Wells W. Spicer (1831–1885 or 1887) was an American journalist, prospector, politician, lawyer and judge whose legal career immersed him in two significant events in frontier history: the Mountain Meadows massacre in the Utah Territory in 1857; and the 1881 shootout commonly known as the Gunfight at the O.K.

[1]: 132 After living in Onandaeg City, Colorado, briefly, Spicer left his family in Tipton and went to the Utah Territory with his former fellow publisher, Charles Swetland in 1869.

[1]: 16  Spicer was admitted to the Utah bar and specialized in mining suits and claims, and he started a hotel in Corrine City.

Spicer and his family moved to Ophir City in 1871 and began similar legal activity as well as prospecting and starting a tunneling company.

[1]: 21  Spicer continued his journalistic efforts, contributing to the Salt Lake Daily Tribune and Utah Mining Gazette.

Despite defense claims that prosecution witnesses were also willing participants in the massacre as well as glaring inconsistencies in their testimonies, Lee was found guilty in September 1876 and sentenced to death.

[1]: 99 The first verifiable evidence of Spicer's presence in Tombstone was his appointment as a special correspondent for the Arizona Daily Star on January 3, 1880, though earlier articles bearing the names of "Utah" and "W.S."

[6]: 129  Ike Clanton filed first degree murder charges on November 1 against Wyatt, Virgil, and Morgan Earp, and John H. "Doc" Holliday.

The prosecution may have been motivated by the fact that it was common for criminal charges to be quickly dismissed during preliminary hearings if the evidence was not sufficient.

"[3]: 137  Spicer's second key decision was to personally interview witness Addie Borland[7] at her home after she presented confusing testimony and to recall her to the stand to answer his questions, much to the dismay and objections of the prosecution.

By the time he was done, the Earps and Holliday were free from a full trial[6]: 152–155  despite Ike Clanton's efforts to try them again in nearby Contention City.

The newspaper to which Spicer once contributed, the Arizona Daily Star, said that he "was guilty of culpable ignorance of his duty or was afraid to perform the same, or acted improperly in discharging them".

[1]: 127–128  Death threats were leveled against several men, including Mayor John Clum, Wells, Fargo & Co. agent Marshall Williams, and defense attorney Tom Fitch.

Judge Spicer received the following threat: Sir, if you take my advice you will take your departure for a more genial clime, as I don't think this One Healthy for you much longer.

If such sons of Bitches as you are allowed to dispense Justice in this Territory, the Sooner you Depart from us the better for you And the community at large you may make light of this But it is only a matter of time you will get it sooner or later So with those gentle hints I Will Conclude for the first and last time.Spicer, in characteristic fashion, wrote a lengthy retort in The Tombstone Epitaph, in which he wrote:[8] I have been reviled and slandered beyond measure, and that every vile epithet that a foul mouth could utter has been spoken of me... that of corruption and bribery.

There is a rabble in our city who would like to be thugs if they had courage; would be proud to be called cow-boys, if people gave them that distinction; but as they can be neither, they do the best they can to show how vile they are, and slander, abuse, and threaten everybody they date to.

[9] An article 3 months later in the Daily Star stated that shortly before his disappearance while en route to Covered Wells, Spicer visited a man named Bill Haynes and tried to commit suicide twice while there.

One theory is that Spicer, who had a history of evading creditors, planned his "suicide" by pretending to be despondent while at Haynes' cabin and then quietly made his way to Mexico (possibly Ures) where he spent the rest of his days.