Meet, Marry, Murder - Season 1, Episode 23 - Hall - Full Episode | Forensic Files

[music playing] NARRATOR: Trucking tycoon Bill Hall Junior was a hit with the ladies, even at just
16 when he won the heart of local girl Frances. He had a baby face, and the most prettiest
smile, the most cutest nose. I mean, Bill was just-- he was hot. NARRATOR: Fast forward 31 years, and Bill
was still winning hearts. This time, of the so-called exotic dancer Bonnie Contreras.
It was easy for me to start loving him. NARRATOR: The two women became locked in a bitter fight
for Bill's affections. One played dirty sending incendiary message attachments. Video footage of her having sex
with your husband, the only man you've been with your entire life. At some point, you have to say this has to stop.
Leave me alone. NARRATOR: When the cheat, his wife, and his mistress met in a high-speed chase on Route 1604,
tragedy was around the corner. Never in a million years would I have thought my husband would have been cheating on me
or living this double life. [music playing] NARRATOR: For a long time, there were
three people in the marriage of Bill and Frances Hall. There was Bonnie too. Now only two of them are alive to tell the tale.
I know she's not this vicious person that they portray her to be, just like I'm not this home-wrecking, gold-digging
person they portray me to be. She's a nut-case. She is what you considered your typical psycho
girlfriend crazy-ass. You know you're with a married man. Now it takes two to tango, I agree.
He ain't going to leave his wife. He ain't going to leave his wife. You don't mind being like this?
NARRATOR: This is a story that began in 1979 on the west side of San Antonio in Texas.
I remember us living in the projects. They were called the Cassiano Homes. There was two of us in the beginning with my mom,
and then she later had two more children. And then there was four of us. We come from very, very humble beginnings.
When I'm staying humble, poor, poverty-level poor. Bill lived fairly close to her,
and they were high school sweethearts. She was working at a movie theater, and they started dating after that.
And this love affair began, and they've never looked back. NARRATOR: Trucking tycoon Bill Hall
Junior was a hit with the ladies, even at 16 years old. We started as a friendship.
He was a real respectful guy. With me, he was very respectful, and I think he knew I was a good girl.
NARRATOR: As teens, Bill Hall Junior and Frances [inaudible] were very different.
Bill is this budding cowboy. Every time you see him, he's got cowboy boots on, cowboy hat.
He's got all the gear. Back then, I thought he was the most cutest guy I had ever met.
He had a baby face, and the most prettiest smile, the most cutest nose. I mean, Bill was just--
he was hot. He looked good in his jeans too. He's also determined to be a success in life.
He's one of those risk takers. And by 1981, Bill can't hold back anymore, and he proposes to Frances.
We got married at 18. He got down on bended knee in front of my mother's house, and it was 10 o'clock because my mom had a strict curfew.
You got to go to bed at 10 o'clock. And he got down on his knees in front of the side door
that we came in, and I was like, are you serious? And he goes, yes, I want to marry you.
And I was already in love with him. I don't think there's probably a day from the day she met
Bill that she didn't love him. NARRATOR: Children came along soon after. Bill's pride and joy.
Nicki came along April 1st in 1983, and Justin was born June 7th 1987. NARRATOR: Bill and Frances were determined
to give their children the best start in life. She's working some odd jobs like cleaning.
He gets a job at his aunt's trucking company, but Bill has a dream. He wants his own company.
And in the early 1980s, the couple gets their first truck. They hire half a dozen employees,
and they start Bill Hall Junior's Trucking. By 1989, they have become the largest trucking company
in the entire state of Texas. They're doing well. Bill Hall Junior's Trucking is worth $12 million.
NARRATOR: Within just a few years, Bill and Frances, still in their 20s, have become pillars of their local community,
but fortune came with the realization that Bill and Frances wanted different things from life.
Once Bill's business took off and they started making a lot of money, he enjoyed that money.
He did things like travel to Vegas. He showered his friends with gifts. She's at home making tortillas and playing
bingo with his mother. NARRATOR: And when the Hall's two children grew up and left
home, Bill had even more free time to indulge his hobbies and whims. Bill loved motorcycles, loved to ride fast.
