SAN DIEGO — (08-09-21) — Convicted murderer Shane Douglas Ward, the man who fatally stabbed to death adult store employee Diane Spagnuolo, was sentenced life in imprisonment on Friday without the possibility of parole.
Shaun Douglas Ward, 42, pleaded guilty last month to the Oct. 29, 2018 murder of 65-year-old El Cajon resident Diane Spagnuolo, who was working at the time at the X-Spot Adult Store on Midway Drive.
Ward was facing the death penalty in the case if it went to trial but his defense attorney and the DA came to a plea agreement.
X-Spot Adult Store Murderer Shaun Ward Gets Life In Prison
Spagnuolo, who was stabbed multiple times, was found dead inside the X-Spot Adult Store located at 3606 Midway Dr. in San Diego, California. Surveillance camera footage in the adult store captured images of Ward prior to the murder, which was reported around 1:45 p.m. that day. Ward was taken into custody later that night at his San Diego home.
San Diego Superior Court Judge Joan Weber, who described what she saw in the surveillance footage as “one of the most horrific murder scenes I have ever witnessed as a judge,”.
Diane Spagnuolo’s daughter, Alexis Wylie, said she struggled with summing up what her mother meant to her…“Words of empty comfort mean nothing. She is gone from our lives forever and that won’t change,” Wylie said. “The face that my whole life was built around, I will never see again. The voice that would comfort with words ’til I sleep, will never speak. It is an empty space now and forever. And to the one who robbed us, you will never do so again.”
Spagnuolo’s loved ones described her as a caring person and spoke of her generosity of spirit.
Alexis’ father, Alexander Wylie, said that at Diane’s funeral, they noticed a homeless woman who none of Spagnuolo’s family members knew was in attendance. They discovered the homeless woman was paying tribute to Diane, who would let her come into the store on some nights to get out of the cold.
Spagnuolo’s brother, Saverio Spagnolie, said his sister was “the most amazing individual I have ever known,” said it was “a blessing” to have her as a sister and that it pained him that he, his niece, and his other siblings lost her “for nothing, for absolutely nothing.”
In addition to working at X-Spot for 24 years, Diane also worked at the Salvation Army as a seasonal tax preparer and a textiles processor.
Article by: Andy Powell, Staff Writer
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