On this day, 47 years ago: A father holds a TV station at gunpoint to see his son play in the NHL and is shot. The son, Brian Spencer, goes on the play 553 NHL games before being charged with murder in 1987. Just three months later, he is fatally shot in a robbery after buying crack with a friend.
I just stumbled upon the rather bizarre story of the life of Brian Spencer and thought I'd share. Gathered from thehockeywriters, LA Times and NY Times; sources below.
December 12, 1970
On December 12, 1970, when Spencer was called up to play with the Leafs in what would be his first NHL game on television, he telephoned his father Roy in British Columbia to tell him to watch the game that night on Hockey Night in Canada. Spencer was to be interviewed between periods of the game. Roy, like any proud father, made sure he would be able to view the game and bought himself a new antenna capable of picking up the CBC’s signal from its nearest station in Prince George over 160 KM away from his home in Fort St. James. Being a good family man and host, he also informed his friends and family to come over to see their boy. The drinks were on him.
As game time was approaching and after many drinks were consumed, family and friends sat around the television set to prepare for their hero’s showing. Sitting around the television set, family and friends realized that the CBC in British Columbia decided the province would rather see the Vancouver Canucks face the Oakland Golden Seals rather then see the Leafs versus the Black Hawks. Roy Spencer did not see this coming. And neither would the CBC station he would hold hostage.
As an enraged Spencer began to realize he wouldn’t see his son play that Saturday night, he took his shotgun and started the drive to Prince George. Once there, Roy stormed the building and demanded that the station switch to the Toronto/Chicago game, which of course they did. Little did Spencer know that the Police had been called. Once outside of the building, Spencer was confronted by the waiting officers. Told to drop his weapon, Spencer fired two shots injuring one officer leading to return fire. Roy Spencer would lay dead.
NHL years
Spencer played 553 NHL games for the Leafs, Islanders, Sabres and Penguins between 1969 and 1979 while scoring 223 points with 634 penalty minutes. He had his career high in 1974-75 with 41 points in 73 games for Buffalo.
Sex, Drugs & Murder
Much like his father, Spencer’s taste for alcohol would become problematic and he would soon develop a taste for crack cocaine. He would be arrested for driving under the influence 5 times between 1982 through 1985. During this time, he would also start to date a prostitute named Diane De Lena. His relationship with her would turn out to be his downfall.
In 1987 Spencer would be fingered for the cold case murder that had remained unsolved since 1982. In December of that year, Diane de Lena had spent a night with a man named Michael Dalfo. At the time, the police suspected Spencer for the murder, but they did not have enough initial evidence at the time to charge him. Five years later, things would change. The police, in an attempt to solve their case, directed their attention to once again to Spencer. De Lena was given immunity if she would testify against Spencer. She did, however once again there was not enough evidence to charge Spencer. He would be found not guilty in November 1987 on all counts, while a former teammate from the Sabres, Rick Martin, tried to help by testifying as a character witness at his trial.
Death
Just when Spencer believed he was in the clear, life would unravel once again. After picking up some crack cocaine with a friend, Spencer was shot dead in his truck on June 3, 1988. His companion at the time of the incident, Gregory Scott Cook, told police that Spencer, 39, was shot in Cook's truck during a robbery attempt that followed a cocaine buy late Thursday night in Riviera Beach.
Cook told police that "they had been out Thursday night partying at several bars," then stopped to make a cocaine buy, Poreba said. After purchasing the cocaine, they stopped about 20 blocks away to look for cigarettes in Cook's pickup truck, according to his account. A white car then pulled up beside them, and a man carrying a large-caliber pistol got out, walked to the driver's side of the truck and demanded money. Then, according to Cook, the man fired a shot, hitting Spencer sitting in the passenger seat.
A book on Spencer's life "Gross Misconduct: The Life of Spinner Spencer", written by Martin O'Malley, was adapted in 1993 by Atom Egoyan into a made-for-television film in Canada, "Gross Misconduct: The Life of Brian Spencer".