Full Transcript for Robert Fratta : Do You Know Anyone Who Will Kill My Wife?

public safety, working first as a firefighter, then moving into police work 58 00:04:23.279 --> 00:04:27.839 in nearby Missouri City, Texas. The couple had their first son, Bradley, 59 00:04:27.920 --> 00:04:31.000 in December of nineteen eighty six. Two years later, another boy, 60 00:04:31.199 --> 00:04:35.120 Daniel, was born in the summer of nineteen eighty eight. To the outside 61 00:04:35.120 --> 00:04:40.879 world, their marriage seemed happy but Ferris's family noticed that during her pregnancies, 62 00:04:41.240 --> 00:04:45.480 she would often become depressed and withdrawn. Her parents tried to probe a bit 63 00:04:45.519 --> 00:04:47.639 to find out if something was wrong, but Farah never wanted to talk about 64 00:04:47.680 --> 00:04:51.399 it. A few months after Daniel was born, Farah broke the news to 65 00:04:51.439 --> 00:04:56.240 her family that she and Robert were separating, but she would not talk about 66 00:04:56.360 --> 00:04:59.759 why. That only lasted a month, though, and the two got back 67 00:04:59.759 --> 00:05:02.759 to together, and soon after Farah revealed to her family that she was pregnant 68 00:05:02.839 --> 00:05:08.360 once again. Lex tried to talk to her about whether another baby was really 69 00:05:08.399 --> 00:05:12.319 what she and Robert needed, but Fara did not want to discuss the problems 70 00:05:12.360 --> 00:05:15.079 they were having. After a bit of prying, though, she did confess 71 00:05:15.160 --> 00:05:19.399 that she thought having another baby might have been a mistake. Lex tried talking 72 00:05:19.399 --> 00:05:24.040 to Robert, who insisted that Fara was the one causing all the problems. 73 00:05:24.399 --> 00:05:28.600 He said she was unhappy without any reason to be. In May of nineteen 74 00:05:28.720 --> 00:05:32.399 ninety, Amber Nicole was born, the Frauda's third child. They were living 75 00:05:32.439 --> 00:05:36.560 together again, and Farrest seemed determined to try and make things work. For 76 00:05:36.600 --> 00:05:41.079 the next two years, they all lived together as the children learned to walk 77 00:05:41.079 --> 00:05:45.680 and talk, and little Bradley even started school. It was clear to Forrest's 78 00:05:45.759 --> 00:05:48.639 parents that she was having emotional ups and downs, but she seemed determined to 79 00:05:48.720 --> 00:05:54.639 keep the family together. By early nineteen ninety two, Fara and Robert were 80 00:05:54.680 --> 00:05:59.600 fighting so often that they were once again talking about divorce. Robert moved out 81 00:05:59.639 --> 00:06:03.240 and got an apartment closer to his work. Once again, Lex pressed Robert 82 00:06:03.279 --> 00:06:06.439 to tell him what was wrong, and Robert said nothing was wrong on his 83 00:06:06.560 --> 00:06:11.319 end, It was all Fara. Lex confronted his daughter and she said, 84 00:06:11.360 --> 00:06:15.160 quote, I cannot live with this man. I don't want to discuss all 85 00:06:15.199 --> 00:06:17.720 the wise,

but I simply cannot live with this man. I must get 86 00:06:17.759 --> 00:06:21.000 away from him. There's so much you don't know, and I cannot talk 87 00:06:21.040 --> 00:06:25.639 about it with you, but I cannot live with him. Fara filed for 88 00:06:25.720 --> 00:06:30.319 divorce on March twelfth, nineteen ninety two. She got emergency custody of the 89 00:06:30.399 --> 00:06:32.959 kids and told her attorney that she was filing for divorce on the grounds of 90 00:06:33.000 --> 00:06:38.759 extreme cruelty. When Robert was served the divorce papers, he threw them on 91 00:06:38.800 --> 00:06:42.000 the ground and said, quote, she will be dead before she can never 92 00:06:42.040 --> 00:06:46.560 get a divorce. By that time. Robert's co workers and friends all knew 93 00:06:46.560 --> 00:06:49.399 what had been the cause of their marital problems, but Fara's family was in 94 00:06:49.439 --> 00:06:54.240 the dark, with only a few very close friends knowing what was going on. 95 00:06:54.959 --> 00:06:59.040 Eventually, she told her lawyer as she needed to provide evidence that Robert 96 00:06:59.079 --> 00:07:01.920 had been exceptional cruel to her, so she finally began to detail on the 97 00:07:01.959 --> 00:07:06.519 record what had gone so terribly wrong in their marriage. There were many things 98 00:07:06.560 --> 00:07:11.839 wrong. Robert would forget to feed the children if Fara wasn't around. He 99 00:07:11.959 --> 00:07:15.879 insisted on keeping a pet Boa Constrictor in the house, even after it had 100 00:07:15.879 --> 00:07:19.600 bitten Bradley. He used steroids as a regular part of his workout routine, 101 00:07:19.720 --> 00:07:24.319 which gave him terrible mood swings where he would yell at the children for no 102 00:07:24.439 --> 00:07:29.240 reason. But the biggest problem they had was with their sex life. Apparently, 103 00:07:29.399 --> 00:07:32.560 the reason Fara had been so hesitant to discuss their marital problems was because 104 00:07:32.639 --> 00:07:38.439 Robert's sexual demands were so bizarre and embarrassing. He wanted to have an open 105 00:07:38.519 --> 00:07:42.959 marriage and tried to talk Fara into sleeping with another woman. He wanted Fara 106 00:07:43.040 --> 00:07:46.439 to hit him while he masturbated. Most disturbingly, of all, he frequently 107 00:07:46.480 --> 00:07:51.000 brought up his fantasy of having Fara urinate on his face and defecate in his 108 00:07:51.120 --> 00:07:56.759 mouth. Unsurprisingly, Fara wanted no part of any of that, but Robert 109 00:07:56.800 --> 00:08:00.519 made it clear that if she wouldn't give into his sexual demands, she was 110 00:08:00.600 --> 00:08:03.439 failing him as a wife. I mean, if those were the requirements, 111 00:08:03.439 --> 00:08:09.720 I would gladly accept the failure, but that's just me. After filing formally, 112 00:08:09.079 --> 00:08:13.959 the prospect of raising the children in separate homes started to worry Fara to 113 00:08:13.000 --> 00:08:16.160 the point that she wondered if she should find a way to work things out. 114 00:08:16.800 --> 00:08:20.360 Fara and Robert both made lists of what they would need to stay together. 