Bob Fratta was considered the prime suspect because he was in the midst of a contentious divorce with Farah, and investigators believed he had a motive. Although he had an alibi—being at church with their three children—police found evidence suggesting he orchestrated the murder, including $1,000 in his glove compartment, which they suspected was payment for a hitman. Additionally, multiple witnesses testified that Fratta had solicited people to kill his wife.
Mary Gipp was a key witness in the case. Her live-in boyfriend, Joseph Prystash, was allegedly hired by Bob Fratta to arrange the murder. Gipp initially refused to cooperate with police but later testified after being granted immunity. She revealed that Prystash hired Howard Guidry as the shooter and provided details about the murder plot, including the use of her cell phone to communicate with Fratta. Gipp also copied the serial number of the gun used in the murder, which linked it to Fratta.
Bob Fratta's children struggled deeply with their mother's murder and their father's role in it. Amber, the youngest, cried hysterically for her mother every night, while Daniel expressed anger and resentment toward his father. Bradley, the eldest, testified against his father in court but admitted he wasn't entirely convinced of his guilt. The children faced emotional trauma, jealousy of peers with intact families, and ongoing fear of their father's potential release.
In the second trial, key evidence included phone records showing Fratta's calls to Mary Gipp and Joseph Prystash around the time of the murder, the gun used in the crime traced back to Fratta, and testimony from multiple witnesses who claimed Fratta had solicited them to kill his wife. Despite the exclusion of earlier confessions and some hearsay evidence, prosecutors successfully presented a strong case that convinced the jury of Fratta's guilt.
Bob Fratta's first conviction was overturned because a federal judge ruled that key evidence, including confessions from his co-conspirators and Mary Gipp's testimony, was improperly admitted. This left prosecutors with fewer tools to build their case in the retrial. They had to rely on phone records, the gun's serial number, and witness testimony about Fratta's solicitations to kill his wife, making the case more challenging to prove.
Bob Fratta was convicted of capital murder in his second trial and sentenced to death. Despite multiple appeals and legal challenges, the conviction was upheld, and Fratta was executed in January 2023. His children, particularly Amber, expressed relief and a sense of justice, though they continued to grapple with the emotional scars of their mother's murder and their father's actions.
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When my mother was murdered, I was about seven and a half years old. Farrah Frada, a very pretty lady, her story was pretty tragic once she married Bob. The marriage was in a lot of trouble. A divorce was pending. It was November the 9th, 1994. That was an evening where Farrah had stopped to get her hair cut with no idea about what was going to happen. At the time Farrah was getting her hair cut...
The shooter and the getaway driver were in a car together on the way to Farr's house, and the shooter was going to hide in the backyard. On that same evening, Bob had picked up all three of the kids. It was his night for visitation. He took me, my brother, and my sister. We all went to church. While we were at the church, they would have us doing just a bunch of little fun activities, which also involved praying. So Farrah got her hair done, pulled into her garage...
It just so happened that when Farah came home that night and backed into her garage, the neighbors that lived directly across from the garage saw her come home. We heard something outside like a pop. And I got up to look out the window. And as I was doing that, we heard a scream. And I saw Farah fall. And then we heard another shot. And I saw her laying down there by her car.
It was at that time when we realized she wasn't getting up that we dialed 911. - Mellon County, what is your emergency? - Yes, I'm just on the shooting, please. - Just started giving them a play-by-play of what we were seeing. - The car that just pulled up, the suspect is behind the tree. - Okay, ma'am. - A black man just got in the car, but it was a silver car, I believe, and one burnt out headlight. The suspect just took off. Dear Jesus, help this woman. - After leaving the catechism class, we went back to the house.
The first thing I remember was just all the yellow tape everywhere. Bob Frada was nowhere near the murder scene when Fara was shot. He had definite proof to say Bob wasn't there, Bob was at catechism with us. I just remember arriving there and my dad acting very surprised as to what was going on. How many people use church as their alibi and use their own children as their alibi? Who does that? Thou shalt not kill.
