Narrator (0:00)

Wondery subscribers can listen to this podcast ad free right now. Join Wonder plus in the Wondery app today. Some stories have a way of sticking with you. For me, it's the 48 hour series Murder in the Orange Grove. But Audible has a best of 2024 list that's packed with unforgettable listens you won't stop thinking about. Check out Framed. It's one of Audible's top picks and an astonishing true story of wrongful convictions that keeps you hooked for from start to finish. Whether you're into thrillers, memoirs, or even romance, there's something for everyone. Head over to audible.com 48hours and discover all the year's best waiting for you. That's audible.com 48 hours audible there's more to imagine when you listen Americans agree that everyone should be able to make their own healthcare decisions. You and only you, should control your health care decisions. But the truth is, attacks on reproductive health care, including abortion, are only intensifying. That's why your gift to Planned Parenthood is so important right now. No matter the battle, no matter the stakes, no matter what Planned Parenthood is there. Protect our rights. Protect our healthcare. Make your gift to planned parenthood@plannedparenthood.org Protect Hey, I'm Ryan Reynolds. Recently I asked Mint Mobile's legal team if big wireless companies are allowed to raise prices due to inflation. They said yes. And then when I asked if raising prices technically violates those onerous two year contracts, they said, what the are you talking about, you insane Hollywood dollar. So to recap, we're cutting the price of mint unlimited from $30 a month to just $15 a month. Give it a try@mintmobile.com Switch $45 upfront payment equivalent to $15 per month New customers on first three month plan only taxes and fees, extra Speed slower above 40GB. Details I remember the last day quite well. The day that it happened. Memories of her voice are definitely in my head. Bradley. Bradley, over here, honey. When my mother was murdered, I was about seven and a half years old. Farah Fratta, a very pretty lady. Her story was pretty tragic. Once she married Bob, the marriage was in a lot of trouble. A divorce was pending. It was November 9, 1994. That was an evening where Farah had stopped to get her hair cut with no idea about what was going to happen. At the time Bara was getting her hair cut, the shooter and the getaway driver were in a car together on the way to Farah's house. And the shooter was going to Hide in the backyard. On that same evening, Bob had picked up all three of the kids. It was his night for visitation. He took me, my brother and my sister. We all went to church. Oh, while we were at the church, they would have us doing just a bunch of little fun activities which also involved praying. Hail Mary full of grace. So far. Got her hair done, pulled into her garage. It just so happened that when Fara came home that night and back into her garage, the neighbors that lived directly across from the garage saw her come home. We heard something outside like a pop. And I got up to look out the window. And as I was doing that, we heard a scream and I saw Farah fall. And then we heard another shot and I saw her laying down there by her car. It was at that time when we realized she wasn't getting up that we dial 911 Mallon County. What is your emergency? Yes, I just saw a shooting. Please, it's just started giving them a play by play of what we were seeing. The car that just pulled up. The suspect is behind a tree. Okay, ma'am, a black man just got in the car there, but it was a silver car, I believe, and one burnt out headlight. The suspect just took off. Fear of Jesus. Help this woman now at the hour of her death. Amen. After leaving the catechism class, we went back to the house. The first thing I remember was just all the yellow tape everywhere. Bob Farrada was nowhere near the murder scene when Farah was shot. He had definite proof to say Bob wasn't there. Bob was at catechism with us. I just remember arriving there and my dad acting very surprised as to what was going on. How many people use church as their alibi and used their own children as their alibi? Who does that? Thou shalt not kill. I came home about 7:00 from work and my wife had just prepared a nice hot meal for me. Lex and Betty Bakker couldn't know it when they sat down for dinner that November night, but they were enjoying the last few moments of life as they knew it. The telephone rang. That was maybe two minutes after 8:00. It was a neighbor with news. Betty Farah's been shot. Oh my God. Their only daughter Farah had been ambushed. Two bullets to her head. I don't know how fast I drove. I have no idea. And when we went there, the lights were all over the place and the cop was trying to stop us. They wouldn't let me go to Farah. I said, I am the mother. I need to get to my child. I got to her, she was alive. She was face up, but she was having convulsion. One of the paramedics said she has lost a lot of blood. I suggest you all hurry up and go to the hospital. Farah was 33, a mother of three, and she was dying. Medics rushed her to a chopper, but it was too late. I just couldn't believe it. I refused to believe that she was dead. I just stood there and kept staring at her. Her