Murder In America - EP. 80 ALABAMA - Wife, Mother, Killer: Audrey Marie Hilley, The Black Widow Of Anniston

Episode Date: September 9, 2022

Audrey Marie Hilley had the perfect life from the outside... loving husband, nice home, beautiful family... but deep inside, there was a darkness brewing that would eventually explode into a shower of lies, poison and murder. This is the story of Audrey Marie Hilley, the Black Widow of Anniston, Alabama, and you're listening to MURDER IN AMERICA. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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That's BetterHELP.com slash MIA. Warning. The following podcast is not suitable for all audiences. We go into great detail with every case that we cover and do our best to bring viewers even deeper into the stories by utilizing disturbing audio and sound effects. Trigger warnings from the stories we cover may include violence, rape, murder, and offenses against children. This podcast is not for everyone.

You have been warned. What do you picture in your head when you think of a killer? I know we aren't supposed to stereotype, but you might be thinking of someone deranged, waving around a weapon. Maybe you're thinking of an outcast in society or someone who grew up in a bad environment. And you're also most likely thinking of a male. Because, let's face it, most killers are. According to the United Nations Global Study on Homicide,

only about 10% of murders are committed by women. And most of the stories we cover in this podcast are about male killers. But not in this story. In the case we have for you today, we are going to talk about a female killer who lived the perfect life. She had the white picket fence, the beautiful home, good looks, nice cars, loving family. But under all of that,

she also had a desire to kill. Beginning in 1975, members of Audrey Marie Hilly's family began to fall ill, and when under her care, they only got worse. Unbeknownst to them, she had been poisoning them with arsenic, all for her own financial gain. But there is a lot more to this story than just poisoning. In fact, this is truly one of the most bizarre cases I've ever heard. Not only did Audrey Marie Hilly tried to murder off her family, but when she was caught for these crimes, she fled the state of Alabama for years and assumed a new identity. Her life was full of lies, corruption, and murder, and anyone that was unfortunate enough to cross her path would soon learn that evil takes on many faces. This is the story of Audrey Marie Hilly. I'm Courtney Browne. And I'm Colin

Brown. And you're listening to Murder in America. Story starts in Blue Mountain, Alabama, in June of 1933. Families all across America were struggling in the middle of the Great Depression, but Huey and Lucille Frazier had secure jobs at the linen thread company in town. They didn't have luxury by any means, but their jobs paid the bills, and they had always been hard workers. In fact, the only time Lucille hadn't worked since the age of 13 was when when she and Huey decided to have a baby a few years prior, which ended in a stillbirth. The couple was devastated by their loss, but luckily, by the next year, they were pregnant again,

and on June 4th, 1933, they would bring a healthy baby girl into the world, named Audrey Marie Hillie. Hughie continued to work at the mill while Lucille stayed home with the baby, and they were determined to give Audrey Marie the best life possible. Lucille grew up with five brothers and sisters and her family often struggled trying to make ends meet. So she wanted to give her daughter a better, more comfortable life than she had. So growing up, Audrey Marie always got what she wanted, but life still wasn't easy for the family. While Audrey Marie was a child, her father, Huey became pretty sick and he started missing work more and more. Eventually, as his sick days started piling up, he became unreliable and estranged from his own family. Then one day, out of the blue, he was

Huey withdraws all of his family's savings and heads somewhere out west, leaving his wife and daughter behind. As you can imagine, there were a lot of whispers going around town as to why Huey abandoned his family. And one of the main rumors was that he and Lucille were in trouble with some creditors in town. But regardless of why Huey left, Useille had to step up and start working again so she could provide for her family. And life as a single mother in the midst of the Great Depression was hard to say the least. In one of the main issues that Lucille faced was finding child care for her daughter. So she relied heavily on her mom, Susie Meads. Like many grandmothers, Susie always doted on Audrey Marie.

She was the favorite of all the cousins and she always got what she wanted. In one instance, when Audrey was five, her cousin Robbie had a severe case of the measles, and to make her feel better, her grandmother made her a cake. But Audrey wanted some of the cake for herself and demanded that she get some too. When Robbie refuses, Audrey lunges at her sick cousin and starts biting her stomach as hard as she could. Robbie would later say that it took months for the tooth marks to disappear. Now again, Audrey's only five, and these types of things aren't unheard of in children, but it does go to show that Audrey is very persistent when she wants something,

something that would go on to follow her throughout her life. A few years down the line, Audrey finishes elementary school, and her mother wants her to get a good education. So instead of going to school in Blue Mountain, she moves her to a prestigious school in the nearby town of Anniston, called Quintard Junior High. And it was here where Audrey became very popular among her peers. Audrey was described as petite and beautiful,

with curly brown shoulder-length hair and big brown eyes. And even though Lucille didn't make a lot of money, she always made sure Audrey looked her very best, dressing her in the nicest of sweaters and pleaded skirts. Audrey was even named the prettiest girl at Quintard Jr. High. Her looks and charm caught many people's attention, including a fellow eighth grader named Frank Hillie. Frank had a huge crush on Audrey and one day,

he worked up the courage to ask her to go with him on a double date to the movies. Audrey agreed and the rest was history. Frank knew at just 14 years old that he was going to marry Audrey and eventually he would. But as teenagers, the two seemed to be madly in love. When Frank brought Audrey home to meet his family, he got his younger sister, Frida, to braid her hair and wear a dress so that she could look nice for his new girlfriend. Frida never wore dresses, but she did that day. and she really seemed to like Audrey at first.