115 00:08:20.959 --> 00:08:26.519 Robert's list was almost entirely sexual and involved Fara getting plastic surgery to become 116 00:08:26.519 --> 00:08:31.279 more attractive to him. Fara's list involved Robert being better with the kids and 117 00:08:31.320 --> 00:08:35.639 being a more active father. Fara was hoping that if she gave into Robert's 118 00:08:35.679 --> 00:08:39.759 plastic surgery demands, she might be able to talk him into counseling to deal 119 00:08:39.799 --> 00:08:46.000 with his obsessive sexual fetishes. In August of nineteen ninety two, Fara got 120 00:08:46.039 --> 00:08:50.799 breast in plants and a rhinoplasty, After she had mostly recovered, she let 121 00:08:50.879 --> 00:08:54.679 Robert move back in with her and the kids. Just two weeks later, 122 00:08:54.799 --> 00:08:58.919 he was out again, even though she was still recovering from surgery. He 123 00:08:58.000 --> 00:09:03.080 made it clear he was going to back down from his sexual demands. He 124 00:09:03.200 --> 00:09:07.360 initially put the surgery costs on one of his credit cards, but after Fara 125 00:09:07.480 --> 00:09:09.759 kicked him out, he said the bill should be her responsibility as they were 126 00:09:09.799 --> 00:09:15.279 no longer together. He said he was not going to pay for somebody else 127 00:09:15.320 --> 00:09:20.399 to play with what he had paid for. Depositions and arguments followed and escalated 128 00:09:20.440 --> 00:09:24.200 as the fraudus prepared to formally face each other in court. Fara admitted all 129 00:09:24.240 --> 00:09:30.159 of her grievances during that time, even the most personal ones about Robert's strange 130 00:09:30.200 --> 00:09:35.600 fetishes and his occasional sexual abuse coercing her into acts she was not comfortable with. 131 00:09:35.159 --> 00:09:39.720 She talked about the day to day as well, and Robert's general neglect 132 00:09:39.759 --> 00:09:43.200 of the children. Robert gave a deposition in return, where he made up 133 00:09:43.240 --> 00:09:48.960 excuses and said Fara had twisted his words. He said he'd only ever taken 134 00:09:48.080 --> 00:09:54.360 steroids for medical reasons and that he was actually the more responsible parent because Fara 135 00:09:54.480 --> 00:09:58.320 wanted to destroy their marriage and have the kids grow up in a broken home. 136 00:09:58.840 --> 00:10:01.159 He said he'd consider at an open marriage, but only to see if 137 00:10:01.200 --> 00:10:07.279 that could appease far as desire to be somewhat separated while still raising the children 138 00:10:07.360 --> 00:10:11.720 together. But he adamantly denied he'd ever asked Fara to perform any of the 139 00:10:11.840 --> 00:10:16.039 lewd sexual acts she'd described. He wanted nothing but to raise his children in 140

00:10:16.080 --> 00:10:22.440 a good Christian household right. There were numerous delays with the custody battle. 141 00:10:22.879 --> 00:10:26.559 Fara went through a few lawyers, the judge who was meant to preside over 142 00:10:26.600 --> 00:10:31.919 the case passed away, and general bureaucracy kept delaying things. Both of the 143 00:10:31.960 --> 00:10:37.360 Fraudas were very fond of the Jim they'd worked out together at called the President 144 00:10:37.440 --> 00:10:41.279 and the First Lady Jim, so they both kept going, but Fara would 145 00:10:41.279 --> 00:10:45.679 often picked times when she knew Robert wouldn't be there. During that time, 146 00:10:45.840 --> 00:10:50.159 both of them were making new friends and acquaintances there with very different goals in 147 00:10:50.240 --> 00:10:54.360 mind. Shortly after Robert moved out and Fara accepted that divorce was imminent, 148 00:10:54.639 --> 00:10:58.919 one of her friends at the gym introduced her to another regular named David Dietz. 149 00:11:00.600 --> 00:11:05.039 Fara was still recovering physically from her surgery and emotional recovery from her marriage 150 00:11:05.039 --> 00:11:09.440 would likely not even begin until the divorce was over, but David interested her 151 00:11:09.519 --> 00:11:16.240 right away. The two began a very slow romance when Fara felt safe introducing 152 00:11:16.279 --> 00:11:20.039 her children to David. They immediately liked him, and he was fond of 153 00:11:20.080 --> 00:11:24.039 them as well. David understood that Fara had a lot going on in her 154 00:11:24.080 --> 00:11:28.000 life, so the two went on dates sparingly when she could find the time 155 00:11:28.039 --> 00:11:33.000 between meeting with lawyers and spending time with the kids. Occasionally they would all 156 00:11:33.000 --> 00:11:35.759 go on outings together, out to dinner or bringing the kids to the zoo. 157 00:11:37.360 --> 00:11:39.600 Fara was able to get a small glimpse into what life might be like 158 00:11:39.759 --> 00:11:45.159 after the divorce, when she was able to fully pursue romance and even marriage 159 00:11:45.200 --> 00:11:48.480 with someone who loved her. The weeks turned into months, which turned into 160 00:11:48.559 --> 00:11:54.240 years as the custody battle dragged on until nineteen ninety four. But while Fara 161 00:11:54.360 --> 00:11:58.840 was pursuing a life beyond the divorce, Robert was spending his time stewing on 162 00:11:58.879 --> 00:12:01.240 the fact that he might lose custody of the children and have to pay child 163 00:12:01.320 --> 00:12:05.440 support. Since at least the late eighties, Robert had been cheating on FARA 164 00:12:05.519 --> 00:12:11.799 with numerous sexual partners. One woman named Minny Lawrence had met Robert over a 165 00:12:11.879 --> 00:12:16.639 phone dating service in nineteen eighty nine. They would occasionally have sex over the 166 00:12:16.720 --> 00:12:22.120 phone, which escalated to an in person

affair. Minnie was also sexually adventurous 167 00:12:22.120 --> 00:12:26.000 and would participate in some of Robert's fantasies. The two would engage in scat 168 00:12:26.039 --> 00:12:31.159 play and BDSM, but Minnie drew the line at anything involving Robert's wife. 169 00:12:31.440 --> 00:12:35.320 She knew he was married, and he would occasionally proposition her for a threesome, 170 00:12:35.600 --> 00:12:39.960 but to Many, it sounded like Robert's wife didn't really want to be 171 00:12:39.000 --> 00:12:43.440 involved, and it was unclear if she even knew about her husband's various affairs. 