Fatal Beauty | 1. Body in the Bronco

Summary

Summary of "Fatal Beauty | 1. Body in the Bronco"

Introduction to the Case In the chilling premiere episode of Fatal Beauty, host Cooper Maul delves into the mysterious disappearance and subsequent murder of Norman Allen Rarig, a promising athlete from Dallas, Texas. Set against the backdrop of a freezing December night in 1985 Oklahoma City, the episode unravels the enigmatic life of Sandra Bridewell, dubbed the "Black Widow," and the relentless pursuit of truth by Allen’s determined mother, Gloria Rehrige.

Discovery of the Body On a quiet December evening near Will Rogers Airport, two Oklahoma City police officers stumble upon a scene that would forever change the lives of those connected to Norman Allen Rarig. As Cooper Maul narrates, “[01:27] Oklahoma City was shrouded in a quiet chill that December night... Inside, the scene was chilling beyond the winter's cold.”

The officers pry open the locked passenger door of a frosted Bronco, revealing the partially decomposed body of a man in his thirties, with two gunshot wounds from a .38 caliber pistol—one to the head and another to the body. Retired homicide detective Kyle Eastridge provides insights, remarking at [03:06], “Probably from somewhere else,” hinting at the victim’s origin outside Oklahoma City.

Gloria's Investigation and Suspicions Norman Allen Rarig’s mother, Gloria Rehrige, becomes the central figure in the quest to uncover the truth behind her son's death. From the outset, Gloria exhibits unwavering determination: “[02:06] From Sony Music Entertainment, this is Fatal Beauty. I'm Cooper Maul...” Her relentless pursuit is driven by the absence of a missing persons report from Sandra, Norman’s wife, raising immediate red flags.

As Cooper Maul explains, “[04:19] Kyle Eastridge: Would the culprit bother pushing him out of the driver's seat and then driving his dead body all the way to Oklahoma City?” This skepticism leads Gloria to question Sandra’s involvement, especially after noticing inconsistencies in her behavior and accounts.

Sandra’s Actions and Behavior Sandra Bridewell’s actions post-Norman’s disappearance further deepen suspicions. Initially, she attempts to build her defense by hiring an unconventional private investigator, Bill Dear, known for his eccentric methods ([16:43]). Glenna Whitley, an investigative reporter, observes at [17:29], “She tells Bill, I didn't do this. I want you to find out who really did this.”

At Norman’s funeral, Sandra’s demeanor is both puzzling and concerning. “[27:51] Georgia: And she sat down at the table with detectives Pacheco and Mitchell, and she said, don't you find me attractive?” Her flirtatious behavior in front of the grieving family and detectives raises alarms about her true intentions and possible motives.

Community's Perceptions of Sandra As Gloria delves deeper, community whispers label Sandra as the “Black Widow,” a femme fatale with a history of mysterious deaths surrounding her previous marriages. “[29:29] Cooper Maul: In the days after Allen was put to rest, her phone kept on ringing,” with callers revealing Sandra’s reputation for destroying the lives of her husbands. This revelation propels Gloria from skepticism to suspicion, solidifying her belief that Sandra may be responsible for Norman’s demise.

Glenna Whitley adds at [31:14], “Multiple persons who were privy to these events are very close to what was going on in real time. They've just chosen to remain silent about it,” suggesting a deeper, possibly orchestrated, cover-up surrounding Sandra’s actions.

Conclusion and Cliffhanger The episode culminates with unresolved questions and a sense of impending revelation. Sandra’s evasive behavior, coupled with her alarming past, leaves listeners on edge. “[31:46] Cooper Maul: Don't want to wait for that next episode? You don't have to…”

As Fatal Beauty prepares to explore Sandra’s manipulative tactics and her ability to evade justice despite the mounting evidence, listeners are left anticipating the next installment in this gripping true crime saga.

