Trial underway for man accused of shooting, killing local Uber driver in 2022

Nearly three years after Christina Spicuzza was kidnapped and killed, the trial for the man charged in her death is underway.

The kidnapping, murder and manhunt raised the profile of the case, but attorneys for Calvin Crew say his arrest was politically motivated.

During the trial proceedings on Monday, one of the lead investigators took the stand and showed the courtroom photos of the crime scene, and explained how they navigated the woods to find Spicuzza’s body.

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Back in 2022, Allegheny County detectives searched a massive portion of woods in Monroeville for hours after finding Spicuzza. On Monday, investigators revealed metal detectors led officers to officers finding a shell casing hear her body, which is believed to be from the gun that killed her. That gun has never been found.

Prosecutors also played a body camera video from a Monroeville police officer, where you hear him say “I hope this isn’t the missing girl from Pitcairn.”

At that point, it had been two days since Spicuzza was reported by her fiancé, Brandon. He took the stand Monday and described how Spicuzza was driving for Uber to make extra money.

He said he bought her a dash camera for inside her car, prayed for her safety with her before each trip and constantly cleaned her vehicle because she was proud of her five star rating. He reported her missing when she never came home from her last night driving.

From there, detectives worked around the clock to put every piece of evidence together, eventually charging Calvin Crew in her murder.

Not long after Crew’s arrest, the three detectives on the case sat down for an exclusive interview with Channel 11.

“Watching her and listening to her voice pleading for her life... it was absolutely a twisting of emotions,” Greg Ranko told Channel 11.

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That interview was specifically referenced by Crew’s public defender, but at this point it’s unclear what point he is trying to make. That will likely come out in the days to come.

But, the defense attorney did say Monday that he believes the detectives and district attorney had a “political agenda” in this case.

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