On Sunday, June 13, 1971, around 2:45 a.m., Robert Spivey left Dante’s Inferno, a bar located at Busch Blvd and Waters Avenue, and drove two friends home. That was the last time he was seen alive. His car appeared to have left the roadway approximately 150-200 feet south of where it came to rest. The vehicle was running with lights on and the passenger side door open when found. The victim was shot in the neck while seated in the car. Detectives are still working to figure out who killed Robert Spivey while his daughter searching for the reason why she had to grow up without her father.
Lynn, Spivey's Daughter:
I'm the daughter of a murdered man, a murdered father, and I wanted to have a dad my whole life.
Amanda Granit, Host:
Robert Spivey was 26 in June of 1971.
Master Det. Chris Cutler:
He was described by a few people as being a ladies man. He was discovered with a gunshot wound to his upper body.
Amanda Granit, Host:
But this case is different from the others we've brought you.
Master Det. Chris Cutler:
An arrest was made in this case, initially.
Lynn, Spivey's Daughter:
He deserved to grow old, like everyone else did. He would be 75 today.
Amanda Granit, Host:
Where is the case today? And why did it go cold? We take a look back at Robert Spivey's murder in hopes that you can help us solve this unfinished business. Growing up without a father can be difficult for anyone, but for Lynn, her story is even harder.
Lynn, Spivey's Daughter:
I remember asking why I didn't have a dad and I was told that he died, and as I got older, they told me he was murdered. And I would ask who did it? And they would always just tell me they didn't know.
Amanda Granit, Host:
She was just four years old when her father, Robert Spivey, was killed. It was June of 1971.
Master Det. Chris Cutler:
Robert Spivey was 26 years old at the time. He was described by a few people as being a ladies man. He worked as a doorman at a place off of Waters Avenue called Dante's Inferno. Again, he again-
Amanda Granit, Host:
He had a reputation.
Master Det. Chris Cutler:
He had a reputation, to put it gently. On the evening of the incident, he was actually giving a ride home to two females that he knew. He left the bar around 2:45 in the morning. He dropped off the acquaintances of his around 03:20 in the morning or 3:20 AM, and then approximately 10 minutes later, it's believed that his car crashed into a series of mailboxes near 127th Avenue in Tampa. Unfortunately, when he was discovered, it was a few hours later before somebody came to check on him, he was discovered with a gunshot wound to his upper body.
Amanda Granit, Host:
Remember, this is the 1970s. There's no cell phones to trace, no business or home security cameras, and no DNA technology. Master Detective Chris Cutler explains where detectives started back then.
Master Det. Chris Cutler:
They discovered his body and that's when they started conducting interviews. They conduct interviews with people that he knows, people at Dante's Inferno where he worked and where he had just left. They interview the individuals that he had just dropped off, again, two of his female acquaintances. And that's where they progress and it's during those interviews they learn about all the potential girlfriends or ex- girlfriends, and then obviously the new boyfriends of these females that may have some sort of motive to see harm done to Mr. Spivey.
Amanda Granit, Host:
Is it safe to say with his reputation as this lady's man that there was a significant list of people who could have been involved in this?
Master Det. Chris Cutler:
Absolutely.
Amanda Granit, Host:
So, that's a challenge for detectives at that time as well?
Master Det. Chris Cutler:
Absolutely. Yeah, you would find multiple people with multiple motives to do this, and without a confession from someone, it makes it very difficult to prove.
Amanda Granit, Host:
Lynn remembers her family searching for answers. Her grandmother used to cut out newspaper clippings of the case and her uncle.
Lynn, Spivey's Daughter:
He would just tell me that my father was fearless and he wished he would have been closer to his brother at the time of the murder so he could have been there. Maybe he could have helped, maybe he could have prevented it.
Amanda Granit, Host:
This is an interesting cold case because unlike some of the other ones that we've highlighted, there actually was an arrest at one point.
Master Det. Chris Cutler:
There was.
Amanda Granit, Host:
Talk to me about that.
Master Det. Chris Cutler:
An arrest was made in this case initially. In that arrest, there were some guarantees of immunity and some things that were granted to the individual that was arrested. Unfortunately, some of those guarantees fell through which then caused the admissions to be removed or taken away. And actually the individual that confessed to this passed the polygraph saying he wasn't directly involved. There was some belief that maybe his confession was not accurate.
Amanda Granit, Host:
Well, what does that do to an investigation?
Master Det. Chris Cutler:
You have to start back from square one or from the beginning because now you were conducting your investigation in a way in which this was leading you, but now that you've determined that maybe everything you thought you knew wasn't accurate, you have to start fresh.
Amanda Granit, Host:
For Lynn's family, this was a difficult time.
Lynn, Spivey's Daughter:
Growing up, I wondered why somebody could murder my father and no one go to jail. How can someone be murdered and no one gets punished? That is frustrating. You want somebody to pay for the crime. I remember when it's time to get married, I asked my mom, who's going to walk me down the aisle?
Amanda Granit, Host:
We're not going to name the person who had the charges against him dropped, but we do want to answer the question many of you have at this point. Do detectives believe he could still be connected in some way to what happened in June of 1971?
Master Det. Chris Cutler:
Well, the person that was arrested was tied to other individuals that were also implicated in this incident. Could they possibly have been more involved than what we knew? Absolutely.
Amanda Granit, Host:
The years have passed, but Lynn's desire to know what happened to her father has only grown.
Lynn, Spivey's Daughter:
I think it would fill a big hole. I've played 100 scenarios in my head, why it happened? What did he do? Why is the person a coward? If they have the nerve to walk into somebody and shoot him with a gun in their head, why can't they say I did it and confess? Why are they still hiding? Please come forward and tell us. I'm the daughter of a murdered man, a murder father, and I wanted to have a dad my whole life. Why do they think it's okay to kill someone? Why do they think it's okay to take the father away? I would love for the case to be solved. I know it won't bring my father back, but it would definitely give me peace of mind and stop all the guessing games in my head.
Amanda Granit, Host:
If you have any information on this case or any cases investigated by the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office, please call HCSO a 813-247-8200. Follow us on social media at HCSO Sheriff to follow along with any updates on this case.