172 00:12:45.120 --> 00:12:48.000 The two kept up their affair for years before Many started to distance herself 173 00:12:48.440 --> 00:12:52.679 despite the fact that he was having an affair with her. Many had always 174 00:12:52.679 --> 00:12:56.720 thought Roberts sounded like a decent husband and father to his family, and she 175 00:12:56.879 --> 00:13:00.960 liked that about him. She thought he was just someone who to look outside 176 00:13:00.960 --> 00:13:05.600 of his marriage for his sexual fantasies, and Robert had occasionally implied that his 177 00:13:05.639 --> 00:13:09.320 wife even knew that he and Many were seeing each other, But in nineteen 178 00:13:09.399 --> 00:13:13.279 ninety four, Robert started to refer to his wife as a bitch and talk 179 00:13:13.360 --> 00:13:18.519 about her in increasingly disturbing ways. One day, after a flood in Houston, 180 00:13:18.840 --> 00:13:22.279 Many called Robert to see if he and his family were okay, and 181 00:13:22.360 --> 00:13:24.200 he asked her out of the blue, if she knew anyone who would kill 182 00:13:24.279 --> 00:13:28.279 his wife. Specifically, he asked her if she knew any black people who 183 00:13:28.320 --> 00:13:33.080 would do it. Minnie thought he was telling a bad joke and brushed him 184 00:13:33.120 --> 00:13:37.159 off, but the encounter had left her worried. Manny was not the only 185 00:13:37.200 --> 00:13:41.639 woman Robert had been having an affair with. He kept a detailed address book 186 00:13:41.679 --> 00:13:46.120 filled with various women's numbers, several of them he met at the President and 187 00:13:46.159 --> 00:13:50.000 First Lady Jim, apparently blatantly scouting out of fair partners, even though Farah 188 00:13:50.080 --> 00:13:54.039 also worked out there. In his address book, he wrote notes on their 189 00:13:54.039 --> 00:13:58.679 physical characteristics, what color their eyes and hair were, if they worked out, 190 00:13:58.720 --> 00:14:01.600 and he even made a note that one of the women had called another 191 00:14:01.679 --> 00:14:07.200 woman pretty no doubt. Searching for the threesome he wanted so badly, he 192 00:14:07.240 --> 00:14:11.120 wrote down ages as well, many of which were younger than him. One 193 00:14:11.159 --> 00:14:13.840 of the girls, Penny Adams, was just twenty years old. She was 194 00:14:13.879 --> 00:14:18.159 in

a bit of a rebellious phase and had flirted with Robert, but his 195 00:14:18.240 --> 00:14:22.919 aggressive advances scared her and her friends. When he asked her, a woman 196 00:14:22.960 --> 00:14:26.320 he barely knew, if she knew anyone who would kill his wife, she 197 00:14:26.399 --> 00:14:31.039 stopped speaking to him. Over the next several months, Robert asked almost everyone 198 00:14:31.080 --> 00:14:33.879 he knew if they would kill Fara. There were over a dozen people who 199 00:14:33.919 --> 00:14:37.159 he'd discussed the matter with, and almost all of them wrote it off as 200 00:14:37.279 --> 00:14:43.039 joking or just blowing off steam due to the stressful divorce battle. Like his 201 00:14:43.159 --> 00:14:48.000 request with many, many of his attempts at hiring a hitman had racist undertones. 202 00:14:48.519 --> 00:14:52.639 He told one friend, quote some Italian you are, when the friends 203 00:14:52.639 --> 00:14:56.039 said he didn't know any assassins. Another friend asked Robert why on earth he 204 00:14:56.039 --> 00:15:01.039 would ask him if he knew any hitman, and Robert responded, because you're 205 00:15:01.120 --> 00:15:03.360 Mexican, John, I thought you might know some of your people who would 206 00:15:03.399 --> 00:15:07.320 do something like that. He told one friend that he carried a gun with 207 00:15:07.399 --> 00:15:11.600 him at all times so that if he ran into far around town, he 208 00:15:11.639 --> 00:15:15.759 could kill her and make it look like a carjacking. One acquaintance made the 209 00:15:15.799 --> 00:15:20.240 mistake of complaining to Robert about his wife, so Robert proposed to him that 210 00:15:20.279 --> 00:15:24.559 they could kill each other's wives all a strangers on a train. He got 211 00:15:24.639 --> 00:15:26.679 to the point where he told so many people he was going to kill her 212 00:15:26.840 --> 00:15:31.440 that he started telling people he was doing it intentionally so there would be too 213 00:15:31.440 --> 00:15:35.159 many leads for police to follow if she died, except that what he was 214 00:15:35.200 --> 00:15:39.600 doing would only leave them with one lead him. One of Robert's friends, 215 00:15:39.799 --> 00:15:43.840 James Podorski, realized Robert was serious when he started telling him the exact amount 216 00:15:43.879 --> 00:15:48.440 of money he was offering and that it would come from an offshore account. 217 00:15:48.039 --> 00:15:52.399 James said he believed Robert was seriously looking into killing Farah, but that he 218 00:15:52.399 --> 00:15:56.519 didn't go to the police because he thought no one would take him up on 219 00:15:56.559 --> 00:16:00.720 his offer. An interview of Robert's co workers revealed largely stayed away from asking 220 00:16:00.720 --> 00:16:04.639 his fellow police officers if they would kill his wife, though one co worker 221 00:16:04.759 --> 00:16:10.440 did remark that Robert tells everybody about wanting to have a woman shit on him. 222 00:16:10.919 --> 00:16:14.279 Though he controlled himself more at work, he did still tell two of 223 00:16:14.320 --> 00:16:18.200 his co workers that he'd thought about killing Fara and that surely, as a 224 00:16:18.200 --> 00:16:22.679 police officer he wouldn't get more than five years. Neither of these men did 225 00:16:22.720 --> 00:16:26.440 anything about Robert's threats and thought he was joking. Robert would eventually talk someone 226 00:16:26.480 --> 00:16:30.480 into scaring Fara for him. One of his friends from the gym, a 227 00:16:30.519 --> 00:16:34.559 man named Joe priced Ash, had experience with breaking and entering and had a 228 00:16:34.600 --> 00:16:38.480 history of violence on his rap sheet as well. He'd once been charged with 229 00:16:38.519 --> 00:16:42.240 attempting to kill his brother in law, but the charges were dropped. He 230 00:16:42.360 --> 00:16:47.080 was the early morning hours of June twenty eighth, nineteen ninety four, when 231 00:16:47.120 --> 00:16:52.000 the plan was carried out. Sometime between three and four am, Farah woke 232 00:16:52.080 --> 00:16:56.519 up to find Joe wearing a ski mask walking into her bedroom. Daniel was 233 00:16:56.559 --> 00:16:59.960 asleep in the bed with her and woke up alongside her when she screamed. 234 00:17:00.600 --> 00:17:03.880 Joe told her that he'd come to talk to her about Bob Bradley and Amber 235 00:17:03.960 --> 00:17:07.759 Nicole heard the commotion and ran into the room, and Fara told the masked 236 00:17:07.759 --> 00:17:11.839 man, quote, whatever you were going to do, don't do it in 237 00:17:11.880 --> 00:17:15.319 front of my children. Please, Joe shut the children out of the bedroom. 238 00:17:15.359 --> 00:17:18.680 He was drunk and had brought a flask of something with him as well 239 00:17:18.720 --> 00:17:22.720 as a stun gun. He tortured Fara with a stun gun, shocking her, 240 00:17:22.759 --> 00:17:26.559 but didn't say anything else aside from that he was there on Robert's behalf. 241 00:17:27.079 --> 00:17:30.279 He then left and took her cell phone so she couldn't call nine one 242 00:17:30.440 --> 00:17:34.079 one. Fara had another phone in the house, and police got to the 243 00:17:34.079 --> 00:17:38.480 scene quickly. They found that the intruder had broken in by drilling a hole 244 00:17:38.519 --> 00:17:42.799 in a window and unlocking the back door. Fara had her own suspicions, 245 00:17:42.839 --> 00:17:47.799 as she thought she'd recognized the voice of the man who attacked her. Joe 246 00:17:47.839 --> 00:17:51.400 had been Robert's friend for several years by that point, and Fara had met 247 00:17:51.480 --> 00:17:55.319 him several times, but he'd been in disguise, so she couldn't be sure. 248 00:17:55.920 --> 00:18:00.559 After that, the investigation stalled. Fara took the kids, moved back 249 00:18:00.599 --> 00:18:03.400 in with her parents while they installed a new security system, and she took 250