Frida would even join the two on dates sometimes, and she really looked up to her older brother and his new pretty girlfriend. Frank's other sister, Jewel, however, never really liked Audrey. She couldn't quite put a finger on it, but the two never seemed to hit it off. But even though that year was full of young love and excitement, Audrey would experience some heartbreak too. Her grandma, Susie, was diagnosed with cancer and died shortly after. This was difficult for Audrey, given that her grandma,

was like a second mother to her. The following year, she would begin school at Aniston High School where she joined the commercial club, which the yearbook said brought together the business women of the future.

She also joined the future teachers of America. If you were to take a look at Audrey's yearbook, you would see her sitting front and center with perfect posture wearing her nice, smooth sweater sets.

Audrey cared a lot about her appearance and everyone knew it. Throughout her high school career, she and Frank continued to date each other and as soon as they graduated on May 8, 1951, the two would get married. Almost immediately after their wedding, Frank would begin his service in the Navy.

While deployed in Guam, he happily sent back all of his paychecks to his wife in Alabama. He intended for her to put them in their savings until he came back, but Audrey had other plans for their money. As you'll come to learn, Audrey was a big spender. and almost every penny of what Frank sent was quickly spent without even telling him. Now, for a short period of time, Frank was stationed in Long Beach, California, and Audrey actually moved there with him. She described this time as the happiest in her life, but it didn't last very long. Shortly after, Frank was discharged from the Navy, and the couple moved back to Anniston, Alabama. But having spent all of that,

of their savings, they didn't have a lot of money. So Frank eventually finds work as a shipping clerk at a national piping business called Stanford Foundry. And Audrey gets a job as a secretary for an attorney in the city. But just two days into this job, on November 11, 1952, Audrey gives birth to their son named Michael. She takes a short maternity leave after his birth. and then she starts up work again at a local gas company. And for a while, things seemed to be going really well for the growing family. Frank even got promoted as head of the shipping department at his job. And from the outside looking in, the hilly's were the picture perfect family.

Audrey was beautiful, very put together with perfect hair, clothes, and makeup. With perfect hair, clothes, and makeup. the kind of woman that people envied. Frank was more quiet of the two, slim, good-looking, with reddish-brown hair, and he was always very friendly to the people around him. But looks can be deceiving. Beneath the surface of this picture-perfect family, there was some turmoil. For one, Audrey had a bad spending habit.

She was constantly in the new and hottest styles, and she refused to buy anything that wasn't the best and most expensive. Her friends and coworkers said that she was always one-upping everyone, trying to be the most stylish in both her clothing and her homes. After she and Frank got married, they agreed to buy a small house, one that was more suitable to their budget. But almost immediately after buying this small home, Audrey was completely dissatisfied, and she decided that it had to be remodeled right away.

She even hires an expensive interior designer to help her find the nicest furniture in Anniston. And their friends all agreed that this was a little over the top. The Hillies definitely did not make enough money to be buying all of this expensive stuff. And Frank just kind of let Audrey do whatever she wanted. It was clear that she made all of the decisions in their relationship and he could never tell her no. One of their friends would even say, quote, anything that she wanted, he'd give it to her. It didn't make any difference whether he could afford it or couldn't afford it, she got

it." And quote. And Frank seemed to be okay with it. He would later tell a friend while smiling that, quote, she can spend more money than anyone, she sure can't spend more money than I can make." End quote. It wouldn't be until January 14, 1960, seven years after their first child was born, when Audrey and Frank decided to have another baby.

This one was a girl, who they would name Carol. And again, at a quick glance, life seemed to be going great for the family. Now, Audrey didn't have a ton of friends, but there was one who she was really close to and called on the phone nearly every day. Her name was Dorothy Williams, and she loved how funny and blunt Audrey was, but in every phone call, Dorothy could always expect Audrey to say, You won't believe what my mom bought from Michael and Carol. But Dorothy knew that Lucille worked at a mill,

which wasn't a great paying job, so there was no way she was buying her grandchildren all of these expensive gifts. Dorothy eventually figured out that it was really Audrey buying them, but something about the constant lies and boasting about their expensive things rubbed Dorothy the wrong way, and eventually the two would drift apart. Once Carol starts to grow up, Audrey continues her job at the gas company

while her mother Lucille watches the kids. And once the school year starts, they kind of create a routine where Frank picks up Michael from school and then they drive together to go pick up Audrey from work. But one day, when Audrey hops in the car, she notifies her family that she had been fired. It's unclear,

exactly why, but with her charm it wasn't hard for her to find another job. At the next one, all of Audrey's coworkers really liked her. It was easy for her to put on a fake persona and be the person everyone wanted her to be. But it wouldn't be long until people started to see her true colors. Frank's sister Frida would later say, quote, something would happen and she would end up being alone. She would think things that weren't really the way it was. She would think people were doing things against her, trying to hurt her, and she would drop her relationship with them.

