Daughter of slain Aspen socialite sues spouse of convicted murderer
Initially charged with first-degree murder in the 2014 death of an Aspen, Colorado, socialite, Nancy Masson-Styler spent several months behind bars. But all charges against her were dropped when her husband pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the slaying of Nancy Pfister.
Then, after William Styler committed suicide in prison last year, Masson-Styler got a $1 million life insurance payout and co-authored a book about the case. She also filed for a divorce from Styler before his death.
Now, in an effort to prevent Masson-Styler from profiting from her alleged participation in the crime, Pfister’s daughter has filed a wrongful death suit against her, according to the Aspen Daily News and the Aspen Times.
The body of 57-year-old Nancy Pfister was found in 2014 in a closet of her home. Styler, a retired anesthesiologist who had been renting Pfister’s home with his wife while Pfister was on an extended vacation, admitted striking the socialite in the head as she was sleeping, shortly after she returned to Colorado. Then he moved her body into the closet and flipped the mattress.
However, due to a degenerative muscle condition Styler suffered from, it is doubtful that he could have committed the crime alone, the suit alleges. Styler was in his mid-60s at the time of the crime.
Masson-Styler told 48 Hours, which aired a program on the case in December, that she and her husband had been treated terribly by Pfister. However, she had no involvement in the crime and no idea that her husband could have committed it, she said.
Attorney Beth Kruelwitch represented Masson-Styler in the criminal case. She told the Daily News last week that she hasn’t seen the suit, but doubts there is any basis to pursue a claim against Masson-Styler.
“There was no evidence that connected her at all, other than that she was married to the guy,” said Kruelwitch, referring to her client and Styler. “It sounds to me like this is just what you see sometimes, a bogus lawsuit.”
Attorney David Bovino is representing plaintiff Juliana Pfister.
“She believes that when all of the evidence is presented to a jury, we’ll be able to prove beyond a preponderance of the evidence that Nancy Styler was at the very least complicit in the murder of her mother,” he said.
The suit says Masson-Styler’s book, Guilt by Matrimony: A Memoir of Love, Madness, and the Murder of Nancy Pfister, “openly disparages and defames” the murder victim, the Times reports.
Related coverage:
CBS Denver: “Man Tells Judge He Killed Aspen Socialite Nancy Pfister With Hammer”
CBS Denver: “Despite Conviction, Questions Still Remain In Murder Of Aspen Socialite Nancy Pfister”
NBC News: “William Styler, Who Confessed to Killing Aspen Socialite Nancy Pfister, Found Dead in Cell”
