Cooper Maul
Appearances
The Binge Cases: Baby Broker
Fatal Beauty | 1. Body in the Bronco
That's Glenna Whitley, a veteran investigative reporter in Dallas, who took a special interest in Sandra back in the day. So the private eye Sandra hired, Bill Deere, he had a reputation for taking on strange cases. And when he took high-profile cases, he had an unconventional approach, like the exhumation of Lee Harvey Oswald in 1981.
The Binge Cases: Baby Broker
Fatal Beauty | 1. Body in the Bronco
The guy went on to do things like investigate aliens, run for Texas governor, and write a book on how he could prove O.J. Simpson's innocence. He was both eccentric and controversial. Anyway, this is who Sandra retained that Monday after her husband had officially been reported missing. Here's Whitley again.
The Binge Cases: Baby Broker
Fatal Beauty | 1. Body in the Bronco
Did what? At this point, Alan had been gone not even 48 hours. It was concerning, but he wasn't a child. Alan might have decided to leave town, blow off some steam. It was the early 80s. We weren't updating our friends with our every move. No one knew Alan was dead in his Bronco yet. So why was Sandra asking a private investigator to build her defense at this point?
The Binge Cases: Baby Broker
Fatal Beauty | 1. Body in the Bronco
In her initial meeting with William Deere, she spun a yarn about her husband.
The Binge Cases: Baby Broker
Fatal Beauty | 1. Body in the Bronco
It sounded like Sandra was insinuating Alan kept some shady company, the kind of criminals who knew how to make people disappear. A wife often knows what her husband's gotten up to, even if strangers don't. Sandra probably knew Alan like no one else. Or was she covering her tracks? When someone goes missing, you try not to think the worst. But eventually, there's a knock at the door.
The Binge Cases: Baby Broker
Fatal Beauty | 1. Body in the Bronco
The answer came for Gloria at the crack of dawn on December 12th, 1985.
The Binge Cases: Baby Broker
Fatal Beauty | 1. Body in the Bronco
Ron, one of Alan's best friends, was in her doorway, along with some of Gloria's nearest and dearest. Their faces were stricken with sorrow.
The Binge Cases: Baby Broker
Fatal Beauty | 1. Body in the Bronco
Alan was discovered partially decomposed four days after he'd last been seen. When the Oklahoma City patrol officers found him between the front seats of his Bronco and traced the registration back to Norman Allen Rarig, they phoned the Dallas PD, wondering if a man by that name had been reported missing. Thank God someone had filed a report. But Allen didn't have an ID on him.
The Binge Cases: Baby Broker
Fatal Beauty | 1. Body in the Bronco
Was someone in there? It was hard to see. Frost clung stubbornly to the vehicle's windows, obscuring the inside, as if nature itself sought to shield the horrors within. As the officers approached the Bronco, the cold air felt heavier, almost suffocating. One officer gripped the passenger door handle, pulling hesitantly. It was locked, left with no choice but to pry it open.
The Binge Cases: Baby Broker
Fatal Beauty | 1. Body in the Bronco
Someone could have stolen his car. Detectives still couldn't be 100% sure that the dead man was him. Why they didn't fingerprint the body and try to figure out his identity that way isn't clear. The Dallas officer had to get creative, so he called up Allen's next of kin, Sandra.
The Binge Cases: Baby Broker
Fatal Beauty | 1. Body in the Bronco
That's what he was found wearing in Oklahoma City. It was Allen. It was time to break the news. But before the officer could get a word in, Sandra stopped him.
The Binge Cases: Baby Broker
Fatal Beauty | 1. Body in the Bronco
Ron Barnes was one of Allen's oldest pals in Edmond. The police obliged Sandra's request. They figured she'd prefer hearing the horrifying details from a loved one rather than a complete stranger. By morning, the news of Allen's death hadn't just reached Gloria, but his neighbors in Dallas, too. Then the phone rang at the police department in Oklahoma City.
The Binge Cases: Baby Broker
Fatal Beauty | 1. Body in the Bronco
Not that Deep Throat, another informant. Turns out, this woman said Sandra had a reputation that preceded her. There was more to this striking brunette than it might seem. In fact, it was an open secret in her little corner of Dallas that she was trouble, dangerous even. Get too close and your days might be numbered.
The Binge Cases: Baby Broker
Fatal Beauty | 1. Body in the Bronco
They'd gotten together quickly after a chance meeting.
The Binge Cases: Baby Broker
Fatal Beauty | 1. Body in the Bronco
The cops in Oklahoma City didn't know how seriously to take this anonymous caller. One thing was sure, they needed to get Sandra in for questioning.
The Binge Cases: Baby Broker
Fatal Beauty | 1. Body in the Bronco
So that Friday, Sandra packed a bag and made her way to Oklahoma City.
The Binge Cases: Baby Broker
Fatal Beauty | 1. Body in the Bronco
Sandra wasn't alone when she met with detectives Steve Pacheco and Ron Mitchell.
The Binge Cases: Baby Broker
Fatal Beauty | 1. Body in the Bronco
And this wasn't just any lawyer. Sandra came with one of Dallas' most notorious criminal defense attorneys at the time, Vincent Perini. The widow made quite the impression. Here's Whitley again.
The Binge Cases: Baby Broker
Fatal Beauty | 1. Body in the Bronco
She's something out of a Tennessee Williams play. Part smoldering beauty, part troubled soul.
