Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - Six Wives, Four Dead

Episode Date: October 17, 2023

Thomas Randolph describes to police how a handyman he knows, broke into his house, killing Randolph's wife Sharon as the couple returned home from an evening out. He says he came in from the garage, after his wife entered the home, to find her dead. He saw a man wearing a ski mask in the entryway. Randolph shot the man five times, killing him.  Prosecutors told a different story. They alleged Randolph hired handyman Michael Miller to kill Sharon Randolph, so that husband Thomas, could get more than $300,000 in insurance money.   This is not the first time that one of Randolph's wives has died in mysterious circumstances.  Randolph has been married five times before. Three of those women died.   Joining Nancy Grace Today:  Bernarda Villalona – NY Criminal Defense Attorney & Former Prosecutor, Villalona Law, PLLC.: @BernardaVillalona (FaceBook, Instagram, LinkdIn, TikTok, Threads); Twitter: @VillalonaLaw                                                 Dr. Chloe Carmichael – Clinical Psychologist, Women’s Health Magazine Advisory Board;’ Author: ‘Nervous Energy: Harness The Power of Your Anxiety;’ Twitter: @DrChloe Robert Crispin – Private Investigator, Former Federal Task Force Officer for United States Department of Justice, DEA and Miami Field Division; Former Homicide and Crimes Against Children Investigator, “Crispin Special Investigations;" Facebook: Crispin Special Investigations, Inc.  Dr. Jan Gorniak - Board Certified Forensic Pathologist, Fmr. Medical examiner for Clark County, NV Jen Smith -Chief Reporter for DailyMail.com; Twitter: @jen_e_smith  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You're listening to an iHeart Podcast. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Divorced, beheaded, died. Divorced, beheaded, died. Divorced, beheaded, survived. That is actually a child's rhyme. My daughter taught me. Divorced, beheaded, died. Divorced, beheaded, survived.

It's referring to Henry VIII, the King of England, that when he would get tired of a wife, I'd just have her beheaded, make up some claim against her and have her head chopped off right out there outside the tower. That was King Henry. But guess what? It also applies to a modern day felon named Thomas Randolph. Why?

Because he also has had six wives and four of them are dead. Who in the hay would keep marrying this guy when he's got four dead wives? Okay, that's a whole nother can of worms. But how does one guy have six wives and four of them are dead and nobody notices? I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories. Thank you for being with us here at Fox Nation and Sirius XM 111. Let's kick it off. Take a listen to our Friendship Prime

Watch Daily. It's a Thursday night in Las Vegas, but Sin City locals Tom and wife Sharon are leaving the neon lights of the strip to the tourists and sharing a romantic dinner at a quiet suburban restaurant before going to the movies. Sharon's favorite thing in the entire world was to go to movies. She was a movie fanatic. But on this date night, Sharon is said to be in the mood for something else. She wanted to go home and have sex with Tom Randolph. And so he takes her home. Okay.

Yeah. Forget the fancy dinner in the movie that I just said I wanted to do. Now she's overwhelmed with a desire for sex with Randolph. Where do we get that information, Jackie? Oh, oh, from Randolph. He's so irresistible. Forget the movie. I've got to get home with you right now and have sex.

Okay. You can probably take that with a box of salt. But that said, take a listen to our friends at News 3. I actually start shutting the door as I get in. The couple had dinner and then returned home. This door was closed. I opened it up. He claims an intruder was inside and shot and killed his

wife, Sharon, cause who had entered first. Sharon's laying in the floor, face down. I said, Sharon! Sharon! Wow, he doesn't really seem that upset about it, does he? Bend the floor, face down, said, Sharon, Sharon. Wow. He doesn't really seem that upset about it, does he?

Sharon, she's dead. So they're out for dinner and a movie. She suddenly changes her mind and has to go home right then for sex. Forget about waiting till later. Had to be right then. And lo and behold, there's an intruder that happens to be there when they come in and she, not him,

gets shot dead. Let's just take a trying to rip me off. Do you know what his name is? Mike. Where did the guy you shot? He's in the garage. He was running out the garage as I was getting out. As I was coming in. Okay. Is he dead or what is he?