End quote. A lot of the disagreements Audrey would have were with other females at her job, but she always had great relationships with the men she worked with. In other words, Audrey was not a girl's girl. She was also known to be extra friendly with the men. In fact, she crossed the line with these men on six. several occasions with her flirting. In one instance, a man named Harold Dillard was the owner of advanced construction, and he was doing his best to help Audrey find a job. At first, their relationship was strictly platonic. He was almost like a father figure to her, but over time the two would start

spending more and more time together. It's unclear whether Frank knew about their relationship, but it's also around this same time when Frank started to drink a lot more. By then, he had been promoted to four men and was in charge of a lot of the men at his work. And at the end of the workday, he and all of his employees would stop by the Elk Club for some beers. He didn't have a drinking problem at first, but over time, it developed. Friday nights at the Elks Club was Ladies' Night, and on one particular evening, Audrey, Marie, and Michael decided to join Frank there for dinner. When they arrive, however, Michael notices his father acting strange, and it's clear that he's wasted.

Audrey, who always cares about appearances, is clearly angry, but she does her best to hide her emotions. But as the night goes on, the two begin to open the argue in the bar, and that was their sign that it was time to call it a night. Audrey leaves to go get the car while Frank and Michael wait outside for her. But while they're waiting, Frank is overtaken by the liquor. and vomits in the nearby bushes. Michael then watches in horror as his mother pulls the car up, and Frank lays down on the ground and starts yelling at Audrey. Come on, run me over.

Put me out of my misery. Now, luckily, someone that was watching this all go down went over to Frank to help him up, but Michael noticed that his mother actually accelerated the car in Frank's direction, as if she really was going to run him over. And it was at around this time when Audrey and Frank's relationship started getting a lot worse. They barely spent any time together, and while Frank was at work or at the Elks Club,

Audrey would go over to Harold Dillard's home. Harold lived in a large, beautiful mansion with a pool, which, as you can imagine, was right up Audrey's alley. She loved getting to tap into the rich lifestyle, even if it was at the expense of her husband. When Carol was younger, she remembered her mother taking her over to Harold's house when her father wasn't around, and these trips were not platonic. In fact, Harold began buying Audrey expensive, jewelry and clothes. But Harold wasn't the only person showering Audrey with gifts. Another successful

business executive in town named Leroy Tunis was also getting friendly with her. And he had even bought her daughter Carol a pony. Now how she explained all of this to Frank, we aren't sure. But it's also important to know that it was around this time when Audrey's penchant for spending was growing. She She owed a lot of money to a lot of people, so much so that she even rented a PO box so that her bills wouldn't get sent to their house. And it turns out both Audrey and her mother Lucille owed money to over a dozen local stores, banks, and finance companies, including small loan businesses. So even though she looked great from the outside, Audrey

Audrey began making a lot of people in town angry. I mean, what can you expect when you owe everyone money? Soon enough, she was the talk of the town. It was also around this time when Audrey started complaining to her sister-in-law, Frida, about her husband, telling her, quote, he doesn't care about me. He leaves me alone all the time. He goes down to the elks and drinks.

He's ruining his health. and he just doesn't care about me. Nobody cares about me. Frank doesn't care. Mike doesn't care. Carol doesn't care. End quote. Audrey had a victim mentality.

And according to the people around her, she was constantly throwing pity parties for herself. And interestingly enough, when all of this was happening, Frank Hillie's health started to decline. By 1972, their son Michael graduates from high school. and moves out of his mother's home to attend a local junior college. And for him, it was a much-needed escape.

But sadly for Carol, this meant that she was at the brunt of her mother's erratic behavior. Audrey becomes very invested in her daughter's life. And she even becomes buddy-buddy with her daughter's friends, one being Sonia Gibson, who they knew from church. The Gibson's only lived about a mile away from the hilly's, so the girls spent a lot of time together. Over the Christmas break in 1973, Sonia was over nearly every day and Audrey was always making the girls good meals. There were never any issues until early

February when Sonia started complaining of severe stomach aches. Then the stomach aches turned to fevers, then her fingers and lips start turning blue and eventually she's unable to walk. Sonia is taken to the Army hospital in town where doctors make the decision to life-flight her to the Children's Hospital in Birmingham, but it's too late. Sonia Gibson dies en route. After an autopsy was conducted, they identified her cause of death as a viral illness that led to heart inflammation. But her mother never accepts this conclusion. Sonia was always a very healthy child, and it didn't make sense as to why she was taken so suddenly. And no one knew it at the time, but this incident would come into question later in Audrey Marie Hilley's life story.

Around this time, Audrey is in her early 40s, but she still has this magnetic sexual energy, and she's often reminded that she looks about 15 years younger than her age, and how she only looks better and better the older she gets, and she still craved attention from rich men around the city, one of them being a man named Walter Clinton. Like the other male friends in her life, Walter was very wealthy, college educated, and he had a lot of power within his community. He graduated from Auburn University with a degree in electrical engineering and eventually started his own company called Clinton Controls. On top of being rich and powerful, Walter was also very handsome. He was tall, muscular, with thick black hair, and he was extremely confident, something that

Audrey really loved, and it seems like Frank was becoming more aware of his wife's extramarital affairs. You see, by this point, Michael, their son, was getting married with a baby on the way. And one day, in May of 1974, Michael gets a call from his grandmother, Lucille. On the phone call, she tells him that his father, Frank, was planning on driving to their home that upcoming Friday because he wanted to talk with him about something. When Michael asks what it's about, Lucille doesn't give him an answer. So the whole week, Michael is kind of worried about his dad.

What does he want to talk about that he couldn't say over a phone call? But when Friday rolls around, instead of seeing his father, Michael gets a call from his mom. Audrey tells him that Frank is sick and won't be able to make it. But Michael is still curious. So one day he drives down to Aniston so he can talk to his dad himself.

