Black Widow: Karla Faye Tucker

She wanted everyone to believe that she regretted what she did, that she really did take responsibility for the two innocent lives she took.

She wanted everyone to see that even if she couldn't bring them back, she can still save lives if she was given another chance.

After a long life of drug and alcohol abuse, it all caught up to this black widow. Desperate to get off death row, she converted to Christianity and pleaded to be put on a life sentence instead.

This is the case of Black Widow Karla Faye Tucker

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
She wanted everyone to believe that sheregretted what she did, that she really
did take responsibility for the two innocentlives that she took. She wanted everyone
to see that even if she couldn'tbring them back, she could still save
lives if she was given another chance. After a long life of drug and

(00:21):
alcohol abuse, it all caught upto this black widow. Desperate to get
off death row, she converted toChristianity and pleaded to be put on a
life sentence instead. This is thecase of black widow Carla Faye Tucker.

(01:14):
This is tales from the Dark.On November eighteenth, nineteen fifty nine,
Carla Faye Tucker was born in Houston, Harris County, Texas. For the
doll faced little brunette with almond shapedeyes and dimples on her cheeks, life
began fairly normal when she was born. The Tuckers already had two daughters,

(01:40):
Carrie Anne, who was one andKathy Lynne, who was two, as
well as a child friendly German shepherd. Her mother, Carolyn, stayed at
home while her father, Larry,worked as a longshoreman in the Gulf of
Mexico. Early life was the happytime for Carlo Fay. The Tuckers frequently

(02:05):
took family vacations in their modest cottageon Canny Creek in Missouri, Texas.
She recalled to former Miss America TerryMoosine during a Christian Broadcasting Network interview in
the nineteen nineties. I was anintybitty girl. We were family, and
we used to go to the bayHouse and do neat things with the boat

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and the dog and water skiing andfishing and stuff. But it didn't last
very long. The marriage of misterand missus Tucker was literally one that was
off and on. They attempted tosucceed by getting divorced and getting back together
several times. Each time they fellbackwards. Every time adultery was to blame.

(02:52):
The three daughters experienced the pain ofthe split ups. They were joiced
at the reunions before being torn apartonce more. Carlo Faye's final dissolution occurred
when she was ten years old.It was untidy, she stated to LifeWay
Church magazine, which published her accountin nineteen ninety issue. I didn't know

(03:15):
why my parents divorced. I wastoo young to know. We all wanted
to go with mother when my dadgained custody of us girls. My father
struggled to effectively discipline us. Heattempted to correct us, but we were
simply too much. The numerous personalissues Carlo Fay was already dealing with at

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such a young age were only madeworse by a divorce. She had always
felt like the ugly duckling in thefamily of two siblings, with blue eyes,
blonde hair, and fair skin.She was also very self conscious due
to the prominent birthmark on her arm. She struggled to interact with children at
school and those playing on Heawood Streetor she lived. During the final divorce

(04:03):
proceedings, which seemed like an eternityto the young child. Caught up in
the midst of the battling, Carlafound out exactly why she did not look
like Carrie or Kathy. Her motheradmitted to her that she was the result
of an extramarital affair, even thoughher father accepted Carlo Faye as his own

(04:25):
the third daughter. From that momenton, never psychologically could convince herself that
she belonged to the Tuckers as realkids Kathy and Carrie belonged. When Carlo
Faye Tucker realized she wanted a family, but couldn't define her own. She
did what every other child does,She started looking for one elsewhere. She

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had been smoking marijuana as a pastimesince she was ten years old. Encouraged
by her sisters, she tried theharder stuff after realizing that Mary Jane was
insufficient as a companion to give herthe feeling of the person she desired.
She was using heroine before she turnedeleven. Carlo Fey informed missus Muisson that

(05:11):
peer pressure was a result of externalinfluences. My sisters hung out with older
people because they were drug users andhad an older friend. There were many
drugs present at a time when othergirls were still playing with dolls. There
was also sex. She started hangingout with the same crowd because she wanted
to follow her sisters wherever they went. The clique was primarily made up of