eyes were open and I just put my hand on her. Just shut her eyes and I felt her. She was cold. It hurts so much. Just one person destroying a mother and three kids. The first thing that came out of my mouth. Where is that son of a bitch? Which son of a bitch? Talking about my son in law, Bob Fratta. I knew immediately that Bob had something to do with it. Bob Fratta, their daughter's estranged husband. They'd been married for 11 years and were involved in a messy divorce. He was fighting for the kids, she was fighting for the kids. A painful custody battle over 7 year old Bradley, 6 year old Daniel and 4 year old Amber was scheduled for trial in less than three weeks. Were you afraid for the safety of your friend Farah? Yes, I was. Kitty Watters Sneed worked alongside Farah at American Airlines for years and was Farah's closest friend. I knew it was Bob right away. Right away. To the outside world, Bob Fratta was an upstanding citizen working in public safety as both a police officer and a fireman. Bye bye. A man who doted on his three children. Say bye, Bradley. Say bye bye. But there was apparently a very different side to Bob Fratta. They were things that it embarrassed her to talk about. Farah told Kitty her husband wanted her to do things to him sexually. That not only embarrassed her, they sickened her. She showed me some stains in the closet where some things went on. Farah detailed all of Bob's sexual desires in her divorce papers. And Fratta's secret was about to become public record. There was things that he liked to have performed that I don't know if CBS wants to air on primetime after her death. Detective Larry Davis read Farah's papers. How strange were these requests? Real strange. She had to get out. Had to, for the kids sake. They couldn't be around something like that. Farah threw Bob out of the house. And as the court date approached, she seemed more and more on edge. She had asked me if I felt Bob would ever have her murdered. And police believe Farah had good reason to be afraid of Bob. 911. What's the emergency? I had somebody come in my house and described my life just months before her murder. Farah called 911 in a panic, and Larry Davis rushed to her house. She was upset. She was crying. What did she tell you had happened? She was in bed, and a male came into her house, had a mask on, and stunned her with a stun gun. She was terrified. The attacker broke in through a window and attacked Farah in front of her three young children. I woke up to my mother screaming. Bradley, the oldest, was just seven. I had no idea, really, what was going on. All I know was my mother was in danger and something wasn't right. Daniel, Farah's second son, was five. We were just screaming, crying outside the door, let our mommy go. Leave her alone. Leave her alone. Farah suspected the intruder was a friend of Bob Fratta's. Whoever it was fled, leaving an injured Farah with her terrified children, and he was never caught. She thought her husband had something to do with it. In his gut, Detective Davis believed her. But without concrete proof, all he could do was was warned. Bob. I said, bob, I know what you're up to. It's not going to work. You need to leave her alone. Four months later, Farah was dead, and Detective Davis was called to the scene again. I said, bob, I told you to leave her alone. And he told me, I didn't do anything. In fact, Fratta's alibi was hard to beat. Plenty of people saw him in church with his three young children while his wife was being murdered. But police were sure, even if Bob wasn't at the scene, he at least had something to do with the killing. Especially when they searched his car. What did they find in the car? $1,000. The thousand dollars was in the glove compartment. Bob explained that it was money to buy new carpeting. $1000. Is that unusual in these parts? Well, $1000 is not unusual. $1000 in your glove box on the night that your wife is murdered surely raises a lot of suspicion. What sorts of suspicion would believe that that may be money to pay off a hitman? Frana wasn't doing himself any favors that night. While detectives interrogated him for accident, I asked him a question that still sticks out in my mind today. The way he answered it. I said, bob, what should happen to somebody that kills somebody? He said, they should go to jail forever. I said, what should happen to somebody that has their wife killed? And he told me it depended on the circumstances. What did you make of that? I walked out and I said he killed her. But the police couldn't prove it, so they had to let Bob Fratta go, even though they believed they were letting a killer walk free. I hope they find the guy soon. He's just happy. Go lucky. He's cheesing to the camera. He gave all indications that he thought he was going to get away with this murder, even if you think it's a bit overhyped. AI is suddenly everywhere from self driving cars to molecular medicine to business efficiency. If it's not in your industry yet, it's coming fast. But AI needs a lot of speed and computing power, so how do you compete without cost? Spiraling out of control Time to upgrade to the next generation of the cloud Oracle Cloud Infrastructure, or oci. OCI is a blazing, fast and secure platform for your