Celeste Beard

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On October 3, 1999, Steven Beard, a retired 75-year-old television executive with a net worth of about $12 million (equivalent to $23 million in 2025), was shot in the stomach with a 20-gauge shotgun while asleep at his home in West Lake Hills, Texas – a suburb of Austin. He survived the shooting and called the police emergency line himself to obtain help. He progressed toward recovery with the assistance of his 37-year-old second wife, Celeste Beard, but he then developed a blood clot and died nearly four months later on January 25, 2000. The weapon was traced to Tracey Tarlton, the manager of Austin's largest independent bookstore, who had been having an affair with his wife after they had met each other in a psychiatric treatment program. Tarlton said Celeste had told her Steven Beard was an abusive husband who had to be killed to free Celeste from her oppressive marriage. Tarlton testified against Celeste Beard and received a reduced sentence of 20 years in prison; she was later released on parole in August 2011 and lives in San Antonio. Celeste Beard (who remarried six months after her husband's death and changed her name to Celeste Beard Johnson) was convicted of capital murder under the Texas law of parties and received a life sentence, which she is serving at a facility in Gatesville, Texas. Under Texas law, she is required to spend at least 40 years in prison and will be eligible for parole on April 1, 2042, at the age of 79.