Guilt by Matrimony: A Memoir of Love, Madness, and the Murder of Nancy Pfister - Softcover

"An amazing story about a homicidal web of deceit fueled by mental illness. It is not a typical true-crime tale--it is in a class by itself. Guilt by Matrimony by Nancy Styler with Daleen Berry makes the case that the hunt for justice in a murder investigation can create as many victims as the crime itself." --Diane Fanning, national bestselling crime writer "Guilt by Matrimony, a tale of murder and intrigue among Aspen's chic social set, is as invigorating as a lungful of crisp mountain air... A true-crime yarn with all of the vital ingredients, from high-life scheming to whiplash-inducing red herrings to a classic twist ending." --John Temple, author of American Pain: How a Young Felon and His Ring of Doctors Unleashed America's Deadliest Drug Epidemic "Guilt by Matrimony is the gripping tale of a woman whose unconditional faith in her one true love led her to be wrongly accused of the murder of an Aspen socialite. Daleen Berry, the award-winning crime writer behind Pretty Little Killers, helps Nancy Styler tell her tragic, true story." --Judy Melinek & T.J. Mitchell, authors of Working Stiff: Two Years, 262 Bodies, and the Making of a Medical Examiner

In February 2014, Aspen socialite Nancy Pfister was murdered in her own home--brutally bludgeoned, wrapped in a sheet, and stuffed inside a locked closet. The question was: Who did it? Fewer than twelve hours after her body was found and without any evidence, police decided a married couple from Denver had killed her. Within a few days, they arrested and charged Nancy Styler, a friend of Pfister's who'd had a falling out with her after a business deal went sour, and Dr. Trey Styler, Nancy's disabled husband, who recently lost the family home, his medical practice, and any hope of a peaceful retirement for himself and his wife. Eleven days later, police also arrested and charged Kathy Carpenter, Pfister's underpaid and overworked personal assistant and closest friend. Months later, Trey Styler, who was slowly losing his grip on reality as he battled with mental illness, confessed to the crime. Rampant speculation spread about whether he was involved at all--or if his confession was that of a man on his deathbed--because a medical condition appeared to have left him barely able to walk, much less carry out such a heinous crime. In Guilt by Matrimony, Styler's widow, Nancy, reveals the answers to the biggest mysteries of this case and recounts the trauma of being falsely accused and imprisoned for a first-degree murder she had no knowledge of. And, in the only interview before his death, Trey gives his account of that fateful day. New York Times bestselling author Daleen Berry covers this compelling story from the inside, following the Stylers from their fairy-tale life in Denver to the morning of their simultaneous arrest to Nancy's release from jail and her attempts to rebuild her shattered life. Filled with details from exclusive interviews, a close look at the botched small-town police work, and first-person accounts of what really happened, Guilt by Matrimony is the definitive look at a shocking murder that rocked Aspen.