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GC murder probably will<br>end up as ‘Movie of the Week’<br>

It has all of the qualities often found in those depressing movies of the week — tragedy, mystery, a unique storyline and a conclusion.

The Robert M. Spangler story just might end up on television someday. The 67-year-old man was indicted last week for shoving his wife into the Grand Canyon on April 11, 1993. Spangler also killed his first wife and two children in 1978 and pinned it on her as a double murder-suicide.

He got away with the first murders for 22 years, until he was diagnosed with terminal cancer. Investigators heard about his demise and headed out to Grand Junction, Colo., to have a little talk. A confession soon came.

Spangler had another wife die, but it was ruled as an accidental or suicidal drug overdose. Just another storyline for the movie.

The families of the murder victims have undoubtedly suffered all these years, especially the woman and children from his first marriage.

This family was led to believe that this woman killed her own two teenage children before turning the gun on herself. At least now, there’s some closure with Spangler’s confession.

And for Donna Spangler who was killed at Grand Canyon, her family must be outraged at the actions of her former husband. Viewing the beautiful Grand Canyon on a quiet hike, she was pushed to her death. Horrible.

Spangler won’t rot away in a jail cell for decades or even be put to death for his actions. No, he’ll probably avoid all that suffering and die in the near future of cancer.

Just doesn’t seem right.

Only those who know Spangler will now have a lot to think about. Former co-workers at the Grand Junction, Colo., radio station where he had worked. Close friends who thought they knew everything about him. And what about the fourth wife? I wonder what she’s going through.

Yes, this just might be a movie of the week.

From a weekly newspaper reporter’s point of view, writing this story proved to be somewhat of a frustrating situation.

The story broke late Tuesday and I enjoyed doing interviews and gathering information for what I hoped would be a good piece. But I work for a weekly newspaper. My publication would not hit the streets for another week.

Meanwhile, the television stations, daily newspapers and news wires all had the scoop. The Grand Canyon National Park public affairs office received phone calls from news agencies around the country Wednesday looking for information.

That’s life at the weekly newspaper. I believe it’s still a story that needs to be presented to my readers. Maybe there’s something in there you didn’t know from from previous reports.

Murder is never a pleasant subject to write about, especially when it happens in your backyard. Let’s hope there are no similar stories anytime soon.

There was another unpleasant story in this week’s newspaper involving a woman’s ex-boyfriend who took the wrong path. It involved gasoline, a three-hour standoff and a trip to the mental-health facility in Flagstaff.

Many of us have experienced extreme pain when relationships end, including myself on more than one occasion. But most of us have taken the right path, or at least somewhere in between.

Let’s hope this former North Rim concessioner employee can work out his problems.

And let’s hope the woman moves forward with a positive outlook on her future.

(Brad Fuqua is editor of the Grand Canyon News).


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