Customer Reviews

Married To Murder

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I just finished this book and wish there had been more "meat" in it. Of course, the story, which is very interesting, (what kind of person would kill his own teenage children and two of his wives without a shred of remorse?) practically tells itself. The problem is that the author failed to think about the kinds of questions a reader might have. For example, he spends only one paragraph mentioning that Robert Spangler's father died under very suspicious circumstances when his son, who stood to inherit a large amount of money, visited him. I wanted to know more! The author also tends to include too many quotes from newspapers, police reports, etc., but doesn't seem to provide a lot of fresh information. Text is repetitive (for example, stating the location of an FBI lab not once but twice within a few paragraphs), contains grammatical errors, and there is just too much conjecture (also repetitive) on the part of the author. Why wasn't this book more carefully proofread?
All in all, I wasn't left with that satisfied feeling I get after reading Ann Rule, who just states the facts and does a lot of digging to back up any conclusions she makes.

I disagree with some of the other reviewers. I too read a lot of true crime books. Robert Scott has written a true crime book about one of America's most dangerous serial killers. Robert "Bob" Spangler was the adopted son of a prominent Iowa state professor. Sadly, all those around him started dying mysteriously. Bob who was married unhappily to Nancy Stahlman and the father of two teenage children wanted out of the marriage but his mistress did not want the troubles of teenage children. Sadly, Bob arranged to make his first wife's death to look like a suicide on December 30, 1978 in Littleton, Colorado (hometown of Columbine high school). He also murdered his children with a gun and made it look like it was entirely his wife's fault. Bob continued to live in the house of death afterwards without much conscience. His second wife who he killed for would also die under the suspicious circumstances of a pill-forced suicide in 1994. His third wife would be pushed down in the Grand Canyon in Arizona during one of Bob's many hiking trips. His adopted father died under mysterious circumstances despite his advanced age after a visit from his son. His motivation was all selfish. He never did anything for anybody else. He was a successful businessman in his own right but his personal life was surrounded by death. Bob could sleep very well in his Littleton house as well as other places. Until the law finally caught up with him, it just seemed like he was getting away with murder. His second and third wives had included him in his estate if they died before him. His father also had a sizable fortune. Bob just didn't want to work no more and he took a very different road. He killed his own children because he couldn't control them anymore as teenagers and showed absolutely no remorse for his crimes which are just unspeakable and horrendous. I can't imagine somebody to be so cold, calculated, and homicidal towards the people including his three wives and two children who he was supposed to love. Imagine, he shot to death his own children for no reason because they would just be trouble with his extra-marital relationship. I can't blame his wives because I think they were madly in love with him and paid dearly with their lives as well one way or another. His children were another story. Maybe they would have brought him to justice for their mother's death. Most people in Bob's situation would have just left the wife and divorce. I guess Bob just couldn't handle losing his money and grip on his life.

I really tired to like this book, and it is very rare that I don't finish a book I start. I felt like the author really didn't have a lot to write about, so he just filled the book with a lot of information that was needless. If you are looking for a good read to put you to sleep then this is it. Otherwise I wouldn't suggest it.

I highly recommend this true crime book, which is about so-called "black widower" Robert Spangler, who seemed to experience more than his share of "tragedies," which for the most part he created. But it was one death where it appeared he had nothing to do with causing which unraveled years of deception. Interesting case, very good read.

As a general rule, I found Robert Scott to be an excellent true crime genre writer; however, with this book I was a little disappointed. While the story was definitely one that should have been written, often the reader is subjected to phrases such as "It is unclear..." and "It is unknown..." Unfortunately, these phrases seem to proceed sentences that would have contained facts very important to the case...and, of course, the reader.

I brought this book and finished it withen a day, although a bit desturbing it is one that you will not be able to put down, i have a few of robert scoots books now & they are all easy reading & very detailed, a must for any book collection

As a long time resident of Grand Canyon I have been long interested in the Canyon's most famous murder. I was disappointed in this book and hope that someone does a better job in the future. I found Scott's writing inconsistent --- at times detailed but frequently hurried and shallow. While reading it I felt the author was trying to meet a deadline and was way behind! Frequently details were left out --- his description of exactly where the murder took place on the trail is inexact. I never felt like the author was close to giving me insight into this murder. Apparently the murder was done for financial reasons --- the book contained just a few sentences giving the financial details. More questions!!! Way too much heavy use of quotes from official sources rather than insights by the author or experts.

This is a case of me wishing that this story had been better written, so it could serve as a more generally cited example of how many serial killers (like BTK) operate under cover of being otherwise average, law-abiding citizens.

That said, I do think this book should be required reading for law enforcement officers, in serving as an egregious example of how sloppy and blind-sided investigatory work can result in the premature release of dangerous individuals. I was frankly stunned to learn that Spangler got away with murdering his first wife and two teenaged children, much less any of the other murders attributed to him.

Author Robert Scott's description of the crime scene and circumstances leading up to the deaths of Spangler's first wife, son and daughter, were quite enough to red flag me to the likelihood that Spangler was the real culprit. The evidence of the teenaged son having stuggled with his assailant in no way pointed to his having been ultimately overwhelmed by his smaller, less physically powerful mother. The fact investigating officers of the time found it possible to overlook this one glaring contradiction between actual crime scene evidence and Spangler's cover story, caused me to shudder.

This was very much a case of "Justice delayed is justice denied," as Spangler lived
out the balance of his life with two more wives. The only parts of this book I genuinely enjoyed were the quotes from Spangler's second wife's book about the Grand Canyon. The woman was a truly gifted writer, who painted a vivid word picture that does full justice to the otherwise near-incomprehensible splendor of the Canyon. It is a trememdous shame that her own mood disorders and notorious association with Spangler, may be overshadowing the legacy of her finely written tribute to the Canyon. I also enjoyed reading about the park ranger who assisted with solving "the Grand Canyon divorce," case, involving Spangler's third wife. These hard working rangers, as Scott noted, really are so much more than mere tour guides.

Finally, I was so relieved to learn that Spangler was denied his dying wish, in terms of where he wanted his remains to be buried. I'm not going to spoil it for future readers by disclosing the location here. I'll only add if the state had the option of disposing of ashes from the likes of Spangler by instead flushing them down a toilet or disposing of them in a dumpster, that would still be too good for them. This was a man who honestly believed that if he "only" committed murder on a few days of his life, and was otherwise well-behaved and law abiding the rest of the time, people should still recall him as having been a mostly-good man. His attitude was a classic as sociopathic thinking goes, and still leaves me wondering if sociopaths and serial killers are the result of genetic deviation or other factors?

I have no idea why the main character had the motivation to definately murder 4 people (and possibly 7, but he did not admit to the others) It is an o.k. that would have benefited from interviews with family members of the murdered victims who knew the killer Bob. It also would have benefited from an interview with Bob himself (but I realize this is impossible due to him being deceased. )

I was spellbound by this story. It was quite amazing to walk inside the mind of a murderer. I wonder if it will ever come out how many people he disposed of in his lifetime. Wonderfully written.