Notable Quotes:

• Kyle Eastridge ([04:19]): “Would the culprit bother pushing him out of the driver's seat and then driving his dead body all the way to Oklahoma City?”
• Gloria Rehrige ([09:08]): “I wanted her to pass the baton to me and let me help her get closer to the truth.”
• Glenna Whitley ([17:29]): “She tells Bill, I didn't do this. I want you to find out who really did this.”
• Sandra Bridewell ([27:51]): “Don't you find me attractive?”
• Glenna Whitley ([31:14]): “Multiple persons who were privy to these events are very close to what was going on in real time. They've just chosen to remain silent about it.”

Final Thoughts Fatal Beauty masterfully weaves a narrative of mystery, deception, and maternal determination. Through meticulous storytelling and compelling interviews, the episode sets the stage for an enthralling exploration of Sandra Bridewell’s dark legacy and the quest for justice on behalf of a grieving mother.

Transcript

[David Tennant]

Hi, Georgia.

[Georgia]

Hi, David. What do you think the world needs more of?

[David Tennant]

Well, the world always needs more podcasts.

[Georgia]

Didn't you used to have a podcast?

[David Tennant]

Not only did I used to have a podcast, Georgia, it's coming back. David Tennant does a podcast with season three. It's coming at you.

[Georgia]

Okay.

[Cooper Maul]

And who are your guests?

[David Tennant]

Who are my guests? What about Russell T. Davis? What about Jamila Jamil? What about Stanley the Tooch Tucci?

[Georgia]

So it's really just you hanging out with your mates then? Yeah.

[David Tennant]

Come join me. David Tennant does a podcast with. Bye.

[Cooper Maul]

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.

[David Tennant]

Hi, Georgia.

[Georgia]

Hi, David. What do you think the world needs more of?

[David Tennant]

Well, the world always needs more podcasts.

[Georgia]

Didn't you used to have a podcast?

[David Tennant]

Not only did I used to have a podcast, Georgia, it's coming back. David Tennant does a podcast with season three. It's coming at you.

[Georgia]

Okay.

[Cooper Maul]

And who are your guests?

[David Tennant]

Who are my guests? What about Russell T. Davis? What about Jamila Jamil? What about Stanley the Tooch Tucci?

[Georgia]

So it's really just you hanging out with your mates then? Yeah.

[David Tennant]

Come join me. David Tennant does a podcast with. Bye.

[Cooper Maul]

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.

[Georgia]

His little Bronco was just sitting in the lot for this place, and it didn't fit.

[Cooper Maul]

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. 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. 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.

[Georgia]

Oklahoma City was very cold. It starts making you think this guy.

[Kyle Eastridge]

Probably from somewhere else.

[Cooper Maul]

And it looked like someone else had last driven the Bronco.

[Georgia]

He was a tall guy and the driver's seat was scooted up for someone real short to drive it.

[Cooper Maul]

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.

[Kyle Eastridge]

The police rapidly concluded this guy was probably killed in Dallas.

[Cooper Maul]

Then the next clues. There was no weapon at the scene, no wallet. And here's the strangest part. No car keys from the initial scene.

[Georgia]

I think it was pretty apparent that.

[Kyle Eastridge]

He came from somewhere a ways and.

[Georgia]

That he'd been dumped there and staged to look like that.

[Cooper Maul]

Was this a robbery gone wrong? Still, something wasn't tracking. If he'd been robbed in Dallas, why.

[Kyle Eastridge]

Would the culprit bother pushing him out of the driver's seat and then driving his dead body all the way to Oklahoma city?

[Cooper Maul]

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. 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, 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. The 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. 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, 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.

[Georgia]

My name is Gloria REH R E H R I G E. Nobody ever knows how to spell that.

[Cooper Maul]

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 Healthcare 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.

[Georgia]

I married a man who had three children. I had two boys. Philip was my oldest, and he was more serious. Al was my youngest, and he had a lot of personality and everyone loved him.

[Cooper Maul]

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.

[Georgia]

He played basketball there for four years, and he loved every bit of that.

[Cooper Maul]

Growing up, Allen 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.