The two go out to play a few rounds of golf, and while they're there, Michael says, Hey, Dad, Granny said you wanted to talk to me about something? Frank stares at the ground for a few seconds before saying, I don't know what I'm going to do. Something's happened. I just don't know what I'm going to do about it. You know, me and your mother have not been getting along lately.

I got sick one day at work and came home early. Your mother was in bed with Walter Clinton. Michael couldn't believe what he was hearing. He knew that his mother was a lot to handle, but he never thought it would end up like this, trying to absorb the news, the two finish playing golf and head back home. Before leaving that night, Michael and Frank planned to meet the following Friday for another round of golf. But when that day comes around, Michael gets a call from Audrey, and she says,

I don't think your father's going to be able to play a golf tomorrow. He hasn't been feeling so good. He came home early from work today. And this wasn't too alarming for Michael because his dad had been dealing with these bizarre stomach issues for the past year, so much so that he was constantly taking Alcassel to. to ease the pain. However, no one had any idea that the source of Frank's health decline was solely because of Audrey. Over the past few months, as Frank's health had declined, Audrey had been slipping arsenic into his food. And because arsenic has no taste,

there was no way Frank could have known that he was being poisoned by his wife. You can even slip it into your water and you wouldn't have any idea that it's there. Now, arsenic is actually in a lot of food that we ingest, like seafood, poultry, and rice. In naturally, we have amounts of arsenic in our bodies, but an excessive amount is lethal. In fact, if someone consumes arsenic over time, they are likely to experience severe stomach pains, vomiting, blood in your stool, convulsions, and eventually death. Frank Hilley had a lot of these symptoms, but there was no way he could have known what was happening to him. Over the following week, as Frank's health got worse and worse, Audrey continued to update Michael on his condition. One night when she called, she said that Frank was so sick he hadn't slept at all.

He was up all night with a fever and chills. His doctor recommended fluids and aspirin, but days later, there were still no. no improvements. Throughout the week, his doctors continued to prescribe him a number of different medications, but none of them were working. In fact, he was only getting worse. Then that Friday, Michael received a call from his mother in a panic, saying, quote, I took your dad to the hospital. I found him in the yard at 3.30 this morning, wandering around in his underwear. The doctors can't seem to do anything for him. If he doesn't get well, he's going to die. Hearing this, Mike and his wife quickly hop into their car and rush over to Aniston. But when they arrived,

Frank was in much worse condition than they could have imagined. But it didn't make any sense. Michael had just seen his father two weeks prior and he seemed okay. Now, it was as if the life had been sucked out of him. His skin was yellow, and he could barely even move. The doctors told them that Frank was suffering from an infectious hepatitis and that he had severe liver malfunction. But they did make it seem like it was curable. All they had to do was put him on a special diet

and give him the correct medications. Upon hearing this, Audrey expressed her relief to the hospital staff, and afterwards she told Mike and his wife, wife that they could go back home and that she had it all under control. Over the next few days, Audrey stayed in the hospital with Frank, keeping a close eye on him. Eventually, Michael drives his two grandmothers over to the hospital so that they could help Audrey take care of him. But when they all arrive, Michael notices that his dad has taken a turn for the worse. He's lying still, barely even moving. And when he gets closer to him, he realizes that Frank isn't even breathing. Michael yells for help

to a nurse in the nurse's station, but it was too late. Frank Hilly was dead. Everyone stood around his body in shock, including the hospital staff. People don't usually die from hepatitis, especially when they're in the hospital getting treatment. But having no reason to believe he died from anything else, Frank's cause of death was listed as an infectious form of hepatitis. Now, the city of Aniston was actually pretty worried that maybe Frank got hepatitis from

the city's water. They ran a bunch of tests, but they didn't find any traces of bacteria, so. They're forced to move on. Frank Hilly died on Sunday, May 25th, 1925. And by that Thursday, May 29th, only four days after losing her husband of 24 years, Audrey Marie Hilly filed the claim to cash out Frank's life insurance policy for $32,000, which today is about $175,000. But a few months later, Audrey buys herself

a brand new Oldsmobile, paid in cash, a jade necklace and earring set, and brand new furnishings for her house. Now, one would think that Audrey would at least pretend more in the loss of her husband, of whom she was dating since she was in the eighth grade, but that wasn't the case. Audrey seemed to be doing better than ever, and it wouldn't be long until another person in their family started getting progressively sick. Her son, Michael and his pregnant wife Terry started coming around more after Frank's death. But every time they came to Audrey's home, Terry would leave with horrible stomach pains. And this all started just one day after Frank died. Now at first, Terry chalked it up to morning sickness. After all,

she was pregnant. But it kept happening over and over again. The Monday after, Frank's death, Terry and Michael were staying at Audrey's house and she just couldn't seem to get out of bed. Before she knew it, Audrey came into the room and said, what's the matter, honey? Everything okay? Terry assures her that she's fine and that she's just having some morning sickness, but Audrey quickly responds, you have to eat something. You got to get up your strength. Terry didn't want to be rude, but she politely declines, saying, oh, I'm really okay. Hey, I'm not that hungry right now, maybe later though. But Audrey would not give up.

Don't be silly. I'm going to bring you some soup. It'll taste good. Everyone knew not to argue with Audrey. She seemed to always get the last word, so Terry just let her have her way. And a few minutes later, Audrey comes back in the room with a bowl of potato soup.

