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Marcus Spanevelo: Florida man accused of brutally killing his ex-GF Cassie Carli, 37, will not face death penalty

Marcus Spanevelo pled not guilty and the autopsy had listed both Cassie Carli's cause of death and manner of death as 'undetermined'

ST CLAIR COUNTY, ALABAMA: Marcus Spanevelo, the ex-boyfriend of a Florida mom Cassie Carli, 37, who was found buried inside a shallow grave in the city of Springville, will not face the death penalty. Cassie was reported missing in March 2022 and her body was eventually found on April 2, 2022. 

Cassie went missing after she went to meet the suspect, Spanevelo, who is the father of her four-year-old daughter Saylor for a child exchange in the parking lot of a local restaurant. She never returned home after that. In fact, some odd messages were sent from her cell phone.

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What happened to Cassie Carli?

Cassie went missing in March 2022 after she met with her ex-boyfriend Spanevelo. Her remains were found buried inside a shallow grave close to a barn in St Clair County, Alabama, according to Santa Rosa County Sheriff Bob Johnson. Later, Spanevelo was taken into custody in Lebanon, Tennesse, and charged with evidence tampering, giving false information concerning a missing person investigation, and destruction of evidence.

During custody, he admitted that he got into an altercation with his ex-girlfriend. Spanevelo claimed Cassie "jumped out" of the car and "he drove away and left" her before returning to his home in Panama City Beach, Florida. Though he said so, in the text message sent to Cassie's family by Spanevelo, it is stated that she asked him to drop her off "in the middle of nowhere in Destin" and Spanevelo did not mention the "jumping out" incident. 

Cassie's sister Raenne claimed that the 37-year-old was afraid of Spanevelo. She told The Sun, "He was never physical with her or put his hands on her, but he knew she feared him, and I think he used that against her. But he would also be kind to her sometime and try to get her to bring her guard down."

She also added, "She would be on alert because of it. Because there were times when he would erupt and be in certain moods on certain weeks. Cassie would say he was being crazy and would sometimes ask my dad to come to a child swap with her, telling him 'please bring your gun', because he has concealed carry. Cassie was also considering obtaining her own concealed carry permit in the weeks before her tragic death but had cooled any urgency because Spanevelo had grown more amicable in recent weeks, bringing her guard down."

Cassie and Spanevelo also had terrible legal disputes over their daughter's custody. She also said, "During my pregnancy, this man’s abusive control and manipulation escalated. But having battled infertility in my first marriage, I desperately wanted a family. So, I justified his erratic behavior as long as I could."

Cassie had also claimed that Spanevelo had "filed dozens of false police reports" and called child protective services "so many times, I nearly came to know most of the staff by name," as per The Sun. 

Why is Marcus Spanevelo not facing death penalty? 

Though Spanevelo was charged with felony abuse of a corpse and kidnapping resulting in her death, he has pled not guilty and the autopsy had listed both Cassie's cause of death and manner of death as “undetermined." These factors might excuse Spanevelo from getting the death penalty, as per WFLA. 

'Not surprising'

The Internet quickly reacted to the news. A user said, "Not surprising after the coroner with no medical training did a horrific job on #cassicarli autopsy!." "That's too bad," wrote another. "Despicable!!!" claimed a user.

A tweet read, "Faster & easier to go convict. Hopefully he gets life in some hellscape prison. #YeahISaidIt." Another wrote, "Replying to @ChasingPaper89This makes my blood boil.He was the ultimate narcissist,Reading the texts back and forth between him and Cassie was heartbreaking ,She was such a good human even after all his toxic evil ways.All she wanted was the best for her daughter Sailor.Yet again no Justice #CassieCarli."

One user said, "@WFLAJB @CoffindafferFBI this is a direct of a failed autopsy IMHO #cassiecarli #marcusspanevelo #justiceforcassiecarli @BrianEntin." "He gave her the death penalty though," wrote a user. "He doesn't deserve to walk among humans. A total pos! Thank you for sharing this," claimed one user.

This article contains remarks made on the Internet by individual people and organizations. MEAWW cannot confirm them independently and does not support claims or opinions being made online.