YouTube Francis Randolph and Thomas Randolph
Thomas Randolph is the subject of a three-part Dateline special exploring the life of the man who was recently convicted of the murder of his sixth wife, but who is awaiting a new trial after the conviction was overthrown. Known as the “Black Widower,” or a Dateline producer as the “Joe Exotic of true crime,” Randolph has been married six times and four of his wives died under strange circumstances.
Randolph was charged with the murder of his second wife, Becky Gault Randolph, who was found dead of a gunshot wound to the head in 1986. Randolph argued that she had committed suicide and he was eventually acquitted by a jury, the Las Vegas Sun reported. A few decades later, Randolph was charged with the murder of his sixth wife, Sharon Causse, who was shot and killed in 2008.
In addition to Causse and Gault, Randolph’s fourth and fifth wives also died though less information is known about those women and the circumstances of their deaths. His first and third wives are still alive. Randolph’s fourth wife, Francis Randolph, died in 2004.
How did Francis Randolph die?
Francis Died in the Hospital After Heart Surgery, Her Daughter Testified, & Randolph Was the Last to See Her Alive
During Randolph’s trial in 2017 for the murder of his sixth wife, Francis’s daughter Rachel Gaskins took the stand and testified that Randolph’s fourth wife died in the hospital after heart surgery. She said Randolph did not allow her to visit her mother in the recovery room and he was the last person to see her mother alive in April 2004, the Las Vegas Review-Journal wrote.
Gaskins also testified that Randolph had Francis cremated in the 24 hours after her death and she was not allowed to attend her mother’s funeral, the outlet reported. It wrote that Randolph collected a significant amount from Francis’ life insurance policy and also from a settlement with the hospital where she died.
The jury also heard from Glen Morrison, who said Randolph asked him to kill Francis and stage a burglary, the Review-Journal wrote. He testified that he did not go ahead with their plan because he was worried that Randolph would murder him once he killed Francis.
Randolph’s 2nd Wife & 6th Wife Died of Gunshot Wounds & He Told Friends His 5th Wife Died of Cancer
Randolph’s first and third wives are still alive and both testified to his controlling behavior during his murder trial in 2017, the Review-Journal reported. During the trial, Chief Deputy District Attorney Jacqueline Bluth argued that Randolph “either attempted to kill, hired someone to kill or killed five of those women.”
His first wife, Kathryn Thomas, said she was 18 when they married and he was controlling and “psychologically abusive,” the outlet reported from the trial. The couple divorced and she married Stephen Thomas but they quickly moved out of the state to get further from Randolph, as she testified that he threatened to hire someone to kill her new husband.
Randolph married his second wife, Gault, the day his divorce from his first wife was completed in 1983 and three years later, she died of a gunshot wound to the head, the Review-Journal wrote. His third wife, Gayna Allmon, is still alive and also testified at Randolph’s trial. She said she believed he tried to kill her and reported that his gun discharged while he was cleaning it next to her.
Less is known about Randolph’s fifth wife, Leona Stapleton, but the court heard that he told family and friends that she had died of cancer, the outlet reported from the trial.
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