https://www.websleuths.com/forums/threads/ky-savannah-spurlock-22-left-the-other-bar-with-2-men-richmond-4-jan-2019-4.424899/page-36 https://www.newspapers.com/image/665983033/?terms=savannah%20spurlock&match=1 https://www.newspapers.com/image/665983352/?terms=savannah%20spurlock&match=1 https://www.whas11.com/article/news/crime/savannah-spurlock-cause-of-death/417-8d393e44-69f5-4f3b-a40c-6170ae01bd67 https://nypost.com/2019/09/07/man-pleads-not-guilty-to-murdering-kentucky-mom-savannah-spurlock/ https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7405651/David-Sparks-indicted-murder-Kentucky-mom-Savannah-Spurlock.html https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7405651/David-Sparks-indicted-murder-Kentucky-mom-Savannah-Spurlock.html https://cafemom.com/news/220636-david-sparks-neighbor-savannah-spurlock-screams Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What is going on to crime fans? I'm your host, Heath. And I'm your host, Daphne. And you're listening to Going West. Thank you so much everybody for tuning in today. I just want to give a big shout out to Pamela for recommending this case to us. We really appreciate you bringing this case to our eyes so that we can bring it to all of your ears. And for anyone else who ever has a case suggestion, just send it over to going westpodcast at gmail.com. Yes, we try to get through all of those submissions, the best that we can, but there are a lot of them, but we do get through them at some point.

Yeah, we have hundreds of cases, so just know if you do suggest one, and you're not hearing it, it's because we have so many, so yeah. But thank you so much to Pamela, and thank you guys for tuning in. We have a pretty exciting announcement, Heath, do you wanna?

Yeah, yeah, so we're actually gonna, do you wanna? Yeah, yeah. So we're actually gonna be at CrimeCon this year. Finally, we've been trying to make it to CrimeCon for a couple of years now, but finally we're gonna be in Vegas this year. So if you're attending CrimeCon, or you want to attend CrimeCon, use code going west to get 10% off of your badge.

Yes, and that's for standard badges only, but CrimeCon is super fun for those who don't know anything about it. You should go to CrimeCon.com and just read about it. We're going to be on podcast row with a bunch of other amazing true crime podcasts. That means that you guys can come up to our table. Meet us, give us a hug, talk to us, take a picture.

I don't know, whatever people do. So yeah, it'll be super fun. and then there's going to be panels and just it's basically if you love True Crime, which we're pretty sure you do, it's just a bunch of cool True Crime stuff. So I think you guys are going to love it. It's in Vegas, April 29th to May 1st, 2022. Yeah, so go check it out. All right, guys, without further ado, this is episode 176 of Going West, so let's get into it. In January of 2019, a 22-year-old woman headed out to a bar with a couple friends in Lexington, Kentucky. But after being seen on surveillance footage leaving with three men, she disappeared.

An extensive search was done to find out what happened to her, and when her remains were eventually found, it was clear who was behind her murder. This is the story of Savannah's burlock. Savannah Marie Spurlock was born on February 5, 1996 in Richmond, Kentucky to parents Ellen and Cecil Spurlock. She also had one sibling, a sister named Stephanie, who was 10 years younger than her. Growing up in the city of Richmond, which is just about 30 miles southeast of the much larger city of Lexington, Kentucky, Savannah attended Madison Central High School. Savannah kept jobs between working in restaurants to being a lifeguard, and she was known to be incredibly bright and a dancer and just an absolutely wonderful person. In February of 2015, so around eight months after graduating

from Madison Central High School, Savannah gave birth to her first child, a son named Noah Blue. But while balancing a newborn and with the help of her parents, she attended Eastern Kentucky University, right there in Richmond, to study health administration.

And then, nearly two years later in December of 2016, she gave birth to her second son, Jason Cruz. And Noah and Jason have different fathers, by the way. Jason's dad being a man named Shaquille Smith, who was Savannah's boyfriend, and her first born Noah, his father was absent. Savannah moved into her mom, Ellen's house in Richmond,

who had divorced her father Cecil by this point. Is it Cecil or Cecil? I always get that one confused. I say Cecil, I don't know. It's just like Cecil's hotel or the Cecil. I actually now that I think about it, I really don't know, but anyway, I get it right.

