The Gold Digger

Steven Beard, 75, had run an Austin television station and was worth several million dollars. His second wife, Celeste, was thirty-eight years younger, spent at a pace that alarmed everyone around them, and stood to gain far more as a widow than as an ex-wife. Their marital agreement would have handed her $500,000 in a divorce, and she had run through that much in six months.

Early on October 2, 1999, Steven called 911 from his bed in West Lake Hills, unable to explain what had happened to his stomach. He had been shot with a 20-gauge shotgun. He survived surgery and lived until January 22, 2000, when a blood clot killed him. Celeste had emptied the house that night and left a door unlocked. The shotgun belonged to Tracey Tarlton, a bookstore manager Celeste had met on a psychiatric ward and drawn into a relationship.

Tarlton eventually admitted firing the shot and testified that Celeste had talked her into it. She pleaded guilty, was sentenced to 20 years, and was paroled in August 2011. Celeste’s twin daughters also testified against her. A jury convicted Celeste in 2003 of capital murder under Texas’s law of parties and of injuring an elderly person, and she drew two life terms, with parole eligibility in 2042.