infrastructure, database, application development, plus all your AI and machine learning workloads. OCI costs 50% less for compute and 80% less for networking, so you're saving a pile of money. Thousands of businesses have already upgraded to oci, including MGM Resorts, Specialized Bikes and Fireworks AI. Right now, Oracle is offering to cut your current cloud bill in half if you move to OCI. For new US customers with minimum financial commitment off runs 123124 see if your company qualifies for this Special offer@oracle.com CBS that's oracle.com CBS what if you could learn from the world's best all in one place? You can with Masterclass. With Masterclass you can learn from the best to become your best. Masterclass is the only streaming platform where you can learn and grow with over 200 plus of the world's best. And you can access Masterclass on your phone, computer, smart TV or even in audio mode. Confidently navigate the media with influential intellectual Noam Chomsky. Use science to solve your problems with Bill Nye or learn from the past with Pulitzer Prize winning historian Doris Kearns Goodwin. And the classes really do make a difference. 88% of members feel that Masterclass has made a positive impact on their lives. Plus every new membership comes with a 30 day money back guarantee. Don't wait another moment to start your learning journey with Masterclass. Masterclass always has great offers during the holidays, sometimes up to as much as 50% off. Head over to masterclass.com wondery for the current offer that's up to 50% off. And@masterclass.com wondery when the children woke up the next morning hi Grandpa. They just sat up and they looked at me. They Must be saying to them, where's my mother? Their mother had just been murdered, and their father was the prime suspect. Oh, my God. And Lex and Betty Bakker had to tell their grandchildren what happened. So I sat them down in the bed, all three of them. I said, mommy's no longer with us. Bradley said to me, where is she? I said, baby, she died last night. I just remember crying for hours. Bradley, over here, honey. Why did this happen to me? Why has this happened to my mother? It was terrible. I mean, you know, hysterically crying. Tried to calm them down. They were crying. I was crying. He walks in the room, he starts crying. For, like, five years after it happened, I thought every day I was gonna wake up and it was gonna be a dream. I cried for weeks and weeks afterwards. Hi, Daniel. I kept saying, where's my mom? You know, where's Mom? When's she coming back? Amber. Amber. And people would have to just look at me brokenheartedly and tell me, you know, she's not. She's not coming back. She's gone forever. Amber was most affected. Every night going to bed, she would cry for her mother. I mean, hysterically crying, grandpa, please. Tugging on his shirt. Please, please open the box. I want to see my mommy. I promise you one more time. Just this one time. Then I let you put the nail in. She put that little finger up. She wanted to see her mother. Betty and her husband Lex were in mourning themselves for the death of their daughter. On top of that, Bob Fratta had been released by the police and was now trying to get custody of the children. You're fighting for custody of your grandchildren with the man who you believed at the bottom of your soul killed your daughter. It was a very difficult situation. But you don't think at that time, all you want to do is, is save these innocent children, and you cannot let these children go. Bye. While Fratto was making his case for custody, detectives were building their case against him. We just follow him. We find out where he goes. Anywhere he visits, we're going to visit. We know he likes to go to the gym. And it was at the gym that Detective Larry Davis heard about some interesting conversations Fratta had been having about his wife. He said, I'm going to find a way to knock her off. Mike Edens worked out with Fratta. And I said, knock her off. He goes, yeah. He says, bob asked him if he knew someone who would kill her. Hey, you know anybody kill my wife? I'm trying to get my wife killed. What about some of these people you work with you think they might be interested? I don't know. Just sort of a casual conversation. Exactly. Around the gym? Yes. Talking about knocking off his wife? Yes. Yes. He never thought Fratta was serious, Thought nothing of it. Just frustrated by the divorce. But Fratta sure did like talking about killing his wife. He asked me if I knew of anybody. Jimmy Pridorski, also worked out at the gym. Seemed to be pretty much what he wanted to talk about. To you? To me and everybody else, yes. There were a lot of them. And according to Prosecutor Kelly Siegler, 15, 17 different guys, they all said pretty much the same thing as Mike and Jimmy. What do all these guys prove? They prove motive. And apparently Fratta had put some thought into how to have his wife murdered. He had a list of her daily activities, and he said, I'll get a gun. He was going to solicit a gang member, but none of Fratta's gym buddies thought of calling the police. What are you thinking? He's going to come to his senses and, you know, he's just blowing off steam. Podorski says Fratta even discussed how much he'd pay a hitman. There