Lie-Detector Answers, Threats Led To Arrests In Aspen Socialite's Murder
ASPEN, Colo. (CBS4) - Law enforcement initially suspected and arrested two women in the bludgeoning death of an Aspen socialite because one offered shaky answers in a lie-detector test and the other repeatedly threatened to kill the victim.
According to the Aspen Daily News, which reviewed the arrest affidavits for Nancy Styler and Kathy Carpenter that were released, the two were fingered in Nancy Pfister's death because Carpenter gave suspicious answers in a polygraph test and Styler repeatedly threatened she would kill Pfister.
Styler's husband, William Styler, 66, confessed to the murder and said he acted alone, the Pitkin County Sheriff's Office said. Charges against Nancy Styler and Carpenter have been dropped.
Investigators initially believed Styler couldn't have acted alone in Pfister's killing because he suffers from a disease that deteriorates his lower body, making it difficult for him to move a body by himself, the paper reported.
The Stylers rented Pfister's Aspen home for several weeks over the winter and had hoped to open a spa business. The affidavits pointed to a bitter financial dispute between the Stylers and Pfister, which police say led to Pfister's Feb. 24 murder. She was found dead in a closet in her home two days later by Carpenter.
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