In the quiet suburban community of Littleton, Colorado, the life of fifteen-year-old Susan E. Spangler was tragically cut short on December 30, 1978. On that day, she, along with her seventeen-year-old brother David and their forty-five-year-old mother Nancy, were found shot to death in their home. The initial investigation by the Arapahoe County coroner led to the conclusion of a murder-suicide, with Nancy Spangler believed to be the perpetrator. A typewritten suicide note found near her body seemed to support this theory, and for years, the case was considered closed.
However, suspicions lingered, particularly for Nancy's family who never believed she was capable of such an act. The father, Robert Spangler, claimed to have been at work during the time of the deaths, but inconsistencies in his story and the presence of gunshot residue on his hand raised questions that were initially dismissed. The case remained cold for over two decades, a dark chapter in the community's history, while Robert Spangler went on to remarry.
The truth behind the horrific events of that December day began to unravel years later with another tragedy linked to Robert Spangler. In 1993, his third wife, Donna, died after falling from a cliff in the Grand Canyon. This incident prompted investigators to reopen the 1978 case. The persistent efforts of law enforcement, particularly a detective with the Arapahoe County Sheriff's Office, kept the investigation alive. The breakthrough finally came in 2000 when Robert Spangler, then sixty-seven and diagnosed with terminal cancer, confessed to the murders of his first wife and two children. He admitted to staging the scene to look like a murder-suicide because he was dissatisfied with his family life and saw murder as an easier way out than divorce. His confession also included admitting to pushing his third wife to her death in the Grand Canyon. Robert Spangler was arrested and sentenced to life in prison, where he died in 2001.
