About this episode

This episode explores the shocking abduction and murder of Sherry Arnold by Michael Spell and Lester Waters in Montana, detailing the crime, investigation, and its aftermath.

In the early morning hours of January 7, 2012, beloved Sidney High School math teacher Sherry Arnold laced up her running shoes for a routine jog through her quiet Montana neighborhood. She never came home. What began as a desperate search for a missing wife, mother, and pillar of the community quickly spiraled into one of the most shocking crimes in northeast Montana’s history. Two men from Colorado — Lester Waters and a young Michael Spell — had driven to the region chasing oilfield work during the height of the Bakken boom. High on crack cocaine and looking for trouble, they spotted Arnold running alone in the dark and made a split-second, horrific decision. In this episode of 50 Shades of Evil , Jim Chapman breaks down the full story of Michael Spell’s Montana crimes: the random abduction, the violent struggle inside their Ford Explorer that ended Sherry Arnold’s life, the desperate attempt to hide her body across the state line in North Dakota, and the intense investigation that followed. We explore Spell’s troubling background, his significant intellectual disabilities, the lengthy competency battle that delayed justice, and his eventual guilty plea to deliberate homicide…

People in this episode

Host: Jim Chapman

Topics covered

• true crime
• abduction
• murder
• investigation
• drug influence
• criminal justice
• community impact

Keywords

• Sherry Arnold
• Michael Spell
• Lester Waters
• Montana crime
• abduction
• murder investigation
• drug abuse
• Bakken boom
• criminal justice

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Montana State Prison

Places: Montana, North Dakota

More episodes of Bloody Angola: A Podcast by Jim Chapman

• 50 Shades of Evil: Minnesota - Michael John Anderson · July 16, 2026 · 41 min
• 50 Shades of Evil: Iowa - Cristhian Bahena Rivera · July 9, 2026 · 2h 19m
• 50 Shades of Evil: Virginia - Christopher Bryan Speight · June 30, 2026 · 32 min
• Part 4 | 50 Shades of Evil: Washington - Ted Bundy · June 18, 2026 · 1h 7m

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