Champion skier Vladimir ‘Spider’ Sabich shot and killed by girlfriend, actress-singer Claudine Longet 40 years ago this hour (Mar 21 1976)

(Sunday, March 21, 1976, shortly after 5:00 p.m. MST) — Champion skier Vladimir “Spider” Sabich, 31, was shot and killed today by his girlfriend, actress-singer Claudine Longet, 34, in the home they shared in Aspen, Colorado.

Longet, who maintained the shooting was an accident, served 30 days in jail for negligent homicide.