1995-11-29

Monday, December 4, 1995
94-172 - Lake Meredith (Texas) - Follow-up on Homicide

On November 29th, a federal judge refused to grant a new trial to B.F. and C.B., the mother-in-law and widow of B.D.B., both of whom were convicted on charges of conspiring to murder him and on several counts of mail fraud. The two were sentenced to mandatory life terms without parole. The motion for a new trial was based on the recanted testimony of T.E.F., B.D.B.'s brother-in-law and star witness for the prosecution, who testified that he'd been offered $25,000 to kill B.D.B. and that the drowning was his idea. In denying the motion, the judge said that the jury had been aware of B.F.'s conflicting accounts, yet had found sufficient evidence to convict him. Since there was no new evidence to bring before a jury, a retrial was not warranted. [Pat McCrary, Superintendent, LAMR]