David Spanbauer, Serial Child Killer and Rapist

He continued to pine for an early parole and continued to mention his former wife as part of his plan of making a new positive life once he got out.  Spanbauer planned on moving in with her, but nothing he could scheme could change the adamant decision of the Parole Board.  They continually refused parole until they no longer could, until the mandatory release date on Jan. 29, 1991.  Spanbauer finished doing time.

He left prison with $8,000 in savings from his prison work and moved in with his sister, Judy who was married to Clark Tadych, an Oshkosh police officer.  It was a temporary stay and once he got settled in with a job at the local Seven-Up bottling plant he moved into an apartment of his own on the west side of Oshkosh.

He was out on parole and had to file reports of his on-goings and whereabouts.  In his descriptions of what he was up to, he would write a dull platitude and tag at the end of the sentence:  "Smile!" as if it were an early handwritten version of the smiley face icon used in today's Internet chat rooms and message boards.  Everything was fine, he wrote, and it seemed like he was readjusting to life on the outside.

On Christmas Eve of 1991, Spanbauer had a heart attack and for a moment, there was no heartbeat, but the doctors brought him back to life.  His poor heart condition would haunt him for the remainder of his life.

He worked early mornings and finished up mid-afternoon at the bottling plant and would head to a couple nearby taverns to knock back a few cold ones.  He never got blatantly drunk; he was a slow and steady drinker that minded his own business and one tavern owner tagged him to be a "nice guy."