Aaron Spencer: Murder Defendant Wins Sheriff Primary in Arkansas
Hidden Killers With Tony Brueski | True Crime News & Commentary
True Crime Today
3.3 • 911 Ratings
🗓️ 5 March 2026
⏱️ 20 minutes
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Summary
The voters of Lonoke County, Arkansas just chose a murder defendant to be their Republican nominee for sheriff. Aaron Spencer won 53.5 percent of the vote, crushing the thirteen-year incumbent whose deputies arrested him in October 2024.
Spencer is charged with second-degree murder for shooting Michael Fosler—a sixty-seven-year-old man who was facing forty-three felony charges including sexual assault, child pornography, and internet stalking. The alleged victim in those charges was Spencer's thirteen-year-old daughter.
On the night of the shooting, Spencer discovered his daughter missing from her bedroom. He found her in Fosler's truck at one in the morning—despite Fosler having court orders to stay away from minors and have no contact with the girl. Spencer forced the truck off the road, and after an altercation, shot Fosler fifteen times.
The trial was set for January 2026, but the Arkansas Supreme Court removed Judge Barbara Elmore from the case after she imposed restrictions the court deemed an abuse of discretion. It was the second time the high court reversed Elmore in this case.
Retired Judge Ralph Wilson has taken over. A new trial date will be set at the March 18 pretrial hearing.
The collision of timelines creates an unprecedented situation. Spencer faces Democrat Brian Mitchell Sr. in November's general election. If convicted before then, he can't serve. If acquitted, he's likely the next sheriff of a deep-red county. If the trial extends past the election, the county could have a sheriff-elect awaiting trial for murder.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This is Hidden Killers with Tony Brewski. |
| 0:03.7 | Here now, Tony Brewski. |
| 0:07.1 | The voters of Lono County, Arkansas, have made a decision that will force legal scholars to update their textbooks. |
| 0:17.3 | Aaron Spencer, a man currently facing second-degree murder charges, a man whose trial |
| 0:22.9 | was supposed to start in January, until the Arkansas Supreme Court yanked the judge off the case, |
| 0:28.9 | for good reason, just won the Republican primary for county sheriff. He didn't squeak by either. |
| 0:36.4 | He doubled the incumbent's numbers, 53.5% to 26.5. |
| 0:44.1 | The 13-year incumbent sheriff John Staley, whose deputies arrested Spencer that night in October 24 conceded on Facebook. |
| 0:57.4 | So here's where we are. Lono County is actively prosecuting a man who, if everything |
| 1:03.8 | falls a certain way, could be their top law enforcement officer by January. |
| 1:09.6 | The prosecuting attorney's office would be working under the man. |
| 1:13.6 | They're currently trying to send to prison for murder. |
| 1:18.5 | They're like, well, that's Arkansas for you. |
| 1:20.7 | But it's not. |
| 1:22.2 | If you're just getting into the story, just learning about it, just trying to understand it. |
| 1:29.6 | Stick around because this is a crazy, |
| 1:31.3 | crazy story. |
| 1:34.0 | And one of a very, |
| 1:35.4 | very broken system. |
| 1:37.6 | And really, |
| 1:52.5 | someone trying to go down a path of, I don't have another term here, |
| 1:55.1 | I'm not trying to sound religiously or anything, but like righteousness. |
... |
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