Terry eats it, thinking that it may help her stomach, but within the hour, she is overcome with nausea and sharp pains running up and down her legs and stomach. Then she starts to feel the remnants of the potato soup coming back up. Terry runs to the restroom and vomits and over the next few hours, it seems like she can't keep anything down, not even water. And as time passes, Terry is so sick, the pain seems unbearable.

They eventually rush her to her. the hospital where she's put on liquids. And after an evaluation, her doctors fear that she may have contracted hepatitis, just like Frank. For the safety of Terry and her baby, the doctor suggests that they give her an injection of gamma globulin. But before they do that, they have to make sure her OBGYN approves it. Now, I would think that the doctors would be the ones checking to make sure she was able

to have this injection, but this was in the 70s, so maybe they just weren't as thorough as they are today. But Audrey is actually the one who offers to call Terry's OBGYN for her. So she leaves the room for a few minutes, and when she returns, she tells the doctors that Terry's OBGYN approved the injection. And with that, they give it to her. Now, luckily, Terry would end up surviving this health scare and eventually was able to go back home. But a few months later, when she goes to visit her OBGYN, when she brings up the injection, a concerned look comes across her doctor's face. I told them not to give you that shot, he says.

Terry was confused. My mother-in-law said that you said it was okay. The doctor responds. Your mother-in-law called me and I told her you shouldn't have the injection at that point. She was going to tell the doctor's there. Confused, Terry sat there for a few minutes in silence, trying to take everything in. Why would Audrey tell her doctors that it was okay to get the injection if it wasn't? Maybe she was confused or misheard them.

Although it was alarming, Terry brushed it off as a miscommunication and forgot about it. Weeks later, she and Michael would go to visit Audrey again, and within days, Terry starts to feel sick. But this was far worse than the first time. Shortly after eating one of Audrey's meals, Terry starts hemorrhaging. They all rush to the hospital as quickly as they can, but it's too late. Terry had lost her baby. And as you can imagine, the couple was absolutely devastating. To help take the load off their plates, Audrey offers them a room in her home while they're recovering from the loss.

Every day, while Terry sits in bed grieving, Audrey brings her her favorite vegetable soup while the rest of the family eats at the table. But after a few weeks of this, Terry starts to get sick again. So much so that one night she became delirious and wasn't making any sense, and she was so weak she could barely even move. Michael called 911 and carried her out to the ambulance, and this time she had to stay in the last. the hospital for over a week. No one could figure out what was wrong with Terry. And the thing about arsenic poisoning is that it's hard to detect unless you test for it. And when someone has severe stomach pain, vomiting, and diarrhea, there are a list of other things doctors look for first. After all, poisoning isn't very common. Now, during the time that Michael and Terry stay with Audrey,

Terry would be hospitalized four different times, and after they moved out, her mysterious illness simply disappeared. Now, it's important to note that Terry never had any definitive confirmation that Audrey was actually poisoning her, because by the time word got out about Audrey's little secret, too much time had passed, but it's safe to assume that Terry was one of Audrey's intended victims. But now that she was out of the house, Audrey needed a new victim, and her next one would prove that Audrey Marie Hilly really was the definition of pure evil. Carol Hilly really struggled. after her father died. She and her dad were close, and his absence left a huge hole in her heart. Frank was the voice of reason in their family. He was always the mediator when she and her mother would

argue. And now that he was gone, Carol was left to deal with her mother all on her own. Now, don't get me wrong, Carol loved her mom. But after Frank's death, Audrey was very possessive and controlling of her, overseeing all of Carol's social activities and friendships. Audrey also used a lot of Frank's life insurance money to buy Carol a new wardrobe, but none of the stuff she bought was Carol's style. It was all what Audrey wanted her to wear, as if she was living vicariously through her daughter. And there was an obvious strain in their relationship. Audrey would often call her son Michael to complain about Carol's behavior, saying,

But one thing Audrey failed to realize is that this is completely normal between a mother and daughter. throughout those teenage years. I know, Audrey didn't think of this time as a rough patch between her and her daughter. Instead, she began plotting ways to get her out of the picture, and it all started by setting Carol up with a life insurance policy. Now, just three years after Frank's death, Audrey had spent every single penny of Frank's life insurance, and she still owed money to everyone and almost never paid her bills.

But the one payment that always came on time every month was Carol's life insurance. Now eventually, Audrey was so low on money that she was forced to sell their home and move in with Frank's sister, Frida. And as you can imagine, for a woman who cared so much about her appearance, this was not a good time in Audrey's life. So in order to get her needs met, she rekindled her relationship with Harold Dillard, the one who she would see when she was still married to Frank. The two had remained in contact over the years, but she knew he could get her a good paying job, and he did. Except the job wasn't at any businesses in town, but at his house for secretarial work,

which he always paid in cash. Around this time, people close to Audrey said that she was constantly showing off her thick roll of bills and bragging to everyone about how well she was doing with her new side hustle. But as Audrey's life seemed to be getting better, Carol's was taking a turn for the worst. It was the year 1979 and Carol was now 19 years old. But just like everyone else in Audrey's life, she started getting sick all the last. the time. And her symptoms were just like her fathers, Anne Terries. She found herself bent over in pain with stomach aches, constant vomiting and diarrhea. Over the next few months, Carol goes in and out of the hospital. On some occasion, she's there for days and others she's there for

weeks at a time. And again, the doctors are completely puzzled in terms of her diagnosis. And then one day, while Carol is in the hospital, she gets word that her mom had been arrested for fraud and writing bad checks. But almost as soon as she gets word of this, Audrey comes strolling into the hospital room as if nothing happened. Upon seeing her, Carol was absolutely shocked. And she asked her, Mom, what the hell is going on? I heard you were arrested today. Not wanting to bring attention to her arrest, Audrey assures Carol that it was all the big misunderstanding, saying, how did you hear about that? It was nothing. It was just a mistake. But Carol won't let it go.

