Katie Phipps Has Graduated College Since Being Wrongly Imprisoned for Murder

In 2018, Jeremy "J.D." Spielbauer was convicted of killing his ex-wife, Robin. She was found dead in a ditch at the side of a road in Texas in 2014. He was sentenced to life in prison with a $10,000 fine, according to KFDA News Channel 10. But it wasn't an open and shut case. In fact, it was the subject of the Dateline special The Pink Gun Mystery.

Jeremy's wife at the time, Katie Phipps, was originally charged with Robin's murder. She served a year in prison before the law caught up with Jeremy, and Katie was exonerated. Only a few years have passed since this all happened, but where are Jeremy and Katie now? There have been ongoing legal issues surrounding this case that brought those involved in and out of court.

In January 2020, the seventh court of appeals reversed his conviction. "The court ruled the trial judge abused their discretion by not allowing his defense attorney to challenge some members of the jury pool," states another article by KFDA News Channel 10.

But KFDA News Channel 10 recently reported that the state won the appeal. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals sided with the prosecution and said that there were no errors when picking people for the jury. But now the case has to go back to appeals again to determine Jeremy's claims that his lawyer gave him bad advice when he was being questioned by the cops. For now, Jeremy is still behind bars.

In 2018, ABC 7 News reported that Katie was a paralegal and in law school. She wanted to become a public defender to help others who have also been wrongly accused. She also said she wanted to clear her name and get justice for Robin.

"If they can do it to me, they can do it to other people, too," Katie said in 2018 after Jeremy was found guilty, per Amarillo Globe News. She had reportedly been arrested three days after Robin's body was discovered.

"Luckily it was in this district attorney’s office where their investigators were committed to their job to find the truth," she continued.

In January 2020, the host of the Dateline special The Pink Gun Mystery, Josh Mankiewicz, tweeted to congratulate Katie on graduating from college. "#Dateline viewers will remember Katie Phipps from 2018’s The Pink Gun Mystery in which she was locked up on murder charges ... until the real killer was unmasked," he said. "Today she’s a grad of West Texas A&M with a degree in legal studies. Congratulations, Katie!"

Now, she's the director of strategy at Ignite U1. The organization aims to inspire people through moving personal stories and sports. Katie was just named the 2021 Wynner of the Year by Ignite U1. "The Ignite Wynner of the Year reflects the qualities, characteristics, and deeply held convictions we affectionately refer to as 'Wynnerisms' — consistent with the award's namesake, Lori Wynn," the website states.

"Equally, the Wynner of the Year mirrors the Ignite vision to ignite hope for those who need it and make ambassadors of those who have it."