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Crime and Punishment: For Love or Money
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Today, Celeste Beard Johnson is serving a double life sentence at a maximum security prison outside of Gatesville, Texas for allegedly manipulating her lesbian lover to kill her elderly, millionaire-husband Steven Beard. Tracey Tarlton, the confessed killer, is currently serving a 20-year sentence in a separate prison in Texas. Both women tell conflicting stories of the events that led to the murder of Steven Beard. In this episode, both women share their stories, both still holding truth in their own version.

Steven Beard called 911 after being shot in the abdomen the night of 2 October 1999, in an affluent neighbourhood of Austin, Texaas. A single shotgun shell was left behind by the assailant and was the only piece of evidence the investigators had. Police interviewed numerous friends and relatives. One name kept coming up in the interviews, Tracey Tarlton.

The 42-year-old manager of a local bookstore had met Celeste Beard Johnson at a psychiatric hospital in Austin and the two women had become friends. Police officers went to question Tracey, who admitted to having a shotgun and an affair with Celeste. After testing the shotgun, police were able to definitively determine the shell left at the murder scene was shot from Tracey's gun. The next day, Tarlton was arrested for murder and began telling the authorities the dramatic tale of her relationship with Celeste.


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