Doris Angleton
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Doris McGown Beck Angleton (April 11, 1951 – April 16, 1997) was a Texas socialite and murder victim. Doris was born to Randy McGown, a Dow Chemical engineer, and his wife Ann McGown Borochov. She grew up in Port Lavaca, Texas, and had one younger brother, Steve.
McGown graduated from the University of Texas with a degree in pathology. After graduation, she began a career as a schoolteacher, and later became a sales representative for a pharmaceutical firm.
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[edit] Two Marriages
In 1976, Doris met William (Bill) Beck, a representative for an office products company. They married and moved to Clear Lake, Texas.
Doris met Robert Angleton, a bookmaker, at a bar in the Houston West Loop when she was 28 years old [1]. According to Angleton, he and Doris met because Bill Beck was a client of his bookmaking business. The two were already married, yet they were attracted to each other, eventually marrying in 1982[1]. After they married, Doris helped with her husband's successful bookmaking business. On August 1, 1984, Doris gave birth to twins Nicole "Niki" and Alessandra "Ali" Angleton.
Robert became rich while running a sports-betting scheme. He managed to do this by becoming a police informant and reporting his smaller rivals to the Houston Police Department. He grew so rich on the bookmaking that he moved his family to the River Oaks area of Houston, Texas.
Friends believed Doris had the perfect life[1], yet she wanted out of her marriage when she grew tired of bookmaking. In February of 1997, she went ahead with the divorce process, wanting to take fifty percent of the couple's assets. The divorce proceedings were expected to reveal that her husband was a bookie.
[edit] Murder
Doris was murdered on April 16, 1997 in the couple's River Oaks home, two months after filing for divorce. She sustained multiple gunshot wounds in the head, chest, and abdomen.
Doris' failure to return to a softball game sparked suspiscion in her daughters, who were twelve years old at the time. Their father came home, called 911, and found Doris dead.
[edit] Arrests
Around the time of her murder, Doris' brother in-law, Roger Angleton, was arrested for unrelated charges. Police found a suitcase that revealed him to be the perpetrator of the crime. Roger committed suicide in a Houston Prison cell by cutting himself with razor blades [1] [1] (the National Review stated that he committed suicide by hanging[2]). In his suicide note, he admitted to killing Doris.
Robert Angleton became a suspect and was also arrested, because of the upcoming divorce and it's perceived ramifications. Robert Angleton was tried and found not guilty for the murder of his wife.
As a result of investigations, Robert's earnings were discovered. Because they were earned in relation to an illegal sports betting scheme, the U.S. Department of Justice indicted and jailed Angleton.
While awaiting trial, Robert fled to The Netherlands, where he was apprehended by the Dutch government. 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, he could be extradited on tax charges[citation needed].
Robert was subsequently convicted of tax evasion and passport fraud, and was sentenced to twelve years in prison.
[edit] Trivia
Writer Vanessa Leggett was found in contempt by a federal district court judge on July 20, 2001 for refusing to give up some of her interviews for a book that she wrote about the Doris Angleton case[citation needed]. She was sent to prison for some time. The case grew controversial over whether or not she should have been found in contempt. She was released in January 2002.