Anyway, so Savannah's mother had been divorced at this point, and Savannah continued to date her boyfriend, Shaquille, until March of 2018, when their son, Jason, was just over one year old. But at this time, Savannah had just gotten pregnant. So nine months later, in December of 2018, Savannah gave birth to two twin boys, Zane Legend, and Zuri Justice. So now she has four beautiful sons, but she was known to be going through a bit of a rough spot. Now that she was a single mom, although Shaqil was known to help with the boys, she found it increasingly hard

to secure and keep a job while raising them. And although Savannah's father Cecil, or Cecil, stated that she was a super outgoing and kindhearted person. He also admitted that he was disappointed in her around this time. Although she had an almost four-year-old and two-year-old, and now two newborns, she was still a young woman at the age of 22, so she wanted to be able to go out with friends and just kind of enjoy her youth. But her father didn't approve of this at all, because he didn't think that she should be thinking about going out to the bars at all, but instead, at home with

her four sons and taking care of them. So this caused a lot of tension between the two of them in the months leading up to January of 2019, when this story takes place. As of about a month prior when Savannah gave birth, her eldest son Noah had been in the care of her dad to help out, while Savannah's then ex-boyfriend helped with the three other boys. Savannah's parents helped her a lot during these days, especially since she had stopped going to school due to being a mom of many, so supporting the boys was getting a bit tough.

And Savannah's best friend Sabrina also helped with the kids and she was even their godmother, so Savannah definitely had a lot of people in her corner. Savannah's best friend Sabrina also helped with the kids and she was even their godmother, so Savannah definitely had a lot of people in her corner. But despite their help, Savannah had told her grandmother in early 2019 that she was having a rough time with life and that she really just wanted to get a new job so she could get her own apartment for she and her four sons. On Friday, January 4, 2019, Savannah got ready to go out with one of her girlfriend's and another male friend.

Her mom Ellen explained later, quote, �I thought she needed a little break. She hadn't done anything for months and she just had the twins. So at around 9pm, Savannah borrowed her mom's car and headed up to Lexington, which again is pretty close by. It's just around a 30-minute drive. With her girlfriend, they drove together in Savannah's mom's car,

and they met up with a male friend. Now at this guy's house, Savannah left her mother's car so that she could go into his car, and with that, the three of them headed off in the male friend's car to a bar called the other bar. So when we talk about the other bar in this episode,

it's because that's literally what it's called. We're just, we don't want you to get confused. Yeah, there's only one bar in question here. They went to one bar that night and is called the other bar. And it's located in the historic South Hills area, pretty much right smack dab in the center of Lexington. Next to another bar called Paddock, Atonco Place, and a liquor store, and then right across the street from

the UK Good Samaritan Hospital. At about 10.30 pm, the three of them arrived at the other bar, which has since permanently closed. Savannah had two purses with her this night. One that was a bit larger that contained the keys to her mom's car and other personal belongings, and this purse was kept in her male friend's car outside the bar. And the other was a small cross-body bag that she brought with her inside the bar that contained her immediate personal items, which we can guess is probably like her wallet,

ID, phone, etc. The three of them mingled with some new people at the bar, and eventually, the male friend left because he had to wake up early the next morning. But Savannah and her girlfriend stayed out for a little bit longer and ended up meeting three young men there. They continued to hang out and enjoy themselves, and according to this friend, they all seemed like nice guys. But at some point in the evening before the bar closed, Savannah and her girlfriend actually got into an argument in that friend left,

whereas Savannah ended up staying. So at this point, Savannah, who was just weeks away from her 23rd birthday, was technically by herself, but she was also kind of hanging out with this three guys, or these three guys that they had just met. And for reference, most bars in Kentucky closed at around 2 a.m. but back in 2019 I know that Louisville, which you know bars in Louisville stayed open until 4 but

Louisville is about an hour away from Lexington so not relevant here, but I did read conflicting reports regarding the closing time in Lexington back in 2019 because some said that last call was at 2.30, some said it was at 2. But either way, at about 2.30am, on January 5th, 2019, Savannah is seen on surveillance video leaving the bar called the other bar with three men. And we did post photos on our socials of the footage in the parking lot where she's walking alongside them with her arms folded close to her as if she's cold.

