Dateline NBC - Collision

Episode Date: September 13, 2022

Years after a love triangle involving trucking magnate Bill Hall Jr. ends in a deadly car chase, insiders speak out about the latest twist in the story. Andrea Canning reports.

Three people come to me wearing suits and one of them tells me that he hadn't made it. And I was like, no he didn't. Just go check. They come back and tell me Ms. Hoyt's husband didn't make it. Two women racing down a Texas highway. She saw me and then made the U-turn. Bonnie, the mistress in one lane. I looked in my rearview mirror and it was Frances.

Frances, the wife in the other. I get her little finger. The middle finger? Right. I start following her. I said, what the hell? She breaks and I break and I hurt myself. He's pronounced dead at the hospital.

Two women in love with one man, hating each other. You're getting text messages from Bonnie of the two of them having sex. Uh-huh. A Hollywood love story. This was the man I wanted to marry. Or a fatal attraction. He goes, I can't get rid of this person. And so many about to lose so much. Why? I will live with that for the rest of my life. In a case of horror on the highway, who really crossed the line? I'm Lester Holt, and this is Dateline. Here's Andrea Canning with Collision.

This is the story of two intense women battling for the heart of one much-loved man. It's about sex, secrets, and lies. Red hot, Texas passion, and a bitter feud. All leading to a final showdown on a two-lane highway. Bear County 911. I got a black Pescalade and a black Range Rover. They're hauling that. Bear County 911. I got a black Pescalade and a black Range Rover.

They're hauling that back on the studio. A high-speed chase that went horribly, horribly wrong. It was a nightmare. When the dust settled, one life would be over, many others shattered. We all lost here. And the final chapter? Passion would write that one too. San Antonio, Texas. Home of the Alamo, the Riverwalk, and the Hall family, three generations of truckers with deep roots in the

city. It was here that Bill Hall met the love of his life at the tender age of 16. Her name was Frances. What happened the first time you laid eyes on Bill? I just fell in love with him. I knew this was the man I was going to marry. At 16? At 16. They married right out of high school. A year later, daughter Nikki was born. Were your parents in love? Oh, yes. We definitely saw love growing up in the house. I love my baby. What was your relationship like with your dad?

Not your typical father-daughter relationship. like a best friend almost. I could tell dad anything. Four years after Nikki came Justin. Did he really want a son? Oh my god, when they pulled that baby out and they said, Mr. Hall, you have a son, that man cried. Bill worked hard to give his young family a better life. Bill used to clean airplanes. He went to college. And on the weekends, if he was off, he'd go dig ditches. We made ends meet. But his true passion was big rigs. So one day, he up and quit school, started his own business, Bill Hall Jr. Trucking. That's what his family did for a living, so it's in their blood. Bill got his first truck and went to work delivering topsoil,

while Frances hit the phones to drum up new business. He was a dreamer, and he always said, I'm going to go big vieja. Vieja is a Hispanic term which means old lady. After just a few years, Bill and Frances turned that one truck into a fleet of 130. At its height, their empire was valued at more than $15 million. All his dreaming paid off. And hard work. He put his life, his heart, and soul into it. Bill was Bill Hall Jr. Trucking. But for Bill, it wasn't all work and no play. He was a daredevil. He loved racing, and in his later years, he loved hunting.

He was a man's man. And also a bit of a lady's man, according to Bill's cousin Hank. You know, beautiful women, you work hard, you play hard, and you do things, you know, that you're not supposed to be doing. He was a great man, but he was not the perfect man. Bill's imperfections became painfully clear nearly 32 years into their marriage when Frances says she got a call from a mysterious woman. It was September 13th, 2013, Friday the 13th.

She goes, you don't know me, but I'm having an affair with your husband. Wow. I was in shock. Heartbroken, furious, Frances says she confronted Bill and asked, was it true? By that time, he is crying and telling me that he's sorry that it's true. I was devastated. This is three decades of marriage. And I finally asked him, how long has this been going on?

