Murder in Aspen, Colorado

Back in the 1970s, Aspen was not quite the upscale resort town that it is today. The town did have its fair share of famous residents, including singer John Denver, who wrote two songs about Aspen and author Hunter S. Thompson, probably best known for writing Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. However, Aspen was still a little known, close-knit small town. That was, until 1976, when a high profile murder case would catapult Aspen onto the world stage.

Along with Denver and Thompson, Aspen was the home of Olympic skier Spider Sabich. Whilst today, unlike Denver and Thompson, Spider Sabich may not be a name that most recognize, but back in the 1960s and 1970s, Spider was pretty well-known in the United States, especially in Aspen.

Vladimir Peter Sabich Jr., was born on January 10th 1954 in Sacramento, California. His premature birth left him with thin arms and legs, hence the nickname Spider. At an early age, spider developed a talent for skiing and, after graduation, was offered a scholarship at the University of Colorado in Boulder.

Spider went on to compete on the world circuit and also at the Olympic Games in 1968, placing 5th. Spider also helped popularize skiing in the United States, he featured on the front cover of the November 1974 issue of GQ magazine, and he is said to have been the inspiration for the movie Downhill Racer released in 1969. Spider moved to Aspen in 1971 and built a home in the exclusive gated community of Starwood.

Spider was Aspen’s most popular resident. He was young, attractive and had a charismatic personality. He was the hero of Aspen and their most eligible bachelor. However, in 1972, Spider caught the eye of a young French beauty named Claudine Longet.

Spider and Claudine quickly became an item and two years later, in 1974, Claudine along with her 3 children moved into Spider’s Aspen home. Whilst today, Claudine Longet may not be a household name, back in the 1960s and 1970s, she was quite the star. However, rather than being well known for her talent as a singer and actress, she was perhaps more widely known for being the ex-wife of singer Andy Williams.

Claudine Longet was born in Paris in 1942, and left France at aged 18 to work as a Las Vegas showgirl. It was in Las Vegas, at age 18 where she met 32-year-old singer Andy Williams. There have been conflicting accounts of how the pair met. One story states that the pair met when Williams had stopped to assist Claudine, whose car had broken down by the side of the road. However, more than likely, the pair met at the Tropicana where Claudine was working as a dancer.

The couple were married in 1961 and had 3 children together during the 1960s. Claudine had always wanted to be a star, and her marriage to Andy Williams pushed her into the limelight. She recorded several cover albums, and even had a TV show with Williams, which was extremely popular. Claudine appeared in the 1968 movie, The Party, and she and Williams were close friends with Robert Kennedy, naming one of their children Bobby.

However, the golden couple separated in 1970 and eventually divorced in 1975. Thankfully for Claudine, the pair remained good friends, as it was Andy Williams that came to her rescue one year later when she was accused of murder.

Claudine was an out-of-towner, and she had bagged Aspen’s most eligible bachelor, therefore many Aspen residents took an instant disliking to her. On the outside, Claudine and Spider were quite the couple, young, attractive and were both very active on the Aspen party scene. However, Claudine had quite the temper. The softly spoken French beauty, had a dark side. She became increasingly jealous of Spider's fondness of other women as well as his popularity, and by 1975 Spider knew the relationship was over. Sources claim that Spider asked Claudine to move out of his home, but she refused and not wanting to upset the children, Spider allowed Claudine to stay.

Perhaps his good nature was his downfall, as on the 21st of March 1976, Claudine Longet fatally shot Spider Sabich in the bathroom of his Aspen home. A single bullet fired from a 22 calibre pistol severed a major artery. When police arrived, Claudine was sat on the floor crying. She told police that she had shot Spider, but that it was an accident. Spider was taken to hospital, accompanied by a grieving Claudine, but he was pronounced dead on arrival.

First to arrive at the house was the local police. They had never dealt with such a case and were inexperienced in how to handle the crime scene. By the time that experts arrived, the crime scene had been contaminated. Unfortunately, this would have devastating consequences when the case went to trial, as two crucial items of evidence could not be used. Aspen was in shock, residents were angry, not just because Spider, the town’s hero, had been murdered, but because such a high profile case brought unwanted and negative attention to Aspen.