I had never been around a motorcycle, but he always had them. He loved them. I bought him a Harley Davidson, a V-rod for his 40th birthday.
NARRATOR: Bill also indulged in another passion-- women. He was a very successful, very handsome man,
and I think he had women throwing themselves at him. He starts going out more and more, hitting the bars,
buying the drinks, having affairs. He was a businessman. He knew how to talk to people, how to get things done,
and how to provide, and I think that women really loved that quality about him. Unfortunately, to his demise.
At one point, Bill has an affair with his cousin's wife and gets her pregnant. NARRATOR: Friends of the family say that despite the one night
stands, Frances and Bill's marriage, by now three decades old, stayed strong. Their love was just never ending.
Those two were never going to be apart. They were made to be together, and all of the things
that we see in our daily life every day that cause families to break up, they had overcome those hurdles, buying a house,
raising two children, growing a business from the ground up, good times and bad.
I said to myself, well, you know what? I put in a lot of time and effort with you,
and a lot had to do with I loved this man. I genuinely loved this man. NARRATOR: Everything changed for Bill and Frances
in the autumn of 2010 when Bonnie Contreras entered the life of Mr. And Mrs. Hall.
I first met Bill when I was at a spinach festival in my hometown. NARRATOR: Former exotic dancer Bonnie Contreras
hailed from Crystal City, a farming community two hours southwest of San Antonio, and was
present when the so-called spinach capital of the world hosted a festival. I was actually helping my aunt sell chicken on a stick.
He was passing by with a group of friends. They kind of just backtracked themselves back to the booth,
and Bill and I just started talking. And I kind of just ignored everybody else, and we kind of hit it off right away.
I came home, and a week later, I find out that he's looking for me. NARRATOR: When Bonnie met up a month later
with the handsome stranger 19 years her senior, she had one pressing question on her mind.
When I first met him, I didn't see a ring on him so I figured, oh, he's a single man.
He asked me if I wanted to go out for lunch. I accepted. Our first date was at a restaurant called Scuzzi's.
It's an Italian restaurant. I asked him, I said, are you married? He said, yes, I'm married.
I'm separated, and I'm going through a divorce. So after that, I felt like it wasn't a necessity for me
to keep hounding him about it or for me to keep asking him questions about his family.
NARRATOR: This is where the two different versions of the story of the Halls begins to emerge.
For Bonnie that chance meeting with Bill was the beginning of the rest of her life.
He was a very special man that came to my life when I was only 27 years old. We connected right away.
It became an everyday thing where him and I were just constantly together from morning to night.
He was going to become my husband one day and the future, you know-- the future father of my kids.
NARRATOR: What was Frances thinking around this time? Nothing. She didn't know. It's so weird because people have said,
well, she put up with his ways and she knew about it. No, I didn't. No, I didn't.
Not once did I know that Bill had been messing around with-- around my back or anything
like that. I wasn't the type of woman that, oh, OK, well, as long as he comes home to me and blah, blah, blah.
Uh-uh. Uh-uh. I'm Hispanic. I got some spunk in me. NARRATOR: So how would the Hispanic woman with spunk
react when she found out? I made the choice, and I said to myself, I'm going to forgive him because it's been a hell of a ride,
and I'm not ready to leave this man or anything. And first and foremost, I loved him.
As hurt as I was, I was more-- I was worried about what he was going through, but I figure I can handle this.
I'm going to handle this. I'm going to-- I'm going to save my marriage. NARRATOR: If only things could be that straightforward.
According to Bonnie, Bill Junior had decided to stick with her. I wasn't trying to hurt anybody.
It was a decision he made, and I was respecting it. And I guess the decision he made,
it just wasn't what other people wanted, and that's where things got really bad.
NARRATOR: Attorney Leigh Cutter doesn't believe Bill was ever truly serious about Bonnie.
I think it's easier for him to have the wife and keep her on the side. He had no intention of putting that woman
in Frances's place ever. You ask his cousins, his sisters, everyone that worked for him, they knew Bill.
They knew where his heart was, and maybe his heart and his genitalia were in different rooms.
I don't know. But there was no way he was going to leave Frances, especially for Bonnie.