The Binge Cases: Baby Broker
Fatal Beauty | 1. Body in the Bronco
But the detectives never brought up any of what they had been told about her past in Dallas. They kept the interview to the circumstances leading up to Alan's death. What kind of stuff he was up to, what kind of people he hung around.
The Binge Cases: Baby Broker
Fatal Beauty | 1. Body in the Bronco
Inside, the scene was chilling beyond the winter's cold. The partially decomposed body of a man in his prime wedged between the front seats, his head face down on the back floorboard. He was young, 30-something. His lifeless form seemed to have been abandoned in a final, grotesque tableau. Retired homicide detective Kyle Eastridge recalls the scene.
The Binge Cases: Baby Broker
Fatal Beauty | 1. Body in the Bronco
Sounds a lot like what she told her PI. Then there was the question, how in the hell Allen, a man living in Dallas, got to Oklahoma City? Sandra had an answer for that.
The Binge Cases: Baby Broker
Fatal Beauty | 1. Body in the Bronco
But Alan was found in Oklahoma City, not Edmond, roughly 20 miles away.
The Binge Cases: Baby Broker
Fatal Beauty | 1. Body in the Bronco
It looked like she was trying to offer a red herring. And then they caught Sandra in a lie. When Dallas PD called to identify Allen the night he was found, Sandra confirmed she'd last seen him in the Bermuda shorts and the blue sweater, what he'd been wearing when he left to meet her at the storage unit. But the Oklahoma City detectives already knew she'd told one of Allen's friends the opposite.
The Binge Cases: Baby Broker
Fatal Beauty | 1. Body in the Bronco
The cops had caught her lying. Maybe she didn't expect them to hear about her call to Phil. Maybe she didn't grasp just how damning it was to be the last person who'd seen Alan. Is that why she let it slip up to police? Panic or miscalculation? That lie didn't do her any favors. But she didn't say anything that day incriminating enough to pin her down.
The Binge Cases: Baby Broker
Fatal Beauty | 1. Body in the Bronco
Sandra was let go to prepare for Alan's funeral the next day, but detectives made her promise to return before going home to Dallas. They wanted to pick up the interrogation where they'd left off. Then there was the funeral. On the morning of December 14th, nearly 400 people gathered in Edmond to pay their respects to a hometown hero.
The Binge Cases: Baby Broker
Fatal Beauty | 1. Body in the Bronco
The once promising athlete, friend to everyone, loving brother, doting son, Alan Rarig.
The Binge Cases: Baby Broker
Fatal Beauty | 1. Body in the Bronco
She could have been on time had she opted to ride with the rest of the Rarig family to the First Christian Church, but she insisted on arriving separately.
The Binge Cases: Baby Broker
Fatal Beauty | 1. Body in the Bronco
And she didn't have the means to pay for the proceedings.
The Binge Cases: Baby Broker
Fatal Beauty | 1. Body in the Bronco
This tragic day was about to get more uncomfortable for everyone, but especially Gloria. Sandra made a spectacle of herself in front of the very detectives that interviewed her just the day before. They were in attendance, too.
The Binge Cases: Baby Broker
Fatal Beauty | 1. Body in the Bronco
Can you imagine not only a widow behaving this way mere days after the death of her husband, but in front of his mother at her son's funeral? You know, how can you be that callous? And by the time Alan was laid to rest at Memorial Park Cemetery, I'd imagine most of those 400 people who came to pay their respects were curious about his mysterious widow.
The Binge Cases: Baby Broker
Fatal Beauty | 1. Body in the Bronco
But she didn't give anyone in attendance that day much time to figure her out. As soon as the funeral ended, Sandra hopped on a plane. And went right back to Dallas. She never returned to speak with the Oklahoma City detectives again. And flying home, she hardly behaved.
The Binge Cases: Baby Broker
Fatal Beauty | 1. Body in the Bronco
His state of decomposition and his clothes were the first clues. Bermuda shorts and a light sweater. This was winter in Oklahoma City, and tonight, the temperature was below freezing.
The Binge Cases: Baby Broker
Fatal Beauty | 1. Body in the Bronco
Something's just so unsettling here. By now, Gloria was miles past embarrassment. She had left behind the benefit of the doubt she'd given Alan's wife, too. Gloria started to suspect Sandra.
The Binge Cases: Baby Broker
Fatal Beauty | 1. Body in the Bronco
In the days after Alan was put to rest, her phone kept on ringing.
The Binge Cases: Baby Broker
Fatal Beauty | 1. Body in the Bronco
The woman on the phone revealed that in Dallas, Sandra was known as the Black Widow. She had a habit of destroying the men who fell for her. she'd leech them dry. And if they tried to leave her, things would turn ugly. In fact, Alan wasn't the first husband of Sandra's who had died under mysterious circumstances.
The Binge Cases: Baby Broker
Fatal Beauty | 1. Body in the Bronco
If Alan and Sandra's marriage had been on the rocks, Gloria thought, that could only mean one thing.
The Binge Cases: Baby Broker
Fatal Beauty | 1. Body in the Bronco
On the next episode of Fatal Beauty, we go back to Dallas, where Sandra used her devilish charm to land husbands and get what she wanted. As people close to her died, one after the other, Sandra managed to remain free.
The Binge Cases: Baby Broker
Fatal Beauty | 1. Body in the Bronco
Don't want to wait for that next episode? You don't have to. Unlock all episodes of Fatal Beauty ad-free right now by subscribing to The Binge podcast channel. Search The Binge on Apple Podcasts and hit subscribe at the top of the page. Not on Apple? Head to getthebinge.com to get access wherever you listen. As a subscriber, you'll get The Binge access to new stories on the first of every month.