wasn't a lot of money up front. Maybe $1,000, $2,000. It didn't raise any red flags, though. If it was anybody else, probably so. But just knowing Bob, he was so likable, and he was very kind. You didn't take him serious. Maybe he wasn't serious. Oh, he was serious. Deadly. But if Fratta was serious, his efforts to cover his tracks were a joke. Police got a big break when they came here to St. Mary's the church where Fratta was with his kids at the time of the murder. Trouble is, while he spent some time in the pews, he spent a lot of time on the phone. A lot of the ladies at the church recalled Bob being on and off the phone. And the church ladies weren't the only ones who remembered Bob making calls that evening. Bradley was 7, and Bradley remembered Daddy being on the phone a lot. Then Fratta's beeper kept going off, and he used the church phone to return the calls. The police were certain he was calling the killer, but when they traced the calls, they were led to a woman they had never heard of before. He came back to a woman named Mary Gipp. Did you go talk to Mary Gip? We tried to talk to her, yes. I didn't give them any information that they wanted. She didn't tell us a whole lot. Perhaps I wasn't cooperative. Investigators were sure Mary Gip was hiding something big. In my mind, she was the key to this case. Especially when they learned about her live in boyfriend. His name, Joseph Price Dash. He was an ex con and he liked to work out with Bob Fratta. But Mary Gip had no intention of revealing anything. She was a witch. She was a smart aleck. I don't know why I did what I did. She was a bitch. Somebody shot. Yeah, stay on the line. Let me connect you to the ambulance service. Mary Gip knew it all. Who killed Farah Fratta, why and how. But for almost four months after the murder, she told the police nothing. I didn't give them any information that they wanted. Detectives would have to find some way to make her talk. They knew the prime suspect, Farah's husband Bob, had called Gip's cell phone and pager hours before and right after the murder. But that's all they knew. And until they learned more, they had to let Fratta remain free and see his children. I explained to the children what would happen. Social worker Judy Cox monitored Bob's visits and tried to help the children cope with their mother's murder. Amber asked the most questions. Do you know that the bad guys put bullets in my mommy's head? That's what she said. Yes. What do you say to a child who says that to you? Yes, baby, I do know that. And that's about all you can say to him. And I hope they find the guy. My job was to keep an eye on him soon to make sure that Mr. Fratta didn't try to take off for the kids. Detective Larry Davis continued tailing Fratta. And almost daily they would have the same conversation. He said, hey, Larry. I said, bob. And he goes, am I going to jail today? And I said, not today, Bob. Soon, but not today. But that day would never come if Mary Gip didn't start talking. So prosecutors hauled her before a grand jury. I said, wait a minute, are you charging me with murder? And he said, yes. And I went, wait a minute, wait a minute here, wait a minute. Within hours, Mary Gip made a deal. She'd cooperate if she wasn't prosecuted. After I was given immunity for my testimony, I just told him everything, everything I knew. She said her boyfriend, Joe Price Dash, who knew Fratta from the gym, was hired by him to set up the murder. They had my neighbor involved in it. He's going to shoot her and kill her. According to Mary Gip, Price Dash hired that neighbor, 18 year old Howard Guidry, to be the trigger man. Guidry would get $1,000. Joe Price Dash would drive Guidry to the murder scene, pick him up afterwards, and use Gip's cell phone to tell Bob Fratta when it was done. He told me that Bob was going to take his children on Wednesday to church, and that's when they were gonna wait for. And that's when they were gonna kill her. He told you that? Yes. Did you ever think of calling the police? No. You could have stopped it. I could have. I really just didn't want to deal with it, to be honest with you. You know, there's. And that sounds disgusting, but it's easier just to not do anything than it is to confront it and say, okay, this. This is going down. They didn't want to be a part of it, but Mary Gip knew Farah. They both worked out at the gym. Had you done the right thing back then, Farah would be alive. Those three kids would have a mom instead. While Price Dash and Guidry were killing Farah, Mary Gipp was home, killing time. Do you remember what you were doing? I was watching. At that particular time, I was watching ice skating. She waited for her boyfriend to return. Did you say anything to him? I asked him if she was dead. That was the only thing I asked. And what did he say? And he said, yes. And I said, how do you know? And he said, because I was there and I saw her. And then Mary Gip and Joe Price Dash had sex. I have no idea what kind of a soul she's got. She has no soul. She's a monster. She's a demon. She's a soul of a devil. When Farah's parents heard prosecutors gave Mary Gip immunity, it sounded to them like a deal with the devil. If anybody should be six feet underground, it's her, not my daughter. She could