Love? And Marriage The Spences and their role in the Morgan Earp murder.

For Pete Spence, marriage was a godsend of sorts.  He was accused in the March 18, 1882 assassination of Morgan Earp in Tombstone.  Spence’s wife Marietta confirmed that when she testified before the coroner’s jury (she also identified several others as part of the plot).  That panel concluded that Spence, Frank Stilwell and others were the killers.

But at the preliminary criminal hearing, the defense argued that American law prevented Marietta from testifying against her spouse.  The judge concurred and dismissed the case. Soon after, Spence either abandoned or divorced Marietta (it’s not clear which).