The Binge Cases: Baby Broker
Fatal Beauty | 1. Body in the Bronco
Check out The Binge channel page on Apple Podcasts or getthebinge.com to learn more. Fatal Beauty is an original production of Sony Music Entertainment. It was hosted and reported by me, Cooper Mall. Catherine St. Louis is our story editor. Jonathan Hirsch is our executive producer. Sound design and mixing by Josh Hahn. We use music from APM and Epidemic Sound.
The Binge Cases: Baby Broker
Fatal Beauty | 1. Body in the Bronco
Our associate producer is Zoe Kolkin. Our fact checker is Naomi Barr. Our production managers are Sammy Allison and Tamika Balans-Kolosny. Our lawyer is Rachel Goldberg. Special thanks to Steve Ackerman, Emily Rosick, Jamie Myers, Eric Miller, Skip Hollinsworth, and Glenna Whitley, whose reporting for D Magazine and The Dallas Observer is an essential piece of the story of Sandra Bridewell.
The Binge Cases: Baby Broker
Fatal Beauty | 1. Body in the Bronco
And it looked like someone else had last driven the Bronco.
The Binge Cases: Baby Broker
Fatal Beauty | 1. Body in the Bronco
If you'd like to read more about Sandra's life, grab a copy of John Leake's The Meaning of Malice, On the Trail of the Black Widow of Highland Park. Please rate and review Fatal Beauty. It helps people find our show.
The Binge Cases: Baby Broker
Fatal Beauty | 1. Body in the Bronco
The officers ran the license plate. The car belonged to Norman Allen Rarig. He was 30 and lived in Dallas, Texas, about 200 miles away.
The Binge Cases: Baby Broker
Fatal Beauty | 1. Body in the Bronco
Then the next clues. There was no weapon at the scene, no wallet. And here's the strangest part, no car keys.
The Binge Cases: Baby Broker
Fatal Beauty | 1. Body in the Bronco
Was this a robbery gone wrong? Still, something wasn't tracking. If he'd been robbed in Dallas.
The Binge Cases: Baby Broker
Fatal Beauty | 1. Body in the Bronco
He had two gunshot wounds from a .38 caliber pistol, one to the head, precise and deliberate, and the other to the body, leaving no doubt about the brutality of the crime. The faint odor of death intermingled with the frozen air. The officers exchanged knowing looks. This, they knew, was murder. But how this man was killed was something they wouldn't know for a long time.
The Binge Cases: Baby Broker
Fatal Beauty | 1. Body in the Bronco
And the victim himself, wedged between the seats of his car in a parking lot in Oklahoma in the dead of winter, had no idea of the danger he was in moments before he died. Alan Rarig was the kind of tall, broad-shouldered man that made people do a double take. An athlete. A hometown hero. The kind of man who would have aged gracefully. Chiseled even in middle age.
The Binge Cases: Baby Broker
Fatal Beauty | 1. Body in the Bronco
Listen to all episodes of Fatal Beauty ad-free right now by subscribing to The Binge. Visit The Binge channel on Apple Podcasts and hit subscribe at the top of the page or visit getthebinge.com to get access wherever you listen. Feed your true crime obsession. The Binge.
The Binge Cases: Baby Broker
Fatal Beauty | 1. Body in the Bronco
Were he not face down on the back floorboard, his life ended. He hadn't fully appreciated that someone had it out for him. That someone wanted him dead. From Sony Music Entertainment, this is Fatal Beauty. I'm Cooper Maul. Episode 1, The Body in the Bronco.
The Binge Cases: Baby Broker
Fatal Beauty | 1. Body in the Bronco
In all the millions of minutes that have gone by since his body was discovered that frigid December night, not a single one has passed that his mother hasn't thought of him. Who he was. Who he could have been. For decades, she's spoken out, told anyone who would listen, and kept Allen's name alive.
The Binge Cases: Baby Broker
Fatal Beauty | 1. Body in the Bronco
That's what first struck me about this story, her refusal to let her son be forgotten, her doggedness for the answers. In a way, I believe this is what's kept her going. But now she's 95, and she's faced a lot of disappointment and countless dead ends. She deserves a break from her quest for the truth,
The Binge Cases: Baby Broker
Fatal Beauty | 1. Body in the Bronco
to spend the remainder of her golden years with her 12 great-grandchildren, I wanted her to pass the baton to me and let me help her get closer to the truth.
The Binge Cases: Baby Broker
Fatal Beauty | 1. Body in the Bronco
Today, Gloria is almost 100 and is still sharp as a tack. She's got gray blonde hair and striking blue eyes. Her face carries the gentle lines of age, adding depth to her dignified appearance. She lives at the Bradford Village Health Care Center, a community for senior citizens in Edmond, Oklahoma, the same town she's lived for the last 50 years. It's where she's raised her blended family, too.
The Binge Cases: Baby Broker
Fatal Beauty | 1. Body in the Bronco
Two towering redheads who went on to set scoring records for Edmond Memorial High School's basketball team, the Bulldogs. But of the two, Allen was the standout athlete. He was a football player, too. But his balling skills are what landed him a scholarship to Oklahoma State University.
The Binge Cases: Baby Broker
Fatal Beauty | 1. Body in the Bronco
Growing up, Alan had dreamt of becoming a professional athlete. He seemed like the kind of kid who saw his future in his physical talents. But as his 20s droned on, he had to pivot and get a job like the rest of us.
