Nevada Man Murders 3 With Sword; Plus Grandma, 80, Lived With Bodies
Even the most rabid true crime fan was disgusted after a Nevada man killed his grandmother and two others with a sword and bludgeoned them with a hammer. Keep reading for the grisly details.
Nevada Man Murders Grandma With Sword
Two maintenance workers came upon a disturbing scene after a welfare check on an 80-year-old Nevada woman. Only one of them would make it out alive. The incident happened in June 2023. The case finally reached a conclusion when the murderer, the woman’s grandson, confessed.
He was sentenced to life in prison. The plea deal included the stipulation that the perpetrator be kept separate from other inmates in general population until a psychiatrist says otherwise.
Spencer McDonald, 32, killed his grandmother, 80, and her boyfriend, Andrew “AJ” Graden, 43, in a fit of rage in 2023. According to the police report obtained by Law & Crime, McDonald stabbed his grandmother, Dina Vail, with a “cosplay sword” and a kitchen knife. They were home alone at the time.
After killing his grandmother, he lay in wait for her boyfriend to return home. “After killing Dina, Spencer waited in the living room for Andrew to return to the apartment. Once Andrew entered the apartment, Spencer bludgeoned and stabbed him in the living room. Spencer dragged Andrew’s body into the master bedroom with Dina’s body. Spencer lived in the apartment for several days and went about his normal activities,” the police report said.
The 80-year-old grandmother was a ballerina. When she didn’t show up for ballet classes, her worried friend called her house. Her grandson explained away her absence from the class by saying she took the day off. However, a welfare check the next day uncovered the grisly scene.
Two maintenance workers arrived before the police. They came upon a scene of blood on the floor and walls. One worker managed to escape after Spencer McDonald attacked them with a hammer. The other maintenance worker, Christopher Brassard, 45, was bludgeoned and stabbed to death.
Why He Did It
The perpetrator took a plea deal after the D.A. took the death penalty off the table. When asked why he did it, the murderer gave a strange but simple response.
“The timing was that of being required to see a psychiatrist in order to reinstate disability income. I was deeply afraid of the side effects,” he said.
The 32-year-old will live out the rest of his life in prison.
One victim’s sister spoke out against the plea deal. The sister of “AJ” Graden told the court, “My family will feel AJ’s absence for the rest of our lives, and this is truly unforgivable. Nothing short of death by stabbing and bludgeoning seems sufficient as punishment for this predator.”
Another headline-making killer recently accepted a plea deal to avoid the death penalty. Bryan Kohberger confessed in July to murdering four college students in Idaho in 2022.