That was seen a lot another time she was arm and arm with one of the guys and she was wearing a black top with a large scoop neck, a tight red knee high pencil skirt and very high black heels. So we have to remember here, it's cold outside. She's wearing this, you know, kind of small dress that you would assume, you would assume she would be kind of freezing at this point because it's January, you know. Exactly, and you guys will be able to see that, you know, that motion that you do when you're cold,

you kind of like hug yourself. So she was doing that and walking with these men. So about 30 minutes later, at about 3 a.m., Savannah's mom Ellen tried to FaceTime her to see where she was and ask why she wasn't home yet. Savannah answered while she was on her way to Gared County outside of Richmond with these guys. So they did FaceTime while Savannah was in the car. And to Ellen it looked like she was sitting in the front seat, well at least one man sat in the back seat, who was talking possibly to the driver.

But she also didn't seem to be distressed or upset at all. She seemed completely normal but definitely intoxicated. Ellen wasn't too happy about this whole situation because Savannah hadn't planned on being out the entire night, so Ellen pressed Savannah, asking where she was and why she wasn't home. But with these comments and questions, Savannah hung up on her because she didn't seem to like her mom's tone, and this is according to Ellen. But probably feeling bad, Savannah facetimed her mom right back and said, Everything is fine, I'm just having fun with my friends.

I promise I'll be home later this morning. And her mom took her word for it because she always knew Savannah to be responsible and reliable. So Ellen went back to sleep and woke up the next morning to see that Savannah wasn't home. At around 8 a.m., Ellen tried calling her cell phone, but at this point it was going straight to voicemail, meaning it was either dead, off, or out of service. And knowing that Savannah was responsible and that she had one month old twins and two other sons, Ellen was extremely concerned about why Savannah hadn't returned home and why she wasn't answering her phone. And like many of us, Savannah was the type of 22-year-old

that always had her phone on her and her mom said that she was actually anal about always having it charged and on hand. So that's a quote from her mom, by the way, quote anal. That is what she said, which kind of goes to show you. She always had her phone on her again, like many of us. But since it was Saturday, her mom just hoped that she was with a friend or sleeping in and that she would be back later.

And just think about this. I mean, she's had a long night out. I mean, they facetimed in the wee hours of the night. Yeah. Or the morning, I guess you would say. Right. But yeah, so she's probably, her mom's probably like, oh, she's hungover, she's just sleeping in,

she'll get back to me later. Yeah, and I mean, she is worried because of course, again, she has kids, she also Savannah had her car. So if her mom needed to go somewhere that day, she doesn't have a car. So she is definitely like, okay, where the hell is my daughter? But she's not super worried yet. But the day progressed and Savannah never came home or answered her phone.

So her mom reported her missing that night, which was Saturday, January 5th, 2019, so by that night, it was clear to her mom that something just was not right here. And within the next day, police got involved in the search for Savannah because she's 22 years old and there's no real proof that anything happened to her. So it did take many hours for police to get involved. But still, they did jump on it quite quickly. And one of their first tasks was putting the timeline together. So these spoke with Savannah's girlfriend regarding the night that she went missing,

so a couple days earlier, and, you know, about them heading to the other bar, and police went there to look for any surveillance footage. And as we mentioned, she was on it. And while they were trying to track down the men from the video, they also were searching for her mom's car to confirm that she was indeed missing and hadn't driven off somewhere. And as we mentioned before, she had left the car at her male friend's house that night, the night she went missing, and it was still there. So this proved that she hadn't made it back to her mom's car to drive off anywhere.

So this was definitely a concerning discovery. In the surveillance footage which is actually pretty decent quality, you can see Savannah with these men, and she got into a vehicle with two of them while the third man got into a black Chevy pickup truck. Which I mean, by the way, too, it's pretty alarming. Like, this is a 22 year old woman. She's drunk. She's by herself with just men. Yeah, just met these guys. Like, that met these guys like that is it's pretty scary And of course, I'm sure her guard was a little bit down since she'd been drinking and I think a lot of us have nights