Mom, you getting arrested is a big deal. What happened? Audrey is now angry and snaps back at her daughter saying, I said it was a mistake. I took care of it. No more questions. And with that, Carol knew not to ask anything else. Now, by this point, Carol's health was worse than ever. She was so sick she couldn't even walk. But all the tests that they ran weren't giving them any answers. So some of the doctors even thought that maybe it was all psychological. But the people close to the hilly family were starting to get suspicious of Audrey.

One coworker of Carols even brought up her concerns to Carol's family, saying, I don't want to accuse anyone of anything. She's getting sicker every day and she can hardly walk. Do you think Audrey Marie might be doing this? She's giving her injections. Carol hadn't told many people about this, but as she started getting sick, her mother started giving her these injections,

telling her that they were from her doctor and they were supposed to make her feel better. But none of Carol's doctors had authorized any sort of injections. So it seems to be that. like Audrey escalated from putting poison into her daughter's food to stabbing it straight into her bloodstream. And as it turns out, she had been doing the same thing to Frank before he passed away. And at this point, after talking, the family members get very suspicious. Michael even recalled his grandma questioning why his mom was giving Frank injections while he was sick. And now that they

see she was doing the same thing to Carol, they definitely noticed the red flags. So Michael decides to call Carol one day while she's in the hospital. And when she picks up, he quickly asks, Carol, is mother giving you injections? There was a long pause before she stuttered. Knowing that she's lying to protect their mother, he asks her again. And at this point, she finally admits it. But it turns out their family wasn't the only people who were suspicious of Audrey Marie Hilly. The hospital staff was as well. Over the past few weeks, they had been noticing that any time Audrey came around, Carol's physical and emotional state would worsen, so much so that they actually banned Carol from having any visitors.

And this made Audrey furious. She even called the hospital demanding to see her daughter before her breast cancer surgery. But they still refuse. And Audrey didn't even have breast cancer. She just wanted an excuse to see her daughter most likely so she could poison her again. But despite the hospital telling her no over and over again, Audrey doesn't let up and she tells them, quote, my daughter can barely even walk and she isn't getting any better here. What kind of hospital is this? I don't want her in a place where nobody cares about her. I'll take her someplace else where they can get her some actual help.

The doctors try and reason with Audrey and tell her. Mrs. Hilley, I thought we had an agreement. Then she abruptly hangs up the phone, and as always, Audrey Marie gets her way. The following day, she takes Carol to the University of Alabama Hospital, where they immediately take her to an x-ray room in the back and away from her mother. And the doctors here made Carol feel safe and understood. As soon as she was alone with them, she breaks down and says, God, I'm so glad somebody finally wants to listen to me.

They've been thinking I was crazy over here for the past three weeks. I'm not crazy. Here I am again, and all I want to do is go home. Listen, I don't know what she's been telling them, but they all think I'm crazy. I'm not crazy. Something is keeping me from walking. Other physicians are called in, including a young neurologist named Brian Thompson, who's puzzled by Carol Hilley and her condition.

They allow Audrey to come back into the room while he makes arrangements to have a spinal tap and have her lung function tested. Movement in the hallway catches Carol's eye and the bearded man steps in and pulls Audrey out of the room. A few minutes later, her mother comes back into the room before announcing she had to go to Aniston. When Carol asks why, she tells her that the police

said that her car was stolen. But she assured Carol that everything was fine and she'd be back soon. But she wasn't fine. and she actually had to spend the night in the Birmingham jail. As you can imagine, Carol is absolutely distraught. Not only is her health declining, but now her mother is in jail again. So Carol calls the rest of her family and updates them on everything that's going on,

and they quickly make their way over to the hospital. Once there, Frida, Frank's sister, pulls the doctor aside and says, I think Audrey Marie is giving Carol injections that are keeping her sick. I mean, I know it sounds crazy, but I think she's trying to kill her. The doctor agreed that, yes, it did sound crazy, but he believed her. He then stepped inside of Carol's hospital room to take a look at her body to see if there were any obvious signs of poisoning. And he asks her, can I see her nails? Carol is surprised to see her doctor in her room so close to bedtime,

but she does as she's told and shows him her hands and feet. And to the doctor's horror, their suspicions were right. There on Carol's fingernails were deposits called Measeline, which are these horizontal white lines that run across your nails about six weeks after arsenic enters the body. And seeing this meant only one thing. Audrey Marie Hilly was trying to kill her daughter. Immediately, the doctors notified the police and made sure that Audrey was to have no further contact with her daughter. Shortly afterwards, on October 3rd, 1979,

forensic analysis on Carol's hair was conducted by the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences, which found arsenic levels of over 100 times the normal amount. This discovery revealed to investigators that Audrey had been giving her daughter large toxic amounts of arsenic for months. This revelation, understandably, changed everything. And once the reality of the situation set in, authorities soon came to realize that Frank Hilly,

Audrey's late husband, probably died from arsenic poisoning as well. So that very same day, authorities paid a visit to the cemetery and exhumed the body of Frank Hilly. After they had dug up the decrepit corpse of Frank and run their tests, authorities found that he too had been poisoned by high levels of arsenic. At first, the evidence of arsenic poisoning wasn't obvious because at the time of his death, the symptoms looked a lot like hepatitis, and no one would have ever thought that Frank was being poisoned by his own wife.