I came home about 7 o'clock from work, and my wife had just prepared a nice hot meal for me. Lex and Betty Bakker couldn't know it when they sat down for dinner that November night, but they were enjoying the last few moments of life as they knew it. The telephone rang. It was maybe two minutes after 8 o'clock. It was a neighbor with news. Betty, fire has been shot. Oh, my God.
Their only daughter, Farah, had been ambushed. Two bullets to her head. I don't know how fast I drove. I have no idea. And when we went there, the lights were all over the place. And the cop was trying to stop us. They wouldn't let me go to Farah. I said, I am the mother. I need to get to my child. I got to her. She was alive. She was face up. But she was having convulsion.
One of the paramedics said she has lost a lot of blood. I suggest you all hurry up and go to the hospital. Farah was 33, a mother of three, and she was dying. Medics rushed her to a chopper, but it was too late. I just couldn't believe it. I refused to believe that she was dead. I just stood there and kept staring at her. Her eyes were open, and I just put my hand on her, just shut her eyes.
And I felt her. She was cold. It hurts so much. Just one person destroying a mother and three kids. The first thing that came out of my mouth, where is that son of a bitch? Which son of a bitch? Talking about my son-in-law, Bob Friday.
I knew immediately that Bob had something to do with it. Bob Frotta, their daughter's estranged husband. They'd been married for 11 years and were involved in a messy divorce. He was fighting for the kids. She was fighting for the kids. A painful custody battle over 7-year-old Bradley, 6-year-old Daniel, and 4-year-old Amber was scheduled for trial in less than three weeks. Were you afraid for the safety of your friend, Farrah? Yes, I was.
Kitty Waters Sneed worked alongside Farah at American Airlines for years and was Farah's closest friend. I knew it was Bob. Right away? Right away.
To the outside world, Bob Frada was an upstanding citizen, working in public safety as both a police officer and a fireman. -Bye-bye. A man who doted on his three children. -Say bye, Bradley. Say bye-bye. But there was apparently a very different side to Bob Frada. -They were things that embarrassed her to talk about. Farah told Kitty her husband wanted her to do things to him sexually that not only embarrassed her,
They sickened her. She showed me some stains in the closet.
where some things went on. Farrah detailed all of Bob's sexual desires in her divorce papers, and "Fratta's Secret" was about to become public record. There was things that he liked to have performed that I don't know if CBS wants to air on prime time. After her death, Detective Larry Davis read Farrah's papers. How strange were these requests? Real strange. She had to get out.
For the kids' sake, they couldn't be around something like that. Farrah threw Bob out of the house, and as the court date approached, she seemed more and more on edge. She had asked me if I felt Bob would ever have her murdered. And police believe Farrah had good reason to be afraid of Bob. 911, what's the emergency? I had somebody come in my house and just grab the bottle.
Just months before her murder, Farrah called 911 in a panic, and Larry Davis rushed to her house. She was upset. She was crying. What did she tell you had happened? She was in bed, and a male came into her house, had a mask on, and stunned her with a stun gun. She was terrified.
The attacker broke in through a window and attacked Farah in front of her three young children. I woke up to my mother screaming. Bradley, the oldest, was just seven. I had no idea really what was going on. All I know was my mother was in danger and something wasn't right. Daniel, Farah's second son, was five. We were just screaming, crying outside the door, let our mommy go, leave her alone, leave her alone.
Farrah suspected the intruder was a friend of Bob Frotta's. Whoever it was fled, leaving an injured Farrah with her terrified children, and he was never caught. She thought her husband had something to do with it. In his gut, Detective Davis believed her, but without concrete proof, all he could do was warn Bob. I said, Bob, I know what you're up to. It's not going to work. You need to leave her alone.