Where we've done things are gone off with somebody we're like we think about it later Wow, that probably wasn't the smartest thing, but you know Like her friend said these guys seemed like nice guys. So Savannah didn't think anything was gonna happen to her Right, but if you're a parent and you're watching that security footage, you're like, oh my god, my daughter just went off with these three random guys. And like I said, you know, she was arm and arm with one of them at one point. You know, maybe she was drunk and she was kind of trying to hold on to him or maybe he was flirting with her. Right. Like it's definitely, it's very creepy

to look at the footage knowing what we know now and what you guys will know by the end of the episode. Alarming to say the least. Absolutely. So on Tuesday, January 8th, 2019, so about four days into Savannah's disappearance, Richmond Police put out a post about Savannah and asked the public to help them track down

the three men from the video, but nothing was immediately uncovered. But please work to track them down over the next week. Meanwhile, sadly, some people seem to be taking the opportunity of Savannah's disappearance for their own personal gain, messaging the family asking for ransom money. This is so sad. So, one message read, send us eight Bitcoin to below address. Now be smart or never see her again. You have 12 hours. And I'll, you know what I'm going to say? Fuck these people. Oh my God. I can't, the people that do this. I mean, are you

kidding? So for reference at this time in January of 2018, I mean, the value of Bitcoin changes daily. Oh, sorry, 2019. mean, the value of Bitcoin changes daily. Oh, sorry, 2009, sorry. The value of Bitcoin changes daily, but one Bitcoin on that date was essentially worth around $4,000. So this person was essentially asking for $30,000 at that point, but in crypto. And then did I get that right in crypto? Yes. Okay, I'm still so confused about did I get that right in crypto? Yes.

Okay, I'm still so confused about the coin. I'm trying my best, okay. So then there were other people asking for Amazon gift cards to feed Savannah, who they claimed they were starving. So they're like, I'm starving your daughter, send me some Amazon gift cards and you want me to feed her like, what is it? What these people, I just...

I don't know. And I can't believe they got multiple some Amazon gift cards and you want me to feed her, like what is it? What these people, I just, and I can't believe they got multiple asking for different items, like what the F, so yeah. This is obviously a very difficult time for her family, not only dealing with having a missing daughter and sister and a friend and niece, et cetera, but also caring for her children and on top of it getting cruel messages like these.

So I know Heath you just said that on Tuesday, January 8, 2019, the police released the surveillance footage and they asked the public but nothing was immediately uncovered. So I did read in a different source that on that day, police actually were able to find the identities of two of the three men during a traffic stop. Interesting. So I can't be super clear on that and I gotta say a lot of the information in this case surprisingly is unclear, but this is what I read and I think this seems just with the information we're gonna discuss, this seems the most likely, because police knew from the surveillance footage to look for a black Chevy pickup truck.

And actually we posted this on socials too. There is a video of this truck leaving the parking lot of the other bar so they know what it looked like. So during a traffic stop in Garrett County, they did find this truck and they were able to identify this guy. And when the question this young man whose name is David Sparks, he told police that he hadn't seen Savannah since she left his house the next morning, so on January 5th. Right, and he told them that after they arrived to the house, he left Savannah to sleep in his bed while he took the couch. And early that morning she woke him up and asked where she was, and then he gave her his address.

Then he went back to sleep, and when he woke up, she was gone, and this is according to David. And David even suggested that Savannah may have walked home, but again, it being the early days of winter, temperatures got to about 50 degrees Fahrenheit at its hottest on January 5th, but in the morning it was around 30-40 degrees. So as we stated, she was in just a pencil skirt, a short sleeve low neck top, and very high heels. So between the heels, it being quite brisk outside, and Savannah being about 30 minutes away from her home by car, it would be highly unlikely

that she would have walked home. Especially since his house was in a very rural area. However, since there was no evidence at this point that indicated something had happened to her, investigators put a pin in David and tried to locate the other friend. As they tried to find him, various searches took place for Savannah on foot, on water, you name it. Knowing her last location was in Garrett County, rescue teams headed out there with canines and searched the rural land trying to find any trace of her or any clues that would lead them to answers. Then, within a week on Monday, January 28, 2019, the third man was located in question, but he

was also released. The Richmond Police Department stated, quote, �No one has been charged with any criminal offense at this time. We're continuing our search for Savannah and appreciate everything the public and the media have done to assist in our efforts. There are many people, organizations, and volunteers that have assisted us over the past few weeks, and for that, we are thankful.