He cried again, told me three years. And I go, this is not an affair. This is a relationship. About that and only that, she and the other woman agreed. You don't like the word mistress, do you? No, I don't. This is Bonnie Contreras. What is it about that word that do you? No, I don't. This is Bonnie Contreras. What is it about that word that

bothers you? Mistress, it just sounds like I don't want to say, yeah, that I was the side person because I was more than that to him. This man was the man I wanted to marry and spend the rest of my life with. Bonnie was a 28-year-old single mom when they met, about 20 years younger than Bill and Frances. She said their love affair bloomed in the most unlikely of places. I met him at a spinach festival. Spinach? Spinach festival. I was helping my aunt sell chicken on a stick, believe it or not. I know it sounds kind of corny, but that's how I met him. Bill happened to stroll by that chicken stand with some friends. As soon as I saw Bill, we kind of just locked eyes. Bonnie was intrigued enough by this handsome older gentleman to sneak a peek at his ring finger.

No wedding ring. No mark. You know, I figured he's single. According to Bonnie, the two started to spend nearly every day together. I fell in love with him. I didn't expect it. It's not something that I was looking for at all. I love my husband. Bonnie said Bill told her he was separated from his wife and going through a divorce. And I took his word.

I never again bothered him about it. He affectionately called her his gorda, his chubby lady. And during their three years together, Bill lavished Bonnie with attention. Spa days, vacations, and even breast implants. I wasn't that big. I was maybe a small being. And he goes, go do them. We'll pay for them. And then, she says, a five-carat diamond ring. It meant love. It meant friendship. It meant a future together. Bonnie denies calling Frances out of the blue.

She says Frances had known about the relationship for years and that the two women even spoke by phone about the financial arrangements of a divorce. Whichever version was true, the two women had never met. Cousin Hank told Bill he needed to break it off with Bonnie before something bad happened. I said, you need to get out of that relationship. Don't turn back. Did you kind of feel like, hey, Bill, you're playing with fire? And... It's exactly what I told him. I said, you need to go fix this, man. You know, fix your house. Francis threw him out. He went back to Bonnie and he would go back to begging Francis to go back.

He was very confused. I had never seen Bill in it, never in my life. Francis was conflicted, too. Take Bill back or kick him out for good? The morning of October 9th, her anger boiled over. He was brushing his teeth, and I glanced over, and I just, I was enraged. She started pulling his hair, tussled with him all around the house. Bill appeared to take the assault as a joke. He was doing these little dances he does and it upset me so much and I kicked him.

And he goes, stop already. I go, no. She went after his prized possessions, knocking over his custom Harley Davidson and hitting their new Range Rover with a stick. He pushed me down, I fell down, and he took off and waved at me, smiling. The following day was rough for Frances. Her family coaxed her out of the house to watch her niece's volleyball game. Then, on her way home, driving her Cadillac Escalade. I see Bill in his bike. In back of Bill, I see the Range Rover.

And I'm like, who is that? The vehicles were coming toward her in the opposite lane. And as they passed, Frances did a double take. Sitting behind the wheel of her family's brand new Range Rover was Bill's mistress, Bonnie Contreras. Frances said they locked eyes for the first time. And of course I get her little finger. Like the middle finger?

Right, and I keep going. Furious, she called her daughter Nikki. She said, I'm turning around, I'm going to confront her. What did you say to your mom? I said, good, just be careful. Not likely. All hell was about to break loose. Two women now on a collision course.

When we come back, Frances follows through on her threat. I make the biggest choice of my life. I pulled over and I turn around. Moments later, horror. She breaks and I break and I hurt a thumb. October 10th, 2013. Here on this stretch of San Antonio Highway,

two women vying for one man spotted each other for the first time. Frances, the wife, and Bonnie, the mistress. I make the biggest choice of my life. I pulled over, and I turned around. Turned around to chase down her romantic rival. How fast are you going? I'm doing about 65, 70. She's in a super sport Range Rover.

This thing will go fast. My Range Rover. Frances stepped on the gas and soon had Bonnie in her sights. I'm asking her to pull over. She'd tell me no, pull over, and no. But she kept playing this cat and mouse game. She kept breaking. She said Bonnie repeatedly slammed on the brakes, forcing Frances to slam on hers. Frances had a large slab of granite in the back of her Escalade from a home renovation project. I can hear this piece of granite every time I brake because it moves. As Bonnie accelerated, Frances stayed on her.

