Suspect’s Ex-Lover Came Forward Nearly 20 Years Later in Fla. Mom of 5’s Cold Case

Investigators in Florida knew about the extra-marital affair between Greg Malarik and Jennifer Spohn from the start, but in looking into any connection between the new relationship and the murder of Greg’s wife, Detective Buddy Nesmith decided to keep that knowledge “close to the chest.”

In a new episode of People Magazine Investigates: The Soccer Mom Murder, premiering Monday, Nov. 11 at 9/8 C on ID/Investigation Discovery and streaming on Max, the Escambia County investigator says that in interviews with Greg, the detective did not mention his knowledge of the affair, deciding instead to “play it out to see where it goes.” (An exclusive clip is shown below.)

Around 8:00 a.m. on Sept. 22, 2001, the body of 34-year-old Sherri Malarik, a Florida mother of five, was found shoved into the floorboard of her red Dodge Caravan, shot twice in the head. The family minivan was parked outside a Winn Dixie supermarket less than three miles from their home, where her kids were having a sleepover with cousins.

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People who knew the couple would detail to investigators how the affair had begun while Sherri, a Navy air traffic controller, was overseas on assignment, and Spohn spent time at the family home.

Then, in interviews with investigators, Greg mentioned Spohn, telling them that Spohn – who he referred to as a co-worker – had dropped off a lawnmower on the night his wife was killed.

“He brought it up,” Nesmith tells People Magazine Investigates, adding: “I didn’t bring it up.”

The detective says he circled the mention of the woman's 9 p.m. arrival in his notes. “Because this now is a problem. Why is she there?”

In the complaint later charging Greg with his wife’s domestic violence-related murder, which was reviewed by PEOPLE, investigators suggested the lawnmower return may have been “pre-arranged” as part of Greg's cover and that “based on the unexplained arrival” of his girlfriend at "conspicuous timing,” they believe that Greg shot his wife outside their home, drove her to the Winn Dixie and then caught a ride back with his girlfriend.

The girlfriend testified about her involvement as alleged and received full immunity, per NBC, thePensacola News Journal and NorthEscambia.com.

But it would take nearly 20 years before Spohn – whose relationship with Greg had since ended – to come forward in March 2020 with what she said she knew about Greg's actions, leading to the criminal case against him.

And what happened in the two trials against Greg that followed — resulting in his acquittal — tore a family apart and left the case, once again, unsolved.

People Magazine Investigates: The Soccer Mom Murder premieres Monday, Nov. 11 at 9/8 C on ID/Investigation Discovery and streams on Max.