[Georgia]

And his friend that he knew in college, Phil Askew, had a commercial business, real estate, and he invited Al to come and work for him. And that's how he ended up in Dallas. And that's where he met Sandra.

[Cooper Maul]

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.

[Georgia]

His friend Ron Barnes at church told me that he had moved into Phil Askew's house and they were separated. And that's the first I knew about it. And then on Monday evening, I called him. And that was our last conversation.

[Cooper Maul]

The newlyweds had been living apart for a month. When Gloria pressed Alan about what was behind the separation, he was vague.

[Georgia]

He said that things were not as they're supposed to be.

[Cooper Maul]

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.

[Georgia]

He said he didn't want anything negative. Said because if they got back together, he wanted people to be nice to her.

[Cooper Maul]

In other words, Alan didn't think this separation was the end of the line.

[Georgia]

He was still hopeful at that point that they might get back together. But that's how he was.

[Cooper Maul]

That glimmer of hope was fanned when the next day, Allen heard from Sandra. Here's his mother again.

[Georgia]

She called him to ask him to meet her at this storage unit. It was his storage unit when he first moved down there, and she had put some things in there of hers. And she told him she needed to go to the storage unit and needed him to help look for something and move things around for her.

[Cooper Maul]

The two plan 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. 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 4:50pm Alan didn't anticipate staying at the storage unit with Sandra for long. He had dinner plans that night with Phil, but Allen didn't make it back for their meal.

[Georgia]

She called Phil Askew about two hours later and said he never showed up.

[Cooper Maul]

According to Sandra, she never saw Alan. Phil was baffled. Allen was a standup 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, when Gloria got devastating news.

[Georgia]

I was in Tulsa, Oklahoma, for a meeting of education counselors, and my niece Cynthia, came to the door of our meeting place. She came to tell me that Al was missing.

[Cooper Maul]

And on the ground in Dallas, the rumor mill was already churning.

[Georgia]

Everybody thought that Sandra had something to do with it.

[Cooper Maul]

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.

[Georgia]

It just shocked me, and I said, oh, surely not. So that's where my journey started.

[Cooper Maul]

What did everyone else seem to already know about Allen'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 8, with no sign of him. And here's what was strange. His wife still hadn't filed a missing persons report.

[Georgia]

Philip, my other son, called her and said she needed to reported and declared him a missing person. And she said, well, you can do it. And she never did.

[Cooper Maul]

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?

[Georgia]

Of course, then Phil Askew verified that he hadn't shown up for work that Monday.

[Cooper Maul]

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.

[Georgia]

I called the detectives in Dallas and asked Sergeant Murdoch explain to him who I was and why I was calling and that my son was missing and would he please go to their home.

[Cooper Maul]

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.

[Georgia]

Everybody that knew Sandra down in Dallas, when they heard that he was missing, they said, well, fortunately we think he's still alive.

[Cooper Maul]

She hoped the local detectives could confirm he was all right.

[Georgia]

And I gave him her address. I said their garages are on their alleys behind their houses. And I said, in my mind I can just see that his car might be parked back there. And would you please go and see what you can find out. And he said yes. And then he called me back and he said she was very gracious and showed him in house and shot him.

[Cooper Maul]

In the garage and all, but still no Allen. And that graciousness Sandra extended to the detectives didn't exactly reach Gloria.

[Georgia]

But then she railed at me for suggesting, you know, that she had something to do with it.

[Cooper Maul]

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.

[Georgia]

After they got married. Then she started having him get an insurance policy. And then she asked me if I didn't think he should do that. And I said, of course. A man with a family should have insurance.

[Cooper Maul]

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.

[Kyle Eastridge]

She added a life insurance policy with a $220,000 death benefit. And that was a lot of money in 1985.

[Cooper Maul]

Sounds like a lot of money to me now too, but that's not the point. Could Sandra been out for Allen's money? Laurie 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.

[Glenna Whitley]

Sandra hires a private investigator who's very well known in Texas. Bill Dear.

[Cooper Maul]

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 Dear. 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 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.

[Glenna Whitley]

She tells Bill, I didn't do this. I want you to find out who really did this.

