A Nevada jury has convicted the ‘Black Widower’ of the murder of his sixth wife and a hitman he hired to assassinate her for the second time, after the state’s Supreme Court ruled that a retrial was needed.
Thomas Randolph, the 68-year old killer who was the subject of the 2021 Dateline miniseries ‘The Widower’, stared straight ahead emotionlessly as jurors read out the guilty verdict last week.
At both his most recent and 2017 trial, prosecutors accused him of arranging for his friend and handyman Michael Miller, now 38, to kill his sixth wife, Sharon Causse, in what would’ve appeared to have been a home invasion, in order to collect more than $300,000 in life insurance payouts.
Sharon tragically died in May 2008 after Miller, masked and armed, broke into Randolph’s house in Nevada and shot her dead.
But in a shock twist, Randolph, who sat on death row for several years after his first conviction, betrayed his former friend and shot him dead.
Prosecutors say they aren’t going for the death penalty given Thomas Randolph’s (pictured) age
Becky Gault was found with a bullet lodged in her head, through Randolph was never convicted of her murder
Sharon Causse (pictured) tragically died after Randolph hired a friend of his to kill her and make it look like a robbery gone wrong
Gayna Allmon told Nevada jurors that she believes he tried to kill her in an attempted shooting while they were married
Kathryn Thomas (pictured) said she was abused by Randolph, who she married in 1975
Randolph was the subject of a 2021 Dateline miniseries called ‘The Widower’
Family members of his victims were overjoyed to hear that Randolph was re-convicted for the murder.
Colleen Beyer, the daughter of Sharon Causse, clasped her hands to her mouth when the verdict was read out.
She told the Las Vegan Review-Journal: ‘I’m so relieved, it’s unbelievable. It’s been 15 years, and it’s been a twisted nightmare.’
‘I’m absolutely ecstatic and thrilled and relieved that he’s off the streets – that he cannot do this to another woman again. Because he’s a predator, he’s a serious predator,’ she said through tears.
Randolph consistently maintained his innocence ever since prosecutors began investigating him in connection with Sharon’s murder.
While the 2017 Nevada jury convicted him of both Causse’ and Miller’s murders, Nevada’s Supreme Court overturned the conviction in 2020, arguing that local prosecutors shouldn’t have used ‘prior bad-act evidence.’
Juries in both the 2017 and 2023 trial heard evidence from and about several of his ex-wives, which painted a picture of a violent, abusive and manipulative man who had a pattern of marrying, then abusing women.
Randolph hired Michael Miller (pictured) to kill his then-wife Sharon and make it look like a botched home invasion
Kathryn Thomas
Thomas married his first wife in 1975 when she was just 18 years old and he was 20.
During Randolph’s first trial, Kathryn, who divorced him in 1983, told jurors that he was a controlling, manipulative, and psychologically abusive person.
She revealed an incident when he threw a bowl of oatmeal at the wall because it didn’t have sugar on it.
After remarrying, she and her new husband reportedly moved several states away to Washington to get some distances between themselves and Randolph.
Becky Gault
Prosecutors told jurors that Becky was found dead with a bullet in her skull in the home she shared with Randolph just three years after she married him.
The couple got married on the same day in 1983 that his divorce with Kathryn Thomas was finalised.
Randolph received a $500,000 life insurance payout after her death was initially ruled a suicide.
But shortly after this, he was charged, and later acquitted, for her murder after cops discovered that the sick killer used to sing songs about murdering her.
He also hired a hitman to kill her, who ended up being a police officer.
While Randolph pleaded guilty to witness tampering, he was never convicted of her murder.
Gayna Allmon
Randolph’s third wife, Gayna told jurors at his first trial that she believes that Randolph tried to kill her in an attempted shooting.
She revealed that one day when they were married, Randolph shot at her while cleaning his gun.
The bullet left a hole in their kitchen, and she believed her life was in danger after that.
Randolph did not allow Francis Thomas’ (pictured) daughter to see her while she was hospitalised
Francis Thomas
While Francis died in hospital in 2004 following botched heart surgery, a witness, Glen Morrison, told jurors that he was asked by Randolph to kill her and to stage the crime scene as a robbery, in an eerily similar way to how his then-future wife Sharon Causse died.
Francis’ daughter was allegedly not allowed to visit her mother while she was sick.
On top of this, Randolph reportedly cremated Francis’ body less than 24 hours after she died.
While he was married to Leona Stapleton, his fifth wife, there is little public knowledge about her. Her family told the court during his first trial that she had died of cancer.
District Judge Tierra Jones has scheduled Randolph sentencing for October 12.
Prosecutors previously said that given Randolph’s age, they are not seeking the death penalty