It was as if she had developed tunnel vision, could focus on only one thing. I'm going to confront her. I'm done. I've had it with her. I'm going to tell her, you want him? Keep him. The hymn in all of this? Bill had been riding his motorcycle in front of Bonnie. But as the chase unfolded, he suddenly slowed down. All this time Bill is in front of us and I see Bill pulling over and she's passing him. Then, Frances said, Bill dropped back to her right.

And I'm passing Bill. I see Bill from my passenger window and she breaks. And I break and I heard something. I heard a thump. That piece of granite again, Frances thought. And she continued to chase after Bonnie, still hell-bent on confronting her. Suddenly, Bonnie made a U-turn. And as she makes a U-turn, I make the U-turn, she takes off. I got a black Pebsalade and a black Range Rover. They're traveling at a high rate of speed. I don't know, 90, 100 miles an hour, that black Range Rover was. An off-duty officer spotted Bonnie and Francis and called it in.

Francis was still on Bonnie's tail when... I hear this wind coming in. The howl of the wind snapped Francis out of her trance. She looked back and realized her third row passenger window was shattered. And then she realized something else. She couldn't see Bill anywhere. Frances called her sister Connie, who lived close by. Then she called her daughter Nikki. She goes, I can't find your dad. I don't know where your dad is. I'm turning around. Frances started to make her way back down the highway. She spoke to Connie again.

My sister tells me I found him. Connie had jumped in her own car and soon came upon Bill and his bike by the side of the road. He'd crashed and was in bad shape. Police were already at the scene when Frances arrived. And then as I'm running to him, an officer grabs me and I yank him. I heard somebody yell, that's his wife, leave her alone. And I get down to where he's at and he's alive. Do you say anything to him?

I was just in shock. And he kept telling me, I can't breathe. And I told him, calm down, Dad, calm down. Bill had internal injuries. Whatever happened, the wreck was so severe, it even knocked his boots off. They took him away in the helicopter? They take him, and I remember he told them, Vieja, come with me. I go, I'm coming, Dad. And they take him. And I remember he told them, she needs to come with me. But officers wouldn't allow Frances in the chopper, wouldn't allow her to go anywhere, in fact.

And I told the officer, I'm his wife. And he said, turn her up. And he handcuffed me, put me in the back, and they left with Bill. It was only then, Frances says, that it all came together in her mind. The thump, the broken window. Somehow, Bill's bike and her Escalade must have collided. I think some people might find it hard to believe that you wouldn't realize that you had hit a motorbike. I didn't feel anything. I heard a thump. I thought it was this piece of granite.

Police detained her for questioning, while Bill's family took up a vigil at the hospital. When they told us that he had passed away, it was just complete shock. I kind of screamed out, and I just couldn't believe it. I didn't want to believe it. Frances was still in the back of the patrol car when she got the news. I noticed three people come to me wearing suits

and one of them tells me that he hadn't made it. And I was like, you're full of it. I go, no, he didn't. I go, just go check. They come back and tell me Ms. Hoyt's husband didn't make it. With Bill dead, Frances was not only a grieving widow, she was now clearly a suspect. Police took her to the station for questioning,

but she wasn't ready to answer anything. Frances appeared to be in denial. Bill, please. Bill, come back. But if Frances wasn't talking to the police, the other woman in Bill's life

was, and she said Bill's death was no accident. Coming up, Bonnie's story, terrifying. I'm driving and I feel somebody hit me from behind. What she says Frances was really up to on that highway. I just let out a big old scream. When Dateline continues. On his last day on Earth, Bill Hall was staying with girlfriend Bonnie Contreras.

