Editing Killing of Doris Angleton

{{short description|Texas (USA) socialite and murder victim}}
{{Infobox person
|name          = Doris Angleton
|image         = DorisAngleton.jpg
|image_size    =
|caption       = Doris Angleton
|birth_name    = Doris Elizabeth McGown
|birth_date    = {{Birth date|1951|4|11}}
|birth_place   =
|death_date    = {{Death date and age|1997|4|16|1951|4|11}}
|death_place   = [[Houston]], [[Texas]], U.S.
|death_cause   = Gunshot wounds
|nationality   = [[United States|American]]
|citizenship   =
|other_names   = Doris Beck
|alma_mater    = [[University of Texas at Austin|University of Texas]]
}}

'''Doris Elizabeth Angleton''' (''[[née]]'' '''McGown'''; (also '''Beck''') April 11, 1951 – April 16, 1997)  was an American [[socialite]] and murder victim. Her husband, Robert Angleton, had been accused of planning the crime. His brother, Roger Nicholas Angleton, was arrested in possession of a [[contract killing|contract for a murder]] in exchange for $100,000 in addition to cassettes containing audio recordings supposedly of conversations between himself and Robert planning the murder of a woman named Doris in exchange for money.<ref>{{Cite web|last1=Holl|first1=Skip|last2=November 1997 0|first2=sworth|date=1997-11-01|title=The Bookmaker's Wife|url=https://www.texasmonthly.com/articles/the-bookmakers-wife/|access-date=2022-01-08|website=Texas Monthly|language=en}}</ref> Roger killed himself in custody, after writing a [[suicide note]] in which he admitted to killing his sister-in-law and claimed his brother had no involvement. Robert was found not guilty by a Houston jury in 1999.

==Early life==
Doris Elizabeth McGown was the first child born to Alfred Randolph McGown, a [[Dow Chemical]] engineer, and his wife, Ann McGown (née Bain). She grew up in [[Lake Jackson, Texas|Lake Jackson]], [[Texas]], and had one sibling, Steven Randolph McGown. She graduated from the [[University of Texas at Austin]] with a degree in [[speech pathology]]. After graduation, she began a career as a schoolteacher, and later became a sales representative for a pharmaceutical firm.<ref>{{cite book|last=Smith|first=Carlton|title=Death in Texas|publisher=Macmillan|year=1999|pages=56–57|isbn=0-312-97075-7}}</ref>

==Marriages==
In 1976, McGown met William Beck, a representative for an office products company. They married and moved to [[Clear Lake City, Houston|Clear Lake City]], a suburb of [[Houston]]. She met Robert Angleton, a successful [[bookmaker]], at a bar on Houston's [[Interstate 610 (Texas)|West Loop]] when she was 28 years old. According to Robert, he and Doris met because Beck, her husband, was a client of his bookmaking business. Both Robert and Doris, although already married, were attracted to each other, and eventually divorced their spouses; they married in 1982. On August 1, 1984, Doris gave birth to twins, Nicole and Alessandra.<ref name="DeathInTexas">Smith, Carlton (July 15, 1999). ''Death in Texas: A True Story of Marriage, Money, and Murder''. [[St. Martin's True Crime]].</ref>

Robert earned an estimated $2 million a year by running a [[sports betting]] scheme. He managed to do this by becoming a police informant and reporting his rivals to the [[Houston Police Department]].<ref name=cbsnews>{{cite web|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/the-bookies-wife/|title=The Bookie's Wife|date=2002-06-10|publisher=cbsnews.com|access-date=2009-05-16|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101028123509/http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/12/22/48hours/mysteries/main589859.shtml|archive-date=2010-10-28}}</ref> Robert later moved his family to the wealthy [[River Oaks, Houston, Texas|River Oaks]] area of Houston.<ref name="DeathInTexas"/>

Although her friends believed that she was happy, Doris had reportedly told others that she wanted out of her marriage when she started talking to others in [[online chat room]]s. She began an online and then in-person affair with a man from [[New Jersey]]. In February 1997, Doris initiated divorce proceedings, seeking fifty percent of the assets she shared with Robert. Robert had offered her half of his purported estate or $1.5 million. Doris suspected more wealth existed and threatened to turn him in to the [[Internal Revenue Service]] in an attempt to gain more of his estate during the divorce.<ref name="DeathInTexas"/>

==Murder==
On April 16, 1997, Robert expressed concern when Doris failed to show up for their twin daughters' softball game. After the game, he drove the girls home and found the front door ajar, at which point he called the police. An officer discovered Doris's body. She had sustained multiple gunshot wounds to the face and chest.<ref name=cbsnews/>

