Defendant Sentenced In Murders Of 2 Men In Hartford: States Attorney

HARTFORD, CT — Brandon Letman, 31, convicted in May in the fatal 2016 shootings of Ashley Spence, 21, and Cameron Mounds Jr., 19, in Hartford, was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of release last week in connection with the murders, Chief State’s Attorney Patrick J. Griffin announced.

Letman was sentenced Thursday by the Honorable Michael J. Gustafson; a jury in Hartford Superior Court found Letman guilty of:

2 counts of murder
Murder with special circumstances (multiple victims)
Criminal possession of a firearm by a convicted felon
2 counts of tampering with a witness
Conspiracy to commit tampering with a witness

Additionally, Letman also received a prison sentence of 10 years to run consecutively to the life sentence, for the tampering with a witness charges.

According to evidence at trial, Hartford police responded to a call on the evening of June 21, 2016, and found the victims outside suffering from fatal gunshot wounds. Letman was charged in 2019 in connection with the case, following a joint investigation by the Cold Case Unit of the Office of the Chief State’s Attorney, the Hartford State’s Attorney’s Office, the Hartford Police Department and the Connecticut Department of Correction.

The extensive investigation included following up with multiple witnesses who had information about the fatal shootings, according to prosecutors.

From the announcement:

Supervisory Assistant State’s Attorney John F. Fahey, head of the Cold Case Unit, and Senior Assistant State’s Attorney Robin Krawczyk, who both prosecuted the case, are grateful to investigators in the Cold Case Unit, the Hartford State’s Attorney’s Office, the Hartford Police Department and the Connecticut Department of Correction, with a special thank you to Officer Kevin Rival who listened to more than 4,900 telephone calls instrumental in the investigation of the witness tampering charges.

“We in the Cold Case Unit, as well as members of the victims’ families, are grateful to Judge Gustafson for his careful consideration of the sentence in this case,” Supervisory Assistant State’s Attorney Fahey said. “We are also grateful for the judge’s thoughtful consideration and imposition of a sentence for the witness tampering charges because witness tampering interferes with the administration of justice.”

The Cold Case Unit is comprised of prosecutors and investigators from the Division of Criminal Justice who work closely on cold cases with the Connecticut State Police and municipal police departments. The Cold Case Unit in the Office of the Chief State’s Attorney currently includes Inspectors from the Division of Criminal Justice as well as investigators from the Hartford Police Department, Connecticut Department of Correction and other local police departments. For more information about the Unit, visit the Division of Criminal Justice’s website or the Unit’s Facebook page.