Dateline: The Pink Gun Mystery - 5 harrowing details about Robin Spielbauer's Texas murder involving a love triangle

The Robin Spielbauer murder was filled with deceit, treachery, and a shocking finale that saw an innocent woman pay the price for someone else's evil deeds. Initially, the grim event on a lonely Amarillo, Texas highway was pegged as a simple act of revenge. But the truth, as it often does, had more layers than anyone could have imagined.

At the heart of this tragic love triangle were three people whose lives would forever be changed: Robin Spielbauer, her ex-husband JD Spielbauer, and his new wife, Katie Phipps. The key to the puzzle was a distinctive pink gun that threw everyone off course at the beginning.

Below, we look into five of the most distressing aspects of the incident that deeply affected the people of Texas.

5 facts about The Pink Gun Mystery aka the Texas love triangle murder of Robin Spielbauer

1) The love triangle that ended in murder

Robin Spielbauer, a devoted mother to her two kids, had hoped that marrying JD Spielbauer would be her fairytale ending. However, her bliss was shattered when she began to suspect that JD had feelings for someone else, Katie Phipps, a mother of two who also attended their church.

Despite the gut-wrenching thoughts, Robin clung to her marriage until the evidence was too much to ignore. In 2012, she made the painful decision to divorce JD. It wasn't long before he married Katie, the woman Robin had feared.

The situation grew increasingly tense as the years went by, with both women nurturing accusations and anger beneath their polite facades. Yet, nobody in their circle could have ever imagined that their rivalry would spiral into something as dark and tragic as murder.

2) The discovery on Helium Road

On April 8, 2014, a sad event unfolded as Robin Spielbauer was discovered lifeless near a car left behind on Helium Road. It was the local folks who stumbled upon this unfortunate scene. At first, it looked like she had met her end due to a harsh blow to the body.

But, once the doctors took a closer look, they found out she had been shot at the back of her head. This revelation shook things up, and the detectives started looking hard at the people Robin Spielbauer knew best—her ex-spouse, JD, and his new life partner, Katie.

3) The pink gun that led to the wrong suspect

At the place where the crime happened, the detectives stumbled upon a small piece of a gun that was pink. This little bit of pink turned out to be important for their investigation. They remembered seeing something on Katie Phipps' Facebook page. It was a picture of Katie shooting a gun that was also pink, just like the one at the crime scene.

Because of this and Robin Spielbauer's past with Katie, the police decided to arrest Katie. She had to stay in jail for more than twelve months, even though she didn't commit the crime they thought she did.

4) The evidence that proved Katie’s innocence

Katie Phipps’ terrifying ordeal concluded when fresh evidence appeared, her cell phone records. This new information showed that she was nowhere near the place where the murder happened when it was committed.

This surprising twist in the story made the detectives realize they had made a mistake by pointing the finger at her. Now, the spotlight of suspicion shone on someone else entirely: JD Spielbauer.

5) JD Spielbauer’s conviction

As investigators took another look at Robin's case, they stumbled upon some troubling information that pointed the finger at JD. It turned out that JD was bitter about paying child support for his and Robin Spielbauer's child, and he had said some things that didn't sound right about her before and after her murder.

This fresh evidence was so convincing that it got him arrested and charged with the most serious kind of murder. After a trial that went on for two whole weeks, the jury decided that JD was guilty and he got the toughest punishment you can get: life in prison.

Even though the court did what it had to do to hold him accountable, Robin Spielbauer's loved ones are still trying to deal with the pain of losing her.