Champion skier Vladimir ‘Spider’ Sabich shot and killed by girlfriend, actress-singer Claudine Longet 50 years ago this hour (Mar 21 1976)


Video: 'The Murder of Olympic Skier Spider Sabich'

(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.

@jack.hutton

The Claudine Longet Ski Invitational 1976 SNL A classic. #SNL #classic #1976 —

? original sound – Jack Hutton

After the criminal trial, Sabich’s parents filed a civil lawsuit against Longet in May 1977. The case was eventually resolved out of court in September 1979, with the provision that Longet never tell nor write about her story.