(05:36):
bikers, with the Banditos, alocal gang, as the leader. This
club frequently held drug parties that collimatedin orgies. Carlo Fay, who was
present and some of those gatherings,even though she wasn't initially a participant,
took mental notes while wide eyed anddiscovered that the birds and the bees could

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for some fascinating research. In theprocess, she experienced sex for the first
time. When she was twelve.She happened to visit one of the member's
homes one evening while looking for hersisters, but soon she realized they weren't
there. She was persuaded by themember to ride with him. Following their
altercation, he took her for abike ride to her remote location where he

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had his way with the preteen.She then discovered that sex while high was
the ultimate high, and liked it. She discovered a family. She experienced
vivid colors, a buzz in herhead, a warm sensation all over her
body. As a result, anda feeling of inclusion, dysfunction erupted.

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Carla Fey was under her father's careand was expected to follow the rules,
but he was really home to keepan eye on her. He worked two
shifts and was gone until late atnight, and his daughters made the most
of their freedom without much parental disapproval. Carlo Fey left school in the middle

(07:14):
of seventh grade. The straightened narrowfrequently curved while she was under her mother's
supervision, such as when she caughther daughter sneaking marijuana into her bedroom.
Unlike her father, who would havelectured the team, Missus Tucker reprimanded her
for her inability to pack a smoothjoint and then gave her instruction on a

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finer points of rolling. Missus Tuckeralso stumbled into prostitution after the divorce,
albeit reluctantly at first, to makeends meet. She discovered her position as
a call girl to be a lucrativeone because she was still in her twenties
and still developing as a noble housewife. She was the neighbor girl who exuded

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auction. Initially, Caroline Tucker wasworried about how she could conduct her profitable
business from her Quinoa, Texas apartmentand the presence of a teenager when she
inherited Carlo Fay since her ex husbandcould no longer manage. Evidently, according
to Carlo Fay, her mother cameup with a workable solution. Later,

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Carla was to give testimony. Mymother wanted to teach me the ropes of
being a call girl, so shetook me to a place where it was
all men. I was so eagerto win my mother's approval. She needed
to be pleased with me. Therefore, I tried to comply with her request
rather than simply saying no. Thetruth is that I intuitively understood what I

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was doing was wrong. At agefourteen, Carla Tucker started working as a
prostitute. It took some time before, it seems sort, especially when she
went on concert tours with her mother, a die hard fan of rock bands.
During this time, meeting the AllmanBrothers, Marshall Tucker Band, and

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Eagles in person was a highlight.Life was enchanting for a teenager who didn't
know how to handle it and hadn'theard the word moderation, regardless of the
possibility that the speed and alcohol wouldcatch up with them. Carla Faye married
Stephen Griffith, a mechanic, whenshe was sixteen years old. The marriage

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seemed to be a happy one onthe surface. Stephen believes so. He
admired his wife's tomboy's traits and feastiness. Despite their frequent arguments, He always
treated her more like a friend,which he believed was healthy in any marriage.
She didn't tend to suppress her emotions, and he liked that, he

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admitted to the Houston Chronicle, wefist fought a lot. She hit me
harder than any man has ever done. She had my back covered so I
never had to be concerned when Ientered a bar, but his wife twitched
underneath. She considered the activities thatshe and Stephan engaged in routine, including

(10:18):
using drugs, drinking alcohol, makinglove and fighting. She needed to be
unrestricted so that she could let thecolt run, possibly in circles until it
became absurd, but at least shewould have a say in the outcome.
She left Griffith. She met ShaunDeane, a friend of hers at that

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time, and he later introduced herto Danny Garrett. Carlo Fay discovered that
Garrett to be simple companion. Whileworking late shifts as a prostitute in Quay
Point, she was free to roamthose circles as she pleased. Garrett moreover,
showed respect to her for her careerby not interrogating her. Even better,