[Cooper Maul]

Did what? At this point, Allen had been gone not even 48 hours. It was concerning, but he wasn't a child. Allen might have decided to leave town, blow off some steam. And was the early 80s. We weren't updating our friends with our every move. No one knew Allan was dead in his Bronco yet. So why was Sandra asking a private investigator to build her defense at this point? In her initial meeting with William Dear, she spun a yarn about her husband.

[Glenna Whitley]

And talked to him about all the allegedly crazy things that Allan was involved with, like drugs and gambling, etc. Etc.

[Cooper Maul]

It sounded like Sandra was insinuating Allen 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 answer came for Gloria at the crack of dawn on December 12, 1985.

[Georgia]

It was like 6 o'clock in the morning. My sister and Ron Barnes and his wife and my minister and his wife came into my house.

[Cooper Maul]

Ron, one of Allen's best friends, was in our doorway, along with some of Gloria's nearest and dearest. Their faces were stricken with sorrow and.

[Georgia]

They said they had found Alan. And I said, was he all right? And they said no. And I just went to pieces I couldn't believe was just awful.

[Cooper Maul]

Allen 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 Alan 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. 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, and they asked her, did.

[Georgia]

He have on such and such? And she said yes. Said, the last time you saw him, did he have on Bermuda shorts and all? And she said, yes, that's what he.

[Cooper Maul]

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.

[Georgia]

Is it bad news? And they said yes, and said, well, then call Ron Barnes. And she hung up.

[Cooper Maul]

Ron Barnes was one of Allen's oldest pals in Edmond. The police obliged Sandra's request. They figured she 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.

[Glenna Whitley]

A anonymous person who police called Deep Throat called the Oklahoma police.

[Cooper Maul]

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.

[Kyle Eastridge]

Sandra became heavily ostracized already in 1982. And Alan Raring, her third husband, was not aware of this because he'd only just moved to Dallas from Oklahoma the day before he met her, they'd gotten.

[Cooper Maul]

Together quickly after a chance meeting, so.

[Kyle Eastridge]

He was not aware of her ostracism. But by the time Allen turns up shot, most of the community was frightened of her.

[Cooper Maul]

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.

[Georgia]

They had contacted Sandra and told her that when she came up to the funeral, they wanted to talk to her. We decided that Saturday would be a good time to have the funeral.

[Cooper Maul]

So that Friday, Sandra packed a bag and made her way to Oklahoma City.

[Georgia]

She flew up and Ron met her and took her to the police department. And that's when she met Pacheco and Mitchell.

[Cooper Maul]

Sandra wasn't alone when she met with detectives Steve Pacheco and Ron Mitchell.

[Georgia]

She had a lawyer when she came to Oklahoma City to his funeral in case they arrested her.

[Cooper Maul]

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.

[Glenna Whitley]

She goes in full regalia with her widows fur coat and her gloves. Never takes her gloves off.

[Cooper Maul]

She's something out of a Tennessee Williams play. Part smoldering beauty, part troubled soul.

[Glenna Whitley]

She plays the poor little me. She plays the. Isn't this awful officer? It's just so tragic. And bats her eyes and plays damsel in distress. And they're looking at her going, huh, not so sure about the damsel in distress. But that made them even more suspicious, of course, because they've gotten some prior knowledge.

[Cooper Maul]

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 Allen's death. What kind of stuff he was up to, what kind of people he hung around.

[Kyle Eastridge]

She said, I think he was involved in gambling debts. I think he might have owed a book. She said, I think he was dabbling in cocaine. And so she dangles out all of this incriminating stuff about how he was hanging around with dangerous men.

[Cooper Maul]

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.

[Kyle Eastridge]

Sandra said to the Oklahoma City police, you know, I think that Alan was involved in cocaine and that his old high school and college chump who lived in Edmond was his dealer.

[Cooper Maul]

But Allen was found in Oklahoma City, not Edmond, roughly 20 miles away.

[Kyle Eastridge]

The police did not perceive that as plausible at all.

