An Arkansas dad faces murder charges for killing his daughter’s alleged abuser, as his wife says he saved their child

Former paratrooper Aaron Spencer, 37, charged with second-degree murder of the man who raped his 14-year-old daughter

Spencer has admitted to killing Alleged abuser, Michael Fosler, 67, who was on bail in an unrelated child sex abuse case

Prior to the shooting Fosler was facing 43 charges, including internet stalking of a child and sexual assault, sexual indecency with a child and possession of child pornography

Heather Spencer, 38, said her husband Aaron Spencer, 37, was acting as any father would when he killed his teen daughter’s alleged rapist

Aaron Spencer is set to go on trial charged with second-degree murder of the man who raped his 14-year-old daughter. Spencer has admitted to killing 67-year-old alleged pedophile Michael Fosler in October 2024.

An Arkansas father who chased down and shot dead his teenage daughter’s alleged rapist and kidnapper is facing the charge of second-degree murder among other counts.
For the teenager’s mom Heather Spencer, 38, said her husband Aaron Spencer saved their daughter’s life when he shot dead a 67-year-old man who abducted the teenage daughter from their farm in Cabot, Arkansas, about 25 miles from Little Rock. 
The 14-year-old girl had been targeted, groomed and raped by Michael Fosler, who was the boyfriend of a family friend, according to police.
Aaron Spencer, 37, was jolted awake by the frantic barks of his daughter’s chihuahua. He checked the bedroom of the 14-year-old, and she appeared to be fast asleep, tucked beneath the covers.
But then he looked more closely. It was a stuffed animal, wrapped in her hoodie. She was gone.
The family had been on edge.
Three months earlier the teen, then 13, revealed she’d been sexually abused by a 67-year-old man she met at the home of a family friend.
The alleged abuser, Michael Fosler, had been arrested but was out on bond while facing 43 criminal counts of internet stalking of a child and sexual assault.

Alleged abuser, Michael Fosler, [photo], 67, had been arrested in July 2024, on 43 criminal charges, including internet stalking of a child and sexual assault, sexual indecency with a child and possession of child pornography, released on a $50,000 bond, he kidnapped Spencer’s daughter, then 13, in October.

Now, just after midnight on October 8, the teen had disappeared.
Aaron Spencer jumped into his Ford truck and began searching the roads around their home in Lonoke County, Arkansas. His wife, Heather Spencer, called 911 and checked with relatives to see if their daughter was with them.
‘Statistics and horror stories race through my mind. My baby. My little girl. All I could do was pray,’ Heather Spencer later posted on Facebook.
‘I hung up with the 911 operator and called my mother. I screamed in horror while she prayed Hail Marys. My own screams will forever haunt my memory.’
Driving through the dark about 10 miles east of town, Spencer spotted what appeared to be Fosler’s white Ford F-150 with his daughter in the passenger’s seat, he told sheriff’s deputies according to the affidavit.
Spencer made a U-turn and pursued the vehicle, flashing his headlights and blaring his horn.
At the next intersection, he said he rear-ended Fosler’s truck, forcing it off the road.

Aaron Spencer admitted to the killing of Fosler. He is charged with second-degree murder in the October 2024 fatal shooting

The police report states that Spencer fired his gun at Fosler until he ran out of bullets. He then jumped on Fosler and pistol-whopped him. When found, Fosler lay dead on his back in a ditch with multiple gunshot wounds.
Prosecutors charged Spencer with second-degree murder with a gun enhancement penalty, an add-on that increases the maximum potential prison sentence when a firearm is used to commit a crime.
Spencer has admitted to killing Fosler, but the case has captured national headlines and sparked outrage on social media among people who hail Spencer as a hero for protecting his daughter.
It has prompted several petitions calling for the charges against him to be dropped, including one signed by more than 350,000 people.
Furthermore, a state gun rights group has declared his actions justified and set up a defense fund for his legal costs.

Heather Spencer [right], said her husband Aaron , [left], was acting as any father would when he killed the 67-year-old man who groomed and raped his teen daughter, beginning when she was 13. The couple live with their two children in Lonoke County, Arkansas

As Spencer’s January 2026 trial approaches, an expert says the outcome will come down to one key question: Will jurors believe his use of deadly force was justified to protect his daughter?
Some have raised the possibility of jury nullification, meaning a jury decides not to convict a defendant despite strong evidence of guilt.
Criminal defense attorney John Wesley Hall said the defense does not need jury nullification. State law allows jurors to decide if someone reasonably used force to protect another person, he said.
‘And that’s likely a relatively easy sell for the defense … the prosecuting attorney chose to file this case knowing this would be a problem,’ said Hall, who’s been a criminal attorney in the state for more than five decades but has no connection to the Spencer case.
‘I won’t ever have access to the discovery to know what motivated the prosecutor to file it, other than the fact there’s a death … It could be as straightforward as a man is dead, and (prosecutors think) a Lonoke County jury should decide this case, win or lose.’