Four months later, Farah was dead and Detective Davis was called to the scene again. I said, "Bob, I told you to leave her alone." And he told me I didn't do anything. In fact, Frata's alibi was hard to beat. Plenty of people saw him in church with his three young children while his wife was being murdered.
But police were sure even if Bob wasn't at the scene, he at least had something to do with the killing, especially when they searched his car. What did they find in the car? $1,000. The $1,000 was in the glove compartment. Bob explained that it was money to buy new carpeting. $1,000, is that unusual in these parts? Well, $1,000 is not unusual.
A thousand dollars in your glove box on the night that your wife is murdered surely raises a lot of suspicion. What sorts of suspicion? Would believe that that may be money to pay off a hitman. Franta wasn't doing himself any favors that night while detectives interrogated him for hours. I asked him a question that still sticks out in my mind today and the way he answered it. I said, "Bob, what should happen to somebody that kills somebody?" He said, "They should go to jail forever."
I said, what should happen to somebody that has their wife killed? And he told me it depended on the circumstances. What did you make of that? I walked out and I said, he killed her. But the police couldn't prove it, so they had to let Bob Frotta go, even though they believed they were letting a killer walk free. I hope they find the guy. Soon. He's just happy-go-lucky. He's cheesing to the camera. He gave all indications that he thought he was going to get away with this murder.
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They must be saying to them, so where's my mother? Their mother had just been murdered, and their father was the prime suspect. Oh, my God. And Lex and Betty Bacher had to tell their grandchildren what happened. So I sat them down on the bed, all three of them. I said, Mommy's no longer with us. Bradley said to me, where is she? I said, baby, she died last night. I just remember crying for hours. Bradley, over here.
Why did this happen to me? Why has this happened to my mother? It was terrible. I mean, you know, hysterically crying, trying to calm them down. They were crying. I was crying. He walks in the room. He starts crying. For like five years after it happened, I thought every day I was going to wake up and it was going to be a dream. I cried for weeks and weeks afterwards. Hi, Daniel. Hi.
I kept saying, "Where's my mom? Where's mom? When's she coming back?" Amber. Amber. People would have to just look at me brokenheartedly and tell me, "She's not. She's not coming back. She's gone forever." Amber was most affected. Every night going to bed, she would cry for her mother. I mean, hysterically crying. "Grandpa, please." Tugging on his shirt. "Please. Please open the box. I want to see my mommy."
I promise you one more time, just this one time, then I let you put the nail in." She put that little finger up. She wanted to see her mother.
Betty and her husband Lex were in mourning themselves for the death of their daughter. On top of that, Bob Frada had been released by the police and was now trying to get custody of the children. You're fighting for custody of your grandchildren with the man who you believed at the bottom of your soul killed your daughter. It was a very difficult situation.
But you don't think at that time. All you want to do is save these innocent children, and you cannot let these children go. While Frotto was making his case for custody, detectives were building their case against him. We just follow him. We find out where he goes. Anywhere he visits, we're going to visit.
We know he likes to go to the gym. And it was at the gym that Detective Larry Davis heard about some interesting conversations Frada had been having about his wife. He said, I'm going to find a way to knock her off. Mike Edens worked out with Frada. And I said, knock her off.
He goes, "Yeah." He says Bob asked him if he knew someone who would kill her. Hey, you know anybody who'd kill my wife? I'm trying to get my wife killed. What about some of these people you work with? You think they might be interested? I don't know. Just sort of a casual conversation? Exactly, yes. Around the gym? Yes. Talking about knocking off his wife? Yes, yes. He never thought Frato was serious. Thought nothing of it. Just frustrated by the divorce.
But Frana sure did like talking about killing his wife. He asked me if I knew of anybody. Jimmy Podorski also worked out at the gym. It seemed to be pretty much what he wanted to talk about. To you? To me and everybody else, yes. There were a lot of them. And according to prosecutor Kelly Siegler... 15, 17 different guys. They all said pretty much the same thing as Mike and Jimmy. What do all these guys prove? They prove motive.
