Eric Francis - A Wifes Revenge: The Story of Susan Wright and a Marriage that Ended in Murder

Dear Reader:

The book you are about to read is the latest bestseller from the St. Martins True Crime Library, the imprint the New York Times calls the leader in true crime! Each month, we offer you a fascinating account of the latest, most sensational crime that has captured the national attention. St Martins is the publisher of bestselling true crime author and crime journalist Kieran Crowley, who explores the dark, deadly links between a prominent Manhattan surgeon and the disappearance of his wife fifteen years earlier in THE SURGEONS WIFE. Carlton Smiths COLDBLOODED details the death of a respected attorneyand the secret, sordid life of his wife. In Edgar Award-nominated DARK DREAMS, legendary FBI profiler Roy Hazelwood and bestselling crime author Stephen G. Michaud shine light on the inner workings of Americas most violent and depraved murderers. In the book you now hold, A WIFES REVENGE, Eric Francis tells the story of Susan Wright, who stabbed her husband to end his alleged domestic abuse.

St. Martins True Crime Library gives you the stories behind the headlines. Our authors take you right to the scene of the crime and into the minds of the most notorious murderers to show you what really makes them tick. St. Martins True Crime Library paperbacks are better than the most terrifying thriller, because its all true! The next time you want a crackling good read, make sure its got the St. Martins True Crime Library logo on the spineyoull be up all night!

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St. Martins

True Crime Library Titles by

Eric Francis

The Dartmouth Murders

Broken Vows

ERIC FRANCIS

NOTE: If you purchased this book without a cover you should be aware that this book is stolen property. It was reported as unsold and destroyed to the publisher, and neither the author nor the publisher has received any payment for this stripped book.

A WIFES REVENGE

Copyright 2005 by Eric Francis.

Cover photo of bed Kim Steele/Getty Images.
Photo of woman Pat Sullivan/AP Wide World Photos.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews. For information address St. Martins Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010.

ISBN: 0-312-98519-3
EAN: 80312-98519-6

Printed in the United States of America

St. Martins Paperbacks edition / June 2005

St. Martins Paperbacks are published by St. Martins Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010.

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Because of the way the case unfolded, the prosecution directed at Susan Wright did not need to spell out the entire sequence of events nor all the exact details as to how they thought she had murdered her husband.

As a result, the first three chapters contain descriptions of the circumstances surrounding the death and burial of Jeffrey Wright that are products of the authors imagination based upon the prosecutions theories of murder and motive as they were presented both inside the courtroom and in press interviews outside of it.

The only person capable of knowing with absolute certainty what happened is the defendant, Susan Wright, and, as the reader will learn, she has consistently given an account of her husbands killing and the events which precipitated and followed it that is completely at odds with the version advanced by the prosecution. Nonetheless, a jury of her peers found the prosecutions case compelling beyond a reasonable doubt and unanimously convicted her.

The descriptions of specific actions, thoughts, feelings, and motivations that are ascribed to Susan Wright in the opening chapters are written as the author imagined they would be if she had indeed acted in a manner consistent with the prosecutions theories of a premeditated murder. The scenario that is described is one possibility as to how such a killing might have occurred and it should not be taken as either undisputed fact nor as the authors personal conclusion as to what actually transpired.

At the time of this writing Susan Wrights request for a new trial was still pending before the Texas Court of Appeals.

The material in this book derives from public records, personal interviews, and news reports from the Houston Chronicle, KHOU, KTRK, KPRC, CNN, Fox News, CBS News 48 Hours, Oxygen Networks Snapped, the Associated Press, ABC News Good Morning America, Court TV, The National Law Journal, Houston Business Journal, Texas Lawyer, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Austin American-Statesman, and People magazine among others.

A WIFES
REVENGE

Several hours had passed since attorney Neal Davis had been hurriedly called out for an unusual weekend meeting with a desperate clienta pretty, frightened, suburban mother of two young children on Houstons tranquil northwestern edge.

But now, as Saturday afternoon turned to evening, the horror of what he had seen sticking partially out of the ground beside her patio, where the family dog had been digging, was still causing him to shiver as he walked through the front doors of the Harris County District Attorneys Office.

The Intake Division staff whod pulled weekend duty knew immediately that something was wrong just by looking at Davis. His hands were shaking uncontrollably as he turned over a business card from his prestigious Houston law firm and struggled to write the womans Berry Tree Drive address on the back of it.

Davis stammered that he was a lawyer, but because of attorneyclient privilege he couldnt tell the authorities who he was representing. Handing his card to Assistant District Attorney Terese Buess, Davis paused and then, in a spooked voice, he got to the point of his visit. Theres a dead body at this address and I cant say anything else.

At the end of that bloody evening there was only one person remainingone spouse, one killer, one survivor, one witness. She would be the only one who knew with certainty what had really taken place. But even to her, looking back, the whole thing seemed like it had been an out-of-body experiencea foggy troubled dream.

When she was finally forced to explain why it had all unfolded in such a confused and tangled manner, her reasons would be nearly as unnerving as what she had actually done. She would detail a life completely at odds with what her family and her friends thought they had known of her, a life of private despair hidden in plain view behind a faade of pleasant tranquillity, a beautifully wrapped package containing dark secrets that had brought her to the breaking point.

But the search for an explanation would also fall to the authoritiespolice, detectives, medical examiners, and prosecutorsand when they sifted throughwhat remained and put the blood-soaked pieces of the puzzle back together, they came to a very different conclusion about what had really happened to an unsuspecting husband one winter evening in Houston...

There were a lot of things on Jeffrey Wrights mind that Texas afternoon, but dying wasnt one of them.

It was the first week of January, with memories of New Years Eve still fresh, and temperatures along the Gulf of Mexico had soared clear into the 70s. But over the weekend, winter bit back hard. Houston had plunged nearly to the freezing point, barely eking out a high of 40 degrees on Sunday.