In a tragic and legally complicated case out of central Arkansas, a father is now facing murder charges after discovering an older man with his missing 14-year-old daughter in a vehicle under allegedly illicit circumstances and shooting him. Aaron Spencer, 36, was arrested for the fatal shooting of 67-year-old Michael Fosler, a man who was already awaiting trial for allegedly sexually assaulting the young girl several months ago and was under a no-contact order.
Details of the Case
The fatal confrontation took place Oct. 8, in Lonoke County, Arkansas. Spencer had been searching for his missing daughter when he found her in a vehicle with Fosler. According to the Lonoke County Sheriff’s Office, the two men had a confrontation, leading to Spencer shooting Fosler, who was pronounced dead at the scene.
Fosler had a history with Spencer’s family. In July, he had been arrested and charged with internet stalking and sexual assault involving the same 14-year-old girl. He was released on bond and was scheduled to face trial in December. The Spencers had secured a no-contact order against him, yet on the night of the shooting, Spencer found Fosler in violation of that order, raising alarm for his daughter’s safety. According to reports from USA Today, Spencer’s wife, Heather, expressed the family’s fear that Fosler had taken their daughter to harm her further, possibly even to kill her.
The Sheriff’s office revealed to the news outlet that deputies were first alerted to the situation after a call about a missing juvenile. While officers were en route, Spencer reportedly found Fosler with his daughter, which led to the deadly confrontation. Lonoke County Sheriff John Staley later said in a video that investigators are still piecing together exactly what transpired.
Heather Spencer took to social media to defend her husband, calling him a “hero” who acted out of necessity to protect their child.
“He was able to retrieve our child alive, but in the process, he was attacked and did what he had to do to protect himself and our minor child,” she wrote on Facebook, as reported by Newsweek. She also expressed frustration with how the case had been handled by local authorities so far, stating, “We had no idea this man was in contact with our child again…We thought Fosler had taken our daughter to kill her.”
The Spencers had a GoFundMe page set up to help pay for legal costs, but that was taken down by the website as per the company’s terms of service that “prohibit fundraisers that raise money for the legal defense of anyone formally charged with ‘an alleged violent crime,'” USA Today reported. Heather Spencer is taking donations via Venmo on her Facebook page and Gun Owners of Arkansas (GO-AR), after speaking with the family and examining the case, have established a legal defense fund to help Aaron Spencer.
The GO-AR site also shares a letter from Heather Spencer with more details of her family’s ordeal.
“By God’s never-failing grace, my husband passed this man driving on our road with our minor child in the vehicle. As soon as the predator knew my husband was behind him, he ran. The chase ended in an accident. Aaron was able to retrieve our child alive, but in the process, he was attacked and did what he had to do to protect himself and our minor child. He is now facing an outrageous murder 1 charge,” Heather Spencer wrote in the letter.
In a statement, Sheriff Staley acknowledged the emotionally charged nature of the case, noting that while it is a tragic situation, it is the prosecutor’s office that will ultimately decide what charges, if any, will be filed.
The Investigation
“This is a tragic situation, and my thoughts and prayers are with all those involved,” Staley said in a press release.
In an interview with USA Today, Staley also said, “”I absolutely do not support predators. “I’m a daddy. I have three daughters. I know she’s (the mother) hurt right now, but there’s absolutely nobody I would put ahead of our children, their children, my children.”
As the investigation continues, Spencer has been released on bail. The charges he faces are preliminary and could change as more information comes to light, Staley stressed. If convicted of first-degree murder, Spencer could face a sentence of up to life in prison .
How investigators determine the details of the events of the shooting played out will serve a big role in the possible outcome of this case. If, in fact, Fosler initiated an attack against the father in response to him trying to get his daughter back or if it can be determined there was indeed a legitimate concern for the girl’s immediate welfare and life, Spencer could have a strong case for self-defense. Arkansas, like many states, also recognizes the right to defend third parties from imminent serious bodily harm or death.
On the other hand, if an understandably irate Spencer, simply pulled Fosler from the car and in anger, shot him, while a jury of 12 fathers would be hard pressed to convict him of murder, the law itself takes a dim view of citizens meting out justice in such measures. Spencer, unless able to work a plea (which would be likely in this case) or pull a not-guilty verdict based on temporary insanity, could be facing legitimate time for this in which case, would such an action be worth it?