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he continued to support her with apowder and pills. She started dating
Daniel Garrett, who was fourteen yearsolder than her. Dean and Tucker had
a history of conflict despite Sean andTucker's relationship. Sean and Carla had a
history of conflict despite their friendship.When he rolled his motorcycle into the center

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of Carla's apartment, spewing oil andexhaust fumes everywhere. She asked him to
leave, and he did. Tuckerthen struck Dean once more, this time
in the eye. After a weekendspent abusing drugs, Carlo fe Tucker,
Garrett, and James Lybrand broke intoSean's home in the evening of June thirteenth,

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nineteen eighty three, with the goalof stealing a motorcycle that Sean had
been repairing in his garage. Theydivided up to search the apartment, but
when Shawn awoke and called out tothem, things went wrong. An altercation
started when Garrett and Tucker entered intohis bedroom. As Sean lay on the

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ground, Garrett picked up a ballpeen hammer and struck him in the head.
He recoiled and started gurgling. Ashe did so, Tucker hit him
with a pickaxe. She discovered leaningagainst the wall. Because she wanted him
to stop making that noise, shestruck him repeatedly until he stopped talking.

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She then spotted a figure in thebed hiding against the wall under the covers.
Deborah Ruth Thornton had slept over withDean. The previous night, Thornton
and Tucker engaged in a brief strugglebefore Tucker won and killed her by repeatedly
hitting her with the pickaxe. Shewas later caught on camera claiming that every

(12:58):
pickaxe blow caused her to experience anorgasm. Tucker and Garrett fled with the
boxes of motorcycle parts and some cashthat they had taken from them, leaving
the bodies and the murder weapons behind. When Gregory Scott Traver, a co
worker of Dean's, arrived at Dean'sapartment on the following morning to get a

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ride to work, he found thebodies of Thornton and Dean. On July
twentieth, nineteen eighty three, asDaniel Garrett was leaving his house to get
to work, he was detained asa result of a tip. That same
day, Albert Shaneen, a thirdsuspect, and Carla were both taking into

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custody. On April eleventh, nineteento eighty four, Carla Fey was found
guilty by a jury of eight womenand four men who were chosen by a
female judge. Albert Shannon acknowledged visitingDean's apartment, but refuted any involvement in
the killings. He avited testimony againsteach defendant. Carlos found guilty after just

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seventy minutes of jury deliberation, duringwhich no witnesses were called by the defense.
The defense called a female psychiatrist whotestified that Carla had told her she
had been using drugs since the ageof nine it had become addicted to heroine
at the age of ten. Asthe trial moved into punishment phase, she

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explained Carla's mental state to the judge, saying that she hadn't slept for three
days and had been using drugs andalcohol the night of the killings, even
though Carla had boasted about doing soon the wire tape. The psychiatrist told
the jury that she didn't believe itwas likely that she enjoyed the killings in
a sexual manner. It didn't seemlikely to her that it was her only

(14:50):
genuine sexual satisfaction that she had everknown. Carla gave her version of events
on the witness stand and informed ajury that she did not believe the killings
were real. I missed the bodies. I don't recall seeing any blood or
holes. On April twenty fifth,nineteen eighty four, the jury recommended that

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Carlo Fey Tucker be given a lethalinjection as punishment after deliberating for nearly three
hours. After Tucker and Garrett werecharged with the killings and put on separate
trials in September of nineteen eighty three, Tucker entered a not guilty plea and
was detained in jail while awaiting trial. Tucker took a Bible from the prison

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ministry program shortly after being imprisoned andread it in her sale. Later,
she remembered, I was reading withoutunderstanding. Before I knew it, I
was kneeling in the center of mycell floor. I was merely pleading with
God to pardon me. In Octobernineteen eighty three, Tucker converted to Christianity.

