Michael Helms, 16, beats mother to death with frying pan, hammer because she grounded him

[*crickets*]

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psycho murdering kid (L) and buddy

Mon Oct 28, 2013 10:20 PM

At 6 feet 6 inches tall and 265 pounds, Michael Roy Helms towered over peers at Gilbert High School, but neighbors say the 16-year-old Mesa boy's tales were even taller. Some were harmless enough. He bragged about owning a classic car and a boa constrictor he fed a chicken to each week.

But the latest tale is chilling in retrospect: Helms on Friday claimed his parents had moved to Ohio and left him their tract house just south of U.S. 60 in Mesa. "He said his folks gave him the house. That is not normal," neighbor Phil Knowles said.

Helms was arrested a day later on suspicion of first degree murder in the gruesome slaying of his 36-year-old mother, who had angered him by grounding him, according to Mesa police. Mesa officers found his mother, Tina Helms Spencer, dead early Saturday morning in a backyard shed. Police said there were signs of blunt-force trauma and seized a hammer and a frying pan as possible murder weapons.

Christian Lee Blakely, 17, a friend of Michael Helms' who lives nearby, was also arrested and is accused of witnessing the woman's slaying and helping Helms conceal the body.

Detectives believe Helms and Blakely waited at the family's house in the 2100 block of East Juanita Avenue until Helms Spencer arrived, according to court records. "As the victim entered her residence, the defendant then intentionally struck her with a frying pan, struck her with a hammer, and choked her in a rage," according to court records.

Police were called to the house at 4 a.m. by Helms Spencer's husband, who is also Michael Helms' stepfather.

Sgt. Tony Landato, a Mesa police spokesman, said the stepfather reported that he was attacked by his stepson as he arrived home early Saturday morning. "He's getting choked, he's being hit. At some point, he's able to get free," Landato said. The stepfather ran down the street and called police from another house. He thought his wife was asleep, but when police arrived, they found blood and eventually found Helms Spencer in the shed.

Landato said Helms had quarreled with his mother during a telephone call before she was slain. He said Helms was upset his parents had grounded him. Friends said the grounding also meant that Helms could not use his cellphone.

Landato said Helms told Blakely he was planning to kill his mother. "There was a discussion between the kids. 'I'm going to do this to my mom,' " Landato said.

Although police have no evidence that Blakely participated in the attack, detectives believe he did nothing to defend Helms Spencer and eventually helped Michael Helms carry her body to the backyard shed where officers found her. Blakely's court records said he "stood in the dark and watched as the murder occurred." He also admitted helping Helms clean up the house with a mop, according to documents.

The slaying stunned neighbors and friends in the neighborhood near Gilbert Road and U.S. 60. "They were like big teddy bears," said Stephanie Galvan, who attended a youth group at a church with Helms. Sydney Knutson, a friend of Blakely's, agreed. "He was definitely the sweetest kid I ever met," she said. "It didn't seem like he would do anything to anybody."

But Joan and Phil Knowles, who were befriended by Helms when they first moved to the neighborhood 1 1/2 years ago, said they knew something didn't add up when they spoke to Helms late Friday afternoon outside his house. "He said 'the house is now mine' three times," Phil Knowles said.

Joan said Helms "told us his folks moved to Ohio to be closer to family." She said Helms was prone to more innocuous lies--he once said he had a Ford Mustang that he kept at a friend's house but would still ask neighbors for rides. "I really thought of him as being aloof, not aggressive," Phil said.

An autopsy will be conducted on Helms Spencer by the Maricopa County Medical Examiner's Office, Landato said.

http://www.azcentral.com/community/m...-grounded.html

[Angiebla]

I really don't think this kid lying has anything to do with the murder. Teenagers do lie about dumb shit to make themselves sound cooler to friends. It's not an unusual occurrence.

[bowieluva]

That detail is just in there to make the story more vivid/back up the detail where he told everyone that his family had decided to give him the house when what he meant was 'I'm going to murder my family and hopefully no one will ever check to see why the shed smells like corpses.'

[becoming]

I hope she was at least a mean lady. I hope all the parents whose kids murder them are mean bitches. Because I think about HOW MUCH STUFF I do for my kids... how much I've given up and worked my ass off and loved loved loved them unconditionally even when they didn't deserve it, and that would just be the most assholeish thing ever for them to kill me someday.

[u2addict]

Duh-huh, I'm going to murder me mum and toss her in the shed, duh-huh.

The slaying stunned neighbors and friends in the neighborhood near Gilbert Road and U.S. 60. "They were like big teddy bears," said Stephanie Galvan, who attended a youth group at a church with Helms. Sydney Knutson, a friend of Blakely's, agreed. "He was definitely the sweetest kid I ever met," she said. "It didn't seem like he would do anything to anybody."

*Big teddy bears*, yea, right. Teddy bears have big teeth, huge paws with honkin bigass claws. This so-called *teddy bear* murdered his mum for sport and threw her away.

*Sweetest kid ever*...no he is not. He is an big, mean, asshole mutherfucker, who deserves nothing less than a small cage. JMO

Carry on

[PunkerDuckie]

:Insert rash generalization about murderous gingers here:

[zeebee]

This happened right down the street from where my sister lives.