And apparently, Frada had put some thought into how to have his wife murdered. He had a list of her daily activities. And he said, I'll get a gun. He was going to solicit a gang member. But none of Frada's gym buddies thought of calling the police. What are you thinking? He's going to come to his senses and, you know, he's just blowing off steam. Podorski says Frada even discussed how much he'd pay a hitman.
There wasn't a lot of money up front, maybe $1,000, $2,000. It didn't raise any red flags, though. If it was anybody else, probably so. But just knowing Bob, he was so likable and he was very kind. You didn't take him serious. Maybe he wasn't serious. Oh, he was serious. Deadly.
But if Frotto was serious, his efforts to cover his tracks were a joke. Police got a big break when they came here to St. Mary's, the church where Frotto was with his kids at the time of the murder. Trouble is, while he spent some time in the pews, he spent a lot of time on the phones.
A lot of the ladies of the church recalled Bob being on and off the phone. And the church ladies weren't the only ones who remembered Bob making calls that evening. Bradley was seven, and Bradley remembered Daddy being on the phone a lot then. Frata's beeper kept going off, and he used the church phone to return the calls.
The police were certain he was calling the killer, but when they traced the calls, they were led to a woman they had never heard of before. He came back to a woman named Mary Gipp.
Did you go talk to Mary Gipp? We tried to talk to her, yes. I didn't give them any information that they wanted. She didn't tell us a whole lot. Perhaps I wasn't cooperative. Investigators were sure Mary Gipp was hiding something big. In my mind, she was the key to this case. Especially when they learned about her live-in boyfriend.
His name? Joseph Price-Dash. He was an ex-con and he liked to work out with Bob Frotta. But Mary Gipp had no intention of revealing anything. She was a witch. She was a smart aleck. I don't know why I did what I did. She was a bitch.
Stay on the line. Let me connect you to the ambulance. Mary Gipp knew it all. Who killed Farah Frata, why, and how. But for almost four months after the murder, she told the police nothing. I didn't give them any information that they wanted.
Detectives would have to find some way to make her talk. They knew the prime suspect, Farah's husband Bob, had called Gipps' cell phone and pager hours before and right after the murder. But that's all they knew. And until they learned more, they had to let Frata remain free and see his children.
I explained to the children what would happen. Social worker Judy Cox monitored Bob's visits and tried to help the children cope with their mother's murder. Amber asked the most questions. Do you know that the bad guys put bullets in my mommy's head? That's what she said? Yes. What do you say to a child who says that to you? Yes, baby, I do know that. And that's about all you can say to them.
And I hope they find the guy. My job was to keep an eye on him. Soon. To make sure that Mr. Frada didn't try to take off with the kids. Detective Larry Davis continued tailing Frada, and almost daily, they would have the same conversation. He said, hey, Larry. I said, Bob. And he goes, am I going to jail today?
And I said, "Not today, Bob. Soon, but not today." But that day would never come if Mary Gipp didn't start talking. So prosecutors hauled her before a grand jury. I said, "Wait a minute. Are you charging me with murder?" And he said, "Yes." And I went, "Wait a minute. Wait a minute here. Wait a minute." Within hours, Mary Gipp made a deal. She'd cooperate if she wasn't prosecuted. After I was given immunity,
For my testimony, I just told him everything, everything I knew. She said her boyfriend, Joe Prystash, who knew Frada from the gym, was hired by him to set up the murder. They had my neighbor involved in it. He's going to shoot her and kill her. According to Mary Gipp, Prystash hired that neighbor, 18-year-old Howard Guidry, to be the trigger man. Guidry would get $1,000.
Joe Price-Dash would drive Guidry to the murder scene, pick him up afterwards, and use Gipps' cell phone to tell Bob Frotta when it was done. He told me that Bob was going to take his children on Wednesday to church, and that's when they were going to wait for her, and that's when they were going to kill her. He told you that? Yes. Do you ever think of calling the police? No.