The two had plans to pick up Bill's motorcycle at a storage facility for a bike rally they'd attend the next day. And he was laying in our bed, taking a nap, and that was two hours before he died. I woke him up and I said, hon, it's getting late. I said, we got to go pick up the bike before it gets dark. And that, Bonnie said, is how she and Bill ended up on the road that fateful evening. With Bonnie behind the wheel of the Range Rover, Bill in front of her on his baby blue motorcycle. Neither of them knowing that Francis, quite by chance, was coming from the opposite direction. But Bonnie's version of events would differ sharply from the tale Francis told. He's driving. I'm driving. Somewhere along the way, we stopped at a light,

and he pulled up beside me in the other lane. He tells me, I love you so much, Corda. He's like, I'm so happy. And that was the last time I heard his voice. The light turned green, and everything changed. He was in front of me, and I'm driving, and I feel somebody hit me from behind. At first I thought it was an accident.

A sudden jolt, then another. I feel another hit and I said, what the hell? And I looked in my rearview mirror and it was Frances. Bill's wife. They'd spoken by phone but never met. Bonnie said she never saw Frances on the road before she felt those jolts, never taunted her with her middle finger, as Frances claimed. Now, Bonnie said Frances wasn't just chasing her. She was actually repeatedly ramming her Cadillac Escalade into the back of the Range Rover.

I started screaming because she wouldn't stop hitting me. She kept ramming her vehicle into me. She said Frances' story that Bonnie kept slamming on her brakes was nonsense. You were accused of brake checking her, brake checking her. No, I was trying to get away from that woman. So I started speeding up and she kept ramming me from behind and she threw me onto oncoming traffic. Bonnie said she was hit so hard her purse fell off the front seat. And my stuff flew to the floor. And here, another significant difference from Frances's version. Bonnie says that when she swerved back into her lane, she looked in her rearview mirror and saw Bill was now riding behind her between the two SUVs.

And I see her coming up behind Bill and I'm yelling at the top of my lungs. And I see her hit Bill and I see Bill fly and then I see the bike fly. According to Bonnie, she saw Francis deliberately hit Bill from behind, then keep chasing her. I was shaking and I was in shock. I didn't understand why she hadn't stopped when she hit Bill from behind, then keep chasing her. I was shaking and I was in shock. I didn't understand why she hadn't stopped when she hit Bill. I couldn't understand it. I still don't understand it. I felt like stopping, but I didn't know if she had a gun. And my first instinct is to make a quick U-turn. So she does a U-turn too? Yes. She's right behind me. She's still hitting you? She continues to hit me. And we even passed the scene of where Bill was clinging to his life. And even at that, she didn't bother to stop hitting me.

Bonnie eventually made her way back to where Bill lay by the road. And I see just hecticness everywhere. Police cars, detectives, ambulance. She said she tried to get to Bill, but the officers wouldn't let her near him. I wanted to hug him. I wanted to hug him. I wanted to tell him everything was going to be okay. Bonnie watched the helicopter take Bill away. Hours later, a police officer gave her the news she was dreading. He goes, Bill has passed away. And I just let out a big old scream. So there was Bonnie's version.

This was no accident. Frances purposely rammed her repeatedly and fatally knocked Bill off the road. Is there only one person to blame for this in your eyes? Of course. It's Frances. She started that high-speed chase. She chose to turn around. Why? You know you're going to cause some sort of trouble. And when investigators looked at the evidence and heard Bonnie's version of events, they came to the same conclusion. Nico LaHood was the district attorney of San Antonio.

The bottom line for us was this. Objectively, we do not support this behavior. Frances was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon for chasing after Bonnie. And for the death of her husband, Bill Hall Jr., she was charged with murder. We felt that there was an attempt at an aggravated assault, and in that process, a life was., she was charged with murder. We felt that there was an attempt at an aggravated assault, and in that process, a life was lost, which gives felony murder. But Frances said the real aggressor was Bonnie, and she said she had proof. Coming up, Frances says Bill told her that Bonnie was obsessed with him, but that he wanted out. He goes, I can't get rid of this person.