NARRATOR: That wasn't what Bill was telling Bonnie. Bill never talked bad about his wife.
He said, I'm always going to love her. She's the mother of my kids. She gave me 32 years of her life.
I'm always going to respect her for that. He goes, but I'm just not in love with her no more.
NARRATOR: For almost three years, Bill Hall Junior led a double life. One day after another, a week, then a month,
then years, and it kind of just started getting more intense. NARRATOR: But between 2010 and 2013,
Frances says she didn't know that Bill was seeing Bonnie. I would have never in a million years
guessed that my husband had been living a double life. Never. We were so in sync.
I mean, it's almost like-- man, the last year of his life, like, we were boom, boom, together.
We were together every day. Every day he would come to my house at anywhere from 6:00, 7 o'clock in the morning.
We'd spend all day together, lunch, breakfast, dinner. Bonnie's satisfied. She's got her man, and does she have her man.
He buys her two cars. He's paying her rent. He tells her she doesn't have to work.
I mean, why should she? He can afford everything. He pays for breast enhancements.
This goes on for three years. NARRATOR: Leigh Cutter would one day defend Frances in court.
She has her own opinion about what made Bonnie stick with Bill Hall Junior. Evil gold-digger.
Is that OK? I mean, incredibly manipulative woman. NARRATOR: Not the worst thing said about Bonnie.
I've gotten more than 100,000 messages. I've gotten bad ones to good ones to God bless you to go kill yourself
to you deserve to die too. NARRATOR: Bonnie Contreras is no stranger to being called
a gold-digger, but she insists that what she and Bill had was real. He was a very loving, very free-spirited person.
He was very funny, very easygoing man. Very, very easy to get along with. NARRATOR: One version of the whole story
says that in September 2013, Bill Hall Junior had started to lose interest in Bonnie.
Bill starts to get a little tired of this relationship, so he starts being a little distant.
And the spigot turns off, and Bonnie is wondering what's going on? I mean, my man and my money.
I mean, what's happening? So she starts texting him, and he's not responding like he used to.
She starts sending a barrage of texts. She tries to reach him by phone. He's not returning her phone calls, so she texts him.
And she finally gets to the point where she's just had it, and she threatens him.
And she says, you respond to me, or I will tell Frances everything. She won't let up.
She keeps threatening him, so he finally says, go ahead. Tell Frances. NARRATOR: After 32 years of marriage,
Frances Hall was about to find out about her husband's double life. It was in mid-September 2013 that Bonnie
Contreras brought herself very directly into Frances Hall's life. I get a call on my phone, and all I heard is, Frances.
And I go, yeah. She goes, you don't know who I am, but I need to talk to you about your husband.
And I thought, oh my god. He's been in an accident. And she went on, no, I need to talk to you about Bill.
I've been having an affair with Bill, and we need to talk because this needs to stop.
We need to get this out in the open. Frances was angry with Bill. I think she was hurt, and she felt humiliated.
NARRATOR: She stood by him, despite the provocation of his relationship with Bonnie, who let Frances
know what they were up to. I started sending her pictures, and, of course, I sent her a picture that Bill had taken of me of my behind.
NARRATOR: A little more than that according to Frances. She sent-- was it two or three videos?
I know there was one her from behind, one from her in the front. I don't know what the other one was.
I can't remember. It might have been two. Sending you not just pictures but actual video footage of her
having sex with your husband, the only man you've been with your entire life. NARRATOR: After one message, Frances
decided to confront Bill. We get inside his Range Rover, and he's driving, and I get in on the passenger side.
And as soon as he puts it in drive, I go, what's going on? And he's driving, and, I mean, his--
the tears are coming out, and I'm looking at him like, oh, god. And, I mean, did I get mad?
Did I have a temper? Of course, I did. I grabbed his phone. I threw it at him in the car.
It hit him in the head. It shattered. The phone broke. And then that's when I asked him how
long has this been going on? And he wouldn't tell me, and he finally said almost three years.
And I was like-- I was devastated. NARRATOR: Frances suspected Bill's mistress was attracted
to him for one simple reason. She got my phone number, and she contacted me. She was telling me about the company, about the money.
