TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WCTV) – A Tallahassee man accused of abusing and killing his five-year-old stepdaughter, Missy Mogle, refused to attend a Tuesday court hearing, court records show.
Attorneys for Daniel Spencer are asking a judge to throw out any videos and evidence obtained from Spencer’s tablet, which was seized by detectives investigating Missy’s death at the family’s Southwood home.
A motion to suppress filed on April 30 claims a Tallahassee Police investigator “forcefully” and “illegally” took it without advising Spencer of his Miranda rights first.
Prosecutors contend the tablet contains video clips from a camera in Missy’s bedroom.
“I observed Daniel open the application for the cameras and return to the saved video clips. Believing Daniel was trying to delete possible evidence, I seized the tablet from him,” prosecutors wrote in a previous motion.
Chief Circuit Judge Frank Allman, who took over the case after previous judge Tiffany Baker Carper recused herself, was set to hear arguments about the admissibility of the tablet Tuesday morning, but court records show Spencer refused to attend the hearing.
The hearing on that motion to suppress has been rescheduled for July 15, court records show, along with motions on the constitutionality of Florida’s death penalty, a request for special jury instructions on mercy and a request for a special verdict form if a jury ultimately has to decide whether Spencer deserves a life sentence or the death penalty.
Spencer’s trial was recently delayed from June 22 to September 22.
His wife, Chloe Spencer, is also facing murder charges in Missy’s May 19, 2025 death. Her trial has not yet been scheduled.
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