Reed sentenced to 10 years for arson

The first of four people charged in connection with trying to conceal a fatal drug overdose by burning a car with the victim inside was sentenced Monday in federal court to 10 years in prison.

Emerson K. Reed III had previously pleaded guilty to arson in connection with a federal felony involving the 2020 death of a Green Bay woman whose charred remains were found in a vehicle on the Menominee Reservation.

The months-long investigation to learn the identity of the suspects involved two dozen grand jury subpoenas and was helped by the GPS bracelet the alleged drug seller, Timothy M. Snider Jr., wore when transporting the corpse to the reservation.

According to court documents, Snider called Reed, 35, to help him dispose of Stephanie Greenspon’s body after she fatally overdosed on heroin she obtained from Snider. Reed then asked Keith D. Wilber Jr., 27, formerly of Shawano, to help him with a “cold one,” which Wilber later said he understood to mean an overdose victim. Wilber also told investigators that he told Reed and Snider to drive the vehicle with Greenspon’s body and meet him on S.E. Bass Lake Road on the reservation, where they were to dispose of it.

Reed and Snider drove separate vehicles from Green Bay to the reservation on Aug. 4, 2020, with Greenspon’s body in the passenger seat of one vehicle, according to court documents. They were joined by Wilber and Kayla M. Childs. Snider was wearing a GPS tracking device since he was recently released from custody in Brown County. Reed then drove Snider to a Shawano restaurant where Snider met his girlfriend. Snider’s GPS tracking data indicated that he had been on S.E. Bass Lake Road and had returned to Green Bay on Aug. 4, 2020.

Surveillance video also showed the vehicles traveling the route that would have taken them from Green Bay to the reservation.

Snider wanted Greenspon’s body cut up and buried, according to court documents; instead, Reed, Wilber and Childs drove to a remote spot, and Reed and Wilber set fire to the vehicle still containing Greenspon’s body. Snider paid Reed in drugs and cash for taking part in the crime.

Two weeks later, the charred vehicle was discovered. At the site, authorities found bone fragments, two spent 9-millimeter shell casings and a license plate. The vehicle’s registered owner said his girlfriend, Greenspon, had been driving his vehicle in early August 2020. He also gave the name of a person he believed Greenspon had visited at that time.

Greenspon’s cell phone records and Facebook messages indicated she traveled to Snider’s residence on Aug. 3 after arranging to get heroin from him.

Reed, Snider, Wilber and Childs were indicted in connection with the arson.

Wilber committed suicide last July, and charges of concealment of a felony and arson were later dismissed.

Snider and Childs have pleaded guilty in connection to the arson and are to be sentenced on May 6 and July 7, respectively.

At Monday’s sentencing, Brenda Forbes, a spokesperson for Greenspon’s family, asked Judge William Griesbach to impose a 15- to 20-year sentence on Reed, saying the facts of the case “is the stuff nightmares are made of.”

“The absolutely heinous acts after her death were unnecessary and only served the defendants,” Forbes said.

Reed faced a sentence of 10 years to life, but Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew Maier joined the defense in recommending a 10-year sentence reduced by the 17 months Reed has been in custody.

After being indicted, Reed fled the state but later returned and corroborated the evidence investigators had against his co-defendants. He also seemed to express genuine remorse, Maier said.

Reed apologized for the loss to the Greenspon family.

“It was wrong. Drugs aren’t an excuse,” he said.

Griesbach said Reed’s crime, the desecration of a human body, “is a terrible thing.” He also noted that Reed’s criminal record is “atrocious” and involves a prior fatal drug overdose and numerous breaking and entering offenses, likely related to his drug abuse.

Reed was on probation for a state charge which was revoked for fleeing the state and committing a federal offense. Griesbach said he wouldn’t reduce the sentence he imposed by the 17 months Reed has been in custody.

“His revocation was for reasons beyond this crime, and he’s been revoked so many times before,” the judge said.