The Fatal Amarillo Love Triangle Featured on Dateline

It would be nice to say that an interesting story came out of Amarillo for something wholesome, but this love triangle that resulted in the death of an Amarillo mother is anything but wholesome.

In a 2018 episode titled "The Pink Gun Mystery" the investigative NBC show, details the twists and turns found in an Amarillo murder case.

The episode begins, by describing the life of Robin Spielbauer a woman growing up in Amarillo who, according to people who knew her was seeking "the perfect family".  Meeting who seemed to be the man of her dreams, JD Spielbaur, Robin fell in love. Only 2 months after meeting him, Robin at the age of 22 had a child with Spielbaur and moved in with him and his grandparents.

Soon after the birth of their first daughter, JD and Robin got married in 2005. Later the two had another child and began to attend a local church. Robin began to suspect something had been going on between JD and Katie Phipps, a mother of 2 who also attended the church, but was in denial of the fact according to her friends. Eventually, when the evidence became too much to deny, Robin divorced JD in 2012.

Not long after the divorce, JD and Katie married.

The Murder

On a night in April 2014, Robin had been messaging someone and had left her parents' house. She had not returned to her parent's house, and could not be located until local residents found her dead near her vehicle on helium road. Randall County investigators initially believed that she had been killed by blunt trauma force to the head, but it was later revealed by autopsy reports that she was shot in the back of the head.

Investigators suspected either JD or Katie was involved in the murders due to their past with Robin. In a police interview, JD had admitted that he went to go meet Robin before being confronted by Katie, who found the two together. After being out, he claimed to have headed straight home.

Later in the investigation, bullet casings and a pink broken chip from a handgun were found at the scene. In a past Facebook post made by Katie, she was seen firing a gun and with this connection, Katie was arrested for the alleged murder of Robin.

New Evidence

Katie spent over a year in jail until new evidence surfaced surrounding cellular data which gave her a legitimate alibi and made it impossible for her to have murdered Robin. With this revelation, the new investigation set its sights on JD who was soon arrested on charges of capital murder

An extensive investigation revealed that JD was getting tired of child support payments, and had frequently made incriminating remarks about Robin leading up to and after the murders.

In a trial that lasted 2-weeks, JD was found guilty of murdering Robin and was sentenced to life in prison.

Although the case was solved, Robin's family still mourns their loss which cannot be taken back.