Weed news

[ true crime] These weird local murders will give you the creeps

It was November 1985, when a gler claimed he was at work during the was never charged for Cooper’s death Hatfield-Hall (Dylan’s mother) told the passenger enjoying their time on the massacre but during the investigation and was sentenced to prison without the Durango Herald in 2019. “It’s time that Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge revealed he was having an affair with a possibility of parole, eventually dying of we can settle this.” Railroad caught sight of a disturbing scene that would completely upend their trip: a local business owner laying dead in the back of his truck, murdered. It turned out, that death was only the tip of the iceberg of a much larger and sinister case. While Durango is generally a safe and idealistic place for most people, it turns out, it also attracts all kinds of strange occurrences, and maybe even a serial killer or two. Robert Spangler Robert Spangler might just be one of the evilest humans to set foot in Durango. Spangler, a serial killer and family annihilator, moved to Durango in 1990, with his third wife, Donna Sundling. Spangler came into the marriage with an unusually tragic background. In December 1978, a neighbor discovered co-worker, Sharon Cooper. His and Nancy’s marriage was not going well. Eventually, investigators closed the case, concluding that Nancy had murdered her children before turning the gun on herself. Spangler went on to marry Cooper. They divorced in 1988 when she became convinced he was out to kill her, too. In 1990, he married his third wife. Sundling, the mother of five grown children and an aerobics instructor, did not share Spangler’s love of hiking because of her fear of heights. In 1993, however, Spangler convinced Sundling to hike the Grand Canyon with him where, according to Spangler, she fell to her death while he attempted to take a photo of her next to a ledge. After Sundling’s death, Spangler reconnected with Cooper, who he later found dead of an alleged drug overdose. cancer. Dylan Redwine Dylan Redwine was just 13 years old when he disappeared while on a court-ordered visit to his father, Mark, in November 2013. Mark lived near the Vallecito Reservoir and had a tense relationship with Dylan. Dylan was last heard from at 9:37 p.m. Nov. 18, 2012, when he texted a friend to make plans to meet up, according to the Durango Herald. Investigators found Dylan’s remains in June 2013, eight miles from Middle Mountain Road. Hikers later found his skull in November 2015, a little more than a mile from Middle Mountain Road where the rest of his remains were found. Mark was charged in July 2017 of second-degree murder and child abuse. The Colorado Labor Wars In the early 1900s, relations were tense between miners and mine owners, and it was no wonder. According to Westword, the Western Federation of Miners went head-to-head with mine owners using strikes, sabotage, and the forced deportations of strikers. The fighting was particularly ugly in Colorado and impacted Durango, Cripple Creek, Leadville, and Denver. In Telluride, tensions spiked when mine manager Arthur Collins reduced miners’ wages and cut back on safety regulations to increase mine profits. In response to a 1901 strike, he hired gunmen and strikebreakers, and on November 20, 1901, a fire at his Smuggler-Union Mine resulted in the death of 24 people. The tragedy was blamed on Collins’s cuts to safety measures. the bodies of Spangler’s first wife, Nancy, 17-year-old son, David, and 15-year-old Investigators were eventually able to link the deaths together and got He is currently awaiting trial in the La Plata County Jail. Perhaps unsurprisingly, a year after these events, he was killed via shotgun daughter, Susan, in their Littleton, Colo. Spangler to confess to the murders of “I’m sure I’ll never get the truth blast while at his home. The murder was home. They had all been shot. SpanNancy, David, Susan, and Sundling. He (about what happened to Dylan),” Elaine Continued on page 23

Durango Senior Center Parking Lot • 2424 Main Ave Sept. 5 th • 1-4:30pm

PRESENTED BY:

Featuring local musicians Ben Gibson & Rob Webster $50/vehicle • byo drinks & snacks!

www.fourcornersexpos.com

Horoscope

ARIES (March 21 to April 19) This is a lovely time for family relationships because people will be warm and supportive to each other. You might do something to help someone or someone might help you.