Frances Hall was out on bail, facing a murder charge for the high-speed chase that ended with the death of her husband Bill. The key witness against her, Bill's mistress, Bonnie Contreras. But according to Francis and her daughter, if anyone should be blamed for what happened, it was Bonnie. She has a lot of responsibility, or full responsibility, in causing this. She ruined a family. The way the Hall family tells it, Bonnie was a gold digger,

a stalker, and a liar who had been manipulating and threatening Bill for years. Frances said that after she learned about the affair, she learned the truth about Bonnie from Bill himself. He laid it all out. He said, I am going to tell you everything, vieja. The family insists Bonnie told Frances about the affair because she was angry over, of all things, a manicure. She was upset because my father wouldn't give her $100 to get her nails done. They said Bill told them that Bonnie had been stalking their whole family on Facebook. She had created a fake account with a fake profile picture, and friend requested the entire family. Everyone accepted.

My mom had her. I had her aunts, uncles, cousins. The family said Bill told them that's how Bonnie gathered information that she would use to manipulate him. If we went on a trip as a family, or if he took my mother to Las Vegas immediately after, he would have to take her somewhere. According to Frances and Nikki, Bill said he wanted to break up with Bonnie,

but she threatened to air their affair all over the internet. He goes, I can't get rid of this person. She had over 2,000 pictures. In my 34 years of knowing Bill, I don't have that many pictures. Who does that? Frances said Bill told her Bonnie also stalked her and her family. She knew where my kids lived. She knew my schedule.

He said that I would go to my grocery store and she'd be there following me. Even, said the Halls, followed her and Bill into a movie theater. Bonnie tracked them and was sitting three rows behind them. She was kind of like a fatal attraction, just her cycle. She claims that she was in love with Bill, that he was going to leave you, they were going to start a family, they were going to be married. She got an abortion. Tell me if she was starting a family. She got an abortion. Bill wanted Bonnie to have an abortion, said Frances, but Bonnie wouldn't do it unless Bill gave her something in return. The only way she'd get an abortion if he bought her breast implants. What she did, she got rid of the baby.

I despise her, and she has not stopped embarrassing our family. It's like, can you just go away? Can you just leave us alone? Go find another married man, because this is what she does for a living. She strips, or she gets with married men. In the end, said the Halls, Bonnie told Frances about the affair as a final act of desperation, an attempt to hold on to Bill, who was about to drop her. I think she finally thought, hey, I'm losing this man.

I'm losing my bread and butter here, her sugar daddy. This girl was not in love with Bill. I don't even think she knows what the word love means. Of course, Bonnie sees things very differently. They've really gone after you with names. Of course. And I understand where the hauls are coming from. It's a pretty big pill to swallow when your husband wants to divorce you after 32 years. And of course, they're never going to say anything good about me. Do you want to clear it up? Were you an exotic dancer? I worked at a strip club, yes. And that was way before.

As a dancer? Yes. And that was a mistake that, I mean, I regret that. No one's perfect. But the fake Facebook account, stalking Frances, the abortion in exchange for breast implants, none of that ever happened, said Bonnie. For her to sit there and say that I switched a baby's life that was growing inside of me, coming from a man that I love dearly for a breast augmentation, ridiculousness. Each woman clung to her truth. The battle for Bill raged. He couldn't stop Bonnie and really couldn't stop Frances, really. Sounds like two hurricanes.

Oh, yeah. Then, about a week before Bill's death, the hurricanes collided. Not on the road. Not yet. This war was waged via text. You're getting text messages from Bonnie of the two of them having sex. Uh-huh. Coming up.

This is not an accident. Coming up, while another expert provides a demonstration that seems to show the SUVs never even touched, when Dateline continues. The battle over Bill Hall Jr. had gone on for weeks, and it all led up to a confrontation about a week before his death. Bill and Frances met at this hotel. She said they were trying to work things out. But then, Bonnie showed up at the front desk. Saying she was his wife and she needed to get access to his room. And my dad told him, no, she's not my wife. My wife is here with me.

Security asked Bonnie to leave, though she insists she never claimed to be Bill's wife. But all parties agree. That night, an all-out war began via text. You're getting text messages from Bonnie of the two of them having sex. Uh-huh. Pictures of sexual positions. Photos with captions like, This is what he really likes, you fat old woman.

Normally, the mistress keeps a very low profile. She wanted to make sure I knew now she was in the picture. Did she ever? Many of the messages are too graphic to show, but you can get a good sense of them from these excerpts. Let me know if you want some good juicy pics of me and your hubby. You stupid old person.