I don't know. Okay. I just shot him a bunch of times and he got a gun. Okay, let's focus on your wife. Who shot your wife? He did? He did. Oh, okay.

The plot thickens. Now he knows the intruder is somebody named Mike. Boy, do I smell a rat. Let's see what more we can learn. Take a listen to this 911 call we got from Killer James Podcast. Put her flat on her back. Put her flat on her back. I hope she's dead. Should I try to find this gun or something so he don't shoot me if he's not dead?

Is he moving? No. Go get his gun. Go get his gun quickly. Let's focus on your wife. Put her flat on her back. I'm going to lock the garage so he can't get in. Okay.

Sir, you've got to do this quickly. Okay. Okay. Put her flat on her back. Oh, there's blood everywhere. All right. I'm going to help you, but I need you to listen to me so we can try to help her. You've got to listen to me so we can try to help her.

Oh, darn. I hate that. When somebody's gunned down right in front of you and they actually bleed, there's more. Listen. Okay, put her flat on her back. Sir?

Oh, God. Oh, God. What's your status, my child? We're open after seven minutes. We're at number 3131. Oh, God. Sharon. Sir, can you hear me?

No. Sir. Oh, God. Sir, come back to the phone. Oh, God. I can't roll. I had a bad Sure. Come back to the phone. Oh, ****. I can't roll over. I got a pet package. She's got gum everywhere.

She's got what everywhere? Blood and string and stuff everywhere. You can't move her? I can't get her to roll over. Come and try again. We got to try to do CPR. I need you to try. What?

She weighs about 120 pounds and you can't roll her over? Watch out, Daniel Day-Lewis. Move aside, Christian Bale. That Oscar's not for you. This guy is a very strong contender. You are hearing Thomas Randolph crying, or something like crying, when his wife is shot dead after she gives in to the overwhelming urge to go home that minute and have sex with her husband. Now, remember, this is by far the first time that he has had a wife suddenly die.

But how is it that he knows the assailant? How does he know it's a guy named Mike? Take a listen to our friends at KSNV. Randolph says he sees something in the darkness. I thought I just seen like a shadow. That shadow belonged to 38-year-old Michael James Miller, a friend of Randolph's. Randolph says he grabbed a gun before running into the masked intruder. And that's when I just pushed it and boom, boom, boom, and he started going out toward the shed. Okay. Joining me in All-Star panel to make sense of

why are there four dead wives out of six? First of all, I want to go to chief investigative reporter to Chief Investigative Reporter at DailyMail.com. Jen Smith is with us. Jen, who is Sharon? Is this wife number what? Is this wife number six? This is wife number six, yes. Sharon was Thomas Randolph's last wife. They were only married for two years before she was killed in this strange, shall we say, failed home burglary, as he described it.

She was the sixth wife. He'd been married five times before that. And another three of those wives, Nancy, also died in mysterious circumstances. Well, who was Mike? So Mike, the person, this intruder that he claimed that he didn't know and then he let the name slip, we later learn is a man, handyman. So, Jen Smith, you're telling me that the guy named Mike is actually the handyman for Randolph? Yeah, that's right. So Mike worked for Randolph and his wife, Sharon. They lived in this pretty pleasant, if not unremarkable home in a suburb of Las Vegas.

They knew each other. He did all jobs for them around the house. Guys, take a listen now to our cut for from Crime Watch Daily. The dead intruder is identified as Michael Miller. A 38-year-old handyman Tom had admitted was no stranger to him on his 911 call. I know him. He's ripped me off. He started to rip me off. Investigators learned Tom had befriended Miller several months earlier. He takes him under his wing and starts having him around the house constantly. Out of the kindness of his heart, he befriended what he called a bum.

