Frances Elaine Newton was an American convicted murderer who was executed by lethal injection in the state of Texas for the April 7,1987 murder of her husband, Adrian, age 23, her son, Alton, age 7, and her daughter, Farrah, 20 months.
13 Facts About Frances Newton
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Frances Newton was just shy of her 22nd birthday when she committed the murders for which she was executed.
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Frances Newton was convicted on November 17,1987, for killing her three family members "execution style", however Frances claimed not to be guilty even in her last moments alive.
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In December 1985, Frances Newton was sentenced to three years of probation for forgery.
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The Houston police presented evidence that Frances Newton's husband was a drug dealer and was in debt to his supplier.
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Frances Newton maintained her innocence from her first interrogation in 1987 until her execution in 2005.
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Prosecutors revealed that Frances Newton had purchased life insurance policies for her husband, her daughter and herself approximately one month before the triple homicide.
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Frances Newton named herself as the beneficiary for her husband's and daughter's policies.
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Frances Newton claimed that she forged her husband's signature in order to prevent him from discovering that she set aside money to pay the premiums.
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Frances Newton was found to have placed a paper bag containing the murder weapon in a relative's home shortly after the murders.
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On October 25,1988, Frances Newton was convicted of the murders and sentenced to death; she spent nearly 17 years on death row before being executed by lethal injection on September 14,2005.
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Frances Newton's story was featured in the Fatal Attraction episode, "A Lethal Love".
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Frances Newton appeared as herself in the 2006 television documentary "Women on Death Row", where her guilt is put into question and her innocence was discussed before she was executed.