You could have stopped it. I could have. I really just didn't want to deal with it, to be honest with you. You know, there's, and that sounds disgusting, but it's easier just to not do anything than it is to confront it and say, okay, this is going down. I didn't want to be a part of it. But Mary Gipp knew Farah. They both worked out at the gym. Had you done the right thing back then, Farah would be alive. Those three kids would have a mom.
Instead, while Price Dash and Guidry were killing Farah, Mary Gipp was home, killing time. Do you remember what you were doing? I was watching, at that particular time, I was watching ice skating. She waited for her boyfriend to return. Did you say anything to him? I asked him if she was dead. That was the only thing I asked. And what did he say? And he said yes. And I said, how do you know? And he said, because I was there and I saw her.
And then, Mary Gipp and Joe Price-Dash had sex. I have no idea what kind of a soul she's got. She has no soul. She's a monster. She's a demon. She's a... Soul of a devil. When Farr's parents heard prosecutors gave Mary Gipp immunity, it sounded to them like a deal with the devil. If anybody should be six feet underground, it's her, not my daughter. She could have saved my daughter.
But without Gipp, the prosecutors could not make as strong a case against Bob Frotta. How important a witness was she? Number one. Here's why. When Price Dash left Gipp's house after the murder, he left the gun behind and she began collecting evidence.
I took all the information off of the gun and wrote it down on a blue sticky pad. What information? The information on the serial number. Anything that was on the side of the gun, I wrote down. Why did you write down that information as opposed to calling the cops and saying, my boyfriend just killed somebody? I don't know.
After Mary Gipp got immunity, she gave police that serial number she copied down, and they ran it immediately. That's when they learned the gun had been purchased by suspect number one. That trace came back to Robert Allen Friday.
Police didn't have to look far for this gun. It was right under their noses in one of their own evidence rooms. It had been used in a bank robbery after the murder, and luckily for detectives, the alleged bank robber had been caught with it. He was in jail, and his name was Howard Guidry.
To my right is Howard Guidry. Guidry was questioned. It wasn't long before he confessed to everything and he even went with police to the murder scene. I pulled the gun up and I shot him once in the head. To show them how he did it. She like fell to the side and as I started to run out,
The dominoes were falling quickly. After Guidry confessed, Price Dash was arrested and also confessed. They were both charged with murder. They fingered Frotta, and five months after the crime, Bob Frotta, who hoped a well-timed trip to church would shield him from suspicion,
was arrested and charged with murdering the mother of his three children. His handcuffs were awfully tight, and I didn't do it.
Proving that he did will be harder than prosecutors thought. By the time the trial began, Price, Dash and Guidry said their confessions were coerced, withdrew them and refused to testify. To back up Mary Gipps' details of the conspiracy, prosecutors would have to call one witness who saw Bob Frotta making all those phone calls the night of the murder. He was still a baby. We did not want to scar him for life.
Prosecutor Kelly Siegler had no choice. Frotta's young son, Bradley, was called to testify against his own father. It was horrible to have to have a child come into a courtroom and talk about it, much less see their dad, and he still loved his dad. It was horrible. But it worked. Bob Frotta was convicted of murdering his wife. It took the jury less than one hour
He was sentenced to death along with Price Dash and Guidry. Remember how you felt? Relief. Relief that it's done, that it's over, that we did our job and that the right thing happened. Of course, it wasn't over. It wasn't even close to over. I got a phone call on my cell phone. "Kelly, have you heard the news?" And I remember stopping and feeling sick and wanting to throw up.
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13 years after the murder, a federal judge threw out Frata's conviction, ordered a new trial, and set off a new round of legal wrangling. My head was spinning. The judge said there is no doubt that Frata is a vile man, but there was testimony linking Frata to the murder that should never have been admitted.