The Binge Cases: Baby Broker
Fatal Beauty | 1. Body in the Bronco
The last time Gloria spoke with Alan, his wife Sandra happened to be the topic of conversation. They'd been married just shy of a year when Gloria caught wind that their marriage was on the rocks.
The Binge Cases: Baby Broker
Fatal Beauty | 1. Body in the Bronco
The newlyweds had been living apart for a month. When Gloria pressed Allen about what was behind the separation, he was vague.
The Binge Cases: Baby Broker
Fatal Beauty | 1. Body in the Bronco
What did that mean? On the other end of the line, Gloria sensed a cautiousness in her son's voice, in that special way only moms can. But she wasn't worried.
The Binge Cases: Baby Broker
Fatal Beauty | 1. Body in the Bronco
In other words, Alan didn't think this separation was the end of the line.
The Binge Cases: Baby Broker
Fatal Beauty | 1. Body in the Bronco
That glimmer of hope was fanned when the next day, Alan heard from Sandra. Here's his mother again.
The Binge Cases: Baby Broker
Fatal Beauty | 1. Body in the Bronco
The two planned to meet at the mini storage facility in nearby Garland on Saturday, the eve of their first wedding anniversary. For Allen, the timing was auspicious. Could this be an opportunity for them to rekindle? Stranger things have happened.
The Binge Cases: Baby Broker
Fatal Beauty | 1. Body in the Bronco
That Saturday was unusually warm for December in Dallas, so mild that when Allen left his temporary residence, his pal Phil Askew's home, he was wearing Bermuda shorts, a T-shirt, and a light sweater on top. lugging boxes in a musty storage unit was bound to break a sweat. That was around 4.50 p.m. Alan didn't anticipate staying at the storage unit with Sandra for long.
The Binge Cases: Baby Broker
Fatal Beauty | 1. Body in the Bronco
He had dinner plans that night with Phil. But Alan didn't make it back for their meal.
The Binge Cases: Baby Broker
Fatal Beauty | 1. Body in the Bronco
According to Sandra, she never saw Alan. Phil was baffled. Alan was a stand-up friend, reliable, courteous. If he got tangled up in some other plan, he would have let his buddies know. Not this time. I'm not a parent, but I know when my mom doesn't hear from me, an adult, she still worries. It's hard to let go. And Alan had just set out on his own, just 18 months before.
The Binge Cases: Baby Broker
Fatal Beauty | 1. Body in the Bronco
And on the ground in Dallas, the rumor mill was already churning.
The Binge Cases: Baby Broker
Fatal Beauty | 1. Body in the Bronco
Gloria wasn't enamored with her son's new bride, but she didn't think for a minute that she would have anything to do with his disappearance.
The Binge Cases: Baby Broker
Fatal Beauty | 1. Body in the Bronco
What did everyone else seem to already know about Alan's wife that Gloria didn't? Why were the town gossips talking about Sandra behind her back? Why her? What had she done? It had been roughly 24 hours since Alan's disappearance. The sun was setting on Sunday, December 8th, with no sign of him. And here's what was strange. His wife still hadn't filed a missing persons report.
The Binge Cases: Baby Broker
Fatal Beauty | 1. Body in the Bronco
Why hadn't she reported him gone? Sure, the two were separated. But how do you just not tell the cops that your spouse vanished?
The Binge Cases: Baby Broker
Fatal Beauty | 1. Body in the Bronco
Law enforcement in Dallas was now on the case. Back in Oklahoma, Gloria's pacing around her home feeling helpless. So she did all she knew to do.
The Binge Cases: Baby Broker
Fatal Beauty | 1. Body in the Bronco
If she'd been in Dallas, she would have gone herself. Instead, she had someone else go do kind of a wellness check. Gloria had already been in touch with friends of Alan and Sandra, who assuaged some of her anxiety.
The Binge Cases: Baby Broker
Fatal Beauty | 1. Body in the Bronco
Oklahoma City was shrouded in a quiet chill that December night. It was a couple of weeks before Christmas in 1985. The hum of jet engines could be heard in the distance. Two Oklahoma City police officers were patrolling a secluded area not too far from the Will Rogers Airport.
The Binge Cases: Baby Broker
Fatal Beauty | 1. Body in the Bronco
And that graciousness Sandra extended to the detectives didn't exactly reach Gloria.
The Binge Cases: Baby Broker
Fatal Beauty | 1. Body in the Bronco
Sandra was pissed. How dare her mother-in-law point the finger at her? That wasn't what Gloria intended to get at, at all. She wasn't suspicious of Sandra. But this confrontation planted a seed, one that quickly grew into something dark and unsettling. Gloria's mind flashed back to a conversation she'd had with Sandra, not long after she and Alan tied the knot.
The Binge Cases: Baby Broker
Fatal Beauty | 1. Body in the Bronco
At the time, it had seemed like a practical, even responsible next step in building a life together. But now, it felt like something else entirely. Part of a plan. Because if something happened to Alan, it turned out, Sandra stood to cash in. I wanted to know just how much Sandra would get. So I called up investigative reporter John Leake, who's long been enmeshed in this story.
The Binge Cases: Baby Broker
Fatal Beauty | 1. Body in the Bronco
Sounds like a lot of money to me now, too, but that's not the point. Could Sandra have been out for Alan's money? Gloria entertained the thought, but didn't dwell on it. But get this, on the same day that things came to a head with her mother-in-law, Sandra did something curious.