Now, if this guy is in fact using a handyman to kill his wife, it wouldn't be the first time we've seen that scenario. Does anybody remember Big Bob, a.k.a. Bob Beshara? Take a listen to our friends at ABC. Prominent Michigan. Bob Beshara. Take a listen to our friends at ABC. Prominent Michigan businessman Bob Beshara has been sentenced to at least six years in jail for attempting and failing to hire someone to kill a man named Joseph Gantz.

Now, Gantz confessed to the murder of Beshara's wife, Jane, who was strangled in January, and says that Beshara paid him to do it. Gantz's attorney, Cesar Klein, is willing to testify against Beshara. Beshara says Gantz is a liar and his effort to find a hitman was a mistake. And as a part of that investigation, Big Bob Beshara's kinky sex life, including a lot of S&M and bondage, was uncovered. Didn't help with the jury. But in this case, what do we really know about the handyman?

Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Bernarda Villalona is joining us, former homicide prosecutor, now veteran criminal defense attorney. You can find her at VillalonaLaw.com. Bernarda, if in fact he set up the death, the murder of his sixth wife, talk about the similar transactions that can come into a jury, proven or unproven, bad acts. There doesn't have to be a conviction for a jury to hear about a similar act in the past. Exactly. Prior bad acts do come into evidence. You have to think that usually this comes into evidence because you want to show motive. You want to show intent. You want to show a common plan or scheme. And here it is. You're not talking about just one wife or two wives. You want to show intent. You want to show a common plan or scheme. And here it is, like, you're not talking about just one wife or two wives. You're talking about multiple wives.

So obviously, where there's heat, there's fire. Guys, just how close is Randolph to the handyman? Take a listen to our friend Melissa McCarty. Shooting more than just the breeze with him. They're constantly shooting guns. They're constantly out doing target practice. They're constantly having conversations over the telephone. In like a six or eight week period, we have over 303 phone calls between the two of them. us. He's got nothing. He didn't plan on killing us. He came home. He planned on robbing us because the next day we were leaving and all that money's going with me. And I'm buying five acres somewhere in Beaver around the middle of Utah. Okay. You know, when I think of bromance, I think of Ocean's Eleven. Is that wrong? I think about Brad Pitt and George Clooney, that kind of bromance.

I don't think of a bromance where you're shooting the other person's wife when they come in from a night on the town. To you, Robert Crispin joining us, very well-known private investigator, former federal task force officer for the Department of Justice, the DEA in the Miami Field Division, former homicide detectives. You can find him at crispininvestigations.com. Robert, this whole thing stinks. And did you hear him on the 911 call? He's not crying. It sounds like he's yodeling softly in the background.

Listen, Nancy, you and I have listened to so many 911 calls that originate from a homicide scene when that first caller is calling in. And these people are going into tunnel vision. They are completely freaking out. It's just coming across a dead body, especially your wife. You completely lose it. He doesn't lose it on this call at all. I don't think he does. And he's not giving any, he's more interested in running out to see if the guy's out there or close the door so he don't come in and shoot him. Well, that's not true. And saying you can't turn your wife over, that's BS. Exactly.

Exactly. No immediate first care. None. And this is your wife. That right there is why Detective O'Reilly didn't buy any of this story and it started from there. I want to focus on the homicide. That's why I've got Dr. Jan Gorniak with me.

But I've got to ask Dr. Chloe Carmichael a question. And I would have to know this before I took this to a jury. Dr. Chloe, clinical psychologist, Women's Health Magazine Advisory Board, author of Nervous Energy, Harness the Power of Your Anxiety. Okay, now that's interesting. And you can find her at Dr. Chloe. Dr. Chloe Carmichael, thank you for being with us. Why would anybody marry a guy that's already had five wives and three of them are dead

and then you become number four? Six wives, are dead. And then you become number four, six wives, four dead. I would run for the hills as if I had seen a monster. Right. Nancy, I think many people probably would. The only thing maybe to consider though,

is that this person, I think we can all agree. Probably. Chloe, can I tell you something? I once had one date with a guy. He seemed nice enough, but he told me he had filed for three bankruptcies.

