5 quick facts to know

April 15, 2024

Season 31 of Oxygen's true-crime series Snapped is set to premiere with the story of Shirley Ann Nelson. The first episode, slated to air on Sunday, July 3, 2022 will narrate the story of Nelson's attempt to murder her unfaithful husband.

On July 5, 1995, Shirley Ann Nelson, a 65-year-old woman from California, walked into her husband Ronald Nelson's office room at the Peanuts Headquarters, and opened fire at him.

In 1997, Shirley was sentenced to a year in jail, five years of probation and 3000 hours of community service.

Five bite-sized facts to know about the Shirley Ann Nelson case

1) Ronald's affair had led to the murder attempt

According to reports, a day before the attempted murder, Ronald told Shirley that "he was leaving her for a younger secretary who was another 'Peanuts' employee". Shirley was a decade older than her husband.

Ronald confessed to Shirley that he had started dating Eileen in the spring of 1995. Shirley and Ronald had frequent fights after the former came to know about the affair. As a result, Ronald had moved out of their house.

Allegedly, Shirley had planned Ronald's murder for weeks.

2) Shirley shot Ronald twice

At around 11 am on July 5, 1995, Shirley Ann Nelson walked into the Santa Rosa offices of Peanuts with a loaded handgun. She walked straight into Ronald's office, aimed the gun at her husband and reportedly said:

“You ruined my life.”

She then started to fire at him. As Ronald was trying to flee, two bullets from Shirley's handgun hit him in his lower back. However, he managed to walk till the yard, where he collapsed.

Shirley then aimed the gun at herself and shot herself in the chest, according to reports.

Shirley and Ronald were rushed to the hospital. While both of them survived the bullets, Ronald's condition was critical and it took him more than six weeks to fully recover.

3) The trial

Shirley Ann Nelson pleaded no contest to the charges. She was initially kept under psychiatric evaluation and her first bail request was also revoked by the judge, citing concerns over Ronald and his girlfriend Eileen's safety.

However, Shirley was later released on $2 million bail, which was paid by Charles Schulz, the cartoonist of Peanuts.

Charles Schulz (Image via Wikipedia)

Schulz was a key witness in the case as well, for his statement about Ronald's affair with an office colleague.

The trial mainly spiralled around the prosecutor trying to prove that it was a calculated move, and the defense arguing that Shirley had just lost her emotional balance for the moment.

The jury deadlocked 9-3 in favor of an acquittal.

4) Schulz's warning to Ronald

When Charles Schulz learned about the love-affair between Ronald and Eileen, he warned Ronald that either one of them or both would be fired if they did not put an end to the relationship immediately.

Schulz was allegedly afraid that if either of the two women's feelings got hurt, a sexual harassment suit would emerge.

Schulz kept his word and fired Ronald in August 1995.

5) Shirley's death

Two months after developing colon cancer, Shirley Ann Nelson passed away at the age of 78 in Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital, in 2008.

In her final years, Shirley retained her maiden name Shirley Spencer. Her death was not announced in the obituary pages.

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