And suddenly, there is a very real chance... I was nervous, very nervous. ...that Bob Frada will be set free. I was shocked. Who in their right mind could let somebody like that, you know, have a retrial? It's kind of scary.
- Frada's daughter is now 18. She should be getting ready for her high school prom. Instead, she's getting ready for her father's second murder trial. - If he ever gets out, what will I do? What will my family do? He knows where we live. - This is your father you're talking about. - But this is my father. - You think he would,
I mean, I honestly think that he would come to our house. And, you know, I feel like I would be put in a harmful situation if he ever got out. He's a psychopath. Frata's children have spent their lives struggling with the knowledge that their father killed their mother. I was always upset. I'd see kids with their dads or their mothers, and I was always jealous, always mad.
For as long as Daniel can remember, he's had to explain to other kids why his parents aren't around. I remember one kid especially saying, ha ha ha, I have a mother and you don't.
Daniel punched that kid, and as he got older, he had trouble controlling his anger. I feel like it's all directed towards my dad. He's the reason why I'm angry so much. You're doing good, Bradley. For Bradley, Frata's eldest child, the hardest part is reconciling the happy times he remembers before the murder with learning about the crime his father is accused of. I don't think I really believed it at that time that he did it. Even to this day, I myself...
I'm not 100% sure that he's the one that did this. If the first trial didn't convince him, the second one might, because the state would have to prove its case against his father all over again. There was a very, very good chance that a court someday was going to give him a new trial. Mike Charlton, Frata's original attorney, thought it was long overdue after all the mistakes he saw in Frata's first trial. There was nothing fair about this trial.
Nothing the prosecution had done, nothing that the judge had done, nothing about the evidence, the way it came in, was fair. The problems began with those confessions that Frata's alleged co-conspirators, Joe Preistach and Howard Guidry, withdrew before Frata's first trial. Both men refused to testify in that trial, but the prosecution still managed to get their statements before the first jury by calling a police officer to testify about them.
Did you know that they were calling the police officer to testify about these confessions? No. Were you surprised? Yes, I was flabbergasted. I mean, I truly was stunned that anybody would have the audacity to try to do this. The jury heard testimony that Price Dash admitted he was hired to arrange the murder. I immediately started screaming. I never sat down for the next two days. I was objecting every chance I had.
The Constitution says that defendants have the right to cross-examine people who accuse them of crimes. But since neither Guidry nor Price-Dash took the stand, there was no way to cross-examine them. That was just fundamentally wrong. Is this a major transgression? Yes, absolutely.
And I'm not exaggerating. It was an appalling moment in criminal justice. Kelly Siegler, very experienced, very tough prosecutor. Very. She crossed the line? I think so, yes. Intentionally? Yes. Did you go over the line? No. I mean, you are a type A prosecutor. You'll have to admit it. I mean, is it not possible that you would have gone however slightly over the line?
Listen, when you're a prosecutor, you want to make dang sure you have the right person who's committed a crime. And when I'm convinced that I have and all the evidence points to that person being guilty, I will very aggressively, following the law and following the rules...
Do everything that I can to make that case strong enough to withstand a conviction and appeal. Yes, I'll do that. But in federal court, Frotta won a new trial. Those confessions from Guidry and Price-Dash, the ones they said were coerced, were thrown out. And Mary Gipps' crucial testimony linking Frotta to the plot was ruled hearsay and also tossed out. Did you agree with any of the federal court decisions?
No. Not one bit of it? No. How can you say that all the evidence against Bob Frada is hearsay evidence when you have those phone records? You have that divorce motivation. You have all those people he solicited. You have the weapon. No, I don't agree.
For Frada's new trial, two new prosecutors, Denise Bradley and Mia Magnus, will try to make the case against Frada almost 15 years after the crime and without a lot of the key evidence. I was kind of left with the notion of, well, what's left? When you go into a trial where so much evidence has been taken away from you, it's frightening. It's really scary. Oh, my God. How in the world are we going to be able to get a conviction?