Finding Savannah continues to be a top priority. And of course, it seemed very strange to think that none of those three men, if not all of them, had something to do with Savannah's disappearance considering they were strangers, and also the last people to see her. But they didn't seem to have any clear answer as to where she was, and this deeply upset her family.

Her mother Ellen stated, quote, �I think the guy she was with no more than they are saying. Their story doesn't make sense. She left with no money, no car, no coat, no phone in a different county than where she lives. It's not like her. A few days later, on Sunday, January 27, 2019, to over three weeks after Savannah was last seen, the Cajun Coast Search and Rescue Team announced that they would be helping in the search, bringing along their specialized Canine unit as well. And a month into a disappearance in early February,

right as Savannah's 23rd birthday arrived, the Richmond Police Department received the help of Texas Equal Search. Which we've talked about various times. And every time we talk about them, we say which we have talked about, but they're awesome. Yeah, they do a lot.

And they brought in a bunch of equipment. Like they had ATVs, horseback, they had drones and remote controlled sonar units. So with this alongside a bunch of volunteers, there was a lot of people searching for Savannah. I mean, they scoured cornfields, bridges, bodies of water, burn piles, and more. But sadly, there was just no sign of Savannah's children, and particularly

her eldest son Noah, who was four, and seemingly sensed her absence the most. And Savannah's parents found it exceedingly difficult to hold it together around them, but they also felt like the kids helped them through this hard time. And for those wondering, Savannah's ex-boyfriend Shaquille was caring for their three kids a lot at this time as well, and he was very worried about her disappearance. And he agreed with Ellen and much of the family that the three men that she was with either had something to do with this, or knew what happened to her. As the months continued to roll on, more searches took place and investigators followed up on

countless tips just hoping for a break. But sadly, that wouldn't come until just over six months after she went missing. In July of 2019, when her body was discovered. Around 5pm on July 10, 2019, police were reporting to a home in Lancaster, Kentucky, to investigate a foul odor emanating from the back of their property. That's never a good sign. No, not at all. And just before midnight, they found a young woman's body, naked, bound with duct tape,

and inside several trash bags and a rug in a very, very shallow grave just 19 inches deep. So this was like a little concave, like a little very small little hole. So this was this was really not a grave at all. She had not been dismembered, but she was quote folded in half or quote folded or sorry, doubled down. So I read both of those terms to kind of give you a visual. Now, alongside the remains, we're various items to 22-year-old Savannah Spurlock. And guess what?

David Sparks' dad was the one to call the police regarding the smell because this was on his property. And remember, David Sparks was one of the three men who was with Savannah on the night she disappeared, and he was the one to say that she had slept in his bed and left sometime while he was sleeping. Alan Sparks, who is David's father, had been digging in a strawberry patch on the family's farm when he uncovered the odor and he called police. The following day, an autopsy was conducted and the remains were positively identified to be those of Savannah

spur-lock. But unfortunately, her cause of death was unable to be determined due to the amount of time that had passed since she had been murdered, though about six months. So if this means that if David was somehow responsible, right, then he didn't tell his father, because his father was like, I'm going gonna call police because I smell this foul odor Yeah, I mean that is a good point and I one can only assume that he did not tell his parents even though he was living there But yeah, I mean also I had read in one report that the dad said possible human remains

So I do think if he had known that and he was trying to cover for his son He wouldn't have called the police so absolutely agree right and as we know police searched David's parents property back in the end of January But Savannah's remains weren't found then which is pretty bizarre So it's possible that they didn't search the extent of the property But instead focused on the house itself, but police didn't comment on this After Savannah's body was found it was clear that that 23-year-old David Sparks was behind her murder, and he was arrested, though he maintained his innocence. And since we kinda sprung David's guilt on you guys, let's go back and discuss various

incriminating factors that point to David even more. So first of all, we don't know much about this guy, but we do know that he grew up in the small rural city of Lancaster Kentucky and was raised by his mother Alta and his father Alan, who was a pastor at the Lancaster Full Gospel Outreach Church. He also had two sisters, Sarah, who was 20 years old, and Hannah, who was 22 years old. All four who were described as, quote, nice people. Can't say the same for David, but apparently everybody else was nice. Right, so regarding Savannah being wrapped in a rug.