It’s a challenging and complicated case from a legal standpoint to say the least.
So, what would you do in this situation? What would any father do?
There’s nothing complicated in this case…. a p.e.r.v is dead and that’s good for the world.
I’d lie through my teeth to get onto the jury and vote not guilty in the first second of deliberations.
Goes without saying that the family should be keeping their traps shut and let the lawyer frame the messaging.
Hopefully, he didn’t say anything except to his lawyer.
Exactly! Better that this trash is gone and society doesn’t have to support and feed him for years!
There IS a complication, and it’s a fairly serious one:
The dead perp is a retired police chief from Indiana and a school resource officer.
Amen!
You have no idea if she willingly went with him, or even if she came on to him. A 14 year old girl is not a little kid. The way the story reads he was a nut case, but she could have been a piece of trash that wanted him and sex. We don’t know.
It’s called statutory rape, dumbass. She is not old enough to consent, and he is far too old to not know better. He’s the piece of trash for talking to her in the first place.
Cool story but you may want to stay off the M.A.P.
Found the MAP
Being a “minor attracted individual”, Michael Fosler is a TRUE progressive.
I wonder if he’s into the “+” of the alphabet soup.
The ones that made monkey pox into a std and identifier for child abuse?
If I was on the jury, nothing would make me vote to convict.
Given the charge and known circumstances yeah can’t square that circle. Probably would have trouble convicting on a whole lot of other charges but if it really was murder 1 they are out of their damned minds if only with getting a jury on board in this scenario.
He killed a pedophile that had previously been convicted of sexually abusing his minor daughter…and was clearly planning to repeat the crime.
Give the man a medal…he’s a freakin’ hero
He needed killing.
End of discussion.
Agreed
Another harris/biden voter got killed. He’ll still vote, though.
Was the 14 year old the one doing the contacting or was she a kidnapped wallflower, etc? If this was some sort of perverted love connection verses angry parents more details are needed.
The order of protection would not work in the corpse’s favor.
Debbie, I have to agree with you. While the law is clear on an issue like this, I have dealt with plenty of teens, male and female, that were going on thirty. That said, it is the adult’s responsibility to say no. Self defense? I want to say yes, but I need more information.
Pending criminal charges and an active order of protection. Nothing else needs to be known. The 14-year-old is a minor and any theoretical enthusiasm for the perv doesn’t mean a thing.
Thank You! 14 year old doesn’t get to make that decision and 67 year old now gets to rethink his choice’s for quite a long time
At last a comment from a person who has a brain in their head. The answer is that we don’t know.
so what would you do in this situation?
under advice of counsel I won’t be answering any questions.
Sometimes the “varmint defense” resonates…
What would I do?
Well giving both girl and pervert brochures on safe sex and the responsibilities of being a parent would be a start.
Maybe also see if they would be willing to make a porno movie.
Now before you all start bashing you must remember kiddie diddling has the approval of our now standing President Joe Biden.
And if its permissible by our country’s leaders it should be permissible by all the citizen subjects.
It’s a new America, best get with the plan.
It didn’t work when Clinton was in office (being married and getting a bj from someone else) so it shouldn’t work here. We even asked our CO if it was ok since Clinton did it. He said no ad the UCMJ still stands.
The world is a better place
i don’t understand Go Fund Me’s policy. The sheriff said he was not charged with a crime yet.
Worth mentioning the dead guy was a former sheriff in the neighboring county.
And he was dumb enough to mess with a guy that had Freedom tattooed on his arm.
There you go! Sounds amazingly fishy that dad would be charged with anything but “back the blue” & all that BS comes into focus. Did I see blame cast on a minor 14 year old girl?!?🙄😡
At first, I thought that I needed more details in this case to say what I think was/is right-versus-wrong. Upon further consideration, I do not need any more details. A man who is accused of sexually assaulting an underage girl had her in his car. That is de facto kidnapping and all force is justified until the man surrenders.
The only way this gets legally sticky is if the man surrendered and then the father executed him. I doubt that I would convict the father for capital murder, though, even if that was the case.