She was scuffling about how she had busted her butt from the ground up. I said, hey, by all means, I'm not trying
to interfere in any of that. She kind of said, well, it's not fair that you're just
going to be sitting pretty. And I said, you know what? I said, just leave me out of it.
I said-- and that was one of the first times that her and I kind of got into it.
NARRATOR: His secret life exposed, Bill was torn between his two worlds. He went back to Bonnie.
A war of words broke out between his heartbroken children and his defiant mistress.
If you've ever experienced infidelity, either as a child when your parents, one of them
were unfaithful, or as a partner in a marriage, it's devastating on both ends. Of course, the kids were mad.
His daughter had been contacting me leaving nasty messages. NARRATOR: Then Frances weighed in.
She started texting me, and when she started texting me, it was not pleasant text messages.
She was talking everywhere from my daughter, from personal things, so then I hit back.
You want to get nasty with me? Well, I'm going to get nasty with you. Some of the things that Bonnie said
were really, really cutting deep. She talked about how she had had a hysterectomy,
and she wasn't a real woman. She sent Frances diagrams and called her a broken woman,
hollow, empty, a lot of very explicit language, and it was pretty nasty. As soon as she didn't get what she wanted, money,
she threatened him. He goes, we'd break up for a while, and I was fine. He goes, there was times I wanted to call it off,
and I would. And then she'd call that she was doing this, doing that to herself, that she was going to tell me.
She knew about where my kids lived. I'm not nobody's doormat. NARRATOR: Feeling under pressure,
Bonnie he threw Bill out. It was actually the second time that I had kicked him out.
I kind of told him, look, I'm fed up with this. I'm fed up with her. I'm fed up with you.
I'm fed up with the kids. I threw out all his clothes. I changed the locks. I changed bank accounts.
I did all of the sort so I would have no contact with him. NARRATOR: Bill decided to give the marriage one more go.
Bill was struggling with this. He didn't know how to get this woman out of his life
and fix his marriage with Frances, and it's something he very clearly did not want to lose.
I had only witnessed him that low, and that was when his mother passed. Instead of me being pissed, I told him, you know what?
It's OK. We'll figure this out, and he was like, are you sure, [inaudible]? Are you going to leave me? And I go, no.
No. I go, I'm mad as freaking hell, and I really need for you to leave. I go, but we'll figure this out.
We'll work with it. Frances and Bill were committed to staying together. And that just doesn't-- that doesn't come from just
Frances's side of the house. That comes from Bill's side too. NARRATOR: Having had time to cool down,
Bonnie decided she wasn't going to give up her man so easily. The third person in the marriage was not about to leave.
On the 8th of October 2013, Bill and Frances were at a nearby hotel trying to work things out.
I wanted my boyfriend back home, and so I went looking for him. And I kid you not.
I started looking for him at all the hotels. I couldn't find him, and I said, he has to be over here
at the resort off of 151. So little did I know, I was driving there, and I went up to the entrance.
And I see her car parked behind the Range Rover. And I said, what? This doesn't look right.
She shows up to the hotel, and she lies to the bellhop to get in. I told the concierge to tell him
that Miss Contreras was there. When the concierge was talking to Bill, I could hear Frances in the background
yelling, and fighting with him, and stuff like that. And I guess she then wanted to come downstairs,
and he didn't let her come downstairs because then that would be a scuffle and a fight.
NARRATOR: For Leigh Cutter, this was when Frances Hall began to lose patience with Bill.
It got to the point where, at some point, you have to say, this has to stop. Leave me alone.
Stop. NARRATOR: Frances had had enough. The following day, there was a violent altercation
back at the Hall family home, and Bill was sent unceremoniously back to his lover.
She got very physical with him. Lamps broke in the house, and she banged up his bike really bad.
And she was really-- like, this is really coming to reality. NARRATOR: Would Bill Hall Junior have bounced back and forth
between his wife and his mistress forever, or was Bonnie right to believe that this would have been the end of his marriage to Frances?
I do know that he was seeing a counselor because I did accompany him to that counselor.
