Marie Robards

Dorothy Marie Robards Strauch (born July 10, 1976) is an American woman, known for the poisoning murder of her father in 1993, when she was aged 16, in Fort Worth, Texas.

Marie Robards
Born
Dorothy Marie Robards[1]

(1976-07-10) July 10, 1976
Parents
  • Steven Robards (father)
  • Beth Burroughs (mother)

Crime

She stole barium acetate from her high school chemistry class and laced her father's tacos with a lethal dose. The trial received media attention since she was a promising student, and patricide is a rare crime more commonly committed by men.[2][3]

Discovery and conviction

Mr. Robards’ death was ruled a heart attack initially. Over a year after his death, Marie confessed to a close friend. Her friend then disclosed her information to law enforcement. The medical examiner’s office used a gas chromatography–mass spectrometry machine to examine his tissue samples and detected the highly soluble metallic compound. She confessed, telling police she wished to live with her mother. She pled not guilty, explaining her intent was to make her father ill.

Robards was convicted of murder in a 1995 trial and sentenced to 27 years in prison. She was released on parole in 2003. She is believed to now be living under a new private identity.[4]

The crime was an inspiration for Megan Abbott's 2018 novel Give Me Your Hand,[5] and was covered in episodes of Forensic Files (Season 6, episode 5 (2001)), Redrum[6](Season 2, episode 17 (2014)), and Deadly Women (Season 6, episode 2 (2012).Morbid Podcast, episode 552 March 2024

References
  1. "Marie Robards: Dorothy Marie Robards paroled in 2003".
  2. "Poisoning Daddy". July 1996.
  3. (19 October 1994). Student charged with poisoning her dad, UPI
  4. Guy, Fiona (18 June 2017). A Father's Death, A Daughter's Secret, 'Sword and Scale
  5. "5 Chilling True Crime Stories Written by Female Authors".
  6. Redrum at IMDb
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