Now, Audrey was already in custody at the time of this discovery, but soon enough, the entire town of Aniston would learn that she was a murderer because on October 9th, 1979, Audrey Marie Hilly would be charged with the murder of Frank Hilly and the attempted murder of her daughter, Carol. In a search of her home, authorities also find a vial of arsenic in her purse. And two weeks later, Frida finds a jar of rat poison in Hilly's home, which contains 1.5% arsenic. Audrey had been sprinkling poison into her family's food over the past few years,

which was a hard pill to swallow for anyone that knew her. Exactly a month later, on November 9, 1979, Audrey was released on bail. After walking out of jail, she rents a room under a fake name at a local motel called the Roadway Inn, and after a few days, she's nowhere to be seen. She had vanished into thin air. The only thing left behind was a note that she wrote, making it look like she had been kidnapped. When authorities find the note, however, no one believes that it was authentic. Who would?

There was a large search for Audrey Marie, but no one could find her. Then, ten days later, on November 19th, Audrey's aunt comes home to find that someone had broken into her house and stolen her car, some clothes, and an overnight back. A note was left that read, quote, Do not call the police. We will burn you out if you do. We found what we wanted and we will not bother you again." End quote. But everyone knew that this was no random burglary. It was Audrey Marie Hilly, grabbing some essentials before heading off to go on the run. handwriting analysis would later prove that Audrey had written the note. Now, despite investigators finding all of this pretty early on in the investigation,

they could not track down where Audrey had gone, and they wouldn't find her for years. On January 11, 1980, Audrey was officially indicted for her husband's murder, and soon after, forensics teams also discover that her mother, Lucille Frazier, and her mother-in-law, Carrie Hilly, had arsenic in their systems, too. Soon after, authorities tested the remains of Carol's old friend Sonia Gibson, who had died shortly after spending time in the Hilly household, but they found no evidence of arsenic poisoning. Sonia was, in fact, an 11-year-old child from the neighborhood at the time of her death,

one of many who had complained of stomach cramps and minor illnesses after drinking beverages that they had been provided while visiting the Hilly household. And interestingly enough, two police officers who had responded to one of Carol's 911 calls in the past also went on the record and said that they had become gravely ill after drinking some coffee that Audrey had provided them with when they had responded to the call at the Hilly House. But unfortunately, even though the charges against Audrey were stacking up quickly, she was gone. And even with a massive police and FBI manhunt, Audrey Marie Hilly managed to remain a fugitive for over three years. Immediately after her escape, Audrey heads south to the sunny state of Florida, where she changes her appearance, lies low, and begins to use the fake name Robbie Hannan.

While on the run in Florida, Audrey met a handsome man named John Greenleaf Home in the Third while she was using her fake name. For John, it was amazing. This woman had, out of nowhere, entered his life, and it was practically love at first sight. He and Audrey dated for about a year before they officially married on May 29th, 19th, 19th. Yeah, that means that Audrey was so good at hiding from the authorities that she actually managed to get legally married, hold down a new job, and be brazenly out in the open. In Audrey's mind, it was almost as if all that trouble in Alabama never happened. It was just a bad dream.

After the couple got married, Audrey took John's last name, and shortly afterwards, they moved across the country and settled down in New Hampshire, where they began to build a life together. Throughout their marriage, Audrey constantly talked to her new husband about her twin sister, Terry, who lived in Texas. And eventually, in the late summer of 1982, she left New Hampshire to visit her sister. During this time when her new husband believed she was visiting her twin sister in Texas, Audrey travels back to Florida and actually to Texas using a new alias, Terry Martin. A few weeks later, this Terry Martin calls John Homan to an unlawful. inform him that his wife, Robbie Hohman, had suddenly died from health complications while she was in Texas,

but that there would be no need for him to come because her body had already been donated to science. Obviously, this was quite the shock to John, and he didn't know how to respond. His wife had simply gone to see her sister, and now she was dead? From health complications? And her body had already been donated to science? Bonded in the pair's grief, they slowly get to know each other, over the phone. And over time, John tells her that he's really interested in meeting Terry, who we know is really Robbie, who is really Audrey. Pretty confusing, I know. But over the phone,

Terry agrees that the two of them need to meet to put Robbie's death behind them. And in November of 1982, just a few months after Robbie's quote unquote death, Terry, her twin, sister comes to New Hampshire to meet John after dyeing her hair blonde and losing weight. That's right. Audrey first lied to John and told him that her name was Robbie, then faked her own death, lost weight and dyed her hair blonde and returned back to him. And he bought it. He actually believed that this blonde and skinnier version of his ex-wife was his ex-wife's twin.

twin and the two started getting friendly with one another. This was weird to everyone that knew John and a lot of people in town including his friends and co-workers were suspicious of Terry's story. It just seemed a little too convenient that Robbie mysteriously died and her twin is now taking her place. And John's co-workers were actually so suspicious that they decided to do some research on their own. They looked up Robbie Holman and they weren't able to find anyone by that name. They also looked up the Medical Research Institute of Texas where Robbie's body was allegedly donated for science and it turns out it didn't exist and neither was the church that eulogized her funeral. John's friends actually took this information to the New Hampshire Police Department.