It was kind of like a divorce counselor. I guess he just wasn't happy in his marriage anymore,
and like he told me-- and he was honest. He goes, I'm always going to love that woman.
That's the mother of my kids, but I'm just not in love with her no more. NARRATOR: Not what Frances was hearing.
He comes around and not begs me, but he tells me, I love you. You're the woman I love.
NARRATOR: One of the three people in the marriage of Bill and Frances Hall had to take a step back if matters were not
going to get very ugly, but neither Bill nor Frances nor Bonnie seemed in a mood
to let go of what they had. DISPATCH: Bexar County 9-1-1. What is your location?
MAN: Uh, 1604 right passed the Medina River. A man needs medical attention immediately.
NARRATOR: The day after Bill returned to Bonnie's home, the two of them decided to take a trip.
It was the 10th of October 2013. We were supposed to go on a bike rally, so we woke up.
He took his meds. I went to a doctor's visit with him because he had gotten surgery on one of his shoulders.
We left home, and he got on his bike. And he tossed me his cell phone and the keys,
and we were driving down 1604 going towards Macdona Lacoste Road. NARRATOR: With Bill on his Harley Davidson and Bonnie
driving behind him, the lovers were heading for Corpus Christi, a popular tourist destination
on the Gulf of Mexico. But just minutes into their journey, the couple encountered Frances Hall.
So I go to a volleyball game. My niece was having a volleyball game, Miranda. She saw her husband, Bill, on his motorcycle
and not far behind him Bonnie in the family's Range Rover. NARRATOR: Until this moment, Frances had only seen
videos and pictures of Bonnie. They had not met in person. And that's when she actually physically sees
Bonnie Contreras for the very first time. 1604 is a loop in San Antonio, and she's
at one of the crossroads. And she's sitting there in their family's Escalade, and she sees Bill go by on his very distinct baby
blue Harley Davidson. And then she sees her family's-- her brand new supercharged Range Rover and Bonnie
in the driver's seat. Well, I'm coming this way, and I notice a bike. And I go, hey, that's Bill.
Didn't think it-- in my mind, I go, oh, he's going to Hank's to go park his bike.
About a few car lengths down, I saw his car, the Range Rover. And I was like-- well, as I'm driving, mind you, we're passing each other.
Bill passed me. I'm passing this way. Here comes the Range Rover. She sees me. She passes me.
She's coming, and she starts giving me the bird. And she said I grabbed the steering wheel,
and I squeezed it so hard. And I said, that's it. I'm going to confront this woman.
I turned around, and there we go. We start cat and mousing each other. She steps on the brake.
I'm speeding up. Where we going fast? Probably. I wasn't looking at my speedometer.
There was cars. She'd pass a car, and I'd pass right in back of her. She'd step on the brake, and I'd come close.
And we just started going down the street. It seemed like for miles. And all through the time, I'd kind of move over
and I'd tell her, pull over. Nope. And pull over. And nope. I was terrified. The only thing that was going through my head was Bill
and me flipping over because we were going so fast. As soon as she flipped me off, man, I just passed her.
I parked, and I always remember that I said, please, dear God, just let me confront this girl.
You know what? If she wants him, she can have him. I had even thought to myself, we're done.
That's it. I can't do this. If he wants to be with that skank, go for it. I'm not going to do this.
I'm too old to be doing this, and I turned around. And there we go. NARRATOR: Frances got back in the car.
She sees Bill around that time. I'm coming up the hill, and she's braking and braking.
And I know she's taunting me, but me being the dumb person, playing along with her.
And at that point, it's like I told you, I think I still wanted to-- I'm going to tell you, you know?
I'm going to tell you, and I'm going to tell you a lot of you. She starts braking, and I see that Bill starts pulling over.
And I'm like, OK. There was a point where Bill pulls off to the side, and he slows down some.
And Bonnie and Frances's are still playing brake check. And Frances looks over, and she sees Bill.
And he makes eye contact with her, and he goes, oh, because he knows, oh my god,
my wife who I'm working it out with now has run into my mistress. All of a sudden, I look this way,
and she just slammed on her brake. I mean, it was so fast that I went like this,
and then I just stepped on my brake. NARRATOR: In Bonnie's version of the story,
not until after the impact did she realize it was Frances driving behind her. I felt somebody hit me from behind,
and I thought it was an accident at first. It's a bump, a hit. You know, you feel, like, oh, somebody hit me.