00:18:03.480 --> 00:18:08.200 some time to recover from the attack. Robert was later questioned about the incident. 251 00:18:10.279 --> 00:18:15.599 What happened, Well, I never really got the straight story of court 252 00:18:15.640 --> 00:18:19.200 to my children. Somebody came in the house bypassing the alarm system. Everything 253 00:18:19.240 --> 00:18:30.599 else did nothing but and I mean, according to Fara, what she told 254 00:18:30.599 --> 00:18:33.880 detectives was that he said that he was there to quote. This is what 255 00:18:33.920 --> 00:18:41.839 they said to me. Get have my ass in the slang. Yeah, 256 00:18:41.119 --> 00:18:44.519 I'm listening to the phone book. You know. I mean, I'm easy 257 00:18:44.519 --> 00:18:47.920 to get too, So I don't know, I say, yeah. I 258 00:18:48.319 --> 00:18:51.519 never didn't understand that. Why I thought that was the stunt that she was 259 00:18:51.559 --> 00:18:55.640 pulling. He claimed that someone must have done it just to mess with them. 260 00:18:55.680 --> 00:19:00.319 Of course, Fara's attacked and Robert makes himself the victim. The at 261 00:19:00.359 --> 00:19:04.079 he hearing was slowly moving along with delays and preparation, and finally a trial 262 00:19:04.200 --> 00:19:08.680 day was set for November twenty eighth, nineteen ninety four. As the hearing 263 00:19:08.680 --> 00:19:12.480 approached, Robert thought he might have finally found the right person for the job 264 00:19:12.519 --> 00:19:17.240 in Joe. Joe was friends with a man named Howard Guidry, who had 265 00:19:17.279 --> 00:19:21.160 a less extensive criminal background than Joe, but made it clear he was looking 266 00:19:21.160 --> 00:19:25.200 to expand his criminal skills. He hardly knew Joe, but he had made 267 00:19:25.200 --> 00:19:27.920 sure to drop hints that he would do anything for money. He wanted to 268 00:19:27.920 --> 00:19:33.200 get a nest egg saved up so he could start dealing cocaine. Together, 269 00:19:33.400 --> 00:19:37.000 the two men began to discuss working together to kill Farah. Robert didn't speak 270 00:19:37.039 --> 00:19:41.160 to Howard directly, but gave Joe extensive notes on Fara's schedule and day to 271 00:19:41.240 --> 00:19:47.400 day activities. Joe and Howard would later tell different stories about what their planning 272 00:19:47.400 --> 00:19:52.480 process was for the murder. According to Howard, Joe and Robert considered having 273 00:19:52.559 --> 00:19:56.359 Joe rape Fara before killing her to make it look like the motive had been 274 00:19:56.359 --> 00:20:00.559 a sexual assault. Joe had no qualms about the assault, and old Howard 275 00:20:00.559 --> 00:20:04.200 he found Fara attractive and would gladly raper, But evidently he decided he didn't 276 00:20:04.240 --> 00:20:07.039 want to be the one to kill her in case things went wrong and the 277 00:20:07.079 --> 00:20:11.680 plan was abandoned. Joe, of course denied that. Later, Howard claimed 278 00:20:11.680 --> 00:20:15.279 he was only supposed to be the getaway driver and that the other men changed 279 00:20:15.400 --> 00:20:19.720 the plan on him last minute. Nevertheless, he eventually agreed to be the 280 00:20:19.720 --> 00:20:25.319 one to do the killing. Eventually, Robert decided the easiest way to kill 281 00:20:25.400 --> 00:20:29.519 Farah would be while the children were at Sunday School on nights. When they 282 00:20:29.519 --> 00:20:33.319 went to Sunday School Robert was allowed to keep them past eight o'clock, which 283 00:20:33.359 --> 00:20:37.720 was normally the scheduled handoff time, but Fara always made sure she was home 284 00:20:37.799 --> 00:20:41.680 by eight anyway in case the kids had to leave church early. The men 285 00:20:41.839 --> 00:20:45.920 set the date for November eighth. Then Robert gave Joe a gun, ironically 286 00:20:45.960 --> 00:20:48.759 one he'd bought ten years prior to keep around the house to protect his family 287 00:20:48.799 --> 00:20:53.119 in case of a home invasion. In addition to Howard, Joe's girlfriend also 288 00:20:53.240 --> 00:20:57.319 knew about the plot to kill Farah. Mary Gipp had only been dating Joe 289 00:20:57.359 --> 00:21:00.640 for a matter of months, but she thought she was in love with him. 290 00:21:00.759 --> 00:21:04.440 Joe was struggling financially, so she'd bought him a pager and he stayed 291 00:21:04.440 --> 00:21:10.759 at her place frequently. Like anyone who knew Robert Frauda casually, Mary knew 292 00:21:10.759 --> 00:21:14.200 he'd been asking around town to try to find someone to kill his wife, 293 00:21:14.319 --> 00:21:18.440 and they kept her updated as the plan escalated. Joe didn't try to hide 294 00:21:18.440 --> 00:21:22.240 the fact that he and Howard were going to kill Fara together because they needed 295 00:21:22.240 --> 00:21:26.599 her help. The plan involved using the pager Mary had gotten for Joe, 296 00:21:26.839 --> 00:21:30.440 and Mary being Joe's alibi. Mary was upset about the whole thing, but 297 00:21:30.559 --> 00:21:34.599 didn't call the police. On the day the murder was scheduled to take place, 298 00:21:34.799 --> 00:21:38.759 she left work early and sat at home. She thought about calling Fara, 299 00:21:38.880 --> 00:21:44.079 but couldn't remember what her last name was. Howard came to the apartment 300 00:21:44.119 --> 00:21:47.839 and Joe joined him, and as the two drove off, she felt guilty 301 00:21:47.960 --> 00:21:52.359 but still did nothing. Normally, Robert would just drop off the children and 302 00:21:52.440 --> 00:21:56.279 leave them at Sunday school, but he stayed the whole service on that occasion. 303 00:21:56.839 --> 00:22:00.400 Robert's pager was going off frequently, and he used the church phone at 304 00:22:00.480 --> 00:22:03.680 least five times that night. He meant to give himself a reliable alibi, 305 00:22:03.960 --> 00:22:07.279 but all he managed to do was draw suspicion. Is That was one of