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Daddy's little girl. What do I know for a little girl?
I always knew I was just going to, you know, give him peace of my mind. Pretty much put him in his place. Farrah and Bob Frata's daughter Amber hasn't seen her father since she was four and he went to death row. She hasn't wanted to until now when he could be set free. I have to see him before this retrial happens. To see him, she has to go to the jail. That was Petropa. Where he's awaiting his new trial. Wow.
wow, I'm really doing this. I'm really about to meet my father face to face for the first time in like 14 years.
It didn't go well. He had a grin on his face, like he had no emotion to him at all. Amber didn't ask him if he killed her mother. She always believed he did, but she was hoping he'd show a little remorse. He had the nerve to tell me, "Please go to Christian counseling." By then I had heard enough from him. I basically let him know that when he does die and get that needle in his arm, I want to be there. Do you really mean that? You really want to be there and see him die? Honestly?
- For me, when it comes down to it, I do think that he deserves it. You know what, Bob? I'll see you in court, bye.
Prosecutors Mia Magnus... It was lots of sleepless nights. ...and Denise Bradley... We can't dwell on what we don't have anymore. ...are going to have to muster every bit of evidence they can. He's got the motive. If they're going to make Frada finally pay for murdering his wife. And so what are your two or three strongest pieces of evidence that you can present? The phone calls, the gun, all the other people he'd solicited...
I don't think they have a case. But Frotta's new lawyers, Randy McDonald... He might very well walk out of this courtroom. ...and Vivian King... We don't think that the government had the correct theory of actually what happened. ...should have an easier time defending him this time around, since the appeals court threw out so much crucial evidence, like the confessions of his co-conspirators.
The key to their defense for this new trial could be those workout buddies, who all thought he was joking when he talked about killing his wife. They thought he was kidding for good reason, because he actually was kidding. But Joseph Price-Dash, they argue, saw an opportunity to kill Farrah and blackmail Bob. And that may be why they were phoning each other at the church that night.
Price just setting him up to say, we just did this thing. You need to pay me off. It defies logic. No thug.
is going to commit that level of crime without a promise of something of benefit. The defense also thinks it can explain that serial number that Mary Gipp copied off the gun, which led police directly to Frada. The police already had the gun in custody. They easily could have had her write that down. The idea that they would manufacture evidence to convict an innocent person is sort of repugnant.
The lines are drawn. The right thing happened the first time. All rise. We want the right thing to happen for the second time. Bob Frotta is about to get one more chance at freedom. I'm very concerned, no doubt about it. He's guilty. He's got to be guilty.
There is no iota of evidence saying that he hired anybody. The defendant continued to seek out people over and over and over again, looking for the person who could get the job done. There's no proof that money ever exchanged hands. He even supplies the gun.
In the end, prosecutors convinced the judge to allow Mary Gipp to say what she saw her boyfriend do after the murder. The judge wouldn't allow audio recording. Gipp also told the jury about the gun. It all came back. I have to relive the whole thing all over again.
It's now up to the jurors who have to consider weeks of testimony and piles of evidence. Did I do enough? Did I do my best? The wait for a verdict is taking its toll. All rise. Finally, after two days of deliberation. We the jury find the defendant Robin Allen Frada guilty of capital murder as charged in the indictment. Bob Frada is found guilty again.
But it's still not over. One week later, the jury is back, deciding what is now the most important question, whether to send Frada back to death row. As long as he's living, he is definitely a threat to my family. Amber is so afraid of Frada, even though he's behind bars, that she's agreed to take the stand during this sentencing hearing. Amber asked jurors to send her own father to the death chamber.