On the morning of January 5th, 2019, so the early morning that Savannah has believed to have been murdered, David texted his sister Sarah asking her where she had bought a rug in the house so that he could buy another one. Then later that day, David was seen on surveillance footage at the Walmart Enrichment, purchasing that same rug, which was a gray rectangular area rug. Now what does this tell us? I mean, this is never good sign.

Also, as we know, Savannah was wrapped in a rug. Now what does this tell us? I mean, this isn't never good. And also as we know Savannah was wrapped in a rug. So yeah, he essentially wrapped her in a rug and then tried to replace the rug that was in. I'm assuming his bedroom. Yeah. And maybe his sister had bought it for him. I heard purchased it for him, but pretty crazy. And then he's seen on surveillance footage buying the same rug like big moment. Yeah. So, neighbors came forward regarding some very alarming information that they had about Savannah's disappearance. And these are David's neighbors.

So one stated that on the late night of her disappearance, which was, you know, January 4th, slash January 5th. Yeah, heading into January 5th. Exactly. This neighbor heard into January 5th. Exactly. This neighbor heard screams in the night. She said she originally thought it was the kid's next door, but then she knew it wasn't. She added, quote,

I tried to wake my husband, but he was mostly too drunk. I got up and listened, and I know they were coming from that house. Very, very eerie. And that house that she is referring to is David's. She said, quote, they didn't start looking for her for a while after, but when the police came around, I just knew. I knew what I had heard.

I know something bad happened in there. She never came out of their life. I told the police that when they came searching. So the house that she is referring to is actually David's house. So this is David's house, not his parents house, but his rental house in the area. So wait, so does his his parents own this house that David is living in? Is that what I'm getting? No, so, so we're gonna we're talking about two different houses. I know it kinda gets confusing and we're gonna go into it more,

but David had a rental house. You know, he's 23 years old. He has his own little house in this area, in Lancaster, but he, the remains were found at his parents' house. So a different property. Yeah. But the screams were coming from David's rental house,

so his house. And police had indeed searched his parent house as we discussed, but five days after Savannah's murder on January 10, so a couple weeks before the parent's house was searched, his rental house was searched, though not publicized. But before the police arrived, neighbors noted that David was in and out of the house,

taking furniture, rugs, and other things out and away. And with that, David moved into his parents' house. Then, the police returned to David's rental house in April, so two months before Savannah's body was found, and they sealed up the windows and did further forensic testing. So five days after Savannah went missing, he moved out of that house randomly. And if police had gone in there in April, we can maybe assume that he was still renting

the house. He just, for some reason, wasn't living there, which is kind of suspicious that he had moved out of there. Yeah, I mean, it seems pretty sudden to me. It very sudden, yeah, and like, why would you do that? So very interesting, but Heath, why don't you go into what was found at David's house? Right. So there's some very incriminating evidence that was uncovered. Investigators noted that the house looked like it had recently been clean,

and that many walls looked as though the bottom half had been wiped down. Upon using Lumenol, investigators noted the appearance of blood spatter inside David's bedroom closet, and they took some of it for testing, which later came back positive for Savannah's blood. And although we can't be sure when this positive match was made, we can assume that it was after her body was found. Since this could have given probable cause that David had murdered her, if it had been confirmed earlier. But this was found in April, not back in January when his house was originally searched. Though we can't be sure that police actually entered his house back in January, and that information, you know, at this point is very unclear. Right. But we do know that this blood spatter was found in its closet, which is really terrifying

to think about what could have happened in its closet. And like, I wish we knew what it looked like. If it's a small closet, a large one, either way, very eerie. Yeah, but it appeared that she was murdered inside that house. Right. So it seems that David had killed Savannah inside his rental home after she had gone there that night, because they did go back to his house that night, his rental house. Remember, not the parents house. And then within a few days, he packed up various things, including Savannah's body, and moved to his parents house, where he slightly buried her body out on the property.

