Despite Conviction, Questions Still Remain In Murder Of Aspen Socialite Nancy Pfister
ASPEN, Colo. (CBS4) - Despite a confession and the case being closed, many still believe the evidence shows the death of Aspen socialite Nancy Pfister wasn't by the hands of one man.
A former tenant of Pfister said last June that he killed her in her home while she was sleeping. William "Trey" Styler III, 66, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and received a 20-year prison sentence as part of a plea deal.
But many, including Deputy District Attorney Andrea Bryan, believe that Styler's wife, Nancy Styler, knew about the murder and walked.
"What really stuck out at me ... was she couldn't stop talking about how horrible a person that she thought Nancy Pfister was," Bryan said in a interview for CBS's "48 Hours." "It appeared that there could have been enough anger there that she would actually have been the one who killed Nancy Pfister."
Also once considered a suspect was Pfister's friend, Kathy Carpenter, who also knew the Stylers. She also was freed once Styler confessed. But Bryan is still also suspicious about her role.
"Kathy Carpenter was a little bit too quick to point the finger at suspects after discovering the body," said Bryan. "She did have motive. Nancy Pfister treated her badly at times. She hurt her. There was this up and down -- their relationship was a rollercoaster."
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William Styler has a medical condition that prosecutors believe would have made it impossible to move Pfister's body into a closet where she was found. Investigator Lisa Miller admitted William Styler told a believable story, but she doesn't believe it and thinks both Nancy Styler and Kathy Carpenter and had something to do with the murder.
"Kathy Carpenter saw that body before that body had been wrapped and packaged as it was. Kathy Carpenter had something to do with the murder or the cleanup afterwards," Miller said.
Bryan agreed, but says they had no choice but to take the deal because they didn't have enough evidence against the two women to prove a case beyond a reasonable doubt.
"We can't create evidence against them that's just not there," she explained. "I saw this as really one of our only opportunities -- to get some closure."
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Throughout the "48 Hours" program both Nancy Styler and Carpenter denied having anything to do with Pfister's murder.
"My reputation was shining. And now I'm guilty by matrimony," Nancy Styler said.
"It just really hurts me to think that people might think that I was capable of something like this. There's no way. There's no way," Carpenter said.
Nancy Styler, who cannot face prosecution for Pfister's murder, has now filed for divorce. She's also taken back her maiden name and moved to another state.
Carpenter lost her job at a bank and housing she received through it and lives with her mother. Carpenter still faces the threat of prosecution should more evidence be found.
