48 Hours - With God as a Witness

Episode Date: December 25, 2024

In November of 1994, Farah Fratta was discovered dead in the garage of her Texas home. She had been shot twice in the head. At the time, Farah was in the midst of a divorce with her husband, Bob Fratta. Bob was an upstanding citizen, who worked in public safety as both a police officer and a fireman. But divorce documents were about to make his dark side public. To investigators, Bob was the likeliest suspect in his wife’s murder, but he had a seemingly airtight alibi: he was at church with their three children at the time of Farah's death. “48 Hours" correspondent Richard Schlesinger reports. This classic "48 Hours" episode last aired on 02/05/2011. Watch all-new episodes of “48 Hours” on Saturdays, and stream on demand on Paramount+.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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Bradley, Bradley, over here honey. When my mother was murdered I was about seven and a half years old. Farah Fraud, 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 the 9th, 1994. That was an evening where Farrah had stopped to get her hair cut

with no idea about what was going to happen. At the time, Farrah was getting her hair cut, the shooter and the getaway driver were in a car together on the way to Farrah'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.

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 Farrah got her hair done, pulled into her garage. It just so happened that when Farrah 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 dialed 911. Malin County, what is your emergency? Yes, I just saw a shooting please. Just started giving them a play by play of what we were seeing. The car that just pulled up, the suspect is behind the tree. Okay ma'am. I blacked me and just got in the car there, but we it was a silver car, I believe, and one burnt out headlight. The suspect just took off.

Dear Jesus, help this woman. Now let me offer 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 Frada 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 use their own children as their alibi. Who does that?

Thou shalt not kill. I came home about seven o'clock from work and my wife had just prepared a nice hot meal for me. Lex and Betty Bacher 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. It was maybe two minutes after eight o'clock. 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 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

She was having convulsion. One of the paramedics said she has lost a lot of blood. I suggest you 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 my hand on her, just shut her eyes. And I felt her.

She was cold. It hurt 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 seven-year-old Bradley, six-year-old Daniel, and four-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 Waters Sneed worked alongside Farah at American Airlines for years and was Farrah's closest friend. I knew it was Bob. Right away? Right away. To the outside world, Bob Frada 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 Fraudah. They were things that had embarrassed her to talk about. Farrah 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. Farrah detailed all of Bob's sexual desires in her divorce papers, and Frata'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 prime time. After her death, Detective Larry Davis read Farrah'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.

Farrah 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 Farrah had good reason to be afraid of Bob. 911, what's the emergency? I had somebody come in my house and just frame my life. Just months before her murder, Farrah called 911 in a panic, and Larry Davis rushed to her house.

She was upset. She was crying. Well, 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 Farrah 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, Farrah's second son, was five. We were just screaming, crying outside the door, let our mommy go, leave her alone, leave her alone. Farrah suspected the intruder was a friend of Bob Frata's. Whoever it was fled, leaving an injured Farrah 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 warn 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, Farrah 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, Frata'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 $1,000 was in the glove compartment. Bob explained that it was money to buy new carpeting. $1,000, is that unusual in these parts? Well, $1,000 is not unusual. $1,000 in your glove box on the night that your wife is murdered

surely raises a lot of suspicion. What sorts of suspicion? I would believe that that may be money to pay off a hitman. Frada wasn't doing himself any favors that night while detectives interrogated him for hours. I asked him a question that still sticks out in my mind today as 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 her wife killed? And he told me it depended on the circumstances. Where'd 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 Frata 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 his mark.

They say Hollywood is where dreams are made. A seductive city where many flock to get rich, be adored and capture America's heart. But when the spotlight turns off, fame, fortune and lives can disappear in an instant. When TV producer Roy Raden was found dead in a canyon near LA in 1983, there were many questions surrounding his death. The last person seen with him was Laney Jacobs, a seductive cocaine dealer who desperately wanted to be part of the Hollywood elite.

Together, they were trying to break into the movie industry. But things took a dark turn when a million dollars worth of cocaine and cash went missing. From Wondery comes a new season of the hit show Hollywood and crime the Cotton Club murder Follow Hollywood and crime the Cotton Club murder on the wonder e-app or wherever you get your podcasts You can binge all episodes of the Cotton Club murder early and ad free right now by joining wonder e-plus Behind the closed doors of government offices and military compounds There are hidden stories and buried secrets from the darkest corners of history. From covert 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 U.S. 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 Plus in the Wondery app. When the children woke up the next morning, they just sat up and they looked at me. They must be saying to them, so where's my mother? Their mother had just been murdered, and their father was the prime suspect. Oh my God. And Lex and Betty Bacher 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, trying 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 going to wake up and it was going to 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 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 say bye-bye to me. I promise you one more time, just this one time, then I'll 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 Frada 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 save these innocent children, and you cannot let these children go. While Frodo 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 gonna 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 Frada had been having about his wife. He said, I'm gonna find a way to knock her off. Mike Edens worked out with Fraudda.

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 who'd 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, yes. Around the gym? Yes. Talking about knocking off his wife? Yes, yes. He never thought Frata was serious. I thought nothing of it.

Just frustrated by the divorce. But Frata 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, Frata 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 gonna solicit a gang member. But none of Frata's gym buddies thought of calling the police. What are you thinking? He's gonna come to his senses and, you know, he's just blowing off steam.

Podorski says Frada even discussed how much he'd pay a hitman. There wasn't a lot of money up front, maybe a thousand, two thousand dollars. 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 Frodo 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 Frodo 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 of 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 seven and Bradley remembered daddy being on the phone a lot then. Frata'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 Gipp 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. Ha ha ha ha. What I did, she was a bitch.

