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Background

Frances Elaine Newton had her first child, Alton Newton, in 1981, with her boyfriend, Adrian Newton, when they were both 16.

In 1985, Francis was busted for stealing money from her employer. She was convicted of forgery and sentenced to three years’ probation.

By March 1987, Frances and Adrian were married, and they had a second child, 20-month-old Farrah Elaine Newton. However, the couple’s marriage was on the rocks, and they were both seeing other people.

At that time, Frances already had a life insurance policy for her son, and she decided to forge her husband’s signature to obtain $50,000 in policies for her son and her daughter, naming herself as the beneficiary. She also got a policy on herself so no one would get suspicious.

On April 7th, 1987, between 5:30 pm and 6 pm, Adrian’s brother, Sterling, who lived with the couple and their kids in their Houston, Texas, apartment, came home, but Frances asked him to leave Adrian and her alone so they could talk privately.

Sterling left.

Fifteen minutes later, Adrian talked to his girlfriend, Ramona. He reportedly told her her was waiting for Frances to leave so he could go to sleep. He didn’t want to sleep while she was there because he didn’t trust her.

Between 7 and 7:30 pm, Frances drove to her cousin Sondra’s home. She wanted Sondra to come back to her place to hang out. Before leaving, Sondra saw Frances take a bag from her car and put it in an abandoned home next door that Frances’s parent owned.

Discovering the crime scene

They went back to Frances’s apartment and walked in to find her husband and two kids dead. Frances called 911.

When authorities arrived, they found Adrian on the couch. He had been shot in the head. The kids were dead in their beds. Both had been shot in the chest.

There looked to be no signs of a break-in, and it didn’t look like a fight had occurred.

Later that night, Sondra told the detective about the bag she saw Frances put in the abandoned house. She took them to the residence, and they found the bag with a .25 caliber handgun in it.

Tests later revealed it was the murder weapon, and detectives were able to trace it back to Frances’s boyfriend.

Further forensic testing also revealed that she had gunpowder residue on her skirt.

She must have thought she had gotten away with murder because, on April 21st, 1987, she tried to cash in her family’s insurance policies.

She was arrested for capital murder the next day.

Legal Proceedings

She went to trial and claimed that her husband owed a man named Charlie money, and he must have broken in and committed the crime.

She also had an explanation for moving the gun to the abandoned home, stating she removed it as a safety measure.

The jury didn’t fall for her lies, and they convicted her of three counts of capital murder.

Execution

On September 14th, 2005, she had the option for a special last meal but did not request one. She was marched to the death chamber. She did not make a final statement; then, her body was injected with poison.

She was pronounced dead at 6:17 pm.