It turns out Robbie Holman never existed, which begged the question, who was this woman? And why was she pretending to be someone she wasn't? In the meantime, officers had to sit and wait for Terry, aka Robbie, aka Audrey, to make the next move. When they saw that Terry had found a job working as a secretary in January of 1983 in the town of Brattleboro, Vermont, they were quick to swoop in and make their arrest. While in custody, she's interrogated by Vermont state troopers, and, after some coaxing, finally admits that she's wanted in Alabama for some bad check charges and reveals to authorities that her real name isn't Robbie Holman.

It's Audrey Marie Hilly. Authorities in Alabama confirm this and more. While looking into Audrey Marie Hilly, they also come across a shocking detail. She was wanted in Alabama all right, but not just for bad checks, for murder as well. The authorities from Alabama inform the authorities from Vermont about Audrey's full laundry list of felony charges, and she is immediately extradited back to Alabama to stand trial, where she's convicted in less than three hours, and subsequently sentenced to life in prison for the murder of her husband, Frank Hilly. She also receives an additional 20 years for the attempted murder of her daughter, Caroline Hilly, shortly afterwards on June 9, 1983.

At the end of the trial, Audrey Marie Hilley stands to leave the courtroom and catches her daughter's eye. What would follow was chilling. While she locks eyes with her daughter, Audrey slowly smiles at her and mouths the words, I love you. While gesturing towards the hallway with her head, she was beckoning Carol to meet her. Carol shakes her head, no, and sobs, mouthing back, I can't, before her mother is escorted out of the room. After all of her fake names, fake stories, and her. fake lives. Audrey at this point was reduced to nothing but a number. Inmate number 135272.

At the Julia S. Tutweiler State Women's Prison in Wetumpka, Alabama, while in prison serving her life sentence, Audrey was considered to be a model prisoner. Her good behavior even earned her some supervised day passes from prison, and in February of 1987, she was given a free pass to visit her husband, John, who was still very much in love with Robbie. or Terry or Audrey. Well, her name didn't really matter that much to him. John just knew that deep down he still loved the woman he had fallen in love with, no matter what name she went by at the time.

After spending the night together in a motel, John left for a couple of hours to go on a food and errand run, but when he returned, all he found was an empty room. Audrey had, once again, vanished. After finding that Audrey had disappeared, John promptly calls the police and finds a note in the first of the house. room from his wife asking for his forgiveness. But Audrey's luck was finally about to run out. This time, she wasn't on the run for long. Only four days after deserting her husband at the motel,

Audrey crawled out of a wooded area near Aniston, cold, soaking wet, and disoriented. It's assumed that while on the run, she had been camping out in the cold, dark, wet woods, all alone, with no real food or clean water during a vicious thunderstorm. When she emerged from her hiding place in the woods, Audrey sought help from a woman named Sue Craft, an old elementary school friend who lived on a property that backed up to the forest. When Audrey finally made it to her old friend Sue's back porch looking for help, she was in a delirious state, completely unrecognizable, and was mistaken by Sue to be a transient. After seeing this disheveled, rambling woman on her back porch late at night, Sue called the police to report the strange and delirious person camping out on her porch,

and when they arrived, the police immediately recognized that this was no transient. It was Audrey Marie Hilly. Audrey was still conscious when the authorities arrived, but was suffering from convulsions and soon lost consciousness after being transported to the regional medical center in Anniston, Alabama. Shortly after arriving at the hospital, Audrey suddenly goes into cardiac arrest and is pronounced dead at five. 5.06 p.m. having died from exposure and hypothermia. It was at this point that Audrey Marie Hilly's lifelong campaign of manipulation, murder, and deception came to a permanent end.

The cold rain that was responsible for her death was still present in the days before the funeral, and a small group of mourners, including her husband John Homan, and her daughter, Carol Hilly, gathered at the forest lawn gardens on that cold, dark gray day. for her burial. Ironically, Audrey Marie Hilly was buried in the grave that was set aside for her years before. The plot directly next to Frank Hilly,

her first husband, and the man she was ultimately convicted of murdering. It seemed like on that cold day, the old adage that states, till death do us part, just wasn't applicable. At the end of the day, in the sordid case of Audrey Marie Hilly,

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Support the show by mentioning us at checkout, terms, and conditions apply. Hey, everybody, it's Colin here. Thank you for joining us for another week of murder in America. Courtney and I cannot tell you all enough how much we love everybody online and how thankful we are that everybody is out there listening. But as always, I want to shout out our new patrons this week. Hector Natal, Angel, Samantha Summers, Anna Ippolito, Dakota Mace, Kamikaze TV, Caitlin Pickens, and Yassena Karachur. Wow! Every single week, our Patreon grows and we are so thankful.

If you don't know what Patreon is, you can sign up on patreon.com and just search Murder in America. we post the ad-free version of every single episode on there, as soon as it goes live across all streaming platforms. We actually just got a manager, so we're going to be upping the Patreon game, getting a very consistent release schedule. Courtney and I are super excited. But yeah, there's so many things happening behind the scenes right now

that we can't wait to share with y'all. But in the meantime, the biggest thing you can do for us is head to Apple Podcasts. Leave us a five-star review if you haven't already. We love reading those. And you can follow us on Instagram at Murder in America. if you want to see photos from every case in every episode. But it's Colin.

This is a quick outro. We love y'all, and we'll see you next week.