have saved my daughter. But without Gip, the prosecutors could not make as strong a case against Bob Fratta. How important a witness was she? Number one. Here's why. When Price Dash left Gip's house after the murder, he left the gun behind and she began collecting evidence. I took all the information off of the gun and wrote it down on a blue sticky pad. What information? The information and the serial number. Anything that was on the side of the gun, I wrote down. Why did you write down that information as opposed to calling the cops and saying, my boyfriend just killed somebody? I don't know. After Mary Gip got immunity, she gave police that serial number. She copied down, and they ran it immediately. That's when they learned the gun had been purchased. By suspect number one, keep my mouth shut. That trace came back to Robert Allen Fly. Police didn't have to look far for this gun. It was right under their noses in one of their own evidence rooms. It had been used in a bank robbery after the murder. And luckily for detectives, the alleged bank robber had been caught with it. He was in jail and his name was Howard Guidry. To my right is Howard Guidry. Guidry was questioned. Wasn't long before he confessed. Confessed to everything, and he even went with police to the murder scene. I pulled the gun up and I shot him once in the head to show them how he did it. She, like, fell to the side and as I started to run out, she wasn't really dead. So I turned around and I closed my eyes and I shot her one more time in the head. The dominoes were falling quickly. After Guidry confessed, Price Dash was arrested and also confessed. They were both charged with murder. They fingered Fratta. And five months after the crime, Bob Fratta, who hoped a well timed trip to church would shield him from suspicion, was arrested and charged with murdering the mother of his three children. His handcuffs were awfully tight and I didn't do it. Proving that he did will be harder than prosecutors thought. By the time the trial began, Price, Dash and Gidry said their confessions were coerced, withdrew them and refused to testify. To back up Mary Gip's details of the conspiracy, prosecutors would have to call one witness who saw Bob Fratta making all those phone calls the night of the murder. He was still a baby. We did not want to scar him for life. Prosecutor Kelly Siegler had no choice. Fratta's young son, Bradley, was called to testify against his own father. It was horrible to have to have a child come into a courtroom and talk about it, much less see their dad. And he still loved his dad. Was horrible. But it worked. Bob Fratta was convicted of murdering his wife. It took the jury less than one hour. He was sentenced to death along with Price, Dash and Guidry. Remember how you felt? Relief. Relief that it's done, that it's over, that we did our job and that the right thing happened. Of course it wasn't over. It wasn't even close to over. I got a phone call on my cell phone. Callie, have you heard the news? And I remember stopping and feeling sick and wanting to throw up. You sign up for something, forget about it. After the trial period ends, then you're charged month after month after month. The subscriptions are there, but you're not using them in fact, 85% of people have at least one paid subscription going unused each month. Thanks to Rocket Money, you can see all your subscriptions in one place and cancel the ones you're not using anymore. Now, boom, you're saving more money. Rocket Money is a personal finance app that helps find and cancel your unwanted subscriptions, monitors your spending, and helps lower your bills so you can grow your savings. Rocket Money has over 5 million users and has saved a total of $500 million in canceled subscriptions, saving members up to $740 a year when using all of the app's premium features. Cancel your unwanted subscriptions and reach your financial goals faster with Rocket money. Go to rocketmoney.com wondery today that's rocketmoney.com wondery rocketmoney.com wondery 80% of the workweek is spent communicating, so it's important your team does it well. Enter Grammarly. Grammarly's AI helps teams communicate clearly the first time. It shows you how to make words resonate with your audience, helps with brainstorming, and lets you instantly create and revise drafts in just one click. Join the over 70,000 teams and 30 million people who use Grammarly to move work forward. Go to Grammarly.comenterprise to learn more Grammarly Enterprise Ready AI for years after his murder conviction, nobody thought Bob Fratta was going anywhere but the Texas death chamber. And they were all wrong. Have you ever felt like blood drains through your body? Thirteen years after the murder, a federal judge threw out Fratta's conviction, ordered a new trial, and set off a new round of legal wrangling. My head was spinning, the judge said. There is no doubt that Fratta is a vile man. But there was testimony linking Fratta to the murder that should never have been admitted. And suddenly there is a very real chance. I was nervous, very nervous that Bob Fratta will be set free. I was shocked. Who in their right mind could let somebody like that, you know, have a retrial? It's kind of scary. Fata's daughter is now 18. She