[Cooper Maul]

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.

[Georgia]

When she called Phil askew, she said, he didn't show up. I haven't seen him. So she had seen him. She had seen him.

[Cooper Maul]

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 Allen. 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.

[Georgia]

And they didn't have any new evidence. So that was the end of that meeting.

[Cooper Maul]

Sandra was let go to prepare for Allen'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 14, nearly 400 people gathered in Edmond to pay their respects to a hometown hero, the once promising athlete. Friend to everyone, loving brother, doting son, Alan Rarig.

[Georgia]

Of course, she was late getting to the funeral.

[Cooper Maul]

She could have been on time had she opted to ride with the rest of the Rehrig family to the First Christian Church. But she insisted on arriving separately.

[Georgia]

We were all sitting there waiting, and she comes parading in and is full length mink coat. And of course, they had everybody down the aisle because she was the wife.

[Cooper Maul]

Sandra was acting off.

[Georgia]

She was distant when she got here.

[Cooper Maul]

And she didn't have the means to pay for the proceedings.

[Georgia]

She never carried a purse or a checkbook or credit card. So when it came time for the cemetery to open the grave, they wouldn't do anything until she paid for something. Well, she didn't pay for nothing. And Ron had to pay for that.

[Cooper Maul]

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.

[Georgia]

And she sat down at the table with detectives Pacheco and Mitchell, and she said, don't you find me attractive?

[Cooper Maul]

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.

[Georgia]

You know, how can you be that callous?

[Cooper Maul]

And by the time Allen 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. But she didn't give anyone in attendance that day much time to figure her out. As soon as the funeral ended, Sandra.

[Georgia]

Hopped on a plane and went right back to Dallas.

[Cooper Maul]

She never returned to speak with the Oklahoma city detectives again. And flying home, she hardly behaved.

[Georgia]

Friends of ours that had come up from Dallas on that plane and went back, they said she was flirting with men up and down the aisle going back to Dallas, and that's just how she acted.

[Cooper Maul]

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.

[Glenna Whitley]

Gloria begins to get a sense that there's something terribly wrong with Sandra. She starts to hear from people who tell her these other stories which she has never heard before.

[Cooper Maul]

In the days after Allen was put to rest, her phone kept on ringing.

[Georgia]

I got a phone call from a lady in Allen park, and she started telling me that they had feared for his life when she started dating him. Then when he was killed, they all got together and said, well, we're not surprised.

[Cooper Maul]

What did she mean, not surprised?

[Georgia]

That's when they started telling me about her, and I was just stunned.

[Cooper Maul]

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 had leeched them dry, and if they tried to leave her, things would turn ugly. In fact, Allen wasn't the first husband of Sandra's who had died under mysterious circumstances. If Allen and Sandra's marriage had been on the rocks, Gloria thought that could only mean one thing.

[Georgia]

We suspected that she was the culprit and that she definitely had known where he was and what happened to him. She did this.

[Cooper Maul]

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.

[Glenna Whitley]

At the time, it was ruled a suicide. They assume that the police know what they're doing, and most people felt extreme sympathy for her.

[Kyle Eastridge]

Multiple persons who were privy to these events are very close to what was going on in real time. They've just chosen to remain silent about it.

[Glenna Whitley]

Sandra is the last person to see her alive.

[Kyle Eastridge]

She was either the Black Widow or bad luck, I don't know which.

[Cooper Maul]

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 news stories on the 1st of every month. 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 Molly Kathryn 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. Our associate producer is Zoe Kulkin. Our fact checker is Naomi Barr. Our production managers are Sammy Allison and Tameka Balance Kolosny. Our lawyer is Rachel Goldberg. Special thanks to Steve Ackerman, Emily Rozek, Jamie Myers, Eric Miller, Skip Hollingsworth and Glenna Whitley, whose reporting for D Magazine and the Dallas observer is an essential piece of the story of Sandra Bridewell. If you'd like to read more about Sandra's life, grab a copy of John Leakes 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.