I'm like, bye. See ya. Of course, I was very nice. I had dinner. I paid for dinner, obviously. And then I just kind of never called back. Because one bankruptcy, okay, that can happen to a lot of people, but three bankruptcies, three in a row. Uh-uh.

No, something is wrong there. I didn't know what was wrong, but he certainly didn't have six wives. Four of them dead. I hear you, Nancy. There's a few things, though, to consider that are maybe different, of course, from you. So first of all, I don't think that you have a dependent personality. Now, I'm not saying that she did. But to answer your question, a woman that has a dependent personality.

I don't even know what that is. What do you mean a dependent personality? People who are unable to, you know, fill their own needs, who almost really kind of like taking on other people's struggles. Somebody who seems to have problems can almost become more attractive to that person because it makes them feel special. The other thing to consider is that this man probably is a sociopath. He probably has, you know, what we call the dark cognitive triad. So what is a dark cognitive triad? That sounds terrible. Well, it is terrible. So it's a combination of three personality traits, which is narcissism, machiavellianism, and psychopathy. So basically, it's someone who is a narcissist, who doesn't have any qualms about

hurting other people, and is really good at manipulating people. And so ironically, again, that type of person can be very charming. And that's why I found it interesting that I'm not saying I believe him, that he that she wanted to leave the date in order to go home and have sex. But that does point to some kind of narcissism. Dr. Gorniak is joining us. Dr. Jan Gorniak, let me tell you something. This is her bailiwick, former medical examiner for Clark County. That is Vegas. Let me

tell you, never like a business there. Board certified forensic pathologist. Dr. Gorniak, I have found that in many cases, a gunshot victim can be saved with the proper CPR. That didn't happen here. You're absolutely correct. So also, you know, it's going to depend on where those shots were. Depending on where those shots were, speeding, resuscitation effort, transport to a hospital, there is a possibility that a life could be saved. You know, I'm just thinking about her dying there, Dr. Jane Gorniak. There, she walks in the door and there's an immediate assault. There's an immediate barrage of bullets. What would she have experienced as the blood drained out of her body, as her life drained

out of her body? Could she see? Could she hear? Could she understand what was happening to her? There is a good possibility that she could. There's only one instance, injury to the brain stem, where it controls your breathing and your respiration. If you have an injury to the brain stem, you essentially die immediately. But other shots, say to the chest, even to the head, you're essentially die immediately. But other shots say to the chest, even to the head, you're going to bleed out first, you're going to hemorrhage. So if you have a shot

to the heart or to the lung, you're going to go into shock first. So it's not an immediate death. So you're going to go into what we call a hemorrhagic shock, you're just going to your blood is going to start bleeding into the chest or out of your body. Your brain is not going to be able to get any oxygen. So I'm not going to say it's a slow death, but at one point you're going to be aware until you lose consciousness. And then your body is going to be devoid of oxygen. So there will be a timeframe, maybe seconds, maybe minutes, where you are aware, unfortunately, that you are dying. You may not be able to articulate that, but there is an awareness until you go unresponsive from your injury.

So Robert Crispin joining us, PI, former Fed. Can you imagine her lying there? She walks in the door and gets hit with all these bullets. She's dying. She knows she's dying. And she hears her husband on 911 pretending to cry and saying, I can't roll her over. And he's just sitting there. And she realizes he's in on it. You know, the sad part about that, Nancy, is she's going to die. She's not going to be able to tell her side of the story. She's not going to be telling what happened on that call and how his actions really were and how she knows

she was killed at his hands. That's really sad. And that's a horrible way to die. And that's why detectives put this all together and bring all the evidence in because the crime scene, the interviews, the 911 calls, those are all the story that's coming from the deceased. That deceased is allowing all that to come out and they work for the deceased. And that's how they get these people prosecuted. You know, I think the story starts a lot longer before that 911 call all the way back to wife number one. Who is she? And how has this guy gotten away with four dead wives? Four out of six.

