Spridal Hubiak, center, is flanked by his defense team after pleading guilty to murder Friday during a hearing at the Capital Judicial Center in Augusta. His attorneys are Stephen Smith, left, and Kayla Alves. Hubiak, 21, admitted to killing Angela Bragg, 52, also of Waterville, at Damon’s Beverage in Waterville on Dec. 27, 2023. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal

AUGUSTA — A Waterville man pleaded guilty Friday to a charge of murder in connection with the December 2023 killing of a co-worker, as part of a plea deal that avoids a life sentence in prison.

Superior Court Justice Michaela Murphy speaks Friday during a plea hearing for Spridal Hubiak at the Capital Judicial Center in Augusta. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal

Spridal Hubiak, 21, admitted to killing Angela Bragg, 52, also of Waterville, at Damon’s Beverage in Waterville on Dec. 27, 2023.

It was the second time he pleaded guilty, with his first plea rejected in August by Superior Court Justice Michaela Murphy out of concern the court had not had a mental competency examination done of Hubiak. On Friday, Hubiak’s lawyers both said their client’s guilty plea was against their recommendation.

An evaluation has since taken place and, though it was not discussed in any detail in court Friday, Murphy said the results of the evaluation meant Hubiak could enter his guilty plea.

Hubiak answered “guilty” when Murphy asked him his plea to the charge of murder.

Murphy and Lisa Bogue, an assistant attorney general, said a plea agreement was in place in which Hubiak will not be sentenced to life in prison, but could be sentenced to any term of years, with a minimum sentence of 25 years.

His sentencing will take place after both sides submit their arguments in writing. A court clerk said a date has not yet been set for his sentencing.

One of Hubiak’s two lawyers, Kayla Alves, said under questioning from Murphy that she and fellow lawyer Stephen Smith had recommended to Hubiak that he not plead guilty. She said they had talked to him many times, but he still wanted to plead guilty, and Alves was satisfied he was making a voluntary plea and understood the plea he was making.

“That is still the case — it is against our recommendation,” Alves told Murphy.

A PLANNED KILLING

Some of Bragg’s friends and family members cried in court Friday as Bogue described what Hubiak did to her. They did not speak in court.

Hubiak, according to Bogue, is seen on video footage from Damon’s stabbing Bragg in the neck, while she pleaded for him to stop.

The attack happened at 8:19 p.m. on the video’s time stamp, according to an affidavit filed by Maine State Police Detective Erin James.

“The video shows the victim, Angela Bragg, standing at the cash register with Spridal pacing back and forth behind her,” the affidavit states. “Spridal is seen with a knife in his hand. Spridal eventually grabs Angela and said ‘I’m sorry’ and began to stab her. Angela screamed ‘no’ and pleads to Spridal to stop and ‘we can fix this.’ Angela appears to pass out but can still be heard breathing. Spridal then picks up Angela and brings her to the ‘tasting room.’”

An investigator walks under police tape by the entrance to Damon’s Beverage at 6 Jefferson St. in Waterville on Dec. 28, 2023, following the discovery of Angela Bragg’s body. Her co-worker, Spridal Hubiak, pleaded guilty Friday in connection with Bragg’s murder. Rich Abrahamson/Morning Sentinel file

A Waterville dispatcher received a 911 call at 4:34 a.m. Dec. 28, 2023, from the store manager of Damon’s Beverage, located at 6 Jefferson St. The manager said there was blood throughout the store and a body in the tasting room. She said she did not know who it was, as she had not looked, but said the person was deceased.

Caitlyn Bragg, left, and sister Kayla Bragg hold a photo of their mother, Angela Bragg, who was killed in December 2023 while working at Damon’s Beverage in Waterville. A co-worker pleaded guilty Friday to the murder.  Rich Abrahamson/Morning Sentinel file

An autopsy found that Bragg died of sharp force injuries, including to her jugular vein, and also had other wounds including to her hands and chest.

Bogue said writings by Hubiak discovered after his arrest showed he’d planned Bragg’s death, step by step.

He told police he’d been thinking about doing what he did for about a month.

He wrote that he loved her, that he didn’t want to do it, that he had killed her and that he hated himself and “could kill myself right now.” Bogue said co-workers told authorities that Hubiak may have wanted to date Angela Bragg.

Video from Walmart in Waterville shows Hubiak purchasing a GPS, a blanket and a knife on Dec. 26, 2023. Police also later found, in his possession, a book on serial killers.

Bragg’s daughters Kayla and Caitlyn Bragg, told the Morning Sentinel in April they felt like they are in a nightmare that doesn’t end. They said their mother was a hard worker and devoted mother and grandmother to her eight grandchildren. They said their mother was the glue in their tight family, selfless and giving, knew how to fix anything, was eager to help and gave the best advice.

Angela Bragg Contributed photo

In August, when Hubiak’s first guilty plea was rejected, Kayla Bragg said, “there’s some people who are just evil and that’s exactly what (Hubiak) is.”

Bragg’s daughters remembered their mother saying last year that she had taken Hubiak under her wing as a sort of son, that he was a good kid and she brought muffins to him at work. He bought her manila envelopes of scratch tickets and gift cards in August, as well as on her birthday in September. The sisters asked their mother if she thought that was weird, with Angela Bragg brushing it off because, even if she did think something was off about Hubiak, she never would have shunned him, they said.

‘SUICIDE BY COP’

After Bragg was killed, Hubiak fled Maine. Police found him on Dec. 31, 2023, sleeping in a parking lot in Flippin, Arkansas. He fled the scene, launching a chase involving Arkansas State Police and a local police department that ended with Hubiak’s vehicle crashing in a gas station parking lot.

Police released this photo of Spridal Hubiak after he was wanted in connection with the killing of Angela Bragg. On Friday he pleaded guilty to the killing.  Photo courtesy of Maine State Police

Police said Hubiak then left the car armed with an “AR-style” rifle. A Boone County sheriff’s deputy fired at Hubiak, striking him multiple times, according to an Arkansas State Police news release. The shooting was deemed justified by a prosecuting attorney in Arkansas.

Hubiak told police when he got out of his car with his weapon he was trying “to commit suicide by cop,” Bogue, the assistant attorney general, said in court Friday.

Hubiak was taken to a medical facility in Springfield, Missouri, after the shooting. He was released several days later and taken to a jail in Missouri, where he was held on a murder charge, according to the Greene County Sheriff’s Office. He was extradited to Maine in February.

He told police in Arkansas he wanted to kill Bragg, but that “Angela didn’t do anything to cause it or provoke it,” Bogue said. He told police he was carrying the weapon he used in the homicide.