Aaron Spencer: Hero Dad on Trial

A judge signed a nineteen-page order calling the lead detective's conduct "intentional" and finding "the appearance of a coverup." Two days later, the Lonoke County Sheriff's Office fired Detective Robbie McCain. They cited "policy violations." The judge's order already told the public everything the sheriff's office wouldn't say. Aaron Spencer shot and killed sixty-seven-year-old Michael Fosler a...

A father charged with murder. A 19-page ruling from a judge who used the word “coverup.” A detective fired. A sheriff who says he takes responsibility. A prosecutor who went quiet. And the defendant — who is now favored to become the next sheriff of the county that tried to put him away. This three-part conversation with an outside legal analyst covers the ruling, the road to the sheriff’s badge,...

A judge used the word “coverup” in a signed order about evidence handling in Aaron Spencer’s case. But the evidence problems in Lonoke County didn’t start with Spencer. They go back more than a decade — and they follow the same pattern every time. In 2021, a Lonoke County deputy shot and killed Hunter Brittain, a seventeen-year-old, during a traffic stop. Brittain was unarmed. The deputy’s body ca...

Aaron Spencer defeated the man who arrested him, survived a murder charge that collapsed under the weight of evidence failures, and won a primary that the entire country watched. The question everyone’s asking now is what happens when he actually takes the job. Spencer won the Republican nomination with 53.5 percent of the vote in a three-way primary, beating incumbent John Staley by double digits...

Nineteen pages. That’s how long it took Judge Ralph Wilson to explain why the murder case against Aaron Spencer had to be thrown out. Not reduced, not delayed, not retried. Dismissed. Wilson’s order walked through eleven distinct violations by lead Detective Robbie McCain. The dashcam from Michael Fosler’s truck was never photographed in position. The SD card was removed and viewed on McCain’s per...

Detective Robbie McCain — the lead investigator in the Aaron Spencer case and the man at the center of Judge Ralph Wilson's nineteen-page dismissal order — has been terminated by the Lonoke County Sheriff's Office for "policy violations." The firing came two days after Wilson documented those violations in a signed constitutional ruling that found "intentional" law enforcement conduct and "the app...

It's over. Judge Ralph Wilson Jr. dismissed the second-degree murder case against Aaron Spencer, finding that Lonoke County law enforcement's conduct gave "the appearance of a coverup" and was "so egregious" that the case could not continue. After nearly two years of fighting a system that charged a father for protecting his thirteen-year-old daughter, Spencer walks out without a conviction hangin...

Special Judge Ralph Wilson dismissed the second-degree murder charge against Aaron Spencer on constitutional grounds, finding that law enforcement's handling of key evidence violated Spencer's Fifth and Fourteenth Amendment rights to due process. The centerpiece of the ruling was the disappearance of an internal SD memory card from a dashcam in Michael Fosler's truck — the vehicle present during t...

Aaron Spencer found his daughter missing from her bedroom after midnight. He found her in the truck of the man who had been charged with crimes against her — a man who was out on bond with a no-contact order. Spencer rammed the truck. He says Fosler lunged at him. He fired. He called 911.Now he's facing second-degree murder with a firearm enhancement. His trial is set for June 22nd. And the eviden...

Michael Fosler was facing 40 counts of child sexual abuse against a child. A judge released him on bond. He never answered for a single count. Aaron Spencer is accused of the shooting that ended that possibility — and on June 22nd, he goes to trial in Arkansas. This case has been building for months. A judge was removed. A primary election became a referendum on what happened here. The prosecution...

Aaron Spencer has won the Republican primary for Lonoke County Sheriff. He received more than double the votes of the thirteen-year incumbent. The man charged with second-degree murder is now the frontrunner to become the top law enforcement officer in the county prosecuting him. This episode breaks down exactly where the case stands after the primary victory and what happens next. The January tri...

The Arkansas Supreme Court just removed Judge Barbara Elmore from Aaron Spencer's case and granted a Writ of Certiorari to review every ruling she made. This is extraordinary. Three justices wanted her gone since May, when the high court struck down her gag order as a "plain, manifest, clear, and gross abuse of discretion." Seven months later, she imposed new restrictions on public access. The Sup...

Defense attorney Bob Motta delivers comprehensive legal analysis on Aaron Spencer's murder case after the Arkansas Supreme Court removed Judge Barbara Elmore—and examines what the McKee-Tepe case tells us about high-stakes murder defense. The Spencer portion covers everything. What it takes for a state supreme court to remove a sitting judge. Why three justices wanted Elmore gone since May. What t...