Keep fixing yourself up. Maybe he'll find you more attractive. What's the worst text message she sent you? The hollow bitch. She actually called you hollow because... of my hysterectomy. Complete with a diagram to reinforce the point, Bonnie admits she sent those nasty texts. You have to imagine, though, that people are going to see this

and they're going to think that some of those text messages are cruel. Never sent her pictures of me and Bill having sexual intercourse. What I did send her pictures of was three butt pics of me. And that's because she infuriated me because she told me that my butt looked like a broken saddlebag. It looked like a broken toilet seat. Trust me, she was going at me very hard. In fact, Bonnie says it was Frances who started the text war. Plain and simple, I was defending myself. The text that Frances said hurt her the most

was the one where you called her hollow and sent the diagram of a woman who had had a hysterectomy. That is... Cruel. That would hit a woman hard. And I'm not happy about that. Why did you do it? Because I was pissed at her.

She was telling me vicious, ugly things. Did you send any back to her that were nasty as well? Not really, no. Because it'd be hard not to engage. Well, yeah. I started to at the hotel, but I think I did one or two. Had him in the palm of your hand and couldn't keep him, Frances wrote to Bonnie. Keep sending. Fatal attraction. Cops need all the pics. I mean, I couldn't keep up. I text slow. This girl's young. She knows technology.

Bonnie says Frances more than held her own. Don't flatter yourself. He's been cheating on you with me. But, says Frances, the nastier texts Bonnie received didn't come from her. She says Bill sent them. Bill grabbed the phone and he said, let me take care of her. No, he didn't. That was her. It was her sending those text messages. Bill wouldn't have never disrespected me like that. But if there was any doubt that she'd been following the halls, she seemed to confirm it herself by sending photos of their house and Frances' car. Why were you sending those pictures?

To piss her off, to defend myself. What are you, I mean, you're the one... Her telling me that Bill didn't love me, her telling me that Bill was using me. But Bonnie, you're the one who's having the affair with Bill, so why are you attacking his wife? Because she was attacking me, and I will defend myself. One week after that text message feud came the car chase that left Bill Hall dead. Nearly three years after that, Frances Hall went on trial for murder. Prosecutors Stephanie Paulison and Scott Simpson laid out the case for the jury.

We understand why she was angry, but that's not justification to go attempt to run down your husband's mistress and kill him in the process. The star witness for the prosecution? Bonnie Contreras. Bonnie told the jury how she watched with horror as she believed Francis deliberately knocked Bill off the road. I see him hit Bill with the truck. And I see him fly off the motorcycle. Bonnie said she later discovered Francis' daughter, Nikki Hall, had left a message on her voicemail during the car chase, a message that seemed to speak to Francis' intent that evening. Told you to watch your back, you stupid slut.

What does that tell you? That they were out to cause harm to somebody. This is not an accident. Tim Lovett was the state's collision reconstruction expert. He said the evidence showed Francis chased and hit Bonnie. That Escalade definitely hit that Range Rover at least two, maybe three times. But Francis' defense attorneys, Lee Cutter and Gene Brown, said investigators made a big mistake when they bought into the story of Bonnie Contreras.

Everyone got their information from one person at the scene. That's Bonnie. And Bonnie lied her ass off. Defense accident reconstructionist Charles Rubel said there was no physical evidence to back up Bonnie's claims that Frances had hit her over and over again. No evidence, he said, the SUVs had even touched. Not even once. And remember how Bonnie said her purse flew forward off the seat when Frances hit her? This is her purse in her car. I get hit from the rear. Where's my purse go? It doesn't dump in the front. That's simple physics. In fact, he said, the purse falling forward supports Frances's claims that Bonnie was repeatedly slamming on

her brakes. She does a sudden brake and she's moving like this, then the purse would go into the floorboard. Bonnie Contreras is not telling the truth. What's more, both defense and prosecution agreed Bonnie was wrong about her contention that Bill's motorcycle was struck from behind. Evidence showed the motorcycle actually collided with the side of Frances' SUV. You can't believe a damn thing she said on there. In closing arguments, the defense said Bill's death

was simply a terrible accident, and Frances Hall had suffered enough. She's been living in hell for three years. Let her go home, let her be with her family, and let her mourn her husband. But the prosecution told the jury Frances must be held accountable for her actions. Of course the defendant hated Bonnie Contreras.

