State wins appeal after Jeremy Spielbauer murder conviction reversed

AMARILLO, Texas (KFDA) - An Amarillo man’s murder case remains in limbo after the state won an appeal yesterday.

In January of 2020, the Seventh Court of Appeals reversed Jeremy Spielbauer’s conviction for killing his ex-wife.

His ex-wife, Robin Spielbauer, was found dead in a ditch off Helium Road. Katie Phipps, who was in jail for more than a year, was initially arrested for the murder. Those charges were later dropped.

Spielbauer was convicted in 2018 and sentenced to life in prison with a $10,000 fine.

In the Court’s decision to reverse the conviction, they ruled the judge abused their discretion by not allowing his defense attorney to challenge some members of the jury pool.

The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals agreed yesterday with prosecutors that there weren’t any errors in picking jurors.

The case will now go back to the Seventh Court of Appeals for justices to weigh in on Spielbauer’s claims his lawyers gave him bad advice when law enforcement was questioning him.

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