That's pretty bad odds. Take a listen to Thomas Randolph's first wife. He had a lot of extracurricular activities. Mainly other women during our marriage. I wouldn't really call it a marriage per se. There was a lot of infidelity. Did you know Becky Randall? She married Tom the day that our divorce was final. She expressed ill and fear when things escalated with Tom.

And I counseled her to leave any way she could. And I would help her if she wanted me to. You are hearing Catherine Thomas. This is Thomas Randolph's first wife. And he says Thomas Randolph had a lot of extracurricular activities. In other words, sleeping around. She says she wouldn't even call it a marriage because there was so much infidelity on her, his part. And the day of their divorce is the day he gets married to wife number two.

Well, frankly, Catherine Thomas, she counted lucky stars. She did manage to live. But who is this Becky that so sadly has a sex affair with Thomas Randolph? Take a listen to this. Justice is my gift to the world. I want to clarify that. So is my daughter, Crystal. She's very smart. I didn't plan her.

I planned justice like I told you. I knew I was going to get Kathy pregnant. Whether I married or not, I picked her because she looked like Sarah Fawcett Majors. Just no boobs. So I knew she'd make a beautiful baby. Okay? I'm an a**hole. I cheated on her. But there's a lot of reasons

I cheated on her. She didn't satisfy me. Okay? Shouldn't have cheated on her. Should have divorced her. She knew about Becky. Oh, that makes it okay, I guess. She. Shouldn't have cheated on her. Should have divorced her. She knew about Becky. Oh, that makes it okay, I guess. She knew I was having sex with Becky. So did you hear all that about justice is my gift to the world? And so is my daughter, Krista.

He's talking about his children are gifts to the world. And in the same thing, did I hear this correctly, Jackie? I was going to get Kathy pregnant, whether I married her or not. I picked her because she, his words, not mine, look like Farrah Fawcett, just no boobs. Did he just say that? Okay. How do I know that? And these wives don't know it. You are hearing the playboy with six wives, four of them dead, speaking in his own voice. But you know what? Let's listen to some more. Take a listen. And this is the guilt in it.

I just lost it. And I said, I am so sick and tired of you saying you're going to kill yourself. If you're going to kill yourself, just do it and put everybody out of your misery, Becky. I've had it. And I, you know, up to here and I'm showing her up to my throat. I've had it. I I, you know, up to here and I'm showing her up to my throat. I've had it. I can't deal with it no more. If you're going to do it, do it and get it over with.

Okay. You are hearing our friends at Killer Jean Podcast and you are hearing Thomas Randolph actually speaking. Isn't that one of the single biggest no-nos ever, Dr. Chloe? When someone you believe is suicidal and you just say, you know what? Go ahead and kill yourself. You're driving us crazy. Go die. Well, certainly.

My goodness. It's an astonishing thing to say. It really goes back to that dark triad idea that this is a person who is displaying narcissism as well as Machiavellianism and psychopathy. It's really quite stunning that he would say that. And, you know, to your point earlier as to why a woman would even marry a man with this type of a history or this type of personality. I know it really is hard to believe, but people that have this combination of personality traits can actually summon themselves to be quite charming sometimes. So it's possible that, you know, she might have had some kind of a personality issue where she was very insecure, and he knew how to play on that using

his charm. But I agree with you, Nancy, it's really a puzzle as to how a man like this could attract even one wife, much less six. Okay, I'm still stuck. It's still stuck in my head. I married her because she liked Farrah Fawcett without, quote, the boobs. Okay, I would have told him right then to take the patent, turn her, pat the street, turn the corner, quote, the boobs. Okay. I would have told him right then to take the patent turner, pat the street, turn the corner, get the hay out. But sadly, she didn't. We're talking about wife number two.

Becky. Becky. The one that he believes is suicidal. So his advice to her, go kill yourself. Take a listen to Thomas Randolph in his own words from our friends at Killer Jeans. So I opened the garage and there's Becky's car. And I thought, well, that's not right.