They're not paying attention. But then when I felt it for the second time, I said, what the hell?
And so I looked through the rear view mirror, and I saw it was her. And I got thrown on to oncoming traffic.
And so I was fighting traffic, and when I was fighting traffic I managed to merge in front of Bill.
And by this time, I'm in front, he's in the back of me, and Frances is riding behind him.
NARRATOR: Bill is suddenly in no one's rearview mirror. I remember him pulling over, and I'm
like, where is this guy? But I remember seeing dust, and I was like-- and I thought, well, it might have been a dirt devil.
You're out in the country. So I'm coming back this way looking for Bill, but I remember I didn't go that far back.
I see where the bike flew, and then I see Bill fly. And I just started screaming at the top of my lungs and crying.
NARRATOR: Passing motorists had called the emergency services. BILL HALL JUNIOR: Bexar County 9-1-1.
What is your location? MAN: Uh, 1604 right passed the Medina River. A man needs medical attention immediately.
NARRATOR: Bonnie Contreras got to the scene of the accident moments after her love rival Frances Hall.
I was just so scared, and I was screaming. I was crying. I was calling his sister.
I called-- I actually called Hank Hall first, and my cousin was so mad at me because she said,
you need to call and hang up and call the cops right away. Well, by that time, other people had
already reported the accident. NARRATOR: Bill Hall Junior lay injured at the side of the road.
Emergency services were on the scene within minutes. What had Frances done to her high school
sweetheart and husband? She didn't know that Bill had run into the back of her vehicle.
And then she goes, where's Bill at? And I think at that point, the panic sets in.
My sister, Connie, calls me. Where are you at? I go, instead of answering I don't know, I told her,
I can't find Bill. She goes, what are you talking about? I can't find Bill. She goes, what are you talking about?
And by then, I'm kind of hysterical. I go, I don't know where he's at. I'm looking for Bill, and I don't know where he's at.
He was off of 1604 by the statuary right here on Macdona Lacoste Road, and I can't find him.
Bill's Harley had gone in between the two vehicles sending him flying into the air and crashing
down hard on the pavement. He has no helmet on. NARRATOR: In the chaos, Frances maintains to this day
that she was oblivious as to what had happened. She continued driving the road. As I'm turning around looking for Bill coming this way,
my sister-in-law calls me. And I go, hello? What did you do? And I go, huh? What did you do?
What did you do to Billy? I go, what the hell are you talking about? I'm looking for him.
She goes, no, you hit him. I go, what? NARRATOR: Frances Hall headed to find Bill Hall Junior,
her teenage sweetheart, her husband, and the father of her children. Somebody was wearing a suit, a uniform, and they grabbed me.
And I went like this, and I just ran to Bill. And I remember my sister had Bill in between her legs, his head.
And I go, what happened? And my sister's bawling, and Bill has this thing, the mask.
By then, I guess the volunteer fire department got there. And they're putting the mask, and he took it off.
And he goes, I can't breathe. I can't breathe. And we put it back on, and he kept putting it off.
There was, like, two or three times he busted it. I can't breathe, and he would tell me, [inaudible],,
I can't breathe. [inaudible], I can't breathe. Like, I can't breathe. And I was just, like, never thinking--
I just assume he-- I don't know what I assume. I thought he had an accident. NARRATOR: What happened next is disputed between the two women.
Frances claims Bonnie was yelling for her to be arrested. Bonnie remembers nothing like that.
Either way, Frances was soon on her way to a police station and not the hospital,
where she wanted to go to look after Bill. The officer looked at me, and he goes, are you his wife?
And I go, yes. And he goes, turn around, and he put the handcuffs on me. And he took me straight to the car.
They put me in the back of a SUV just to calm me down because I was just so hysterical,
and I had so much anxiety that they wouldn't let me near him. And I'm glad because I don't have--
I don't have those images. NARRATOR: The fight between two women over one man had become a fight for the life of Bill Hall Junior.
