She Had A $12 Million Trust Fund… Then Got Murdered Over a Rent Dispute: Nancy Pfister

This true crime story discusses how tragic heiress Nancy Pfister controlled $12.9 million in today's currency when hammer blows ended her reign as Aspen's unofficial ambassador to the world. ------------------- Gain FREE access to secret full-length episodes on wealthy families "too scandalous for YouTube" by joining our newsletter: https://www.substack.com/@oldmoneyluxury ------------------- TIMESTAMPS 0:00 Introduction 0:51 Chapter One: The Twelve Million Dollar Mountain Queen 4:53 Chapter Two: Aspen Royalty 8:47 Chapter Three: The Rent Dispute From Friendship to Fatal Confrontation 12:42 Chapter Four: The Murder February Twenty Fourth Twenty Fourteen 16:15 Chapter Five: Legal Outcomes and Aftermath ------------------- The fifty-seven-year-old daughter of Buttermilk Ski Area co-founder Art Pfister controlled $9.5 million in 2014 dollars through trusts, real estate, and investment portfolios. Her $4 million mountain home commanded views from 4,000 square feet perched above Aspen's 8,000-foot elevation, every window framing peaks her father had transformed into playgrounds for billionaires. Celebrity friendships decorated her life like party favors—Michael Douglas had proposed marriage, Hunter S. Thompson had shared his chemicals, Goldie Hawn had shared a baby shower, Roman Polanski had shared French Open tickets. William "Trey" Styler III answered her November 2013 rental advertisement—a sixty-five-year-old retired anesthesiologist planning an Aspen spa with his lily-pad-expert wife Nancy. Respectable résumés masked darker histories: Kansas investigators knew them for mysterious car explosions and insurance claims, while Colorado police knew Nancy Styler for allegedly beating a waitress. September 24 they took possession, but broken appliances—a stove that wouldn't heat, a dishwasher that wouldn't wash—transformed their rental experience into immediate warfare. The Stylers withheld $4,000 monthly rent pending repairs, triggering email warfare from Australia where Pfister raged about their ingratitude. Interest charges on overdue rent transformed $4,000 into $14,000, with Pfister demanding utilities, damages, and penalties that tripled the original debt. "I'd like to stay in Australia but the people that were supposedly taking care of my house are not doing what they said"—Pfister's January 24 Facebook post announced her fury publicly. "I'm just this angry at her. I could just—just kill her"—assistant Kathy Carpenter confirmed Nancy Styler had verbalized the threat that would materialize in blood. February 24, 2014, two days after Pfister's Australian return: Trey Styler entered her bedroom where she slept unaware that her life measured minutes rather than decades. "Suddenly it occurred to me that I could rid myself of this problem once and for all by killing her"—his later confession revealed premeditation born from desperation. Three to four hammer blows landed between right forehead and right temple with enough force to bruise her left upper arm, right neck, and right jaw. A garbage bag covered her head "to keep the bleeding to a minimum," followed by extension cord wrapping her body before the exhausting process of dragging her twelve feet to the walk-in closet. February 26: Kathy Carpenter found what she claimed was a blood-covered corpse, though investigators noted the thorough wrapping made such observations impossible without unwrapping. Carpenter's next-day visit to Pfister's safety deposit box—withdrawing $6,000 and two family rings—suggested deeper involvement than mere discovery. Police arrested the Stylers March 3 at their rundown Basalt motel, finding the murder weapon with Pfister's blood in a nearby dumpster. Trey's guilty plea to second-degree murder on June 20, 2014 brought twenty years imprisonment but freed his wife Nancy and Kathy Carpenter from all charges. The deal included absolute immunity for Nancy Styler—she could never face murder charges regardless of future evidence. August 6, 2015: guards discovered Trey Styler hanging in his cell at Arrowhead Correctional Center—suicide before his medical transfer. One million dollars in life insurance flowed to Nancy after her husband's suicide, payment that Colorado law permitted because second-degree murder didn't trigger prohibition. Juliana Pfister's wrongful death lawsuit seeking $25 million alleged Nancy "assisted her husband in her mother's murder," emphasizing physical impossibilities of Trey's wheelchair-bound condition. The 2021 confidential settlement secured the insurance majority for Juliana plus likely restrictions on Nancy's ongoing attempts to profit from murder through her memoir. Four thousand dollars in monthly rent had triggered murder, proving that even among Aspen's elite, money could motivate the ultimate violence.