If I were the father and the man surrendered to me, I can easily imagine that I would have a very hard time just sitting there exchanging pleasantries while waiting for police to arrive. Even if I wanted to off the man, I would refrain from doing so because of the legal jeopardy which, if that were to go awry, would separate me from my child and spouse which is a very bad outcome.
Also important to understand: if the father wanted justice, all he would have to do is wait for the man’s conviction and incarceration–then inform the inmates what the man had done and let the inmates take care of that man.
I wouldn’t care if he filmed himself making the pedo dig his own grave before putting a bullet in the back of his head. Not guilty on all counts.
Something tells me that the daugjter snuck out to hook up with the man. If grown men didn’t want to bang 14 year old poon they wouldn’t have to make laws to prevent it.
67 year old man. 14 year old girl. Whatever the circumstances, he’s a child molester (do we have to say “allegedly” since he wasn’t convicted yet?) and his death made the situation better.
P Diddy, Epstein and his long list of accomplices, ex-Sen. Menendez, on and on. It seems to be a fine art of the predator class to con young kids into their clutches.
Rename the town Spencer Arkansas.
That prosecutor should apologize for failing to keep the pervert Fosler in jail when he had the chance, beg Dad’s pardon for the inconvenience, and send him home once and for all.
The sheriff has little choice other than file charges and turn the case over to the prosecutor.
Without more information, my feeling is that the charge should have been Murder 2, not Murder 1.
With only the information we have here, if there are no other witnesses to the actual shooting and Spencer and the daughter stick to their story that Fosler was the aggressor there is no possible way to get a conviction against Spencer and the prosecutor will almost certainly drop the case quickly.
Even if there are facts to support a Murder charge the prosecutor would be crazy to try to take Spencer to court in a case where the jury is far more likely to award Spenser a gold medal rather than convict him of any crime.
I don’t care if the dad marched the pervert out into the woods, made him kneel down, then shot him in the back of the head I absolutely would not vote to convict. Even if dad admitted to the above and said his only regret was killing him to fast, still no conviction.
Simple solution:
https://www.premier1supplies.com/p/emasculatome
Maybe keep track of your 14yr old a little better.
Found the victim blamer.
Why Is This Man Being Charged Instead of Getting a Medal?
“While we love to use real life scenarios to explain how self defense laws work, this story is disturbing in many ways, but for now we will focus on the disturbing criminal allegations against the father of a 14 year-old girl, who did what probably a lot of other fathers would have done as well. Washington Gun Law President, William Kirk, discusses a really tough case out of Arkansas, where we hope no formal charges will be filed,…”
h ttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uBDuulpDWJU
I know nothing about the family in this report. I have met other families with an over protective father driving the children crazy and in that case the daughter might want to do anything to get out. It is doubtful she was kidnapped by force, and she clearly knew about the no-contact order, but it is the adult’s responsibility to send her (not to take her) home. When three people are all yelling at each other, seconds count and the police are just minutes away, then bad things happen.
BREAKING NEWS: ANTI-GUN GOVERNOR SURRENDERS IN MAJOR LEGAL FIGHT.
NM Governor Grisham drops her executive orders involving sensitive places. Mark Smith Four Boxes Diner discusses.
h ttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yp9qebWp–0
Damn predator got off easy. Fire up the industrial shredder and feed the lake’s fish.
One way to make a fishing m.a.p.
If the report of the incident is accurate, I see no crime on the part of the father. Jury nullification if necessary.
Only crime was Unlicensed Pest Control
Fine him $50
Perv friendly law enforcement makes me want to puke. For starters.
What would I do? This father of two daughters looked up his address and sent him some cash with a note thanking him for taking out the trash.
And as others have suggested, they can charge him with whatever they want, but they will never find any set of 12 people that would convict him of j-walking, much less anything more serious. They should save the tax payers some money and just award him a medal and be done with it.
The justice system failed this family, and the father did his duty. A once law enforcement officer acting in this way should not be allowed back out. The people charged should be the people involved with letting the child predator back out on the street.
we are missing the incentives. charging the bureaucrats with accessory to murder if they wish to charge the father, would magically make all the charges go away.
If i’m on this jury then this man walks free.
However, the best way to handle this is to hold the bastard at gunpoint until the police arrive and you make damn sure the DA charges him with kidnapping and statutory rape. Go to the media if the DA’s campaign was funded by George Soros.
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