{"id":12408,"date":"2026-06-05T04:03:23","date_gmt":"2026-06-05T04:03:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=12408"},"modified":"2026-06-05T04:03:23","modified_gmt":"2026-06-05T04:03:23","slug":"murder-charge-dropped-for-arkansas-sheriff-nominee-who-killed-daughters-alleged-abuser","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=12408","title":{"rendered":"Murder charge dropped for Arkansas sheriff nominee who killed daughter\u2019s alleged abuser"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

LONOKE, Ark. (AP) \u2014 A judge has dismissed a murder charge against an Arkansas sheriff nominee who was accused of killing his teenage daughter\u2019s alleged abuser in 2024.<\/p>\n

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Special Circuit Court Judge Ralph Wilson Jr. dismissed the case against Aaron Spencer Thursday afternoon \u2014 just a few weeks before his trial on the second degree murder charge was expected to begin \u2014 because a dash camera memory card that may have captured the shooting was lost by law enforcement.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe court finds that conduct by law enforcement was so egregious that dismissal of this case is warranted,\u201d Wilson wrote.<\/p>\n

Spencer\u2019s attorneys did not deny that he shot and killed Michael Fosler, 67, while Fosler was out on bond after being charged with dozens of sexual offenses against Spencer\u2019s then-13-year-old daughter.<\/p>\n

Court documents show on the night of the shooting, Spencer had woken up to find his daughter missing, and later found the girl in the passenger seat of a vehicle Fosler was driving. Spencer forced Fosler\u2019s truck off the road and after an altercation called 911 to report he had shot the man.<\/p>\n

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Prosecutors said Spencer planned the killing and that he could have called police while pursuing Fosler. But Spencer pleaded not guilty, and maintained he acted to protect his child from a predator.<\/p>\n

Spencer\u2019s attorney, Erin Cassinelli, said she is thankful for the court\u2019s decision.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo member of this family should ever again be forced to walk into a courtroom and relive this horror,\u201d she said in a statement. \u201cThis father should have never been charged for protecting his child.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

The Associated Press typically does not identify sex abuse victims, but Spencer has made his daughter\u2019s experience with the criminal justice system a central part of his campaign for sheriff.<\/p>\n

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His trial on the second-degree murder charge was expected to begin in just a few weeks.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12407,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12408","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-national-news"],"yoast_head":"\nMurder charge dropped for Arkansas sheriff nominee who killed daughter\u2019s alleged abuser - Silicon Valley Moving Post<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=12408\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Murder charge dropped for Arkansas sheriff nominee who killed daughter\u2019s alleged abuser - 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