Aaron Spencer is being held on a preliminary charge of first-degree murder in the death of Michael Fosler. An expert predicts that the charges against an Arkansas father who is accused of shooting and killing his 14-year-old daughter’s alleged stalker will be dropped.
Last Tuesday, Aaron Spencer, 36, reported his daughter missing, and deputies from the Lonoke County Sheriff’s Office were sent to his residence. However, while travelling, they discovered that Spencer had discovered his daughter in Michael Fosler’s 67-year-old automobile and that during the subsequent altercation, the father had fatally shot the other guy.
Spencer was taken into the custody of the Lonoke County Detention Center after being charged with a Class Y felony of first-degree murder. After posting bond, he was freed the next day.
After stalking and raping Spencer’s 14-year-old daughter over the summer, Fosler was given a “no contact” order, and Spencer’s wife, Heather, stated on Facebook that she and her husband were afraid Fosler would kill their daughter. She added that neither she nor her husband knew that Fosler was communicating with the youngster prior to the Tuesday altercation.
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“We called 911 during the entire event,” she stated. “We were unaware that this man was contacting our child again.” Instead of waiting for two crimes, he was waiting for six or nine. With our kid as the only eyewitness, he was facing the remainder of his pitiful life behind bars.”
It was not possible to reach Spencer’s wife for comment.
According to Lonoke County Sheriff John Staley, who spoke with USA Today, Fosler was arrested in July on suspicion of sexual assault and stalking a kid by a different agency. Fosler was freed when he posted a $50,000 bail.
The sheriff stated that his agency is looking into the shooting.
According to Staley, “a homicide indicates that someone took another person’s life when we arrive on the scene.” “It can be justified or it can’t. That is the information that the fact seeking and inquiry will reveal.”
It was not possible to get in touch with the Lonoke County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office for comment.
Attorney Brian Claypool, who practices in California and has experience with cases involving child sexual abuse, told Fox News Digital that if Spencer is accused of first-degree murder, his lawyers have a number of defences that may drastically cut down on or perhaps completely remove any potential jail term.
“It is certain that Aaron Spencer’s legal team will fight in a heated manner. In the state of Arkansas, that serves as a defence. In actuality, that indicates that Spencer carried out the purported murder while experiencing an emotional disturbance, Claypool stated on Monday.
“Heat of passion reduces a charge of first-degree or second-degree murder down to manslaughter,” Claypool said. “That would be a big deal for Aaron Spencer, because that can make the difference between getting convicted and spending 30 years to life in jail or serving five to 20 years in jail.”
According to Claypool, this argument will heavily rely on the shooting timeline that Lonoke detectives are now piecing together.
“Hypothetically [if Spencer] went out and grabbed dinner for a couple of hours, went to the movies, then five hours later showed up and shot Fosler [after finding out that he was with his missing daughter], he might have a harder time arguing heat of passion,” he stated.
According to Claypool, Spencer’s lawyers may potentially contend that their client shot Fosler in self-defense, thus excluding any possibility of a murder accusation.
“Most self-defense laws throughout the country require the person who uses deadly force to be in imminent fear of grave bodily harm to either themself or a family member,” Claypool said.
Spencer will counter, saying, “I wanted to make sure my daughter survived this for another day because I was afraid.” Before Fosler hurt my daughter, I had to shoot him,” Claypool murmured. The second option is if it turns out that, for instance, Fosler approached Spencer and that Foster was armed, threatened Spencer, or threatened to hurt his daughter, saying something like, ‘Hey, I’m going to murder your daughter if you attempt to grab me.’ Spencer could then be able to murder with fatal force at that precise moment.”
Before the case is tried, Claypool suggested that the way the police handled the Spencer family’s requests for assistance be closely examined.