[music playing] Bill Hall Junior, the 50-year-old trucking magnate with a larger-than-life personality,
had died moments after the helicopter took off. At the police station in San Antonio,
Frances Hall heard the news. I remember hearing the news on the TV, and it was still in shock.
I remember with the phones, you don't know numbers anymore. All you know is names, and I couldn't remember
anybody's phones number. And I remember being in that cell, and I remember I kept calling Bill's mobile for him
to answer. And I finally remembered my sister, and I go, what happened? She goes, Bill died.
And I go, no. I remember begging my sister to get me out of here. I need to go with him.
Please get me out of here. And she goes, we're trying. We're trying. Investigators go to the scene, and they
see the damage on the Harley inflicted by Frances's car. That night, they took me to the magistrate--
or that morning. I can't remember. All I remember is that they transferred me across the street or something, and they kept
me there for the longest time. And I was still in shock because I was like, no, and I think that was what they told me they
were charging me with murder. In Texas, we have what's called felony murder. NARRATOR: Bill had died while Frances was
allegedly committing a felony. Because she was in a vehicle, it's considered a deadly weapon.
And so just the mere act of her following Bonnie and telling her to pull over, that's
considered aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. It's a felony that carries 2 to 20 years in prison in Texas.
Even if they didn't convict her of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, the mere fact
that she was potentially attempting to do that and someone dies, felony murder. Thought that this was so, like--
this only happens in TV. I could not believe this. I-- when I finally-- when we finally said that we were going
to trial and this and that, I thought, well, the truth is going to come out. They're going to see that it was an accident.
They're going to see that I would have never hurt him. They're going to see that I loved this man, that I didn't
hurt him, and they might have-- show mercy on me. I never really thought I was going to go to prison.
Never. NARRATOR: Bonnie Contreras was satisfied with the charge. The second she turned around, she
was already committing a crime. When you start to give chase to somebody at that rate of speed,
you're going to harm somebody. You're either going to run them off the road. You're going to cause a major accident.
Somebody was bound to get hurt when she gave that chase. I don't know if she thought it was going to be me,
or if she thought it was going to be him, or both. I don't know. But to me, I mean, she killed him.
She took his life. NARRATOR: Three years later, those claims were tested in court.
A witness for the prosecution, Bonnie took the stand. I basically told them what I saw,
and I told them that she started hitting me from behind. I was in back of me, and I just saw her come up to him,
and I thought in my head, she's not going to do this. And then I said, she hit him, and he went flying.
And she didn't stop, and she still kept chasing me. I didn't do this intentionally.
I know I didn't do this intentionally. And it's so weird because he was talking to me and everything,
and then I thought, oh, he's going to have a long recovery, but he'll be OK. Frances' bumper is taken out and shown
to the jury, the bumper that hit the other bumper over, and over, and over again.
The prosecution argues that this was a woman in rage, and it was this woman's rage that
caused the death of this man. There was photographic evidence of the Escalade on the rear right side.
The damage was shown or presented to show that that was actually the part of the vehicle that
hit Bill's motorcycle. NARRATOR: Leigh Cutter and her defense team presented a very different version
of what had happened that fateful day in October 2013. I have always maintained that Bonnie Contreras is the reason
that Bill Hall is dead. If you look at Bonnie's childish behavior once Frances decides to turn around,
she's telling her to pull over, and Bonnie's brake checking her. She's flipping her off.
NARRATOR: The defense claim that Bonnie had slammed on her breaks causing Frances to swerve, and at that moment
Bill had plowed into the back of Frances's car. She didn't know that Bill had run
into the back of her vehicle, which is also people say, well, how is that even possible?
Imagine where you're at. You are just complete tunnel vision chasing down this terrible woman who has been tormenting you.
NARRATOR: On the 8th of September 2016, the jury returned their verdict to a packed gallery
of friends and family. The verdict came in, I think, around 7:30 or 8:00 in the evening.
The courtroom is-- it's a decent size, but there were people pouring out all the way into the hallways, in the galleys,
everywhere watching. The jury's verdict was her guilty of murder and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
No one was prepared for that guilty verdict. NARRATOR: It was a devastating blow to Frances
and the whole family. Frances was potentially facing 99 years or life in prison.