306 00:22:07.279 --> 00:22:11.799 the only times he'd ever stayed for a church service, and he kept getting 307 00:22:11.839 --> 00:22:15.400 up to use the phone. While Robert was at church, Joe drove Howard 308 00:22:15.480 --> 00:22:19.400 close to the Frauda family home. He gave him the gun and pager and 309 00:22:19.440 --> 00:22:23.400 posted up at a pay phone outside a nearby grocery store. There was a 310 00:22:23.480 --> 00:22:27.279 large playhouse in the backyard, and Howard hopped the fence and went to hide 311 00:22:27.359 --> 00:22:33.759 inside until Fara got home at approximately eight pm. Fara arrived home as per 312 00:22:33.839 --> 00:22:37.480 usual, their neighbors across the street, Darren and Laura Holscher, would become 313 00:22:37.480 --> 00:22:42.200 the unfortunate witnesses to what was about to unfold. They heard a gunshot and 314 00:22:42.279 --> 00:22:45.680 looked out the window in time to see Fara scream and fold to the ground 315 00:22:45.759 --> 00:22:51.279 inside her garage. Howard wasn't sure he'd killed her, so he stepped closer 316 00:22:51.319 --> 00:22:55.240 and shot her once again in the head. The family across the street had 317 00:22:55.279 --> 00:22:59.319 yet to draw their blinds and realized that the gunmen might have seen them watching, 318 00:22:59.400 --> 00:23:02.519 so they killed the lights in their house and called nine one one. 319 00:23:02.680 --> 00:23:06.599 The hole shirts saw Howard get into a silver car with one headlight and were 320 00:23:06.599 --> 00:23:11.079 able to later identify him as he hadn't worn a mask. After the car 321 00:23:11.119 --> 00:23:15.160 fled, Darren ran to Fara to see if he could help. Farah was 322 00:23:15.200 --> 00:23:18.960 still breathing but had already lost a considerable amount of blood. He knew Farah 323 00:23:19.039 --> 00:23:22.960 was religious, and he made the sign of the Cross to give her her 324 00:23:22.039 --> 00:23:27.000 last rites. The EMTs arrived quickly and initially thought there might be hope after 325 00:23:27.039 --> 00:23:32.279 they stabilized her, because they only saw one gunshot wound that had grazed her 326 00:23:32.319 --> 00:23:37.000 skull. She was airlifted to the hospital, but pronounced dead shortly after as 327 00:23:37.039 --> 00:23:40.559 there was a second, much deeper wound that the EMTs had missed as it 328 00:23:40.599 --> 00:23:44.960 was concealed by blood and hair. Robert arrived with the kid shortly after, 329 00:23:45.039 --> 00:23:48.759 and everyone told him what had happened. He called the hospital and the worker 330 00:23:48.759 --> 00:23:52.960 who took his call was immediately shocked at Robert's lack of surprise or emotion. 331 00:23:52.480 --> 00:23:56.400 They later said that he sounded annoyed at the whole thing and impatient. He 332 00:23:56.440 --> 00:24:00.359 didn't seem worried at all. He just wanted to get an ant are as 333 00:24:00.400 --> 00:24:03.640 quickly as possible about if Farah was

dead. Yet, after he arrived at 334 00:24:03.640 --> 00:24:07.039 the scene, Robert tried to leave, saying he wanted the kids to be 335 00:24:07.079 --> 00:24:11.599 able to say their goodbyes to Farah in the hospital. Police also noted his 336 00:24:11.680 --> 00:24:17.000 lack of surprise or concern and wouldn't let him leave. They searched his car, 337 00:24:17.039 --> 00:24:19.839 where they found just over one thousand dollars in cash and a gun that 338 00:24:21.000 --> 00:24:23.759 was the other gun that he'd purchased to carry around with him in Casey decided 339 00:24:23.799 --> 00:24:27.880 to kill Fara and make it look like a carjacking. Lex and Betty got 340 00:24:27.880 --> 00:24:32.799 to the scene soon after Robert and the kids. David had been trying to 341 00:24:32.839 --> 00:24:36.880 call Farah because he knew she usually got home right at eight pm. He 342 00:24:36.920 --> 00:24:41.160 was calling every few minutes to see what was going on. After the backers 343 00:24:41.240 --> 00:24:45.880 arrived, Lex finally picked up Fara's phone and tearfully told him Farah was being 344 00:24:45.920 --> 00:24:49.039 taken to the hospital. They all went to visit her and found out she'd 345 00:24:49.079 --> 00:24:53.039 passed. When David heard the news, he blamed Robert right away. He 346 00:24:53.119 --> 00:24:57.599 said, I'll kill him myself, and the backers had to restrain him from 347 00:24:57.640 --> 00:25:02.480 trying to find Robert to in front him. On the night of the murder, 348 00:25:02.519 --> 00:25:06.599 police held Robert for fourteen hours and questioned him. He had a well 349 00:25:06.640 --> 00:25:10.720 rehearsed recounting of his alibi that night, and not once did he seem upset 350 00:25:10.759 --> 00:25:14.960 that Farah was dead. He mentioned several times that he was also a police 351 00:25:14.960 --> 00:25:18.759 officer, and in general he was unemotional and smug about the whole thing. 352 00:25:18.240 --> 00:25:22.759 He actually spent a lot of time planting the seeds that someone was actually trying 353 00:25:22.799 --> 00:25:26.119 to set him up. What reason was Sony has come in your house like 354 00:25:26.160 --> 00:25:30.480 that? You know, either first of I've got nothing to steal. But 355 00:25:30.559 --> 00:25:33.440 like I said, the only things I'm missing, all right, the bottle 356 00:25:33.480 --> 00:25:36.880 of line the one time when somebody came in on it, but it was 357 00:25:36.920 --> 00:25:42.599 there, the tapes, My diary was. My diary was strictly four divorce. 358 00:25:42.680 --> 00:25:47.359 It was strictly divorced diary. I don't keep diaries. And the check, 359 00:25:47.480 --> 00:25:48.960 I said, that was just a random check. But you're made out 360 00:25:49.000 --> 00:25:52.839 to me, so I have no idea. You know, no TV's taken, 361 00:25:52.839 --> 00:25:57.440 no VCR was taken. Check over cash now he was a bad chick, 362 00:25:57.880 --> 00:26:00.799 chick a follower for it. No. I just found all this sound 363 00:26:00.839 --> 00:26:04.640 relatively recently, and that's why I told my attorney and to me, I 364 00:26:04.640 --> 00:26:07.319 didn't know how is it approved this because at first I just thought I misplaced 365 00:26:07.359 --> 00:26:12.839 everything. And it wasn't until last week that I happened to notice my garage 366 00:26:14.000 --> 00:26:17.680 or I still don't understand why somebody would come in your house. You both, 367 00:26:17.920 --> 00:26:21.559 That's what I'm saying. I don't know soon that they had that much 368 00:26:21.599 --> 00:26:26.960 accessity. They just tell me, you're right, yeah, And that's what 369 00:26:26.039 --> 00:26:30.119 I'm saying to my friends too. It's like somebody's fucking with me, but 370 00:26:30.319 --> 00:26:33.079 not trying to kill me, and that's why I would radle. They call 371 00:26:33.119 --> 00:26:38.720 me a center. When he was released, one of the officers who was 372 00:26:38.799 --> 00:26:42.599 upset about the ordeal through Robert's car keys at him when it was time to 373 00:26:42.640 --> 00:26:48.079 return them, and the keys scratched his cheek, drawing blood. When Robert 374 00:26:48.119 --> 00:26:51.759 saw the mob of reporters waiting for him, he decided to make the most 375 00:26:51.799 --> 00:26:55.319 of the limelight. He said he wanted to find out who killed his wife 376 00:26:55.319 --> 00:26:57.759 and couldn't believe the police kept him from his children. It's such a dire 377 00:26:57.839 --> 00:27:03.400 time. He smiled and laughed quite a bit, joking around with the reporters. 