Mary Gipp knew it all. Who killed Farah Afrata, 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, Farrah'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 Frata 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 them. And I hope they find the guy. My job was to keep an eye on him soon, to make sure that Mr. Frada didn't try to take off with the kids. Detective Larry Davis continued tailing Frada,

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 Gipp 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 Gipp 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 Frata 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 Gipp, Price-Dash hired that neighbor, 18-year-old Howard Gidrey, to be the trigger man. Gidrey would get $1,000. Joe Price-Dash would drive Gidrey to the murder scene,

pick him up afterwards, and use Gipp'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 going to wait for her, and that's when they were going to 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 is going down.

I didn't want to be a part of it. But Mary Gipp knew Farrah. They both worked out at the gym. Had you done the right thing back then, Farrah would be alive. Those three kids would have a mom. Instead, while Price, Dash and Gidrey were killing Farrah, Mary Gipp was home, killing time. Do you remember what you were doing? I was watching, at that particular 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 Gipp 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 the demon. She's a... Soul of a devil. When Farrah's parents heard prosecutors gave Mary Gipp immunity, it sounded to them like a deal with the devil. If anybody should be six feet underground is her, not my daughter. She could have saved my daughter. But without Gipp, 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 Gipp'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 on 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 Gipp 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.

That trace came back to Robert Allen, Florida. 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 Gidrey. To my right is Howard Gidrey. Gidrey was questioned. It wasn't long before he 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 I closed my eyes and I shot him 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 Frata, and five months after the crime, Bob Frata, 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 Guidry said their confessions were coerced, withdrew them and refused to testify. To back up Mary Gipps' 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. It 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. Kelly, have you heard the news? I remember stopping and feeling sick and wanting to throw up. You don't believe in ghosts? I get it.

Lots of people don't believe in ghosts? I get it. Lots of people don't. I didn't either, until I came face to face with them. Ever since that moment, hauntings, spirits, and the unexplained have consumed my entire life. I'm Nadine Bailey. I've been a ghost tour guide for the past 20 years. I've taken people along with me into the shadows, uncovering the macabre tales that linger in the darkness. And inside, some of the most haunted houses, hospitals, prisons, and more. Join me every week on my podcast, Haunted Canada, as we journey through terrifying and bone-chilling stories of the unexplained.

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Have you ever felt like blood drains through your body? Thirteen years after the murder, a federal judge threw out Frata'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 Frata is a vile man, but there was testimony linking Frata to the murder that should never have been admitted. And suddenly, there is a very real chance. I was nervous, very nervous.

That Bob Frada 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. Frada'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 come? I mean, I honestly think that he would come to our house. And I feel like I would be put in a harmful situation

if he ever got out. He's a psychopath. Fraudus 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, Frata'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, Frata's original attorney, thought it was long overdue after all the mistakes he saw in Frata'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 Frata's alleged co-conspirators,

Joe Price-Dash and Howard Gidry, withdrew before Frata'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-Tash 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 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, Frata won a new trial. Those confessions from Guidry and Price-Dash,

the ones they said were coerced, were thrown out. And Mary Gipp's crucial testimony, linking Frata 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 of it? No.

How can you say that all the evidence against Bob Fratta is hearsay evidence when you have those phone records? You have that divorce motivation? You have all those people he solicited? You have the weapon? No, I don't agree. For Fratta's new trial, two new prosecutors, Denise Bradley and Mia Magnus, will try to make the case against Frata 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. 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? Harvard is the oldest and richest university in America.

Shame! Shame! 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 On The Media wherever you get your podcasts.

He was hip-hop's biggest mogul, the man who redefined fame, fortune, and the music industry. The first male rapper to be honored on the Hollywood Walk Cafe, Sean Diddy Combs. Diddy built an empire and lived a life most people only dream about. Everybody know, ain't no party like a did he party so yeah. But just as quickly as his empire rose it came crashing down.

They're announcing the unsealing of a 3 count indictment charging Sean combs with racketeering conspiracy sex trafficking interstate transportation for prostitution. I was. I have brought bottom I made no excuses. Disgusting so sorry. Until you're wearing orange jumpsuit it's not real now it's real. From his meteoric rise to his shocking fall from grace from law and crime this is the rise and fall of getting

listen to the rise and fall of getting exclusively with wondering plus. I always knew I was just going to you know give him peace my mind pretty much put in place. Farah and Bob fraught his 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. It 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 Magnus. 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 Frada 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 Frata'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 confessions 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 argued saw an opportunity to kill Farah and blackmail Bob And that may be why they were phoning each other at the church that night Price-dash setting him up to say we just did this thing you need to pay me off that defies logic

No just saying, you need to pay me off. It defies logic. No fug 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 Gipp copied off the gun, which led police directly to fraud. The police already had the gun in custody. They easily could have had her write that down. 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. Even supplies the gun. In the end, prosecutors convinced the judge to allow Mary Gipp to say what she saw her boyfriend do after the murder. The judge wouldn't allow audio recording.

Gipp 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.

All rise. 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 Frata, 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 Frata may come from his own lips.

You look so sexy and delicious to me. Prosecutors played jailhouse recordings of Frata calling a female admirer who sent him photos. You bring 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, baby. He's unfazed. We're gonna let show you who he is. And while his lawyers are fighting to spare his life, Frata 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, you know, they deserve it. He believes in the death penalty for other people. He believes in justice, apparently 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 Fraudha's punishment, the jury still has no decision. There's no news that doesn't look very good to me. And 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 Farah Bakker.

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 and 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 Frada was executed in January 2023. If you like this podcast, you can listen ad free right now by joining Wondery Plus and the Wondery app. Before you go, tell us about yourself

by filling out a quick survey at Wondery.com slash survey. Hi, I'm Lindsey Graham, the host of Wondery Show American Scandal. We bring to light some of the biggest controversies in U.S. 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 Krista McAuliffe into space aboard

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