A Hallandale Beach man accused of killing his live-in girlfriend with a spear in 2019 was found guilty of second-degree murder by a Broward jury.
Adam Crespo, 49, faces a maximum punishment of life in prison when he is sentenced Oct. 31 for the murder of Silvia Galva, with whom he had a long-term relationship. Although they never married, Galva had legally changed her name to Crespo prior to her death.
Crespo’s trial began two weeks ago and featured an unusual courtroom series of visual demonstrations. Prosecutors assembled the couple’s bed in the middle of the courtroom and attempted to reenact the death of Galva as described by Crespo in his statements to police.
Defense lawyers objected to the demonstrations. It’s not known how much influence they had on the jury, which took less than two hours to reach its decision Monday.
Early in the investigation, prosecutors subpoenaed Amazon for any recordings that might have been made on the couple’s Echo device, commonly referred to as “Alexa,” the word used to activate the device. The Amazon Echo is typically used to play music and answer questions about news and weather, but law enforcement across the country occasionally attempts to determine whether the device inadvertently recorded evidence of a crime.
In Crespo’s case, the device recorded nothing of use to prosecutors or defense lawyers.
Rafael Olmeda can be reached at rolmeda@sunsentinel.com or 954-356-4457. Follow him on Threads.net/@rafael.olmeda.
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