Will jurors believe a dad’s use of deadly force was justified to protect his daughter and free Aaron Spencer who lives with his wife Heather Spencer and their children on a farm near Cabot, a city of about 27,000 people some 25 miles from the state capital of Little Rock.

Aaron Spencer is a farmer and general contractor who lives on a farm with his wife, raising their daughter and young adult son following Spencer’s time in the Army,.
Spencer serving in the elite paratroop division, 82nd Airborne, was deployed to Iraq as a paratrooper in the late 2000s. Deployment served Aaron returned to life on the farm with Heather, their daughter and young adult son. The couple homeschool their daughter and raise animals on their farm.
For Heather Spencer her husband is the ‘animal whisperer’ because of his bond with creatures big and small: ‘He has never met an animal that doesn’t love him. Whether they are ours, our friends, or strays,’ she says.

Devoted husband and father, Aaron Spencer [photo], and his family live in a farm with turkeys and other animals

Aaron Spencer is a hand’s on dad. A devoted to his family, more comfortable sharing quality time with family, according to his wife.
In July 2024, the family’s serene home life shattered learning from a family member that their 13-year-old daughter had confided being sexually assaulted by Fosler multiple times. When they talked to their daughter, she told them that it had been going on since that spring.
Fosler had allegedly started grooming her via text messages after he met her at a family friend’s house, Heather Spencer posted on Facebook: ‘She is a quiet homeschooled child who at the time spent more days than not helping care for her dying grandpa … and I allowed her to take a much-needed break on days when we weren’t busy to be with friends that were family,’ she wrote, adding ‘Deep in my soul they were family and I trusted she was safe. She wasn’t.’
After discovering the abuse, the Spencers put their daughter in therapy and started seeking justice for the teen, the mother revealed.
However, Aaron Spencer said in an affidavit, the moment he flipped on the lights in his home last October to check on their daughter, he knew something was wrong, ‘We realized she may have been taken.’
At first, the family was not aware that Fosler had their daughter.
In the rush to find out whether she was with relatives, Heather Spencer said, her sister-in-law found a Cash App payment sent roughly two days before. It was from Fosler to the Spencers’ daughter and her cousin, and claimed to be for a DoorDash order.

Heather Spencer calls her husband Aaron, [photo], the ‘animal whisperer’ because of his bond with creatures big and small: ‘He has never met an animal that doesn’t love him. Whether they are ours, our friends, or strays

And with that detail, Heather Spencer discovered Fosler was still in touch with their daughter, despite a no-contact order.
‘In that moment we realized that she may have been taken, but it’s the middle of the night and everything is happening in seconds and every second counts,’ Heather Spencer wrote on Facebook.
She called 911 at 1:12 a.m. to report her daughter missing, ‘I tell 911 that this man may be involved and as I’m speaking, I’m realizing that if he does have her, I’ll probably never see her again,’ she wrote.
Since she was the lone witness to the sexual assault charges against Fosler, the family feared their daughter was in grave danger.
‘At that time, she’s the only thing standing between him and life in prison,’ Cassinelli said. According to court records, Fosler was for trial was beginning in December of last year,
Spencer decided to drive over to Fosler’s home to search for his daughter, just as Lonoke County Dispatch asked Cabot police to send officers to suspect’s residence to search for the missing teenager.
On his way Spencer said, he noticed Fosler’s truck on the highway, gave chase and rammed into it at the next intersection.

Calling relatives to find out whether her teen daughter was with relatives, Heather Spencer [photo], said, her sister-in-law found a Cash App payment sent roughly two days by Michael Fosler to Spencers’ daughter and her cousin. It claimed to be for a DoorDash order

Spencer ordered him to get out of the car, but Fosler “lunged towards him” with something in his hand and shouted, ‘F**k you,’ according to the affidavit. Spencer fired at Fosler until his weapon was empty, then jumped on him and pistol-whipped him, the affidavit said.
He said he then took his daughter out of the truck, reloaded his Glock 19 Gen4 and called 911.
Spencer told the dispatcher that the “man who kidnapped” his daughter was “dead on the side of the road.” He told cops he ‘had no choice,’ adding that when his daughter tried to exit the passenger side, Fosler grabbed her.
Authorities have not commented on whether Fosler was carrying a weapon, but Aaron Spencer ultimately was charged with second-degree murder the fatal shooting of Fosler in October 2024.
Aaron Spencer was released October 9 on bond of $150,000, with his trial scheduled to begin January 2026 at the Lonoke County courthouse in Cabot, Arkansas.
However, the family’s pre-trial legal battle is continuing. In December, a Lonoke County court issued a gag order that barred the attorneys, Spencer’s family and others connected to the case from speaking out publicly about it, in the belief, saying widespread media coverage could affect the jury pool.
Spencer’s attorneys challenged the court’s decision, because it violated his rights. In May, the Arkansas Supreme Court struck down the gag order, which it described as overly broad and vague.
With the trial looming, the Spencers are hoping for an acquittal as they struggle to maintain some normalcy in their daily routine.