What did you tell the jury that you missed in your life? My mom wasn't there for my first date, my first kiss. And she won't be there for the birth of my kids. On top of everything, this is her birthday. She's 19 today. The judge had said, it's going to be on your birthday, so I was, like, ready for it that day. But some of the most damning evidence against Frada may come from his own lips. You look beautiful.
So sexy and delicious to me. Prosecutors played jailhouse recordings of Frotta calling a female admirer who sent him photos. You bring out the animal in me? And flirting while the jury was out. That's the day that you went out and you started deliberating. While they are working hard, trying to make a decision about his future. Right now, you're all I'm thinking about, maybe. He's unfazed. Doesn't that show you
Who he is. And while his lawyers are fighting to spare his life, Frotta says something to his lady friend that is at the very least unexpected. It's funny because I'm not actually against the death penalty. You know, to me, some people, you know, they're literally... He believes in the death penalty for other people. He believes in justice, apparently, for other people. The way that he is wired...
is just so different than the rest of us. But after hours of deliberating about Frada's punishment, the jury still has no decision. There's no news that doesn't look very good to me. And deadlock.
The jury was still out on the day Amber would graduate from high school. Today is a very, very special day for Amber. I love my baby. Her family tried not to think about what was happening at the courthouse. This child, in spite of having to go through so much trauma, held her own. She's a strong child, just like her mother. Which way is the thing supposed to go? And I'm so proud of her. I'm very excited.
And then, 15 years after the call that came to tell them Farah had been murdered, they got another call. The jury was back. He's going to go to death row? Whoa!
It's the outcome Lex and Betty prayed for, and it answered at least some of Bradley's questions. I do believe that he is guilty and he was found guilty twice for a reason, but I physically haven't gotten that chance to ask my father face to face, and I would like to do that. I mean, it was kind of mixed emotions.
He is my dad, so it was like I was sad, but he deserved it at the same time. Amber Nicole Farah Hocker. Amber was able to graduate in peace and begin to look to the future. I just plan on getting my apartment with my friend next month and moving in and focusing on college after that. But none of the members of this family can face the future without remembering the past, trying to keep Farah alive,
if only in their hearts. I still pray every single night to her. Dear mommy, I love you and I miss you and I'll never ever forget about you and I will continue praying for you every single night as long as I live. Robert Frada was executed in January 2023. If you like this podcast, you can listen ad-free right now by joining Wondery Plus in the Wondery app. Before you go, tell us about yourself by filling out a quick survey at wondery.com slash survey.
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Dracula, the ancient vampire who terrorizes Victorian London. Blood and garlic, bats and crucifixes. Even if you haven't read the book, you think you know the story. One of the incredible things about Dracula is that not only is it this wonderful snapshot of the 19th century, but it also has so much resonance today. The vampire doesn't cast a reflection in a mirror. So when we look in the mirror, the only thing we see is our own
From the host and producer of American History Tellers and History Daily comes the new podcast, The Real History of Dracula.
We'll reveal how author Bram Stoker raided ancient folklore, exploited Victorian fears around sex, science, and religion, and how even today we remain enthralled to his strange creatures of the night. You can binge all episodes of The Real History of Dracula exclusively with Wondery Plus. Join Wondery Plus and The Wondery App, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify.
He was hip-hop's biggest mogul, the man who redefined fame, fortune, and the music industry. The first male rapper to be honored on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, Sean Diddy Combs!
Diddy built an empire and lived a life most people only dream about. Everybody know ain't no party like a Diddy party, so. Yeah, that's what's up. But just as quickly as his empire rose, it came crashing down. Today I'm announcing the unsealing of a three-count indictment charging Sean Combs with racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking, interstate transportation for prostitution.
I was up. I hit rock bottom, but I made no excuses. I'm disgusted. I'm so sorry. Until you're wearing an orange jumpsuit, it's not real. Now it's real. From his meteoric rise to his shocking fall from grace, from law and crime, this is the rise and fall of Diddy. Listen to the rise and fall of Diddy exclusively with Wondery Plus.