The Binge Cases: Baby Broker
Fatal Beauty | 2. An Open Secret
To them, it seemed straightforward. A man burdened by debt, crushed by the weight of his wife's expectations, had finally snapped. The cops went with Occam's razor, the principle that the simplest explanation is usually the best. David's own psychiatrist, the one Sandra set him up with, backed this narrative too.
The Binge Cases: Baby Broker
Fatal Beauty | 2. An Open Secret
And the medical examiner sealed the deal.
The Binge Cases: Baby Broker
Fatal Beauty | 2. An Open Secret
Leak told me the investigation only lasted five days, not even a week. And Sandra was barely questioned. But what she did say was baffling.
The Binge Cases: Baby Broker
Fatal Beauty | 2. An Open Secret
It was the ideal spot for a teenage after-school hang.
The Binge Cases: Baby Broker
Fatal Beauty | 2. An Open Secret
When a wife ends up dead in the home, the husband is almost always looked at. But Sandra? She didn't raise suspicions.
The Binge Cases: Baby Broker
Fatal Beauty | 2. An Open Secret
David's death was brushed aside as a tragedy, but I still had a lot of questions. David was, by all accounts, a private guy. Yet when he did manage to confess his worries, Sandra had been instrumental in making sure witnesses heard them. She called up his attorney, Jack, the night he threatened suicide. Here's Leak.
The Binge Cases: Baby Broker
Fatal Beauty | 2. An Open Secret
Had she led the cops to believe exactly what she wanted them to? I think it's possible, if not likely. For me, that crime scene had too many clues that David had been killed. The strange slashes on his forearm, not his wrist. The covers that had been pulled over the gun resting in his hand. And there was something else I found truly eerie.
The Binge Cases: Baby Broker
Fatal Beauty | 2. An Open Secret
Someone else had been there, but it seems to me the biggest oversight wasn't any of these clues. A potential motive to kill was overlooked.
The Binge Cases: Baby Broker
Fatal Beauty | 2. An Open Secret
And a little something extra, a life insurance policy for $160,000.
The Binge Cases: Baby Broker
Fatal Beauty | 2. An Open Secret
Which Sandra already knew. Because before David's death, Sandra didn't just rope in his psychiatrist and attorney. She called his life insurance broker. She had one question. Would she still get the money if David took his own life? This detail potentially points to premeditation. The cops? Incredibly, they never barked up that tree.
The Binge Cases: Baby Broker
Fatal Beauty | 2. An Open Secret
Between the $160,000 death benefit and the equity in their home, Sandra walked away with far more than she would have in a divorce.
The Binge Cases: Baby Broker
Fatal Beauty | 2. An Open Secret
After Sandra got the proceeds from the life insurance policy, she paid off her debts, took the kids on vacation, and moved on with her life. As the weeks turned into months following David's death, Sandra's grief was eclipsed by a sense of urgency. She no longer had a man to support her or her children.
The Binge Cases: Baby Broker
Fatal Beauty | 2. An Open Secret
He'd only ever caught glimpses of her, but one afternoon, she was actually home. Sandra entered the kitchen like a vision from another world. Perfectly coiffed, her dark hair glinting in the sunlight streaming through the windows, her blouse shimmered as she moved. John froze for a moment, his adolescent brain struggling to comprehend the woman in front of him.
The Binge Cases: Baby Broker
Fatal Beauty | 2. An Open Secret
They also encouraged her to date available men.
The Binge Cases: Baby Broker
Fatal Beauty | 2. An Open Secret
She understood the delicate balance of seduction independence, how to make a man believe that his success wasn't complete without a woman like her to reflect it back to him. Sandra had mastered the art of admiration, the way to tilt her head just so, to let her eyes linger for a second longer, to make a man feel as though he was the most important, most powerful person in the room.
The Binge Cases: Baby Broker
Fatal Beauty | 2. An Open Secret
It's not unlike how nowadays you'd peek around your Tinder matches' socials.
The Binge Cases: Baby Broker
Fatal Beauty | 2. An Open Secret
Norman Brinker was the mastermind behind Fast Casual. The restaurant he founded, Steak and Ale, is kind of like the godfather of spots like Chili's, which he also later bought. He was certifiably rich.
The Binge Cases: Baby Broker
Fatal Beauty | 2. An Open Secret
In her research, it seems Sandra overlooked that Norman was in the midst of a divorce.
The Binge Cases: Baby Broker
Fatal Beauty | 2. An Open Secret
This sounds like some real Housewives of Highland Park kind of shit. Let's just say their romance was short-lived, but it certainly got Sandra's name on the tip of everyone's tongue.
The Binge Cases: Baby Broker
Fatal Beauty | 2. An Open Secret
By all accounts, Bobby was a work-hard, play-hard kind of guy. Here's Whitley again.
The Binge Cases: Baby Broker
Fatal Beauty | 2. An Open Secret
This time, it was a bit more elaborate than a meet-cute at a car wash.
The Binge Cases: Baby Broker
Fatal Beauty | 2. An Open Secret
I don't know about you, but this would be way too over the top for me.
The Binge Cases: Baby Broker
Fatal Beauty | 2. An Open Secret
From that night in the fall of 1977 on, the two were an item. They married in June of 1978, not even a year after meeting. Sandra reveled in Bobby's reputation, his extravagant lifestyle, and most importantly, the way he adored her children, whom he adopted and gave his name. And Bobby had succeeded where her first husband hadn't.