They immediately took Frances into custody, and I just remember her looking terrified.
She had no idea what to do. I had some guards that were there, and they're pretty cool--
not cool. They were being, sweet and this is what's going to happen and this and that.
And then they took me. NARRATOR: But Frances Hall's lawyers believed there was still hope.
In Texas, a defendant can request that their sentence is determined by a jury, and that's exactly what Frances did.
Could the 53-year-old killer win some mercy from the court? The defense argues that this was a case of sudden passion.
And that means an experience so profound that you are not capable of clear thinking.
It's an experience so out of body that it renders the mind incapable of cool reflection.
Now that wouldn't change the conviction, but it could certainly change the level of punishment
from 5 to 99 to a range of 2 to 20 years. I figured 99, you know-- I figured I'm going to spend the rest of my life there.
I'm not going to see my kids or my grandkids. I'm not going to see my family. NARRATOR: Arguing against this plea
for clemency, Bonnie Contreras. She says that her-- she never meant to hurt either of us,
but at that precise moment, she wanted to cause harm to me, and maybe it backfired on her.
And it just instead of me, it was him. I know she was going through a lot, but just--
I just-- I really wish she would have made such a different choice and not given me chase
that day because had she not turned around and given chase, he would still be here.
NARRATOR: When the jury's verdict on Frances' whole sentence came in, they made it very clear
where their sympathies lay. They found her that she had acted in sudden passion,
which is a mitigating fact. That reduced her sentence to a maximum of 20 years and a minimum of two years in prison.
And, ultimately, the jury gave her two years in prison. I thought, OK, it beats 99.
It beats the rest of my life. And I figured I can do two years. I can do 730 days.
I can do that. Not to say-- and even now, I don't care what anybody says. I should not have served a day in jail, a day in prison,
but, OK. I feel like two years, it's no justification for me, but she did her time.
And I know she suffered while doing her time. NARRATOR: After two years in jail,
Frances was free to begin rebuilding her life, but a life without her husband, Bill, in it.
In September of 2018, Frances is released from prison and returns home to her family.
NARRATOR: Bill and Frances Hall met in their teens. Their love spanned over three decades,
and for Frances, it lives on. Frances will always tell you, I took a vow, and I meant what I said.
And I'm a woman of my word. Sicker, poorer, for better, for worse, I will stay with Bill Hall, and that's what she did.
NARRATOR: In the meantime, Bonnie Contreras is learning to live without the man she thought she'd be
with for the rest of her life. Bill's missed every day. Yes, he is. He's missed every single day of our lives.
He was a grand man. Kind of hard to surpass, and he will always be a special man in my life, but we got to keep pushing forward.
We can't look back. Bill was a good man, a great man. He was the most exceptional person
I had ever met in my life. He was the best husband, the best father. Am I ever going to find another Bill?
Hell no. God broke the mold with that one. [music playing]

Frances Hall was humiliated when her childhood sweetheart Bill had a long affair. The outcome of her rage would be devastating for both women.

Though wedded couples vow to stay together until death do they part, this new true crime series looks at what happens when a groom or bride causes their beloved's death.

Brief Summary

A love triangle leads to tragedy when Bill Hall Junior dies after a confrontation between his wife and mistress.

Key points

Bill Hall Junior: A Charismatic Tycoon. Bill Hall Junior was a trucking tycoon who captivated women from a young age.
The Bitter Love Triangle. Frances and Bonnie find themselves in a fierce competition for Bill's affections.
The Shocking Revelation. Frances discovers her husband's affair after a call from Bonnie.
Frances Confronts Bill. Frances confronts Bill about his infidelity, leading to a heated exchange.
The Physical Altercation. Frances and Bill's relationship reaches a breaking point with a violent confrontation.
The Confrontation Begins. Frances spots Bill with Bonnie and decides to confront her.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

Never in a million years would I have thought my husband would cheat on me.

Frances reflects on her husband's infidelity.

1:04WatchJun 8, 2022

Tension

85/ 100High tension

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