Robert Spangler: The Family-Killing Serial Murderer
Overview
Robert Merlin Spangler was an American serial killer who murdered members of his own family while repeatedly attempting to make their deaths appear accidental or self-inflicted. Born on January 10, 1933, Spangler cultivated the image of an educated, successful and respectable family man. He worked in public relations and became known as an experienced outdoorsman who frequently hiked through the Grand Canyon. Behind that public image, however, he used deception and carefully staged crime scenes to escape responsibility for multiple deaths over a period of approximately fifteen years.
Spangler eventually confessed to killing his first wife, Nancy, their two teenage children, Susan and David, and his third wife, Donna Sundling Spangler. Investigators also examined the suspicious overdose death of his second wife, Sharon Cooper Spangler, although he denied causing her death and was never charged in connection with it. His known murders occurred in Colorado and Arizona between December 30, 1978, and April 11, 1993.
The Murders of Nancy, Susan and David Spangler
On the morning of December 30, 1978, Spangler killed his first wife and their two children inside the family home near Littleton in Arapahoe County, Colorado. He later admitted that he had decided to eliminate his family because he wanted to pursue a relationship with another woman and considered murder easier than dealing with divorce and its consequences.
Spangler persuaded his 45-year-old wife, Nancy Spangler, to enter the basement by telling her that he had a surprise for her. Once she was downstairs, he shot her in the head with a .38-caliber handgun. He then went upstairs, where the couple’s children were in their bedrooms. Fifteen-year-old Susan Spangler was shot in the back while in her bed. Seventeen-year-old David Spangler was shot in the chest. When David did not die immediately from the gunshot wound, Spangler smothered him with a pillow.
After killing all three family members, Spangler arranged the house to support a fabricated murder-suicide story. Nancy’s body was positioned near a typewriter in the basement, and a typewritten suicide note bearing her initial was left at the scene. Spangler intended investigators to believe that Nancy had killed Susan and David before taking her own life.
The handgun belonged to Spangler, and gunshot residue was reportedly detected on his right hand. Investigators also learned that he had been experiencing marital problems and was involved with another woman. Nevertheless, the original coroner’s determination classified the deaths as a double homicide followed by suicide. On January 3, 1979, the case was officially closed under the belief that Nancy had killed the children and herself. That ruling prevented detectives from pursuing Spangler as a murder suspect, and much of the physical evidence was later returned or destroyed.
Marriage to Sharon Cooper
Approximately seven months after the deaths, Spangler married Sharon Cooper, the woman with whom he had been involved while Nancy was alive. The couple moved into the same Colorado house where Nancy, Susan and David had been killed. Robert and Sharon shared an interest in hiking, particularly in the Grand Canyon, but their relationship eventually deteriorated. Sharon reportedly became frightened of her husband and told acquaintances that she believed he might try to harm her. Their marriage ended in divorce in 1988.
Following the death of Spangler’s third wife, he and Sharon renewed their relationship, and she returned to live with him. On October 2, 1994, Sharon was found unresponsive inside the house near a bottle of medication and died from an overdose. Her death was not treated as a homicide, and Spangler later received money from an insurance policy. When investigators questioned him years afterward, he firmly denied killing Sharon. Because there was never sufficient evidence to establish that her death was intentional, she is generally described as a possible or suspected victim rather than a confirmed victim.
The Murder of Donna Sundling Spangler
Spangler married Donna Sundling in August 1990. Donna was a 58-year-old aerobics instructor with five adult children and several grandchildren. The couple lived in Durango, Colorado. Although Spangler was an enthusiastic and highly experienced hiker, Donna was uncomfortable with heights and did not share his passion for difficult wilderness trips. Their marriage soon became troubled.
In April 1993, Robert and Donna traveled to Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona for a backpacking trip that was supposedly intended to help repair their marriage. Donna was reluctant to participate, but she accompanied him into the canyon. On April 11, 1993, the couple reached an isolated section of trail near Horseshoe Mesa. Spangler later confessed that he positioned Donna near the edge of a steep drop and pushed her while she was facing him.
Donna fell approximately 140 to 160 feet and suffered massive fatal injuries. Spangler approached park rangers and calmly reported that his wife had accidentally fallen while they were stopping to take a photograph. He claimed that he had looked away briefly and discovered that she was gone when he turned around. Her body was recovered below the trail, and her death was initially ruled an accident.
Spangler used the apparent tragedy to strengthen his image as a grieving widower. He participated in television interviews in which he discussed Donna’s death and warned others about the dangers of hiking in the Grand Canyon. Because he was an experienced hiker and had provided a seemingly plausible account, authorities did not immediately have enough evidence to accuse him of murder.