The Binge Cases: Baby Broker
Fatal Beauty | 2. An Open Secret
He bought her a palatial house smack dab in the middle of Highland Park.
The Binge Cases: Baby Broker
Fatal Beauty | 2. An Open Secret
Bobby's most recent ventures in hospitality were tanking. He'd gone bankrupt and was in debt to the tune of $3 million. His debt, though, didn't drive him to despair. It lit a fire under him. Then an opportunity came knocking at the perfect time. A mansion in the center of Highland Park, once owned by a great cotton and oil baron, Shepard King, had fallen into disrepair.
The Binge Cases: Baby Broker
Fatal Beauty | 2. An Open Secret
Bobby didn't see a dilapidated building. He saw the park city's hottest new social hub. Investors got on board. By 1980, his buzzy restaurant was open for business. Bobby was officially the comeback king.
The Binge Cases: Baby Broker
Fatal Beauty | 2. An Open Secret
She would give even a teenager like him her undivided attention in a way that was disarming.
The Binge Cases: Baby Broker
Fatal Beauty | 2. An Open Secret
And Sandra, she got catapulted to queen of Highland Park.
The Binge Cases: Baby Broker
Fatal Beauty | 2. An Open Secret
Not long after the mansion on Turtle Creek had become a fixture in the park cities, Sandra and Bobby joined friends at the Highland Park Village Theater to see all that jazz.
The Binge Cases: Baby Broker
Fatal Beauty | 2. An Open Secret
The sweat opened up the floodgates to a misfortune he could have never predicted.
The Binge Cases: Baby Broker
Fatal Beauty | 2. An Open Secret
While Dr. Bagwell took care of Bobby, Sandra glommed on to his better half.
The Binge Cases: Baby Broker
Fatal Beauty | 2. An Open Secret
But her generosity would soon be tested.
The Binge Cases: Baby Broker
Fatal Beauty | 2. An Open Secret
She prioritized a remodel over spending her husband's final days by his side? That was cold.
The Binge Cases: Baby Broker
Fatal Beauty | 2. An Open Secret
Imagine the kind of sympathy Sandra was garnering at this point. To be able to leave three kids without their families for 24 hours at a time, they probably figured she was shuttling Bobby to chemo. She wasn't. Bobby was dying and she...
The Binge Cases: Baby Broker
Fatal Beauty | 2. An Open Secret
The hotel Bobby had built became her hunting ground.
The Binge Cases: Baby Broker
Fatal Beauty | 2. An Open Secret
Sandra was sexy, alluring. He couldn't quite understand her power then, but he understood enough to see she was the kind of woman who men couldn't turn away from. She was something of a siren, if you will. Unfortunately, for a few unlucky people who got mixed up with Sandra, they underestimated how dangerous she could be. until it was too late. Can't blame them though.
The Binge Cases: Baby Broker
Fatal Beauty | 2. An Open Secret
Sandra's gauche behavior in the wake of Bobby's illness had ostracized her from pretty much everyone but the Bagwells. And it wasn't like they could really cut ties while Dr. Bagwell was still treating her husband. Bobby died Mother's Day of 1982 at Baylor University Medical Center. He was buried in the Garden of Eternity at Sparkman Hillcrest Cemetery.
The Binge Cases: Baby Broker
Fatal Beauty | 2. An Open Secret
The prefix engraved before his name on his headstone read, Our Beloved. After his death, Sandra leaned on the Bagwells even more than before.
The Binge Cases: Baby Broker
Fatal Beauty | 2. An Open Secret
But by now, Sandra's a widow two times over, no income coming in, and three children depending on her. It must have been a scary time.
The Binge Cases: Baby Broker
Fatal Beauty | 2. An Open Secret
Then Fourth of July weekend rolled around. The Bagwells went away to their second home in Santa Fe, and Sandra showed up there uninvited. For Betsy, that was the last straw.
The Binge Cases: Baby Broker
Fatal Beauty | 2. An Open Secret
Sandra wasn't just eccentric. She was dangerous.
The Binge Cases: Baby Broker
Fatal Beauty | 2. An Open Secret
It began with a favor, a small, seemingly innocent request. Sandra Bridewell needed help getting to Love Field Airport. Her car had broken down, again, and she called Betsy. Their friendship was tenuous at this point, and even though Sandra must have sensed Betsy was pulling away, she bet that her friends still wouldn't be able to say no. Here's Whitley again, recounting this fateful moment.
The Binge Cases: Baby Broker
Fatal Beauty | 2. An Open Secret
Can you take me to Love Field? I need to rent a car, because mine won't start. Despite everything that had gone down in Santa Fe, Betsy agreed to drive Sandra.
The Binge Cases: Baby Broker
Fatal Beauty | 2. An Open Secret
Hours later, at 8.20 PM, way past when she was meant to be home, eating pasta with her children, Betsy Bagwell's body was discovered. She was found in her baby blue Mercedes-Benz station wagon in the airport parking lot. Betsy had been shot in the head with a small handgun, a cheap .22 caliber known as a Saturday night special. Here's the homicide detective who arrived first.
The Binge Cases: Baby Broker
Fatal Beauty | 2. An Open Secret
Detective JJ Coughlin was early in his long career with the Dallas PD. He didn't see any signs of foul play.
The Binge Cases: Baby Broker
Fatal Beauty | 2. An Open Secret
Even the police took a good long while to suspect her of crimes, to see what she was truly capable of. From Sony Music Entertainment, this is Fatal Beauty. I'm Cooper Maul, episode two, An Open Secret. Sandra wasn't born into wealth, but from a young age, she aspired to fit into it. She had grown up in Oak Cliff, a world apart from Highland Park, but close enough to see the life she dreamed of.