The judge is gone. Now Aaron Spencer has to beat the murder charge. Second-degree murder under Arkansas law means purposely causing death without premeditation. The prosecution says Spencer killed Michael Fosler with purpose. The defense says he saved his daughter from the man who allegedly raped her—a man out on $5,000 bond with 43 counts including sexual assault, internet stalking of a child, an...

It finally happened. The Arkansas Supreme Court removed Judge Barbara Elmore from Aaron Spencer's second-degree murder trial. This is the same judge who was already reversed in May 2025 when the high court called her gag order a "plain, manifest, clear, and gross abuse of discretion." Seven months later, she imposed new restrictions—55-person trial limit, no cameras, no overflow room. The Supreme...

This is the update we've been waiting for. The Arkansas Supreme Court has removed Judge Barbara Elmore from Aaron Spencer's murder case. Every ruling she made is now under review. For over a year, this judge has tried to bury this case. She released Michael Fosler — the man charged with 43 felonies against Spencer's daughter — on bond. When Spencer was charged with murder, she got that case too. S...

Defense attorney Bob Motta analyzes the legal battle Aaron Spencer faces — and compares it to another high-profile murder case where the questions are completely different. Spencer goes to trial in one week for killing Michael Fosler, a 67-year-old man facing 43 felony charges for alleged crimes against Spencer's 13-year-old daughter. Fosler posted $50,000 bond and got a no-contact order. Three mo...

Everything changed just after 1 AM. Aaron Spencer's 13-year-old daughter — the same girl Michael Fosler was facing 43 felony charges for allegedly victimizing — was missing from her bed. Spencer found her in Fosler's truck, heading toward Fosler's house. Three months earlier, Fosler had posted $50,000 bond and gotten a no-contact order. That order was allegedly violated with the victim physically...

What would YOU do if a man already accused of dozens of crimes against your child came back and took her again? That’s the impossible question at the heart of the Aaron Spencer case — a story that exposes not only a horrific personal nightmare, but a justice system many say failed at every step. In this emotional and legally complex episode of Hidden Killers, Tony Brueski and defense attorney Bob...

Two cases this week that expose exactly how broken the American legal system is — in completely opposite directions. In Arkansas, Aaron Spencer is heading to trial for stopping Michael Fosler, a 67-year-old man with 43 felony charges who was out on bond and actively taking Spencer's 13-year-old daughter in the middle of the night. Fosler had already assaulted her once. A no-contact order was in pl...

Two cases this week that expose exactly how broken the American legal system is — in completely opposite directions. In Arkansas, Aaron Spencer is heading to trial for stopping Michael Fosler, a 67-year-old man with 43 felony charges who was out on bond and actively taking Spencer's 13-year-old daughter in the middle of the night. Fosler had already assaulted her once. A no-contact order was in pl...

Michael Fosler was out on a $50,000 bond. He had 43 felony charges hanging over him — assault of a minor, grooming, exploitation material. A no-contact order was in place. The system knew exactly who he was and what he was capable of. And just after 1 a.m. on October 8th, 2024, Aaron Spencer's 13-year-old daughter was in Fosler's truck, being taken toward Fosler's house in the middle of the night....

Three months before Aaron Spencer stopped Michael Fosler from taking his daughter, he stood in front of Lonoke County deputies in complete shock. His 13-year-old had just disclosed that Fosler — a 67-year-old man — had assaulted her. Body cameras captured everything. And in that moment of devastation, Spencer said something prosecutors now want to use against him: "Sometimes you've got to handle t...

Two families. Two nightmares. One broken system. In this Hidden Killers double-feature, Tony Brueski and Bob Motta examine two cases that reveal the same haunting theme — what happens when justice fails. First, they unpack the Melodee Buzzard investigation, where a mother is behind bars but her daughter is still missing, leaving a trail of disguises and unanswered questions. Then, they turn to Aar...

The Lonoke County Prosecutor is calling it vigilante justice . The defense calls it a father protecting his child . In this Hidden Killers interview, Tony Brueski and Bob Motta unpack the State’s new filing in the Aaron Spencer case — a motion to use body-cam footage recorded three months before the shooting. In it, Spencer, furious after learning his daughter had been assaulted, tells deputies he...