A Fair Grove professional clown who is suing a trucking company over the death of his longtime partner appears to have another legal battle on his hands — one with his partner’s daughter.
Spangle the Clown filed a wrongful death lawsuit in December 2022 against Lala Trucking, Inc., of Fresno, California, and truck driver Baljinder Singh. The lawsuit in federal court alleges Singh operated his truck in a negligent manner, causing the crash and resulting in the death of Spangle's partner, 65-year-old Gloria Grimsley, who performed as “Daisy Mae” in appearances with Spangle.
According to the Missouri State Highway Patrol, the crash happened on Highway 65 just north of Springfield on March 23, 2022. The crash report said the semi truck driven by Singh pulled into the path of Grimsley’s vehicle.
Earlier this year, Grimsley’s adopted daughter, Amanda May, filed a motion to join the wrongful death lawsuit. May then filed a motion for summary judgment that alleges Spangle — formerly known as Ronald Poindexter before legally changing his name — and Grimsley were never legally married; therefore, he should not be considered a beneficiary of Grimsley’s.
Attempts by the Hauxeda to speak to May’s attorney and Spangle the Clown have been unsuccessful. Spangle’s attorney Mathew L. Placzek with Lowther Johnson Attorneys at Law said the firm does not comment on pending litigation.
According to court documents, Spangle claimed in his original petition that he was Grimsley’s husband.
In an affidavit filed in April, Spangle stated he was married to Grimsley through a common law marriage in Texas for about 14 years before she died. He said he and Grimsley lived together in a recreational vehicle (RV) from late 2007-2010 in Texas. Spangle, in the affidavit, said they purchased rings for each other and “shared a marital bed in all of our residences.”
Texas recognizes common law marriage providing the couple can prove three things:
- they agreed to be married,
- after the agreement, they lived together in Texas as husband and wife,
- they represented to others that they were married.
Common law? Not in Missouri
Missouri law does not allow for common law marriages, but Missouri legally recognizes common law marriages from other states.
In May’s motion, her attorneys allege Spangle the Clown cannot prove he and Grimsley agreed to be married. According to the motion, Spangle the Clown answered “No,” when asked if he and Grimsley had an address in Texas and “No,” when asked if he had any documents or bills that would evidence he and Grimsley lived in Texas. He also answered, “Not that I can think of,” when asked if he had any other kind of proof, paperwork, written notes or other documents that would show Grimsley consented to enter a common-law marriage with Spangle.
According to May’s motion, Spangle the Clown never filed a declaration of informal marriage in Texas and the couple never had a wedding ceremony.
Attached to May’s motion was an affidavit signed by Grimsley in 2009, in which Grimsley affirmed she did not reside with Spangle nor was she in a romantic relationship with Spangle and never held herself out to be his wife. In the affidavit, Grimsley said Spangle was her business partner and nothing more, and the relationship was “strictly professional.”
Grimsley had filed that 2009 affidavit because an ex-husband was supposed to be paying her $4,000 a month as part of their separation agreement. That agreement was dated June 6, 2006, and the monthly payments were to continue for 143 months. The alimony obligation was to be terminated if either party died, if Grimsley remarried or if Grimsley lived with another person and held herself out as that person’s spouse. According to the 2009 affidavit, Grimsley’s ex-husband quit paying the $4,000 in June of 2009, because he claimed Grimsley was living with Spangle and held herself out as Spangle’s spouse.
“Not only can Plaintiff Spangle the Clown not meet his burden to prove that he and (Grimsley) agreed to be married, but her own sworn affidavit also directly contradicts (Spangle’s) testimony and claims made in his lawsuit,” May’s motion reads. “Without meeting his burden to prove they agreed to be married, he has already failed to meet his burden of proof that he had a common law marriage with (Grimsley) and should not be considered a Class I beneficiary of (Grimsley).”
Spangle described his life without Grimsley as ‘empty’
In addition to their work as Spangle the Clown and Daisy Mae, Spangle and Grimsley also worked gigs as Santa Claus and Mrs. Claus around Christmas time.
While Spangle did not respond to the Daily Citizen about his lawsuit, he did speak to the Springfield News-Leader in January.
In that article, Grimsley is referred to as Spangle’s “partner” and “love of his life.”
“Every magician needs a beautiful assistant, and she was that for me,” Spangle told the News-Leader. “She was literally the sweetest person you could ever meet. [...] How I ended up with her in my life, I have no clue, because she was just way better than I deserved.”
“Spangle and Grimsley first connected over the internet,” the reporter wrote in part. “They later connected at a clown convention in 2007 and were basically inseparable after that. It wasn’t long before Grimsley moved from Kentucky to Missouri to share a life and career with Spangle.”
In the story, Spangle described his life without Grimsley as “empty.” Regarding the wrongful death suit, Spangle said it was filed with accountability in mind.
In court documents, Spangle’s attorneys say Spangle and Grimsley were Texas residents from late 2007 to at least 2010 and lived together in an RV. During their time as Texas residents, they did not maintain any residence in Missouri, but had a mailbox in Missouri that forwarded mail wherever they moved their RV to, including the Texas cities of Conroe, Euless, Mesquite, El Paso, San Antonio and Houston.
Spangle’s attorneys say Spangle and Grimsley celebrated their anniversary in April every year and held themselves out as a married couple to their friends in Texas.
U.S. District Judge Douglas Harpool has not yet made a ruling on May’s requests. A jury trial for the wrongful death suit is scheduled to begin in July 2024.
