Timothy Spencer "Southside Strangler"

Tim Spencer (1984-1987) aka "the Southside Slayer" was a 35-year old resident of Richmond, Virginia who viciously raped and strangled 7 people, 6 women and 1 man, the man left hanging from an overpass. Each of the crimes were somewhat different, leading Richmond police to suspect copycat killers, and in 1985, they convicted the wrong man for one of the murders. They learned it was the wrong man via DNA evidence. This was the first case in Virginia legal history to use DNA “fingerprinting” and it both convicted Spencer and exonerated the person wrongfully convicted. Spencer received the death penalty.