By Keith Coffman
DENVER, March 5 (Reuters) – A former physician and his wife,
tenants of an Aspen ski resort socialite found dead in her home,
have made their first court appearance after being arrested on
suspicion of her murder, authorities said.
The body of Nancy Pfister, 57, daughter of the Buttermilk
ski area’s co-founders, was found a week ago, the Pitkin County
Sheriff’s Office said in a statement.
Authorities did not say how Pfister died nor did they
disclose a possible motive for the killing, which the sheriff’s
office said was the first homicide since 2001 in the chic resort
town southwest of Denver that serves as a getaway for Hollywood
celebrities and other wealthy visitors.
The suspects, William Styler, 65, and his wife, Nancy, 62,
were arrested on Monday in a motel in the nearby town of Basalt,
the sheriff said. They were booked on suspicion of first-degree
murder and conspiracy to commit murder and made their first
court appearance on Tuesday, Pitkin County Deputy District
Attorney Andrea Bryan said.
“We anticipate a successful prosecution in this case,” Bryan
said.
The Stylers moved to Aspen from the Denver area last
November and rented Pfister’s home there while she was
traveling, Pitkin County Sheriff Joe DiSalvo said in a
statement.
Pfister was in Australia in January when she posted on
Facebook that she was returning to Aspen because her tenants
were not paying rent and utilities, according to the Aspen Daily
News.
Nancy Pfister’s father, Art, was a rancher who in 1958
co-founded the Buttermilk ski area with his wife, Betty,
according to a obituary published by the Aspen Times newspaper
in 2007. Buttermilk is one of four mountains that comprise
the Aspen/Snowmass ski resort complex.
William Styler’s license to practice medicine in Colorado
expired in 2005, the state’s Department of Regulatory Agencies
said on its website. Formal charges against the pair are
expected later this month, Bryan said.
(Editing by Alex Dobuzinskis and Gunna Dickson)