TAURUS (April 20 to May 20) Look around you, because you will be surprised at the beauty of your daily surroundings right now. You also might be surprised to see how much love there is in your daily world.

GEMINI (May 21 to June 20) If shopping during this time, you will want to buy beautiful things for yourself and for loved ones. Because you might be too extravagant, keep your receipts. (Just in case.)

CANCER (June 21 to July 22) Right now you feel warmhearted to everyone you meet. You see how happy you feel when you are kind to someone. (That person is happy, too!)

LEO (July 23 to Aug. 22) Because you are concerned for someone who is less fortunate than you, you will help them. (True generosity is giving what is needed.)

VIRGO (Aug. 23 to Sept. 22) You feel warm and caring to a friend right now, or perhaps even a member of a group. You will find it rewarding to work with a charitable organization right now.

LIBRA (Sept. 23 to Oct. 22) You might use someone else’s influence to help a third party right now. Meanwhile, someone might ask you for your creative input about something – perhaps how to make something look better.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23 to Nov. 21) Travel for pleasure appeals to you right now! You want to escape to idyllic surroundings. (Don’t we all?)

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22 to Dec. 21) In discussions about inheritances, shared property and such, be careful you don’t give away the farm. It’s good to be fair and kind to others, but you also have to be fair and kind to yourself.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22 to Jan. 19) Relations with your close friends or partners will be warm and supportive right now. That’s because it’s easy to admire someone you love.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20 to Feb. 18) Others might ask for your advice at work right now. People want to know what you think because they admire you and value your input. You also might do something to

From page 22 never solved. Unsolved 1985 murders In 1985, something unusual happened in Durango. On Nov. 10, a train passenger spotted the body of local businessman David Tyler, 36, the owner of Automatic Transmission Exchange, in a truck bed parked outside his shop. Bizarro

A few weeks later, Durango police found the body of Dennis Sleater after responding to a fire, and the 1985 death of his son, robbery at Junction Creek Liquors. Danny. When questioned about Danny’s Sleater, 24, worked as a clerk at the death, Stutzman claimed he died from an illstore and was a Fort Lewis College ness. Out of fear of being blamed, Stutzman student. claimed he abandoned the body in a ditch

Friends of Sleater’s had come to the outside Chester, Neb. liquor store. They found the cash regEventually, Stutzman was found guilty ister open and Sleater facedown in the of the 1983 murder of a former roommate basement, shot twice in the head. while living in Austin, Texas, and served 16

The two cases have never been years in prison. He was paroled in 2005 and solved but as the two victims have a died by suicide in 2007. lot in common, it is theorized that the Stutzman and Tyler knew each other and murders could be connected. maybe attended the same party in Durango

One of the most popular theories on Nov. 8, 1985, two days before Tyler was involves Eli Stutzman, an Amish man killed. A witness also reported seeing a man who was in Durango at the time of the matching Stutzman’s description near the murders. liquor store during the time of Sleater’s

Stutzman, it seemed, had a knack for death. being around whenever tragedy struck. Stutzman’s death reignited interest in Though he was never convicted, he was the cases when police obtained Stutzman’s linked to the mysterious 1977 death of DNA and fingerprints. Unfortunately, they his pregnant wife, who died in a barn did not match a bloody handprint found at improve your workspace.

PISCES (Feb. 19 to March 20) True love might happen for some of you right now. This is because your idealism is aroused and it’s easy to admire someone. You also will feel warmhearted to children.

BORN DURING THESE TWO WEEKS

You have excellent social skills. You are generous, disciplined and helpful to others. It’s your turn for a fun-loving year ahead! You will be more popular and will enjoy warm friendships. You will also be more grateful for your life and will appreciate the everyday happiness and beauty around you. This year is the time for an important choice. Choose wisely. (c) 2020 King Features Syndicate, Inc.