So I go upstairs and there's Becky lying in bed. She shot her. She's got the gun in her hand. The gun is jammed open. And that's an important thing because they screwed up when they did this investigation. She's I just got home, and she's dead. And I immediately come out, get back in the truck. Now, see, they said, oh, that's nonsense. But our phone's off.

The power's off. The gas is off. The light is off. I'm not living there. Becky can't afford it, so there's no sense paying for it. And they said the house was in foreclosure. I think we were a month behind. Man, he seems to have an answer for everything. And everybody around him screwed up.

She screwed up. She shot herself. They mishandled the investigation. The bank started foreclosure before they were supposed to. Blah, blah, blah. And he doesn't stop there. Listen. Dr. Edward Sweeney, the pathologist who performed the autopsy, it was his opinion that Becky's body was moved after she was shot.

And, again, he's our best witness. And we include his transcripts from a preliminary hearing. And he says the body wasn't moved. She was shot where she was at. She died from numerous things. My poor Becky lived for half an hour. And he says definitely her arm could have moved, her legs could have moved, probably would have moved because she would have been in terrible pain. Okay, Dr. Jan Gorniak, you darn pathologists.

I'm telling you, it's all your fault. Have you ever noticed, Dr. Gorniak, that when you're testifying for the state, somehow the defense tries to blame everything on you? It's their client. They're the ones. He's the one that finds her body. He's the one that told her to go kill herself. And, uh-oh, another wife dead. But yet he blames everybody but himself, including the pathologist.

Yes, that happens. So we're up there as advocates for our patient. We are independent investigators, so we can just testify to our findings. We're not there to say who did it, who didn't do it, or the true, quote unquote, facts of the case. Based on, like I said before on some of your other podcasts, the body tells us a story. So we can look at the body, look at the scene, things around the body at the scene while they're on the table, and they will tell their story. And then we just interpret it in order to

tell the judge and the jury. So yes, the defense attorneys can sometimes come back at us, but they're coming back at the science. So I try to look at it that way. It's not me. It's the science, but the science doesn't lie. You know how you go to the snake house at the zoo and you look at poisonous snakes through a glass? That's how I feel right now, listening to Thomas Randolph rambling on and on to our friends at Killer Janes. Well, he doesn't stop there. Listen.

Of course I am. I am a narcissist. That's because I've got a really high IQ and because I've been a player. But anybody that's successful, anybody that's intelligent, they're going to be a narcissist. They're going to be somewhat narcissistic. It seems like everybody and their brother wanted to bust me for drugs. That's what the UCAR case is about, the drugs and all the women I had sex with. And it's not criminal. It may be not good if they're married, but,

or they're married, but it's not criminal. The times were different back in the 80s than they are today. The times are different. Bernarda, do you know how much I want to cross-examine this perv? The times were different. My rear end. The times were different. Drugs and cheating have never been okay. Exactly.

It doesn't matter what era you're coming up in. It's so crazy this guy, how much he loves to talk and that he's gotten away with it for so long, despite all his statements out there. And people actually fell for it. People actually fell for it, but it's not just about all the sex and all the cheating. There's another motive. Take a listen to our Cut 26 from Crime Online. Galt's death ruled a suicide

and Randolph received over a half million dollar life insurance payout. Randolph was later charged with her murder when Eric Tarantino went to police saying Randolph tried to get him to kill Becky. While awaiting trial, a sting operation nabbed Randolph trying to have Tarantino killed. Randolph was acquitted of the murder charge and pleaded to a lesser charge of witness tampering with the Tarantino case. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Jen Smith is joining me, chief investigative reporter at DailyMail.com. He actually got $500,000 life insurance on Becky because her death was actually ruled a suicide. Then it turns out from Tarantino,

he tried to hire Tarantino to kill Becky, but then Tarantino ends up dead too? Well, yeah, believe it or not, Nancy, that's correct. He claims that his wife has killed herself, has this life insurance claim, and is given a huge amount of money, you know, half a million dollars. Someone then comes forward and says, no, actually, he asked me to kill her, and this person also later ends up dead.

