HAMILTON — Ronald A. Spence Jr. did cut up his wife's dead body, but he didn't murder her, his lawyer, Chris Pagan, told a Butler County jury Tuesday.

        “We're conceding to the gross abuse of a corpse, and we ask that you find him guilty of that,” Mr. Pagan said.

        But he called the cause of death for Mr. Spence's wife, Shawny, 26, “a mystery.” He said she suffered from many illnesses, had attempted suicide several times, and abused alcohol and prescription drugs.

        However, Assistant Prosecutor Dave Kash said the Butler County Coroner's Office ruled that Mrs. Spence died as a result of “homicidal violence.”

        Decomposition of Mrs. Spence's body prevented investigators from learning exactly how she died, but they said she could have been strangled or beaten, Mr. Kash said. He also said Mr. Spence allegedly told police that he thought he had “accidentally” killed his wife while hitting her.

        A jury of six men and six women began hearing the case Tuesday in the courtroom of Common Pleas Judge Patricia Oney.

        Before Mrs. Spence's body was discovered on April 9, 2001, she had spent about three days in a bedroom closet of her home in the Rochester Hills Mobile Home Park, Lemon Township.

        Police found the body after Mr. Spence's father, Ronald A. Spence Sr. of Cincinnati, called police and told them that his son said he may have unintentionally killed his wife, police reports say.

        Mr. Pagan said the Spences had been drinking heavily and that when Mr. Spence awakened, “Shawny was dead, next to him.” Mr. Spence panicked, made the “unfortunate” decision to cut her up and “freaked out for a couple of days,” Mr. Pagan said.

        If convicted of murder, Mr. Spence, 36, faces a sentence of 15 years to life.

        The gross abuse of a corpse charge is a fifth-degree felony punishable by six to 12 months behind bars and a fine of $2,500.

        E-mail jmorse@enquirer.com

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