The Murder of Robin Spielbauer
For this case, I watched an episode of Forensic Files 2. It’s season 4 episode 9, titled ‘Murder on Helium Road.’
A mother of two is found dead near her SUV.
Background
Robin met her future husband, J.D., in 2003. Robin had always wanted to settle down with someone and start a family. Robin and J.D. got pregnant almost immediately after they started dating. They eventually had two daughters together.
Robin was in love with J.D., but he had multiple affairs. After 7 years of marriage, Robin left J.D. and took the kids with her. J.D. moved on with a new woman named Katie Phipps. Katie and Robin had actually known each other first. Robin had confided in Katie about her marriage struggles. J.D. and Katie eventually got married.
Robin Spielbauer
The Murder
On April 8, 2014, the body of a young woman was discovered in a ditch on Helium Road in Amarillo, Texas. The woman was lying next to her SUV. There was no phone, purse, or ID found at the scene.
The police determined that the car belonged to Robin Spielbauer. There was damage to the windshield of the car. There were star-shaped patterns from where a rock may have hit the windshield. In one of those patterns, the police found a pink substance.
Robin had severe trauma to the back of her head. Her autopsy revealed that her cause of death was a gunshot wound from a .22 caliber gun.
The First Suspect
J.D. immediately denied being involved in his ex-wife’s murder. The police learned that both Katie and Robin had been accusing J.D. of sleeping with both of them.
After getting married, J.D. and Katie moved into a house very close to Robin and her daughters.
Around Thanksgiving 2013, Robin and Katie’s hostility towards each other escalated. Robin had come over to pick up her daughters. Katie followed her into the house and grabbed her by the hair. Robin had fallen to the floor and Katie got on top of her. Robin was able to kick Katie off, but Katie was kicked into the fireplace. No charges were filed.
Katie was so convinced about J.D. and Robin sleeping together. She constantly asked J.D. over text messages if he was having an affair. J.D. told her that he wasn’t. In the 4 days leading up to Robin’s death, Katie sent about 300 of these messages to J.D.
Katie was interviewed by the police. She asked the police if J.D. was cheating on her with Robin. The investigator told her that he didn’t have proof, but that they were going to meet last night. Katie started crying in the interview room.
The Murder Weapon
The police obtained a search warrant and found a .22 caliber gun belonging to Katie. Katie had also posted a photo of herself at a shooting range holding the exact gun with pink trim. A piece of the gun had broken off during the murder.
Katie denied threatening to kill Robin. However, the police knew from several people that this was a lie. Katie admitted to not liking Robin but she knew what it was like to grow up without her parents and wouldn’t do that to Robin’s kids. Katie also requested a polygraph.
Katie had been told by her lawyer not to take a polygraph test. Katie did it anyway and failed it. She also didn’t have an alibi. She said she had been at a friend’s house near Helium Road and never saw Robin that night. She had turned off her cell phone.
Katie told the police that she was starting to believe that J.D. had killed Robin. J.D.’s cell phone records revealed that he and Robin had been in communication on the night of her murder. They spoke about meeting that night on Helium Road.
J.D.’s Story
J.D. was confronted. He admitted that he and Robin met on Helium Road, but Katie had shown up and knocked on the car window. He said the women started bickering and he tried to stop it. J.D. said he left while the two women were arguing. The next day, Robin was found dead.
Three days after Robin’s body was found, Katie Phipps was arrested and charged with capital murder.
Katie Phipps
Katie sat in jail for over a year while the case against her was being put together.
Katie’s phone had been off at the time of the murder. However, Katie’s son, who had been 11 at the time had been with her the whole day. The FBI used his phone records to pinpoint where they had been. Katie’s son had been using his phone all day and had been connected to WiFi. The phone records proved that Katie wasn’t near Helium Road at 9:50 pm when Robin was believed to have been shot.
Katie’s case was dismissed and released from jail.
The Real Killer
J.D. was now facing a capital murder charge. It’s believed that J.D. took Katie’s gun and lured Robin to Helium Road. Robin had been planning to tell J.D. that they were completely over.
J.D. became angry. He went over to his truck and grabbed the gun. The pink material found in the windshield had been from the gun, as well as a part of the gun that had been chipped off. At first, Robin had locked the doors to her car. Eventually, she got out of the car and was shot. J.D. shot her once but the gun jammed before he could shoot again. He then got a tool from his car and hit Robin on the back of the head. He then attempted to frame Katie.
In January 2018, J.D. was found guilty of first-degree murder. He was sentenced to life in prison.
J.D.’s conviction was overturned due to the belief that the court had made a mistake in the jury selection process. However, the same court reinstated his life sentence and said that the court didn’t make a mistake.
J.D. Spielbauer
FINAL THOUGHTS
J.D. is a horrible human being and a compulsive liar. He had also lied about being a war veteran. He lied to Robin and Katie for so many years and caused them to bicker and fight. Katie is very lucky that her son was on his phone all day because she could be sitting in prison right now serving time for a crime she didn’t commit. She’s also lucky that she got away from J.D. before anything happened to her as well. It seemed that Katie had remorse for blaming everything on Robin and believing the wrong person.
Sources
https://newstalk940.com/the-fatal-amarillo-love-triangle-featured-on-dateline/
https://heavy.com/news/robin-spielbauer-murder/
https://abc7amarillo.com/news/local/appeals-court-upholds-life-sentence-for-jeremy-spielbauer