And more from David's neighbors, really if you're neighbors, think that like, what are you doing to your neighbors? Yeah, flying off the handle on your neighbors, you're fucking crazy person. Yeah, very bizarre. And a big issue in this case is that David, his cousin and his family, we're really just saying a lot of bad stuff about Savannah on the internet before David's arrest

and trying to prove that Savannah skipped town. You know, that she had run off with some guy because she was sick of being a mom, but was probably, quote, working on baby number five. Wow, that is fucked up. Yeah, and most of these comments came from the cousin Jason, who just seems like a total dick, but it seemed like the whole family was trying to back David up and say, oh, no, that girl, 22 with four kids, she probably just left on her own. Yeah.

Because she's a bad mom. Like that's the kind of stuff they were saying. And obviously this was really upsetting to her family, but they were really trying to point blame elsewhere. Yeah. And not on David, who is not a good look, the killer. Exactly. Yeah, not a good look. So you may be wondering if the two other men were involved in

Savannah's murder, but here's a little bit more information about what they said during their questionings. So both men stated that the four of them headed back to David's house in Lancaster after meeting at the other bar in Lexington, which again is about an hour away. Which is pretty far to... Yeah, that's a drop. Yeah, let's go back to my house. I'm an hour away. Yeah, that's, yeah, it seems pretty far. So they all drank at his house together and hung out.

And at this time, Savannah had apparently been in and out of consciousness due to her level of intoxication. And furthermore, the two men stated that David inappropriately touched her. We couldn't find these men's names, but one of them had allegedly asked the other, as they were leaving David's house, if they should have left Savannah there, but they didn't think that David would hurt her so they carried on and left the house. One of them also told investigators that after they learned of Savannah's disappearance, they told David, quote,

I told him, like, at the end of the day, bro, we left her at your house, bro. So whatever the fuck happened after that, you need to go ahead and man the fuck up and say what needs to be said. But I will add, I mean, these guys are horrible as well, because there's some information going around that they took videos of Savannah being so drunk that she could hardly speak clearly like at David's house, and one video allegedly showed Savannah performing some kind of sexual act, or something sexual being done to her, and these guys showed it around at work, so these are those guys. And then knowing how drunk she was, they left her there with David.

So they can say all they want that they thought about taking her home and they wondered if she would be okay. But not only did they leave her, but they mocked her. Yeah, exactly. So now let's talk a little bit about what they found at David's parents' home. As we said earlier, they did take a vehicle off the property, but they also uncovered a very bizarre note on David's bedside table.

And again, I very conflicting reports, I don't know if this was on his table at the parent's house or at his rental house, but I'm assuming if he had moved all of his stuff out of his personal house, he wouldn't have left this note there. Right, yeah. I feel like this was at the parent's house.

And be prepared, people, because this is dark. Yes. So this is what the note said. I simply don't care at all. I feel no true love for anything. Now that I know what I really am, I see a greater need to hide my true self, but I just want to be free.

I stay in a constant state of aggression. Nothing seems to help anymore. I have a abyss for a soul that sucks every attempt to make myself whole. I want my family to understand, maybe just to excuse my actions over the years, but how do you look into your mother's eyes and tell her you were born a psychopath? That she gave birth to a monster. Someone who wouldn't care a bit to squeeze the last breath out of another human, or plunge a knife into their chest and smile about it. My mother, the only person in the world that I never want to disappoint, get I see it

on her face every day. What do I do? Huff. This David wrote this note, this was on his bedside, this is insane. Like what a discovery. And I know this letter isn't enough to arrest someone for a murder since he didn't say I killed Savannah. But the fact that this letter was in police custody for months before David was arrested is incredibly unsettling. Yeah, to say the least. But you know, you go into why, I guess.

So when David was asked about this at the time, he and his attorney explained that David previously suffered from anger issues and depression and that the letter had nothing to do with Savannah's case. I don't understand that at all. Like, oh yeah, I suffer from depression and anger. So I'm gonna write a note about how I'm a psycho and smile at plunging people in the chest with a knife.

