{"id":69164,"date":"2022-12-14T21:27:08","date_gmt":"2022-12-14T21:27:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/?post_type=articles&p=69164"},"modified":"2022-12-14T21:27:28","modified_gmt":"2022-12-14T21:27:28","slug":"slaying-slopes-spider-sabich-murder-case","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/articles\/slaying-slopes-spider-sabich-murder-case\/","title":{"rendered":"Slaying on the Slopes: Was Famed Skier Spider Sabich’s Death a Tragic Accident or Cold Blood Murder?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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American alpine skier Spider Sabich (1945-1976) pictured in action during competition in the Men’s giant slalom event, part of the 1970-71 FIS Alpine Ski World Cup, in Val-d’Isere, France on 17th December 1970. (Photo by Rolls Press\/Popperfoto via Getty Images\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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French entertainer and socialite Claudine Longet likely caught some mourners off guard when she attended a memorial service in Aspen to grieve her dead boyfriend, the Olympic skiing champion Vladimir \u201cSpider\u201d Sabich. After all, just six days earlier she had shot him to death under questionable circumstances.<\/p>\n

On March 21, 1976, following time on the slopes, Sabich, 31, returned to the home he shared with Paris-born Longet and got ready to shower. What happened next remains in dispute. Longet claimed Sabich was showing her how to use an imitation .22 German Luger when the World War II firearm went off and a bullet struck the sports hero in the abdomen, piercing his pancreas and stomach.<\/p>\n

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Longet, then 34, insisted the shooting wasn\u2019t intentional, but in the days, weeks, months and years that followed, Aspen locals questioned her innocence and turned against her in droves. The social cache she previously enjoyed because of her entertainment career and still-close relationship with her former husband of 13 years, the singer and actor Andy William, quickly proved worthless.<\/p>\n

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The debate raged around town: Was Sabich dead because of a tragic accident or something far more sinister? Rumors swirled Sabich was seeing other women and on the verge of leaving his reportedly jealous girlfriend. Saturday Night <\/em>Live<\/em> skewered Longet in a sketch that showed an actor portraying her \u201caccidentally\u201d shooting skiers at a slalom competition. Even the Rolling Stones weighed in on the controversy, recording the song \u201cClaudine\u201d with lyrics that include \u201cThere\u2019s blood in the chalet\u201d and \u201cWashed her hands of the whole damn show.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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(Original Caption) Two Time World Champion Skier Spider. Mount. Snow, Vermont: Two time world pro champion Spider Sabich, 28, struts arm in arm with his constant companion Claudine Longet after winning $4,000 and 1st place in the Benson and Hedges $30,000 classic slalom at Mt. Snow, January 6. Sabich’s victory in the man-against-man event, jumped him from 15th to 5th place in the over-all standings after 3 races this year.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Whatever the case, Aspen police charged the chanteuse with felony reckless manslaughter weeks after the deadly shooting, and she went on trial in January 1977. On the stand, Longet testified that the day of the slaying, \u201cI picked up the gun and walked toward the bathroom, saying to Spider, \u2018I would like you to tell me about this gun.\u2019\u201d According to Longet, her boyfriend reassured her the shoddy weapon wouldn\u2019t go off. It did.<\/p>\n

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Frank Tucker, the district attorney who prosecuted the case, later called Longet an \u201cover-the-hill glamour puss\u201d and suggested a possible motive for the shooting: She \u201cwas not going to lose another man.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Tucker would have a tough time proving Longet was culpable. Procedural errors during the investigation made potentially damaging evidence against Longet inadmissible, from a blood test that came back positive for alcohol and cocaine to alleged entries in her diary that purportedly contradicted her version of events. Instead, Tucker had to rely on an autopsy report to contend it was impossible the shooting was accidental since Sabich was bent over and not facing the gun when it discharged from what a ballistics expert estimated was up to six feet away. Longet\u2019s attorneys, paid for by her famous ex-husband, Williams, countered all evidence presented in court was purely circumstantial and proved nothing.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Some jurists agreed, and a panel of her peers found Longet guilty of the lesser charge of misdemeanor criminally negligent homicide. The judge handed down a mere $250 fine and 30-day prison term, which he allowed the defendant to serve at the Pitkin County jail on weekends.<\/p>\n

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In 1985, Longet married Ronald Austin, one of her trial defense attorneys. The socialite and her husband opted to continue living in Red Mountain in Aspen despite her ostracization from the local community. The 80-year-old recluse has never spoken openly about Sabich\u2019s murder, only hinting once: \u201cI went through a very painful and difficult time…in 1976.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Sabich\u2019s brother, Steve Sabich, saw it a bit differently. \u201cIt\u2019s a shame, because Spider accomplished so much in his life,\u201d he has said. \u201cClaudine accomplished only two things: marrying Andy Williams and getting away with murder.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read GRAZIA Gazette: Aspen<\/em> featuring cover star Jourdan Dunn:<\/strong><\/p>\n

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