should be getting ready for her high school prom. Instead, she's getting ready for her father's second murder trial. If he ever gets out, what will I do? What will my family do? He knows where we live. This is your father you're talking about. You think he would. You think he would? I mean, I honestly think that he would come to our house and, you know, I feel like I would be put in a harmful situation if he ever got out. He's a psychopath. Fratta's children have spent their lives struggling with the knowledge that their father killed their mother. I was always upset. I'd see kids with their dads or their mothers, and I was always jealous, always mad. For as long as Daniel can remember, he's had to explain to other kids why his parents aren't around. I remember one kid especially saying, ha, ha, ha. I have a mother and you don't. Daniel punched that kid, and as he got older, he had trouble controlling his anger. I feel like it's all directed towards my dad. He's the reason why I'm angry so much. You're doing good, Bradley. For Bradley Fratta's eldest child, the hardest part is reconciling the happy times he remembers before the murder with learning about the crime his father is accused of. I don't think I really believed it at that time that he did it. Even to this day, I myself, I'm not 100% sure that he's the one that did this. If the first trial didn't convince him, the second one might, because the state would have to prove its case against his father all over again. There was a very, very good chance that a court someday was going to give him a new trial. Mike Charlton, Fratta's original attorney, thought it was long overdue. After all the mistakes he saw in Fratta's first trial. There was nothing fair about this trial, Nothing the prosecution had done, nothing that the judge had done, nothing about the evidence. The way it came in was fair. The problems began with those confessions that Fratta's alleged co conspirators, Joe Pricetash and Howard Guidry, withdrew before Fratta's first trial. Both men refused to testify in that trial, but the prosecution still managed to get their statements before the first jury by calling a police officer to testify about them. Did you know that they were calling the police officer to testify about these confessions? No. Were you surprised? Yes, I was flabbergasted. I mean, I truly was stunned that anybody would have the audacity to try to do this. The jury heard testimony that Price Stash admitted he was hired to arrange the murder. I immediately started screaming. I never sat down for the next two days. I was objecting every chance I had. The Constitution says that defendants have the right to cross examine people who accuse them of crimes. But since neither Guidry nor Price Dash took the stand, there was no way to cross examine them. That was just fundamentally wrong. Is this a major transgression? Yes, absolutely. And I'm not exaggerating. It was an appalling moment in criminal justice. Kelly Siegler, very experienced, very tough prosecutor. Very. She crossed the line? I think so, yes. Intentionally? Yes. Did you go over the line? No. I mean, you are a type A prosecutor. You'll have to admit it. I mean, is it not possible that you would have gone, however slightly over the line? Listen, when you're a prosecutor, you want to make dang sure you have the right person who's committed a crime. And when I'm convinced that I have and all the evidence points to that person being guilty, I will, very aggressively, following the law and following the rules, do everything that I can to make that case strong enough to withstand a conviction and appeal. Yes, I'll do that. But in federal court, Fratta won a new trial. Those confessions from Guidry and Price Dash, the ones they said were coerced, were thrown out. And Mary Gip's crucial testimony linking Fratta to the plot was ruled hearsay and also tossed out. Did you agree with any of the federal court decisions? No. Not one bit of it? No. How can you say that all the evidence against Bob Fratta is hearsay evidence when you have those phone records you had that divorce motivation. You have all those people he solicited. You have the weapon. No, I don't agree. For fraud. In Fratta's new trial, two new prosecutors, Denise Bradley and Mia Magness, will try to make the case against Fratta. Almost 15 years after the crime and without a lot of the key evidence, I was kind of left with the notion of, well, what's left when you go into a trial where so much evidence has been taken away from you, it's frightening. It's really scary. Oh, my God. How in the world are we going to be able to get a conviction? This episode is brought to you by Columbia Sportswear. From snowy trails to city streets, Columbia has you covered. Their Omni Heat Infinity jackets are the gold standard in warmth pushing the boundaries of innovation. Feel the difference as thermal reflective technology wraps you in warmth, whether you're hiking mountains or. Or conquering your daily grind. Visit Columbia.com to learn more. Remember when gaming meant dropping hundreds on a console or gaming PC? Well, those days are over. Amazon Luna lets you play your favorite video games instantly on devices you already own. Just like streaming a movie. No expensive hardware