378 00:27:03.079 --> 00:27:07.359 Joe and Mary watched the press conference from their house, and Joe said 379 00:27:07.359 --> 00:27:11.200 that Robert better keep his mouth shut and stopped smiling so much. Surprisingly, 380 00:27:11.359 --> 00:27:15.000 when Joe had gotten back the previous night and it hit Mary that they'd really 381 00:27:15.039 --> 00:27:19.559 gone and killed an innocent woman, she finally decided to act. She had 382 00:27:19.640 --> 00:27:23.640 heard him unloading his gun into the trash when he got home. After he 383 00:27:23.720 --> 00:27:27.240 went to sleep, she wrote down the serial number of the gun and saved 384 00:27:27.240 --> 00:27:32.640 the shells. She hid them in various places around the apartment, but did 385 00:27:32.640 --> 00:27:36.960 not take them to the police. In those first few days, Robert made 386 00:27:37.000 --> 00:27:41.200 virtually no attempts to hide his lack of concern about his wife being killed. 387 00:27:41.720 --> 00:27:45.960 Fara had over two hundred and thirty five thousand dollars in life insurance money and 388 00:27:45.119 --> 00:27:49.279 in overseas account and Robert was only able to make himself wait a few days 389 00:27:49.319 --> 00:27:53.160 before he called and demanded the money. When he was informed that he wouldn't 390 00:27:53.200 --> 00:27:59.160 get the payout until the murder investigation was

solved, he was furious. Police 391 00:27:59.200 --> 00:28:03.480 were quipped in a Robert as a suspect in the media shortly after the investigation 392 00:28:03.559 --> 00:28:07.799 began. He was suspended from his job, but still didn't make any attempt 393 00:28:07.880 --> 00:28:11.839 to publicly display any concern. The night of Forrest's funeral, Robert visited a 394 00:28:11.880 --> 00:28:18.079 strip club. The backers were granted emergency custody of the children because Robert was 395 00:28:18.160 --> 00:28:22.640 a suspect. The trial for custody was delayed until mid December, but with 396 00:28:22.720 --> 00:28:26.160 police no closer to solving the case, the presiding judge decided to make a 397 00:28:26.279 --> 00:28:32.799 ruling. In cases concerning the immediate welfare of children, the principle that one 398 00:28:32.920 --> 00:28:37.519 is innocent until proven guilty is not always able to be followed. In the 399 00:28:37.640 --> 00:28:41.000 US, if a judge feels children might be in immediate danger, they're allowed 400 00:28:41.000 --> 00:28:45.359 to operate with an abundance of caution. If only that was the case with 401 00:28:45.480 --> 00:28:51.640 Shirley Turner. During the custody hearing, five people said that Robert had either 402 00:28:51.759 --> 00:28:55.960 offered them money to kill Farah or asked them if they knew anyone who would 403 00:28:56.039 --> 00:28:59.720 kill someone for the right amount of money. The people who spoke up were 404 00:28:59.720 --> 00:29:03.920 all workout buddies or casual acquaintances who didn't even know Robert very well. One 405 00:29:04.039 --> 00:29:08.000 testified that he had assured him nothing would go wrong because he was a cop, 406 00:29:08.240 --> 00:29:11.920 and implied the other police would side with him and help him cover up 407 00:29:11.960 --> 00:29:17.279 the murder. The backers told the courtroom that the children were all very young 408 00:29:17.319 --> 00:29:19.880 and didn't know what was going on. They said they'd told them that their 409 00:29:19.920 --> 00:29:25.400 father wasn't with them because he was out catching bad guys. As the children, 410 00:29:25.599 --> 00:29:29.079 Bradley especially, all looked up to him. They didn't want to sour 411 00:29:29.160 --> 00:29:33.839 the children's relationship with their father on the slim chance he was innocent, and 412 00:29:33.079 --> 00:29:37.720 if he wasn't, they were all too young to quite grasp the concept of 413 00:29:37.839 --> 00:29:42.200 murder anyway. On December fifteenth, nineteen ninety five, the Backers were awarded 414 00:29:42.240 --> 00:29:47.799 custody of the children. The judge ruled in favor of barring Robert from seeing 415 00:29:47.839 --> 00:29:52.880 the children until the investigation concluded. He said that his ruling was based solely 416 00:29:52.920 --> 00:29:56.680 on the fact that Robert was the prime suspect and far As murder, but 417 00:29:56.759 --> 00:30:00.039 he did also say that in regards to Robert's sexual behavior, he had never 418 00:30:00.079 --> 00:30:04.200 heard something so bizarre in all of his years working in the justice system. 419 00:30:04.279 --> 00:30:08.599 With the children out of immediate danger, Lex and Betty needed to start worrying 420 00:30:08.640 --> 00:30:14.319 about their safety. Apparently, Robert had been making a point to tell mutual 421 00:30:14.359 --> 00:30:18.680 acquaintances that whoever had killed Farah might come after her parents as well. One 422 00:30:18.759 --> 00:30:22.720 day, at the auto shop where Lex worked, a tall man wearing gloves 423 00:30:22.720 --> 00:30:26.880 stormed in and demanded to see him. When his secretary told the man that 424 00:30:26.960 --> 00:30:30.359 Lex was out on business, he called her a liar and kicked opened the 425 00:30:30.359 --> 00:30:34.759 door to Lex's office. When he saw Lex really was gone, he smashed 426 00:30:34.759 --> 00:30:38.880 a flower pot against the wall and yelled at the secretary to quote tell Lex, 427 00:30:38.960 --> 00:30:42.839 I'll be back. Police started watching the Backer's house after that, and 428 00:30:42.880 --> 00:30:48.519 thankfully the man did not reappear. That was all happening right around Christmas and 429 00:30:48.599 --> 00:30:52.440 disrupted the small amount of normalcy that Lex and