Marie Robards Explained

Marie Robards
Birth Date:10 July 1976
Birth Name:Dorothy Marie Robards[1]
Father:Steven Robards
Mother:Beth Burroughs

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

Crime

Marie 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

Steven Robards’ death was ruled a heart attack initially. Over a year after his death, Marie confessed to a close friend, Stacey High. 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.

Marie 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 identity.[4]

In popular culture

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(Season 2, episode 17 (2014)), and Deadly Women (Season 6, episode 2 (2012). it was also the subject of , episode 552 in March 2024.

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Marie Robards: Dorothy Marie Robards paroled in 2003.
  2. Web site: 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. Web site: 5 Chilling True Crime Stories Written by Female Authors.