Around the time of the murder, Doris's brother-in-law, Roger Angleton, had been arrested in [[California]] on unrelated charges. He missed his April 16 court date in that case. On April 21, he was stopped at the [[Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport]] with two guns in his luggage, and fled before being arrested. Police searched Roger's abandoned suitcase, which revealed him to be Doris's killer. Roger was eventually found by police in the [[Las Vegas]] city jail, having been arrested for providing false identification to police. He died after cutting himself in a Houston prison cell<ref name="DeathInTexas"/><ref>[https://www.cbsnews.com/news/the-bookies-wife/ "The Bookie's Wife"]; [[CBS News]]; June 10, 2002</ref> more than fifty times with a disposable razor. He left behind a [[suicide note]] clearing his brother of the murder.<ref>McCabe, Scott (April 15, 2012). [http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/crime-history-socialite-wife-of-houston-bookie-found-dead/article/491276 "Crime History: Socialite wife of Houston bookie found dead"]. ''[[Washington Examiner]]''.</ref> Robert was later found not guilty in his wife's death.<ref name=ABC/>

Robert's income was investigated. As it was earned via an illegal sports betting operation, the [[United States Department of Justice|U.S. Department of Justice]] indicted and jailed him. While awaiting trial, Robert fled to the [[Netherlands]], where the Dutch government apprehended him. A Dutch court ruled that he could not be extradited on a charge related to the murder of his wife because he had already been found not guilty. However, they ruled that he could be extradited on the tax evasion charges.<ref name=ABC>[https://web.archive.org/web/20060831172708/http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/story?section=local&id=3155720 Robert Angleton to be extradited from the Netherlands], abc13.com; accessed December 6, 2014.</ref>

He was subsequently convicted of tax evasion and passport fraud and was sentenced to twelve years in prison. He was incarcerated in the [[Federal Correctional Institution, Terminal Island]] in [[San Pedro, Los Angeles]]. He was released on January 27, 2012,<ref>[http://www.bop.gov/iloc2/InmateFinderServlet?Transaction=NameSearch&needingMoreList=false&FirstName=Robert&Middle=&LastName=Angleton&Race=U&Sex=U&Age=&x=64&y=11 Robert Nicholas Angleton profile] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110629171144/http://www.bop.gov/iloc2/InmateFinderServlet?Transaction=NameSearch&needingMoreList=false&FirstName=Robert&Middle=&LastName=Angleton&Race=U&Sex=U&Age=&x=64&y=11 |date=2011-06-29 }} [[Federal Bureau of Prisons]] website; retrieved February 7, 2012.</ref> whereupon he was indicted for his wife's murder a second time, this time in federal court.<ref>{{Cite web|title=FindLaw's United States Fifth Circuit case and opinions.|url=https://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-5th-circuit/1262803.html|access-date=2022-01-08|website=Findlaw|language=en-US}}</ref> Shortly thereafter he went on the run.<ref>{{Citation|title=The Bookie's Wife|date=2019-11-17|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11230510/?ref_=ttep_ep5|series=The Dead Wives Club|access-date=2022-01-08}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Portal|Texas|Biography}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20031208220632/http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/txs/releases/January2002/020125-Angleton.htm U.S. Department of Justice announcement on the arrest of Robert Angleton], usdoj.gov; accessed December 6, 2014.
*Hollandsworth, Skip. "[http://www.texasmonthly.com/articles/the-bookmakers-wife/ The Bookmaker's Wife]" ([https://web.archive.org/web/20151230001435/http://www.texasmonthly.com/articles/the-bookmakers-wife/ Archive]). ''[[Texas Monthly]]''. November 1997.
* Hollandsworth, Skip. "[https://web.archive.org/web/20011222040314/http://www.texasmonthly.com/mag/issues/2001-09-01/feature5.php Doris Angleton] ([http://web.archive.org/web/20011222040314/http://www.texasmonthly.com/mag/issues/2001-09-01/feature5.php Archive]), ''[[Texas Monthly]]''; accessed December 6, 2014.
* Kohn, David. "[http://www.cbsnews.com/news/bookies-wife-another-indictment/ Bookie's Wife: Another Indictment]" ([https://web.archive.org/web/20160305195356/http://www.cbsnews.com/news/bookies-wife-another-indictment/ Archive]). [[CBS News]]. 
* Rice, Harvey. "[http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/Tax-evasion-gets-Robert-Angleton-over-7-years-1921113.php Tax evasion gets Robert Angleton over 7 years]" ([https://web.archive.org/web/20150905091002/http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/Tax-evasion-gets-Robert-Angleton-over-7-years-1921113.php Archive]). ''[[Houston Chronicle]]''. Monday June 13, 2005.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060725122636/http://law.wustl.edu/WULQ/81-3/765Owsley.pdf "Accepting the Dual Sovereignty Exception to Double Jeopardy: A Hard Case Study"], 81 Wash. U. L.Q. 765 (2003), law.wustl.edu; accessed December 6, 2014.

[[Category:1951 births]]
[[Category:1997 deaths]]
[[Category:1997 murders in the United States]]
[[Category:American murder victims]]
[[Category:Deaths by firearm in Texas]]
[[Category:People from Lake Jackson, Texas]]
[[Category:People from Houston]]
[[Category:People murdered in Texas]]
[[Category:Moody College of Communication alumni]]
[[Category:Violence against women in Texas]]