We don't blame her for that. Any wife would. What we do blame her for is getting in her Escalade, chasing after Bonnie, and then veering into Bill. There's your felony murder. The jury deliberated into the night.

Who would they believe? Coming up, the verdict. The jury from Francis Hall's fate deliberated into the evening hours of September 8, 2016. And then, just before 8.45, a verdict. We, the jury, find the defendant, Francis Hall, guilty of murder. Guilty of murder and aggravated assault. Frances's friends and family were shocked. It was the worst feeling in my life. It was a moment Frances herself did not seem prepared for.

But things weren't over yet for Frances. There was still a second phase of trial, sentencing. Texas law allows the defendant to be sentenced by either the judge or the jury. Frances chose the jury, the same one that found her guilty. The defense believed it had found a secret weapon in the Texas criminal code. We said, this caveat, this was written for Frances Hall, if anyone ever. The law calls it sudden passion, essentially that the defendant was immediately provoked to a degree of anger that would make an ordinary person incapable of cool reflection. The defense told the jury sudden passion gripped

Frances when she spotted Bill and Bonnie on the road. She sees this woman who has not let up and tried to ruin her life for the last month. The stakes were enormous. A finding of sudden passion could drastically reduce Frances' sentence. From possible life in prison to a maximum of 20 years. And a minimum of just two. For the first time, the jury heard from Frances Hall directly. You don't understand. I love this man heart and soul. I gave him my life. I would have never hurt him, never.

In her final arguments, defense attorney Lee Cutter insisted Frances Hall's actions were a textbook example of sudden passion. The text messages, the calls, the taunting, those would probably make you really hate someone. But never having seen them until they're driving by in your car, if that's not sudden passion where you are incapable of thinking clearly, I don't know what is. But prosecutor Scott Simpson told jurors not to be swayed by emotion. You shouldn't for one second feel ashamed or bad for doing what you believe to be right. After about three hours of deliberations, the jury was ready.

We unanimously find the defendant caused the death of Bill Hall under the immediate influence of sudden passion. We assess her punishment as a return of two years. Two years. The absolute minimum sentence. What is going through your mind when you hear that? Because things were looking bad. Oh yes. I was like, thank you Jesus. I can't do this. And she did. On September 7, 2018, after serving her sentence, Frances walked out of prison a free woman.

We thought that this was the end of the story, but we were wrong. There was a whole new chapter. In June of 2022, Frances was indicted in a multi-million dollar fraud scheme. She was accused of providing false payroll information to get lower insurance premiums for the company she and Bill founded. The Texas Department of Insurance said the scheme allowed the company and its owners to avoid more than $9 million in premium payments. We planned to speak with Frances in person, but due to COVID concerns, we met via Zoom in September 2022. She denied the charges in the indictment. I'm an honest woman. I didn't do anything illegal.

I didn't falsify anything. I'm innocent. I don't have anything to hide. How many more bombshells is there going to be? We also caught up again with Bonnie Contreras to hear her thoughts on Frances' latest troubles. She looks like a liar. She looks like a con. She just, she looks bad all the way around. Bonnie now runs some businesses of her own,

including a CBD spa. She believed the charges just might change some people's perceptions of Frances and herself. They were constantly calling me a gold digger. So who looks like the gold digger now? Is it me or is it her? I don't even think she knows what the word gold digger means. What I'm going through right now has nothing to do with gold digging.

Now what she did on her free time with my husband, that's gold digging. I have Bill's kids. I have Bill's grandkids. Something she'll never have. And I have all the memories of Bill. That's not a gold digger. That's a wife. So she should have maybe looked it up on the dictionary first. In May 2024, Frances pleaded no contest to second-degree felony fraud charges. She was sentenced to 10 years community supervision and ordered to pay $150,000 in restitution. The woman who served two years for killing her husband

received no additional prison time. That's all for now. I'm Lester Holt. Thanks for joining us.