But yet women keep marrying him. And then this goes forward, and he is acquitted. Yes, he is acquitted. But that doesn't stop another woman from marrying him. Let's see. There was Catherine, then there was Becky. And now here we go. Wife number three.

Take a listen to our friends at Crime Online and Cut 27. Dana Allman was Randolph's third wife. One day, Randolph was cleaning his gun at the dining room table, told her the gun was not loaded, but it went off anyway. The bullet nearly hit her and Dana was close enough to see the smoke come out of the hole. What does she have to say about it? Take a listen to what wife number three has to say to Vegas Review-Journal. What happened at your kitchen table? Supposedly, as though the guy was, there was no bullets in the gun, and then he was cleaning the gun at the dining room table,

and the gun went off, not very far away from me, but all on the kitchen floor. I can see the smoke actually coming up out of the floor. Jen Smith. Okay. He's cleaning a gun with her sitting at the table and the gun goes off. She says she thought he tried to kill her and he was not prosecuted. Yeah, that's absolutely right, Nancy. So there is quite a large gap in between the wife number two Becky and wife number three Gayna they end up divorcing in 2004 a lucky escape for Gayna when you look at

how the rest of his wife turned out but she later tells this story that during their marriage he's cleaning the gun at home she believes it was an attempt to murder her. The gun goes off. Now, he clearly is used to handling guns, and it doesn't often fire accidentally or while he was cleaning it. So she believed that he had tried to kill her. Now, we're not sure that she necessarily reported this to the authorities when it happened.

This all came out later, following the death of Randall's sixth wife. But that was her story. And he was never investigated for it. He was never arrested for attempted murder of Gayna either. Okay, so wife number three, after the gun cleaning incident, takes off for the hills. She runs for the hills. But that doesn't stop yet another woman falling for Thomas Randolph.

I mean, I can't make this up. Take a listen to our friends at Crime Online 28. Thomas Randolph later married Frances Randolph. Frances Randolph passed away in the hospital after she had successful heart surgery. Thomas Randolph didn't allow her daughter to visit Frances at the hospital. Thomas Randolph told her he wanted to see Frances alone. When he came out of her room, he announced that she was dead. He had her mother cremated within 24 hours of her death

and sent ashes to the family in pill bottles. Okay, Jen Smith, I think I'm at wife number four, Frances Randolph. She's in the hospital with heart surgery. It's successful, but he won't let her daughter come in the room. He goes in to visit her and comes out and says she's dead and has her cremated in 24 hours and sends ashes to the family in pill bottles. Did I understand that correctly? Yeah, absolutely. Perfectly. I mean, red flags all over this, right? Not only does she die, it's very sudden that she died after what was, as you say, a successful heart surgery.

Now, wait till you hear this. After Francis dies and after he sends the ashes in a pill bottle, he then successfully sues the hospital who was caring for her and he wins the settlement. So he gets money out of the hospital where she was being cared for, where she eventually died in really mysterious circumstances. We don't know how much the settlement was for. It was a confidential one. But he manages to con the hospital as well. To sue them for what? As well. For what he claimed was inefficient or ineffective care of Frances, who he said should never have died, but the death certificate said she died of natural causes, which empowered him to do the hospital that had been looking after her. Of course, he had to have her cremated immediately because autopsy would likely have revealed if she had died from, let's just say, asphyxiation in the hospital room.

And then, of course, following that. Yes. following that comes along wife number five. Listen to Crime Online. Thomas Randolph's fifth wife was Leona Stapleton. There's not a lot of public knowledge about her. In court during the first trial in 2017, family and friends all testified that Stapleton had died of cancer. This, according to the Review Journal. Beyond that, very little is known about her. I'd like to find out. I'd like to have her body exhumed and find out how she really died.

I mean, none of this is making sense. But let's hear Thomas Randolph in his own words, speaking to Killer James. Well, I've always come to Vegas because I play 21. I'm actually really good at it. I make good money. There's more money than I make working for the state full-time and teaching school part-time, and you don't have to pay taxes on it. So I love to gamble.

