The Nation - News from May 1, 1988

A man convicted of contracting his wife’s murder through an advertisement in Soldier of Fortune magazine was found hanging in his prison cell, an apparent suicide, authorities in Polk City, Fla., said. Robert Spearman, who was serving a sentence of life plus 20 years in the 1985 slaying of his wife, was found dead three days after authorities announced that they had thwarted a planned helicopter escape. Spearman, 60, a millionaire boatyard owner from Palm Beach Gardens, was found hanging by a bed sheet from the top bars of his cell wall in Polk County Correctional Center, authorities said.