required. Here's the Amazon Luna Magic. All you need is an Internet connection and a screen. Your phone, tablet, laptop, fire, tv, they all instantly become your gaming oasis. No game downloads, no special hardware, just gaming. And we're talking hundreds of amazing games here from the Latest releases to beloved classics. Fortnite, Sonic, Assassin's Creed, Fallout, Batman, action adventure, racing, strategy, RPGs. So much game, so little time. But the best part, if you're an Amazon prime member, you can play on Luna for free. That's right, free. Ready to level up your gaming? Head to Amazon.com Luna to start playing today. No console, no problem. That's cloud gaming with Amazon. Luna. Daddy. Little girl, what do I do for. I always knew I was just gonna, you know, give him a piece of my mind. Pretty much put him in his place. Farrah and Bob Fratta's daughter Amber hasn't seen her father since she was 4 and he went to death row. She hasn't wanted to until now, when he could be set free. I have to see him before this retrial happens. To see him, she has to go to the jail. I was petrified, where he's awaiting his new trial. Wow. I'm really doing this. I'm really about to meet my father face to face for the first time in like 14 years. It didn't go well. He had a grin on his face like he had no emotion to him at all. Amber didn't ask him if he killed her mother. She always believed he did, but she was hoping he'd show a little remorse. He had the nerve to tell me, please go to Christian counseling. By then I had heard enough from him. I basically let him know that when he does die and get that needle in his arm, I want to be there. Do you really mean that? You really want to be there and see him die? Honestly, when it comes down to it, I do think that he deserves it. You know what, Bob? I'll see you in court. Bye. Prosecutors, Mia Magness. It was lots of sleepless nights. And Denise Bradley. We can't dwell on what we don't have anymore. Are going to have to muster every bit of evidence they can. He's got the motive if they're going to make Fratta finally pay for murdering his wife. And so what are your two or three strongest pieces of evidence that you can present? The phone calls, the gun, all the other people he'd solicited. I don't think they have a case. But Fratta's new lawyers, Randy McDonald, he might very well walk out of this courtroom. And Vivian King. We don't think that the government had the correct theory of actually what happened. Should have an easier time defending him this time around since the appeals court threw out so much crucial evidence like the confession of his co conspirators. The key to their defense for this new trial could be those workout buddies who all thought he was joking when he talked about killing his wife. They thought he was kidding for good reason, because he actually was kidding. But Joseph Price Dash, they argue, saw an opportunity to kill Farah and blackmail Bob. And that may be why they were phoning each other at the church that night, process, setting him up to say, we just did this thing. You need to pay me off. It defies logic. No thug is going to commit that level of crime without a promise of something of benefit. The defense also thinks it can explain that serial number that Mary Gip copied off the gun, which led police directly to Fratta. The police already had the gun in custody. They easily could have had her right that day. The idea that they would manufacture evidence to convict an innocent person is sort of repugnant. The lines are drawn. The right thing happened the first time. All rise. We want the right thing to happen for the second time. Bob Fratta is about to get one more chance at freedom. I'm very concerned. No doubt about it. He's guilty. He's got to be guilty. There is no iota of evidence saying that he hired anybody. The defendant continued to seek out people over and over and over again, looking for the person who could get the job done. There's no proof that money ever exchanged hands. He even supplies the gun. In the end, prosecutors convinced the judge to allow Mary Gip to say what she saw her boyfriend and do after the murder. The judge wouldn't allow audio recording. Gip also told the jury about the gun. It all came back. I have to relive the whole thing all over again. It's now up to the jurors, who have to consider weeks of testimony and piles of evidence. Did I do enough? Did I do my best? The wait for a verdict is taking its toll. Finally, after two days of deliberation, we the jury find the defendant, Robin Allen Fratta guilty of capital murder as charged in the indictment. Bob Fratta is found guilty again, but it's still not over. One week later, the jury is back deciding what is now the most important question, whether to send Fratta back to death row. As long as he's living, he is definitely a threat to my family. Amber is so afraid of Fratta, even though he's behind bars, that she's agreed to take the stand. During this sentencing hearing, Amber asked jurors to send her own father to the death chamber. What did you tell the jury that you missed in your life? My mom wasn't there for my first date, my first kiss, and she won't be there for the birth of my kids. On top of everything, this is her birthday. She's 19 today. The judge had