Pamela Anne Phillips was a former model and real estate agent who became a notable socialite in Aspen, Colorado. She married Gary Triano, a successful real estate developer, in 1986. The couple had two children together but divorced in 1993 amid financial disputes. Following the divorce, Phillips moved to Aspen, where she continued her career in real estate and became a prominent figure in the local social scene.

In the early 1990s, Gary Triano faced significant financial difficulties, including a bankruptcy filing in 1994 with debts amounting to $40 million. Despite their divorce, Phillips maintained a $2 million life insurance policy on Triano, with their children as beneficiaries. Investigations revealed that Phillips conspired with Ronald Young, a known conman, to murder Triano in order to claim the insurance money. Young constructed a pipe bomb that was placed in Triano's car, leading to his death on November 1, 1996. Phillips was arrested in Austria in 2009 and extradited to the United States. In 2014, she was convicted of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder, receiving a life sentence without the possibility of parole.