Betty tried to bring to the 430 00:30:52.480 --> 00:30:56.839 holiday for their grandchildren. Shortly after that, things took another strange turn when 431 00:30:56.880 --> 00:31:02.039 someone called Lex and told him they knew who killed Fara. Lex wanted to 432 00:31:02.079 --> 00:31:04.640 know more details about who was calling, but the caller said he wanted to 433 00:31:04.640 --> 00:31:10.359 only be known as Bill. Nervous after the recent events, Lex told the 434 00:31:10.400 --> 00:31:14.880 caller they couldn't talk right then and arranged to meet later. Lex then called 435 00:31:14.880 --> 00:31:18.000 the police and told them what was going on. Police had Lex call the 436 00:31:18.000 --> 00:31:22.119 man back and set up a meeting at a diner where they felt there were 437 00:31:22.200 --> 00:31:26.319 enough windows they could keep an eye on everything. Police went into the diner 438 00:31:26.440 --> 00:31:30.880 undercover and watched from unmarked vehicles in the lot as Lex walked in. They 439 00:31:30.920 --> 00:31:33.440 gave him a cell phone that was bugged to record everything and told him that 440 00:31:33.480 --> 00:31:38.039 if anyone started shooting, he should zigzag. When Lex walked in, a 441 00:31:38.160 --> 00:31:41.559 large man in a baseball cap sought him out and the two sat down to 442 00:31:41.640 --> 00:31:45.400 talk. The man told Lex that he was actually a police officer, but 443 00:31:45.440 --> 00:31:49.079 that he also worked as a hitman. He explained that he had come from 444 00:31:49.200 --> 00:31:53.440 Dallas, where there was an intricate network of lawyers and police officers who

worked 445 00:31:53.440 --> 00:31:57.480 together to meet out vigilante justice. He said that he would be more than 446 00:31:57.559 --> 00:32:02.279 willing to take out Robert Rada, who was clearly responsible for killing Fara, 447 00:32:02.440 --> 00:32:07.680 but he seemed hesitant to talk specifics at the meeting. They set up another 448 00:32:07.720 --> 00:32:12.400 meeting shortly after at a restaurant in Humble. This time Bill told Lex that 449 00:32:12.440 --> 00:32:15.480 he would charge only ten thousand dollars and that he could kill Robert that night. 450 00:32:15.960 --> 00:32:19.960 He said Lex could take his time, paying him whenever he could get 451 00:32:20.000 --> 00:32:22.400 a hold of the money. Lex agreed, and Bill told him that he 452 00:32:22.440 --> 00:32:27.920 was going to kill Robert by blowing him up with dynamite. Police stormed his 453 00:32:28.000 --> 00:32:30.839 car when he walked out of the restaurant and found that he had both a 454 00:32:30.920 --> 00:32:35.519 gun and dynamite in his vehicle. His real name was William Edward Planter, 455 00:32:35.640 --> 00:32:37.920 and he went to jail for attempt and murder. He was in fact a 456 00:32:38.000 --> 00:32:43.599 retired police chief, but any connection to some elaborate network of hitman was never 457 00:32:43.680 --> 00:32:47.720 uncovered. When Robert's lawyers were informed about the scandal, they were shocked that 458 00:32:47.799 --> 00:32:52.119 police knew there was a hitman gunning for Robert, but they didn't warn him. 459 00:32:52.240 --> 00:32:57.759 As far as Robert's accomplices go, police suspected Joe price Dash of being 460 00:32:57.799 --> 00:33:01.319 involved right away. They knew had suspected he'd been the man to break into 461 00:33:01.359 --> 00:33:05.920 her house, and he matched the description of the getaway driver at the scene 462 00:33:05.920 --> 00:33:09.079 of her murder, but investigators hit a wall in questioning him. He simply 463 00:33:09.079 --> 00:33:14.480 would not budge. They decided to focus on Mary, as the phone calls 464 00:33:14.519 --> 00:33:16.839 that Robert made to Joe that night, We're going to the pager that was 465 00:33:16.880 --> 00:33:22.400 technically under her name. Apparently, after Mary hid the shells, she would 466 00:33:22.400 --> 00:33:25.559 get paranoid and move the evidence around, hiding it at a potted plant or 467 00:33:25.599 --> 00:33:30.079 in various drawers. Eventually, she decided to keep the shells on her person. 468 00:33:30.759 --> 00:33:34.440 One day, while she and Joe were in the mall together, she 469 00:33:34.599 --> 00:33:37.000 realized she had the shells on her and she panicked and dumped them in the 470 00:33:37.039 --> 00:33:42.799 trash. She kept the serial number. Though. Mary began to slowly talk 471 00:33:42.839 --> 00:33:45.799 to the police, only revealing a bit of information at a time and trying 472 00:33:45.839 --> 00:33:50.279 to find out what a deal would be like for being a cooperating witness. 473 00:33:50.880 --> 00:33:54.319 March first saw another interesting development when Howard Gidry tried to rob a bank. 474 00:33:54.799 --> 00:33:59.960 He and a few accomplices succeeded, using the same gun he'd killed far away. 475 00:34:00.680 --> 00:34:04.240 Apparently, he and Joe had shuffled the gun back and forth between them, 476 00:34:04.319 --> 00:34:06.920 urging the other to get rid of it, but they never did. 477 00:34:07.480 --> 00:34:10.599 Howard and his accomplices didn't get far from the bank before they were arrested. 478 00:34:12.199 --> 00:34:15.199 Days later, Mary Gibb confessed fully to what she knew about the murder, 479 00:34:15.199 --> 00:34:20.199 and that Howard had been the trigger man. Howard initially tried to claim he'd 480 00:34:20.199 --> 00:34:23.199 only been the getaway driver, but shortly after confessed his true role in the 481 00:34:23.280 --> 00:34:29.199 murder. With Howard and custody and Mary ready to testify, police were able 482 00:34:29.239 --> 00:34:32.840 to put more pressure on Joe. Joe first arranged to speak to an investigator 483 00:34:32.880 --> 00:34:37.159 while out on a walk to ask him hypothetically, what would happen if he 484 00:34:37.239 --> 00:34:42.440 confessed. The officer told him that nothing could be guaranteed. Joe knew that 485 00:34:42.519 --> 00:34:45.320 with Mary and Howard already being in jail, he was likely done for and 486 00:34:45.360 --> 00:34:51.119 decided to cooperate. Shortly after, Howard and Joe both blamed the other one 487 00:34:51.159 --> 00:34:54.719 for escalating things. Howard claimed he only agreed to be the getaway driver and 488 00:34:54.719 --> 00:34:59.400 they made him the gunman at the last minute. Joe claimed that Howard was 489 00:34:59.440 --> 00:35:02.119 willing to hill far right away and that quote, he needed to make some 490 00:35:02.159 --> 00:35:06.559 money and he didn't care what he did. Both men claimed to be very 491 00:35:06.599 --> 00:35:10.960 broken up about the whole thing. Sure, Robert was arrested on April twenty 492 00:35:10.960 --> 00:35:15.800 first, nineteen ninety five. Police had to wrestle him to the ground as 493 00:35:15.800 --> 00:35:17.679 his mother was home, and he said he didn't want to be handcuffed in 494 00:35:17.719 --> 00:35:22.000 front of her. The media had gotten wind of his arrest, and as 495 00:35:22.039 --> 00:35:24.679 they brought him into the station, he told reporters quote, I didn't do 496 00:35:24.760 --> 00:35:30.800 it. I'm praying for justice. The trial was swift and straightforward. Robert 497 00:35:30.880 --> 00:35:34.039 was to be tried first, as his guilt would be needed to build cases 498 00:35:34.079 --> 00:35:38.400 for his accomplices. The public listened in horror as numerous witnesses all confessed they'd 499 00:35:38.440 --> 00:35:43.519 heard of Robert's plan to kill his wife for months before the actual slaying. 500 00:35:44.119 --> 00:35:49.559

