Dorothy Marie Robards (born 1977) is known for the poisoning murder of her father in 1993, when she was aged 16, in

Fort Worth, Texas Fort Worth is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Texas and the 13th-largest city in the United States. It is the county seat of Tarrant County, covering nearly into four other counties: Denton, Johnson, Parker, and Wise. According ...

.Guy, Fiona (18 June 2017)
A Father's Death, A Daughter's Secret
'

Sword and Scale ''Sword and Scale'' is a bi-weekly American podcast exploring nonfiction stories of true crime. It features a variety of narrated true crime stories intertwined with interviews with criminals, witnesses, victims, authors, 911 call audio, witness ...

'' She stole barium acetate from her high school chemistry class and laced her father's tacos with a lethal dose. The trial received media attention since she was a promising student, and

patricide Patricide is (i) the act of killing one's own father, or (ii) a person who kills their own father or stepfather. The word ''patricide'' derives from the Greek word ''pater'' (father) and the Latin suffix ''-cida'' (cutter or killer). Patricide ...

is a rare crime more commonly committed by men.(19 October 1994)
Student charged with poisoning her dad
''UPI'' Mr. Robards’ death was ruled a heart attack initially. Over a year after his death, Marie confessed to a close friend. Her friend then disclosed her information to law enforcement. The medical examiner’s office used a

gas chromatography–mass spectrometry Gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC-MS) is an analytical method that combines the features of gas-chromatography and mass spectrometry to identify different substances within a test sample. Applications of GC-MS include drug detection, fir ...

machine to examine his tissue samples and detected the highly soluble metallic compound. She confessed, telling police she wished to live with her mother. She pled not guilty, explaining her intent was to make her father ill. Robards was convicted of murder in a 1995 trial and sentenced to 27 years in prison. She was released on parole in 2003. She is believed to now be living under a new private identity. The crime was fictionalized in

Megan Abbott Megan Abbott (born August 21, 1971) is an American author of crime fiction and of non-fiction analyses of hardboiled crime fiction. Her novels and short stories have drawn from and re-worked classic subgenres of crime writing from a female perspec ...

's 2018 novel ''Give Me Your Hand'', and covered in episodes of ''

Forensic Files ''Forensic Files'', originally known as ''Medical Detectives'', is an American documentary television program that reveals how forensic science is used to solve violent crimes, mysterious accidents, and outbreaks of illness. The show was origi ...

'' ( Season 6, episode 5 (2001)), '' Redrum''(Season 2, episode 17 (2014)), and ''

Deadly Women ''Deadly Women'' is an American true crime documentary television series produced by Beyond International Group and airing on the Investigation Discovery (ID) network. The series focuses on murders committed by women. It is hosted by former ...

'' (Season 6, episode 2 (2012))''.''

References

External links

Poisoning Daddy
''

Texas Monthly ''Texas Monthly'' (stylized as ''TexasMonthly'') is a monthly American magazine headquartered in Downtown Austin, Texas. ''Texas Monthly'' was founded in 1973 by Michael R. Levy and has been published by Emmis Publishing, L.P. since 1998 and is ...

'', Issue July 1996, by Skip Hollandsworth {{DEFAULTSORT:Robards, Marie Living people Criminals from Texas 1977 births Patricides 1993 murders in the United States