The Binge Cases: Baby Broker
Fatal Beauty | 2. An Open Secret
Soon after, Detective Coughlin went to notify Betsy's husband.
The Binge Cases: Baby Broker
Fatal Beauty | 2. An Open Secret
The logical next step was a medical examiner's report and an interview with Sandra.
The Binge Cases: Baby Broker
Fatal Beauty | 2. An Open Secret
Detective Coughlin remembered Sandra as well-spoken, pleasant even, but her interview? Completely unremarkable.
The Binge Cases: Baby Broker
Fatal Beauty | 2. An Open Secret
Coughlin told the Bagwell family he had nothing on Sandra. It was looking like Betsy had taken her own life.
The Binge Cases: Baby Broker
Fatal Beauty | 2. An Open Secret
And the next day it was. The chief medical examiner, Charles Petty, determined from the autopsy that the gun residue found on right-handed Betsy indicated a self-inflicted end.
The Binge Cases: Baby Broker
Fatal Beauty | 2. An Open Secret
Here's the baffling thing. People close to Sandra Bridewell kept dying. Their deaths would be ruled a suicide, and yet, the cops didn't find that suspicious or even strange. Sandra was the only person in the house with her husband, David, the last person seen with Betsy Bagwell.
The Binge Cases: Baby Broker
Fatal Beauty | 2. An Open Secret
Detective Coughlin was a homicide detective, and yet, he felt Betsy's shooting was an open-and-shut suicide case and nothing more. But to Glenna Whitley, that journalist who has long been tracking Sandra Bridewell, some clues pointed to murder.
The Binge Cases: Baby Broker
Fatal Beauty | 2. An Open Secret
Where the hell did this thing come from then?
The Binge Cases: Baby Broker
Fatal Beauty | 2. An Open Secret
Detective Coughlin brought in agents from the ATF to look further. That's the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
The Binge Cases: Baby Broker
Fatal Beauty | 2. An Open Secret
Then one month after Betsy was found, Dr. Bagwell got some good news. The Dallas County medical examiner issued a memo welcoming any additional information that could be obtained about her death. And in that memo, he admitted that he told Betsy's widower he was not sure she died by her own hand. Not sure at all. Here's Leak summing up what the medical examiner said.
The Binge Cases: Baby Broker
Fatal Beauty | 2. An Open Secret
He encouraged Dr. Bagwell to take action.
The Binge Cases: Baby Broker
Fatal Beauty | 2. An Open Secret
The PI he hired was Al Thiel, a former detective and postal inspector for the military.
The Binge Cases: Baby Broker
Fatal Beauty | 2. An Open Secret
and he was pulling out all the stops to prove it. Thiel contacted an esteemed forensic scientist in California named Dr. John Thornton. Gunshot residue analysis was one of his specialties. That gunpowder residue on Betsy's right hand could have ended up there because she was close to the weapon, not as a direct result of shooting herself.
The Binge Cases: Baby Broker
Fatal Beauty | 2. An Open Secret
Dr. Thornton provided John Bagwell with a report that challenged the local medical examiner's findings. Thank you.
The Binge Cases: Baby Broker
Fatal Beauty | 2. An Open Secret
Just a river separated her hometown from the bubble. Sandra was the daughter of a man who sold cemetery plots for a living. By then, her mother had died in a car crash. Sandra wanted to catch herself a man who could provide the life she dreamed of. She went to Tyler Junior College in 1962, but less so to expand her mind or land a job. She aimed to perfect her allure.
The Binge Cases: Baby Broker
Fatal Beauty | 2. An Open Secret
This is Glenna Whitley, an investigative reporter who's been tracking Sandra for the better part of decades. In 1963, Betty Friedan dared women to get out of the kitchen and into workplaces. Friedan's book, The Feminine Mystique, was a call to arms. Sandra wanted no part of it. She wanted to marry rich and rely on her man to get her the life she deserved.
The Binge Cases: Baby Broker
Fatal Beauty | 2. An Open Secret
David had piercing eyes and high cheekbones, and he was a doctor. But he started out as a real Texan cowboy. When David hung up his lasso, he pursued a career in dentistry, the same trade as his father before him. After graduating from a prestigious dental school in Dallas, he headed to California to study under a dentist of the stars.
The Binge Cases: Baby Broker
Fatal Beauty | 2. An Open Secret
Listen to all episodes of Fatal Beauty ad-free right now by subscribing to The Binge. Visit The Binge channel on Apple Podcasts and hit subscribe at the top of the page or visit getthebinge.com to get access wherever you listen. Feed your true crime obsession. Before we get started, I just want to let you know we do discuss suicide in this episode. So please, listen with care.
The Binge Cases: Baby Broker
Fatal Beauty | 2. An Open Secret
In Hollywood, David fined to not only his craft, but found his target client base, wealthy and elite. So his next move, setting up shop in Highland Park, was a no-brainer.
The Binge Cases: Baby Broker
Fatal Beauty | 2. An Open Secret
But before he could penetrate the bubble, he rented an apartment just east of it. That's where his paths cross with a neighbor who seemed to have stepped out of a southern fairy tale. Sandra was David's first girlfriend, and also his last. David was just 24 when they met. Sandra was 23. David popped the question just six weeks into dating.