Minnie Lawrence testified first hand about Robert's sexual perversions. She had been the first 501 00:35:49.599 --> 00:35:52.800 person to call the police and implicate Robert when she saw the news about Vara. 502 00:35:53.639 --> 00:35:59.320 The jury easily found him guilty. On April twenty third, nineteen ninety 503 00:35:59.320 --> 00:36:04.039 six, Robert Frado was sentenced to death. Robert did not show any emotion 504 00:36:04.079 --> 00:36:07.239 when his death sentence was read out loud. Lex told the press after the 505 00:36:07.280 --> 00:36:10.760 sentence was handed down that it was what he was hoping for. He said, 506 00:36:12.480 --> 00:36:15.199 there can be no punishment in this world severe enough that can justify the 507 00:36:15.239 --> 00:36:20.719 everlasting grief, pain, and suffering he has brought upon his three minor children. 508 00:36:21.360 --> 00:36:24.119 Howard and Joe were both sentenced to death and their subsequent trials, though 509 00:36:24.119 --> 00:36:29.679 their sentence has yet to be carried out as of twenty twenty three. Robert's 510 00:36:29.760 --> 00:36:34.519 lawyers tried numerous appeals over the years to reduce his sentence. They argue that 511 00:36:34.559 --> 00:36:38.000 the execution drugs were expired, and that argument was thrown out. They argue 512 00:36:38.039 --> 00:36:44.400 that the prosecution hypnotized a witness and made her statement unreliable. They argued that 513 00:36:44.360 --> 00:36:50.000 the ballistics weren't accurate or that the jury was not impartial. Robert's conviction was 514 00:36:50.079 --> 00:36:53.960 actually later overturned because a judge said that the way his co conspirator stories had 515 00:36:53.960 --> 00:37:00.400 been admitted into evidence did not follow the proper legal procedures. That same judge 516 00:37:00.440 --> 00:37:06.639 also wrote that Robert was quote egotistical, misogynistic, and vile. A retrial 517 00:37:06.679 --> 00:37:10.119 in two thousand nine saw the death sentence upheld. However, Lex and Betty 518 00:37:10.159 --> 00:37:15.079 put their lives on hold to raise their grandchildren. Immediately following the trial, 519 00:37:15.440 --> 00:37:21.079 Bradley was told enough to learn in simple terms that his father had been responsible 520 00:37:21.159 --> 00:37:23.199 for the death of his mother, and the others would learn the truth as 521 00:37:23.239 --> 00:37:28.800 they grew up. Lex and Betty once again went to parent teacher conferences and 522 00:37:28.880 --> 00:37:32.079 soccer games. They went to banned concerts and read report cards, and did 523 00:37:32.079 --> 00:37:37.320 all of those things they'd once done for Farah. They became parents again, 524 00:37:37.400 --> 00:37:40.000 and though they hadn't expected to do so at their age, they raised the 525 00:37:40.079 --> 00:37:45.320 children in a loving home. When Amber turned eighteen and all of the children 526 00:37:45.320 --> 00:37:49.000 were of age, they went to visit their father in prison. Just once. 527 00:37:49.559 --> 00:37:52.760 They asked him why he killed their mother. He refused to answer them, 528 00:37:52.800 --> 00:37:57.679 and they never went to see him again. On January tenth, twenty 529 00:37:57.960 --> 00:38:02.159 twenty three, Robert Frado was executed. He was pronounced dead at seven forty 530 00:38:02.199 --> 00:38:07.760 nine pm, nearly three decades after he'd had Farafrauda killed. He lived as 531 00:38:07.800 --> 00:38:13.280 a monster, and he died as a monster. If you're the victim of 532 00:38:13.320 --> 00:38:15.880 domestic abuse, please reach out to someone for help. Please talk to your 533 00:38:15.920 --> 00:38:21.639 local shelter or call the National Domestic Abuse Hotline at one eight hundred seven nine 534 00:38:21.760 --> 00:38:25.519 nine safe that's one eight hundred seven nine nine seven two three three, or 535 00:38:25.559 --> 00:38:30.239 you can go to the hotline dot org to chat with someone online. This 536 00:38:30.280 --> 00:38:32.960 website is set up so that at any time, hitting the escape key twice 537 00:38:34.039 --> 00:38:37.440 will take you to a Google search page. That way, if your abuser 538 00:38:37.480 --> 00:38:40.199 is nearby, you won't get caught seeking help. If you're having feelings of 539 00:38:40.239 --> 00:38:44.400 harming yourself or someone else, or even just need someone to talk to, 540 00:38:44.639 --> 00:38:47.559 please contact your local mental health facility call nine one one, or call the 541 00:38:47.639 --> 00:38:52.159 National Suicide Prevention Hotline by simply dialing nine to eight eight in the United States. 542 00:38:52.480 --> 00:38:55.440 They're available twenty four hours a day, seven days a week, and 543 00:38:55.440 --> 00:39:00.159 we'll talk to you about any mental health issue you may be facing. If 544 00:39:00.159 --> 00:39:05.119 you were a member of the LGBTQ plus community and suffering from discrimination, depression, 545 00:39:05.280 --> 00:39:08.599 or are in need of any support, please contact the lgbt National Hotline 546 00:39:08.639 --> 00:39:13.639 at one eight eight eight eight four three four five six four, or go 547 00:39:13.840 --> 00:39:17.159 to LGBT Hotline dot org. Thanks so much for letting me tell you this 548 00:39:17.199 --> 00:39:22.159 story. If you enjoyed it, subscribe on whatever platform you're on it like, 549 00:39:22.519 --> 00:39:23.920 rate us, or leave us a comment. You can check out our 550 00:39:23.960 --> 00:39:28.920 other show, Somewhere Sinister on YouTube or anywhere you listen to podcasts. If 551 00:39:28.960 --> 00:39:31.320 you'd like to support the show, check out our merchandise at this is monsters 552 00:39:31.360 --> 00:39:35.599 dot com. The link is in the description. Thanks again, and be safe