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Later, she wed the Reverend DanaLane Brown, the prisons minister,
and had her Christian wedding ceremony there. Carlo wrote a letter to Texas Governor
George W. Bush on January eighteenth, nineteen ninety eight, from which some
experts were made public. I'm nottrying to downplay how brutal my crime was

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in any way. It was obviouslyawful, and I do accept full responsibility.
For what occurred. I also understandthat two innocent lives I brutally murdered.
That evening, justice and the lawdemand my death. I accept that
if my execution is the only thingthat can satisfy the demand for justice and

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reparation in any way that our lawrequires, I will be made to pay
for what I did. Three monthsafter being imprisoned, a ministry visited the
jail and I attended the services.That evening accepted Jesus into my heart.
As soon as I did this,the enormity and the reality of what I

(17:07):
had done struck me. That evening, I cried for the first time in
a long time, and the tearsare still part of my life today.
In the past fourteen years, Icontributed to the Answer. I am now
a contributor to the answer. Forthe past fourteen years, I have made
it my goal to act morally,not because I'm incarcerated, but rather because

(17:30):
my God expects it of me.I'm aware of right and wrong, so
I must act right. If youcommute my dad sentence to life in prison,
I'll continue to reach out to peopleand should try and prove their lives
with the rest of my time onearth. Even though I don't really understand
the rules, we are doing so. In the prison where I am,

(17:52):
I see inmates who have committed horriblecrimes. I can try to change these
girls before they leave this place andhurt someone else by reaching out to them.
Please commute my sentence so I cangive back to society by helping others.
The lives I took cannot be recoveredby me, but if I am
allowed, I can contribute to savinglives. I can only offer that as

(18:18):
true reparations. I had no intentionof going there that particular night and killing
someone in the apartment, but thatis unimportant. The truth is that when
we went there, entered the apartment, brutally killed two innocent people, and
then fled while bragging about what wehad done for over a month. Additionally,

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I attempted us some money to amember of my victim's family. It
was intended for Deborah's son, whoneeded it for school. I told Ron
Carlson that I was trying to getmoney for his nephew. When he came
to me in nineteen ninety two andsaid that he had forgiven me for what
I had done to a sister,he warned me against it. If I

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did send him the money, itwould only be hurting him. Furthermore,
he assured me that his nephew wouldnot be receiving the money from me because
he had no desire to interact withme. I did not push because I
am aware of the pain. Theparole board did not budge Bush. The

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governor was unmoved. Carlo fey Tucker'sappeals court was denied clemency on January twenty
eighth, nineteen ninety eight. Thefollowing week, on February third, she
was supposed to have been put todeath. State officials flew Tucker to Huntsville
Unit in Huntsville on a T DC J plane on February second, nineteen

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ninety eight, after removing her fromthe unit in Gatesville. The last meal
Carlo fey Tucker requested was a gardensalad with ranch dressing, a banana,
and a peach. She chose fivepeople to witness her execution, including Thornton's
brother, Ronald Carlson, who opposedthe execution and had been converted to Christianity

(20:10):
after a meeting Tucker on death row, as well as Thornton's husband Richard,
his two stepchildren, and the deathpenalty supporting death row inmate Richard. Her
final phrase was yes, sir,I would like to say to all of
you, the Thornton family and JerryDene's family, that I am so sorry.

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I hope God will give you peacewith us. She looked at her
husband, Baby, I love you. She looked at Ronald Carlson. Ron
give Peggy a hug for me.She looked at all present, weeping and
smiling. Everybody has been so goodto me. I love all of you

(20:51):
very much. I am going tobe face to face with Jesus now Warden
Baggett. Thank all of you somuch. You have been so good to
me. I love all of youvery much. I will see all of
you when you get here. Iwill wait for you. She was put
to death by lethal injection. Shewas praising Jesus Christ as the deadly chemicals

(21:15):
were administered to her. At sixforty five pm CST, eight minutes after
receiving the injection, she was declareddead. She was the State of Texas's
first woman to be put to deathand one hundred and thirty five years She
is buried in Houston's Forest Park LawndaleCemetery what do you think of this case?

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Did Carlo fey Tucker really not seeany blood? Did she really regret
her actions? Be sure to letus know because for now, for tonight,
I think we're going to have toadd the case a black Widow Carla
fey Tucker to our never ending butare always growing tails from the dark