Confirmed and Suspected Victims
- Nancy Spangler, 45 — Killed on December 30, 1978, in the basement of the Spangler family home near Littleton, Arapahoe County, Colorado. Spangler shot her in the head and staged the scene to make her appear responsible for the deaths of the children.
- Susan Spangler, 15 — Killed on December 30, 1978, inside her bedroom at the family home near Littleton, Colorado. She was shot in the back while in bed.
- David Spangler, 17 — Killed on December 30, 1978, inside his bedroom at the family home near Littleton, Colorado. He was shot in the chest and then smothered with a pillow when the gunshot did not immediately kill him.
- Donna Sundling Spangler, 58 — Killed on April 11, 1993, near Horseshoe Mesa in Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona. Spangler pushed her from a cliff and reported her death as a hiking accident.
- Sharon Cooper Spangler — Died on October 2, 1994, from a medication overdose at Spangler’s home in Colorado. Investigators considered her death suspicious, but Spangler denied killing her and was never charged. She remains a possible, unconfirmed victim.
The Cold-Case Investigation
The investigation that finally exposed Spangler began when National Park Service investigators reconsidered Donna’s supposedly accidental fall. Her death shared troubling characteristics with the earlier deaths surrounding Spangler. Each event had removed a spouse or family member who had become inconvenient to him, and each had been presented as an accident, suicide or other noncriminal death.
Investigators from the National Park Service, the FBI and the Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office worked together to examine Spangler’s history. The FBI’s National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime assisted by developing a behavioral assessment and an interview strategy. Investigators discovered that Spangler was intelligent, articulate and highly concerned with his reputation. They concluded that appealing to his vanity and presenting him as an unusual subject worthy of study might persuade him to talk.
By 2000, Spangler had been diagnosed with terminal lung cancer that had spread to his brain. Authorities realized that they had limited time to obtain a confession. They also knew that the physical evidence from the 1978 murders had largely disappeared because the case had originally been closed as a murder-suicide. A detailed and legally admissible confession was therefore essential.
Spangler’s Confession
Investigators approached Spangler in Colorado and asked him to participate in an interview. The questioning was recorded, and legal and medical precautions were taken because of his terminal illness. During the first session, investigators confronted him with the deaths of Nancy, Susan, David, Sharon and Donna. Spangler initially resisted and suggested that the investigators were attributing one death too many to him, an apparent reference to Sharon’s overdose.
Spangler returned for a second interview and began describing the 1978 killings. He admitted that he had murdered Nancy and the children so that he could pursue another relationship. He explained how he had shot each victim, smothered David and arranged the false suicide scene. The confession overturned the official account that had falsely blamed Nancy for more than two decades.
Spangler initially avoided discussing Donna’s death because he feared legal action from her adult children. Investigators challenged his perception of himself by suggesting that killing three people in a single event did not necessarily make him a serial killer. After a period of silence, Spangler acknowledged that Donna’s death provided the additional murder needed to establish a series. He then admitted that he had planned the Grand Canyon killing and pushed her over the edge.
He continued to deny responsibility for Sharon’s fatal overdose. No charge was brought in her death, leaving uncertainty about whether she was another victim or whether her overdose was unrelated to Spangler’s other crimes.
Conviction and Death
Because Donna was murdered inside Grand Canyon National Park, the case fell under federal jurisdiction. Spangler pleaded guilty in federal court in Arizona to first-degree murder. As part of the proceedings, he formally admitted killing Donna and acknowledged responsibility for the murders of Nancy, Susan and David.
Spangler received a sentence of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. His terminal illness meant that he spent only a brief period in federal custody. He died from cancer on August 5, 2001, at the federal medical prison in Springfield, Missouri. He was 68 years old.
Legacy of the Case
Robert Spangler’s crimes demonstrate how a carefully constructed public image and an incorrect initial ruling can allow a multiple murderer to remain free for decades. He did not hunt strangers or follow the pattern commonly associated with predatory serial killers. Instead, he killed people closest to him whenever he believed they stood in the way of a new relationship, personal freedom or financial benefit.
The false conclusion in the 1978 case was particularly damaging. Nancy Spangler was wrongly blamed for murdering her own children and taking her life, while the actual killer was permitted to remarry and continue living freely. Spangler’s eventual confession cleared Nancy’s name and established that she, Susan and David had all been victims of the same calculated attack.
The case also became an important example of cooperation between local detectives, federal investigators, behavioral analysts and National Park Service personnel. By studying Spangler’s personality and concern for his reputation, investigators obtained admissions to murders that had remained concealed for more than twenty years. His confession revealed a man who viewed murder as a convenient solution to unwanted family relationships and who repeatedly trusted his ability to manipulate both crime scenes and public perception.