said, it's going to be on your birthday. So I was, like, ready for it that day. But some of the most damning evidence against Fratta may come from his own lips. You look so sexy and delicious to me. Prosecutors play jailhouse recordings of Fratta calling a female admirer who sent him photos out the animal in me and flirting while the jury was out. That's the day that you went out and you started deliberating. While they are working hard trying to make a decision about his future. Right now, you're all I'm thinking about. Leaving. He's unfazed. Doesn't that show you who he is? And while his lawyers are fighting to spare his life, Frank Barata says something to his lady friend that is, at the very least, unexpected. It's funny, because I'm not actually against the death penalty. You know, to me, some people deliver it. He believes in the death penalty for other people. He believes in justice, apparently, for other people. The way that he is wired is just so different than the rest of us. But after hours of deliberating about Fratta's punishment, the jury still has no decision. Still more news. That doesn't look very good to me. In deadlock, the jury was still out on the day Amber would graduate from high school. Today is a very, very special day for Amber. I love my baby. Her family tried not to think about what was happening at the courthouse. This child, in spite of having to go through so much trauma, held her own. She's a strong child, just like her mother. Which way is the thing supposed to go? And I'm so proud of her. I'm very excited. And then 15 years after the call that came to tell them Farah had been murdered, they got another call. The jury was back. He's going to go to death row. Whoa. It's the outcome Lex and Betty prayed for, and it answered at least some of Bradley's questions. I do believe that he is guilty, and he was found guilty twice for a reason. But I physically haven't gotten that chance to ask my father face to face, and I would like to do that. I mean, it was kind of mixed emotions. He is my dad, so it was like I was sad, but he deserved it at the same time. Amber, Nicole Farrah Bacher. Amber was able to graduate in peace and begin to look to the future. I just plan on getting my apartment with my friend next month and moving in and focusing on college after that. But none of the members of this family can face the future without remembering the past, trying to keep Farah alive, if only in their hearts. I still pray every single night to her. Dear Mommy, I love you and I miss you and I'll never ever forget about you and I will continue praying for you every single night as long as I live. Robert Fratta was executed in January 2023. If you like this podcast, you can listen ad free right now by joining Wondery and the Wondery App. Before you go, tell us about yourself by filling out a quick survey@wondery.com survey behind the closed doors of government offices and military compounds, there are hidden stories and buried secrets from the darkest corners of history. From COVID experiments pushing the boundaries of science to operations so secretive they were barely whispered about. Each week on Redacted Declassified Mysteries, we pull back the curtain on These hidden histories, 100% true and verifiable stories that expose the shadowy underbelly of power. Consider Operation Paperclip, where former Nazi scientists were brought to America after World War II not as prisoners, but as assets to advance US intelligence during the Cold War. These aren't just old conspiracy theories. They're thoroughly investigated accounts that reveal the uncomfortable truths still shaping our world today. The stories are real. The secrets are shocking. Follow Redacted Declassified Mysteries with me, Luke lamanna on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts to listen ad free. Join Wondery in the Wondery App. Hi, I'm Lindsey Graham, the host of Wondery American Scandal. We bring to life some of the biggest controversies in US History. Presidential lies, environmental disasters, corporate fraud. In our latest series, NASA embarks on an ambitious program to reinvent space exploration with the launch of its first reusable vehicle, the Space shuttle. And in 1985, they announced they're sending teacher Christa McAuliffe into space aboard the space shuttle Challenger along with six other astronauts. But less than two minutes after liftoff, the Challenger explodes. And in the tragedy's aftermath, investigators uncover a series of preventable failures by NASA and its contractors that led to the disaster. Follow American scandal on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts. Experience all episodes ad free and be the first to binge the newest season only on Wondery. You can join Wondery in the Wondery App, Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Start your free trial today. Harvard is the oldest and richest university in America. But when a social media fueled fight over Harvard and its new president broke out last fall. That was no protection. Claudine Gay is now gone. We've exposed the DEI regime and there's much more to come. This is the Harvard Plan, a special series from the Boston Globe and WNYC's on the Media. To listen, subscribe to OnTheMedia wherever you get your podcasts.