So I go to Vegas, and I go to Lake Powell. And more. Sharon had just lost her husband. He died of cancer. I'd lost Francis the year before, earlier that year. And I'd get on it. I'd be off of it. I wouldn't respond to any of these.

And Sharon keeps hitting on me. And finally, I got an email that says, hey, you know, if you don't think I'm attractive or you like boys or whatever, it caught my attention. She was very rude about it, so it caught my attention. I actually knew Sharon better than I knew most women in my life because we talked for hours and hours. She'd be the last voice I heard at night, and then first thing in the morning she'd call me because she gets up earlier, the time difference.

And when I met her in person it just everything clicked she loved dance you know robert crispin it's really hard for me to get my mind around and we've been talking about why would you marry someone that's been married so many times and you've had four dead wives we're questioning them we don't need to be questioning the women. Either he lied to them or he charmed them or explained things away. And if they were in love, they probably didn't want to know the truth. I'm more curious about how he got away with killing so many wives and wasn't stopped before the fourth death. Let me tell you, Nancy, as I'm listening to this statement, I'm getting visions of Alex Murdaugh's statement dancing through my head and just listening to the similarities of the alibis and the explanations of everything that happened. Two of these deaths,

I'm sure he probably knew, and you know this from being a prosecutor and people with medical conditions, there are doctors that will sign the death certificate. So if this one person really did have cancer and it was maybe an advanced stage of cancer and he gets the phone call that this person's passed from law enforcement, who's the responding officers to the scene, he's going to go, yeah, you know what? I'll sign the death certificate. Same thing with the heart surgery patient. Well, we all suspect he went in there and probably suffocated her, but got the phone call to the doctor and the doctor said, yep, I'll sign. She had a history of heart disease. So two of those deaths clearly could have slid under the radar of the doctor stepping in

and signing the death certificate, which takes law enforcement out of it. Because once law enforcement knows that the doctor will sign sign unless there's anything outstanding that shock and awe is the police when they arrive it's a it's an unattended death or it's a it's a natural cause death it's going nowhere and i sound so much like um the case of the prophet you recall cult mom laurie valo her husband's wife, quote, died in her sleep and it was chalked off to natural causes until her body was exhumed and it turned out she was suffocated. She died from asphyxia of some sort. One thing I don't want to do, we're talking about why would you marry somebody that's got so many wives, much less dead wives. It's not the women's fault. For whatever

reason, they did marry him. It's his fault. These women were pawns to him. And when you hear him talk, he talks about cheating, about having sex with so many women, about gambling, about marrying a woman because she looked like Farrah Fawcett, quote, without the boobs, cheating the IRS. Everything he says is bad. Everything. He's a ladies man. He's a ladies man. I don't know that I would call him that.

But I would call him a predator. I would call him a predator. 100%. But when we get right down to it, four women are dead from their relationship with him. So where is he now, Jen Smith, chief investigative reporter, DailyMail.com? Well, you'll be relieved to know that he is now in is that he was recently convicted for the second time of Shannon's murder and of the murder of Mike Miller, the hitman who he had hired to kill his wife, Sharon. Surprisingly, his first conviction, which was returned back in following a 2017 trial. It was overturned. He argued successfully in court

that the prior bad acts of his previous marriages shouldn't have been allowed to have been included in the trial. And the conviction was overturned. He was then tried again. Because he is 68, the prosecutors decided that it wasn't worth anyone's time to drag it through a death row appeals process. So they spared him the death penalty. But Thomas Randolph, 68 years old,

six wives later, he is now going to die in prison. I can only hope, but I can guarantee you one thing, Jen Smith. He's got a long, long list of pen pal lovers and a big stack of male from lonely heart females out there looking for love. And they're probably sending him money right now. So to you, Thomas Randolph, rot in hell. Goodbye, friend. You're listening to an iHeart podcast.