NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) – A scammer reportedly tried to use the death of a man in a shooting in East Nashville on Christmas 2022 to take advantage of his widow.
According to the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department, Chris Spaunhorst, 37, of Greenbrier, was shot and killed along Interstate 24 on December 25, 2022 in a road rage incident. Authorities later released photos of the suspect’s vehicle, believed to be a black Kia Optima.
Authorities said multiple shots were fired into the driver’s side door and window of Chris’ blue Ford F-150 pickup truck while he was driving on I-24 West between the Shelby Avenue and James Robertson Parkway exits, adding that The van stopped. along the median wall on James Robertson Parkway.
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With a $21,000 reward on the table for information, a scammer told Chris’ wife he knew what happened.
“He said, ‘I have information that would interest you.’ And I said, ‘Hey, what information would that be?'” Stephanie Spaunhorst recalled.
Stephanie has conducted multiple interviews with News 2 as she continues to share photos of the car the suspect was driving when her husband was shot and killed. For more than 17 months, he has asked the public to come forward with any information about Chris’ case.
“He said, ‘The information I have will change everything for you,’” Stephanie said.
Stephanie has been waiting for a message like that.
“Of course, I was an emotional wreck, because we had waited 17 months for that moment, and we’re still waiting for that moment,” Stephanie told News 2.
The person claimed to have been at Chris’s funeral and to have exchanged messages with Stephanie for over a week.
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“It was a long 11 days,” Stephanie said. “It was very exhausting.”
According to Stephanie, the details finally started to not add up. The scammer then asked for money in the form of gift cards in exchange for information.
“For a while, it was quite convincing. “I thought it was like that, I thought whoever it was, they knew something,” Stephanie explained.
While she continues to fight every day for justice and pleads with anyone with information about Chris’s death to come forward, Stephanie is now worried something like this could happen to another vulnerable family.
“There are evil people out there… and if anyone else is in the same situation as me, I want to prevent someone from scamming them and taking advantage of them because their intentions are not pure,” he said.
There is still a $21,000 reward to help solve the case. If you know anything about this deadly December 2022 shooting, please call Crime Stoppers at 615-742-7463.
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