Claudine played the grieving girlfriend quite convincingly, after all she was an actress, but police and investigators had their suspicions. Claudine claimed that the murder was an accident and that the gun accidentally fired when Spider was showing her how to use the gun in order to protect herself in his absence. On the surface, it seemed like a convincing story, and one that she must have made up quite quickly. However, looking further into the evidence, things did not quite add up.

If Spider had been teaching Claudine how to shoot a gun, why would he do so in the house, and in the bathroom of all places? Furthermore, the couple lived in a gated community with a 24/7 security guard, it was probably the safest place in Aspen. Investigators concluded that Spider had been shot in the back, just as he was about to shave, with Claudine standing at least 6 feet away.

Claudine was charged with homicide, and was quick to call her ex-husband, Andy Williams, who arrived in Aspen that same night on a private jet. Williams hired Claudine one of the best defence attorney that money could buy, Charles Weedman. If there were gaps in evidence, Weedman would find them.

The defence argued that, the police officers that had arrived initially at the crime scene mishandled the 22 calibre pistol. There was a time period when the gun was unaccounted for, as it was in the sheriff’s car. An inexperienced officer also removed the spent cartridge, so it could not be proved that the gun misfired and that Claudine tried to fire the gun more than once.

Claudine also kept a diary, in which she wrote details of their troubled relationship, a crucial piece of evidence. However, a police office had removed the diary from a desk in the house to read it. Whilst he was reading the diary, another officer was photographing the scene, so the diary was absent from the photographs. After the officer had finished reading the diary, he put it back where on the desk where he had found it. Another round of pictures were taken later on, with the diary on the desk, and appearing in the photographs. As the diary did not appear in the first photographs, Claudine and her lawyer claimed that it was in a locked drawer and that police had removed it before a search warrant was granted.

One last error was that police made was that they took a blood sample from Claudine without a court order. Despite the sample containing cocaine, the Colorado Supreme Court ruled that it was taken from her without the correct paperwork, and therefore it could not be used as evidence.

In January 1977, Claudine went to trial. It looked like a clear-cut outcome, there were no other suspects, and Claudine had admitted Shooting Spider. But, this was a high profile celebrity case and money talks.

The judge ruled that several pieces of crucial evidence could not be used at the trial. The diary was ruled as inadmissible due to the correct search warrant not being obtained. Also, the gun was dismissed due to the time that it had spent when it was unaccounted for, the defence claimed that it could have been tampered with. Whilst Claudine was in custody, a female officer allegedly heard Claudine say that she had killed Spider, but that too was ruled inadmissible. Many Aspen residents also claimed that Claudine was crazy, she was known to throw tantrums as well as drive around town recklessly.

At the trial, Claudine delivered the performance of her life. She even hired a stylist to dress her for court. She insisted that the whole thing was a tragic accident and that they were in love, without the diary in which she had written about their problematic relationship, there was no evidence to oppose her claims. The defence also argued that the safety catch on the gun was defective. It took the jury less than 3 hours to conclude that Claudine was guilty of negligent homicide. She received the lowest conviction that she could have received, it was merely a misdemeanour.

Claudine received just 30 days in prison and a small fine. She was also allowed to serve the time at her convenience. Claudine jetted off to Mexico for a vacation and completed her prison time five months later at Pitkin County Jail, painting her cell pink.

Aspen was in a state of shock, everyone knew that Claudine had got away with murder. The Sabich family filed a claim against Claudine for $1.5 million, which was settled out of court, with the provision that she never discusses or writes anything about any details of the killing.

In 1980, Mick Jagger wrote a song called Claudine, but it could not be released due to legal issues. After the case, Claudine kept out of the limelight. She went on to marry a defence attorney called Ron Austin. The pair kept a home in Aspen, where, at aged 79, Claudine still resides today.