Yeah, that to me is like, okay, I don't see how it's not connected, right? Exactly. Also, David told this to a friend on Snapchat after Savannah's murder, quote, yeah, they was at first by, this is hard to read this shit okay yeah it's real hard this is his white boy language yeah so yeah they was at first but they got sort of cleared I was admittedly the last person to see her so yeah they

been on my ass I'm talking my phone is tapped my car is tapped they've been following me everywhere talk to girls I used to talk my phone is tapped, my car is tapped, they've been following me everywhere, talk to girls I used to talk to, they try to get my buddy from work to wear a wire around me and get me to start talking about the situation. Shit's been crazy. They profiled me as a psychopath. The news is the story of the century, quote, two black men and a white psychopath behind the disappearance of a sweet young innocent

mother of four, and they're sticking to it. So of course, the discovery of Savannah's remains was incredibly hard on her family after months of agony wondering what happened to her. Her best friend Sabrina had this to say about her, quote, she was worthy, she was funny and kind, she is a mother, she's a human being, she is my person. After David's arrest and as he sat in jail at the Lincoln County Detention Center, a guard found some disturbing drawings in his cell. Various women, including one who is naked and one who is bound.

And I don't know if you mentioned this earlier, I think I forgot to add it, that she was bound. No, no, yeah, we did mention that. Oh, we did, okay. I can't remember. So, yeah, very, yeah. He entered a not guilty plea originally on September 6, 2019, so a few months after his arrest or a couple months after his arrest, but eventually pleaded guilty to the murder of 22-year-old Savannah Spurlock,

the abuse of a corpse, and tampering with physical evidence. And this was just to avoid a life sentencing. And this being, you know, during the... The throws, yeah, the throws of the pandemic. So during a court hearing over a Zoom call, while David was at the Lincoln County Jail, on December 17th, 2020, after then 25-year-old David Sparks admitted to murdering Savannah, but with no other details, he was sentenced

to 50 years in prison. And because of this guilty plea and the deal he made, he avoided trial and also avoided seeing Savannah's family and loved ones in person, which they were pretty disappointed about. Because I'm sure they didn't want to see him, but I think they wanted him to see them. Right. And they probably wanted to make a statement to this piece of shit. Right. So the court document states that David acted alone in the quote, intentionally caused killing of Savannah. He will be eligible for parole after 20 years, but Savannah's family plans to fight to ensure that he will never be released. So unfortunately, David never publicly or privately expressed what he did to Savannah and why,

and since her cause of death was unclear, her family may never know what she really endured that fateful night. Savannah's ex-boyfriend and the father of three of her children, Shaquille Smith, stated quote, served. Thank you so much everybody for listening to this episode of Going West. Yes, thank you guys so much for listening to this devastating episode, and on Tuesday we'll have an all new case for you guys to dive into. I say this every time that a case is closed, but not really closed, but the fact that he wrote that letter, like essentially

admitting to himself that he doesn't care if he murders somebody, he does it with a smile on his face, he has no emotions towards it. And then to find those drawings in his jail cell is like, ah. Yeah, it's like you obviously did it, you obviously don't care. So why aren't you just admitting it? And it seems to me like maybe this had something to do with not letting down his mother even further because he clearly cared about what she thought of him and doing bad things around here, but you're-

Yeah, it sounds like he had mommy issues. Yeah, but you're in prison. You're gonna be in prison for 50 years. And maybe, I don't know, because I was thinking maybe he doesn't wanna confess what he did so that he doesn't stay in prison longer, but it's also like you already pled guilty and admitted to killing her. So giving the details, I don't think would really affect anything else negatively for his

sentencing or, you know, affect his parole necessarily. Right. And, you know, he's going to be in jail for 50 years. So until he's 75? in jail for 50 years. So until he's 75? Exactly, so yeah, so I don't know. I mean to me, he's probably just withholding the details to protect himself in some way, but I don't know if it's to protect him

from getting more time in prison. Right, it's just sad because he does have the possibility of getting out. And I know her family is like, we're gonna do whatever we can to make sure he stays behind bars, but people live past 75 all the time. So he can easily, you know, continue on with his sentencing, live to 75 and then get out and then he's a free 75 year old.

I mean, I don't really know that he would murder somebody after that, but it's the principal. Like, he's a horrible dude. Yeah, 100% agreed. But anyways, thank you guys so much for listening to this episode. We love you all. Remember, if you want to come to CrimeCon and see Heathen Eye in person, it was a big o' hug, talk to us, whatever the hell, and see a bunch of other cool podcasters and just

have fun. Head on over to CrimeCon.com, use code GoingWest, no spaces for 10% off your standard badge. Alright guys, so for everybody out there in the world, don't be a stranger. you