The Binge Cases: Baby Broker
Fatal Beauty | 2. An Open Secret
In May 1967, Sandra Powers became Mrs. Sandra Stiegel, a dentist's wife. Little did David know what he was in for.
The Binge Cases: Baby Broker
Fatal Beauty | 2. An Open Secret
And she got a live-in maid. In short order, she gave birth to two children, Britt and Catherine. She had help raising the children, so she was still free to pursue her interests. She hired an interior decorator to the tune of $35,000. Back then, a perfectly good car went for about $4,000. She could have had eight cars for what she spent to make her house enviable.
The Binge Cases: Baby Broker
Fatal Beauty | 2. An Open Secret
Their home became a showpiece, featured in interior design magazines. Sandra filled the house with antiques, fresh flowers, and an air of untouchable perfection. This lifestyle came at a cost.
The Binge Cases: Baby Broker
Fatal Beauty | 2. An Open Secret
David was drowning. They'd only been living in their Greenway Parks home for a year when the IRS issued a lien. That's when the government claims your property if you can't pay your taxes. On top of that, a North Dallas bank was hounding them for $30K they owed. And she couldn't stop.
The Binge Cases: Baby Broker
Fatal Beauty | 2. An Open Secret
And the more it wore on David, the more Sandra worried for him.
The Binge Cases: Baby Broker
Fatal Beauty | 2. An Open Secret
Was she being a helpful wife? Or was she playing some kind of long game? In 1974, about a year after he and Sandra welcomed their third child, Emily, David turned to his dad for a considerable favor.
The Binge Cases: Baby Broker
Fatal Beauty | 2. An Open Secret
The money problems were out of control. David kept a lid on it. He didn't let on to colleagues or friends how much he was struggling. Late one night in January 1975, his estate attorney, Jack Sides, got an alarming call from Sandra.
The Binge Cases: Baby Broker
Fatal Beauty | 2. An Open Secret
Jack rushed over and marched right up to the master bedroom.
The Binge Cases: Baby Broker
Fatal Beauty | 2. An Open Secret
With his family and attorney as witnesses, David reiterated the threat. This is truly bizarre. Why hadn't Sandra ushered the kids away?
The Binge Cases: Baby Broker
Fatal Beauty | 2. An Open Secret
David had let someone into his inner world. In a society accustomed to keeping up appearances, this was almost a cardinal sin.
The Binge Cases: Baby Broker
Fatal Beauty | 2. An Open Secret
Put things in order? What could that possibly mean?
The Binge Cases: Baby Broker
Fatal Beauty | 2. An Open Secret
It was the kind of afternoon that felt timeless, suspended in the golden haze of late summer. Highland Park stood pristine, a cocoon of manicured lawns and sprawling homes, a place as polished as its reputation.
The Binge Cases: Baby Broker
Fatal Beauty | 2. An Open Secret
Sandra and David never got that divorce.
The Binge Cases: Baby Broker
Fatal Beauty | 2. An Open Secret
On the morning of February 25th, 1975, Sandra woke early, around 7 a.m., to a mysterious sound. She felt uneasy. Something wasn't right, she'd later say. So she telephoned one of David's colleagues, Dr. Paul Radman, to tell him, "'Something terrible has happened to David.'" In no time, Dr. Radman and his wife were on their way.
The Binge Cases: Baby Broker
Fatal Beauty | 2. An Open Secret
When they arrived, Sandra explained she had been sleeping in one of her kids' bedrooms.
The Binge Cases: Baby Broker
Fatal Beauty | 2. An Open Secret
What could all this fuss be about? Dr. Radman went to see for himself. He opened the door of the master bedroom, and there was David.
The Binge Cases: Baby Broker
Fatal Beauty | 2. An Open Secret
David's body lay lifeless. A .22 caliber pistol rested near his hand. The sheets beneath him meticulously tucked around his body. I immediately have so many questions. Luckily, this is Leak's wheelhouse. In fact, his painstaking efforts are how the photographs from the morning David was found were made public. When a .22 caliber pistol is fired, it doesn't just make a mysterious noise.
The Binge Cases: Baby Broker
Fatal Beauty | 2. An Open Secret
Another curious thing, there was no contact wound from the gun, meaning David shot himself from a distance.
The Binge Cases: Baby Broker
Fatal Beauty | 2. An Open Secret
But he didn't do that. He held the muzzle a couple of inches from his head. and supposedly shot himself and kept his composure after. Here's the thing that makes this suicide theory quite hard to believe. The gun was found resting in David's hand with the covers pulled over it. You can hear it in Leak's voice.
The Binge Cases: Baby Broker
Fatal Beauty | 2. An Open Secret
Long before John Leake wrote The Meaning of Malice, his book about Sandra, he was her neighbor.
The Binge Cases: Baby Broker
Fatal Beauty | 2. An Open Secret
He just doesn't buy that David would be able to do that after blowing a bullet through his head.
The Binge Cases: Baby Broker
Fatal Beauty | 2. An Open Secret
Had David taken his own life? Or had the scene been carefully staged to point to suicide? If he had been killed, the murderer made a mistake. It turned out David's forearm had been slashed, not his wrist.
The Binge Cases: Baby Broker
Fatal Beauty | 2. An Open Secret
But if he was murdered, his killer might not have. We've got the benefit of hindsight looking at the pictures of this scene decades after the fact. When the police finally arrived that morning and started processing what might have happened, they did not dwell on the bizarre way David Stiegel died. They went with a story that seemed most simple.