46-year-old woman obliterated her ex-boyfriend’s face with a kitchen utensil before cutting his throat with a box cutter and then kept his body for years in a hidden storage compartment; convicted
California – In a horrific case in California, a 46‑year‑old woman, identified as T. Spicer, has been found guilty of murdering her 42-year-old ex‑boyfriend, identified as E. Mercado, and hiding his body in a homemade grave on her property. A jury convicted Spicer on one count of second‑degree murder, along with a sentencing enhancement for using a deadly weapon, in the 2022 discovery of Mercado’s remains.
Prosecutors charged Spicer with second‑degree murder after evidence tied her to Mercado’s death. Although she testified she was acting in self‑defense, the case presented a much different picture: that of a brutal assault. According to court records, investigators concluded that Spicer struck Mercado in the head with a kitchen utensil and slashed his throat with a box cutter before concealing his body beneath her residence.
Her boyfriend in 2022, W. Gentry, testified that Spicer asked him to help her “get rid of” the man after learning her family planned to sell the home. Gentry told the jury Spicer said Mercado was “buried under the stairs.” When law‑enforcement executed a search warrant, they found a makeshift tomb in the home: a hidden compartment approximately eight feet wide, six feet tall, and three feet deep, containing Mercado’s body wrapped in a sliced air mattress. Investigators at the time stated his face was obliterated.
The chain of events began when the authorities received a tip on August 23, 2022 that human remains might be buried in Spicer’s backyard. Acting on the tip, they secured a search warrant for the property once the tip was corroborated. Inside the compartment beneath the home’s stairs, they located evidence of the horrible crime. According to a press release, “During the service of the search warrant, investigators observed what appeared to be a makeshift tomb on the property. Investigators entered the makeshift tomb and located human remains inside.”
The victim’s disappearance had been traced back to 2014, when his family reported him missing. For eight years, the case had sat dormant until this breakthrough. At trial, Spicer claimed Mercado had abused her starting in 2014 and that she acted in fear. She recounted a later incident in which she grabbed a kitchen utensil and struck him before cutting his throat. But prosecutors argued that her narrative was a concoction to hide a premeditated murder. Gentry testified he first sensed something was wrong when Spicer told him she would be moving to Illinois—but first, there was “one thing we need to take care of.” He told investigators he didn’t understand at the time what she meant but later notified his mother, who urged him to contact authorities.
During the trial, the jury found Spicer guilty. She is now slated for sentencing on January 20, 2026, where she faces 16 years to life in a state correctional facility. As part of her plea, she will be ineligible to appeal. Her conviction marks the winding up of a long‑dormant missing‑person case and the tragic unravelling of a man’s life hidden beneath a suburban yard. Mercado’s family, who waited years for answers, will finally have a measure of closure. And as that happens, Spicer’s sentence will stand as a warning: a domestic space can become a grave site, and the harm hidden beneath its stairs can reverberate for years.
