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Celeste Beard
Born
Celeste Johnson

(1963-02-13) February 13, 1963 (age 61)[1]
Culver City, California, U.S.
Criminal statusIncarcerated
Spouses
Craig Bratcher
​
(divorced)​
[2]
Henry Wolf
​
(divorced)​
Jimmy Martinez
​
(divorced)​
Steven Beard
​
​
(m. 1995; died 2000)​
Cole Johnson
​
(divorced)​
[2]
Children2
Conviction(s)
Criminal penaltyLife imprisonment with the possibility of parole after 40 years
Date apprehended
March 28, 2002

Celeste Beard Johnson (born February 13, 1963), more commonly known as Celeste Beard, is an American convicted murderer who is serving a life sentence at the Christina Melton Crain Unit in Gatesville, Texas, for the 1999 murder of her millionaire husband, Steven Beard.

Background

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Celeste Johnson's biological parents are unknown. She met her birth mother only one time and was told, "I am not your mother, I was just your incubator."[3] She claimed that her adoptive parent, Edwin Johnson, physically abused her as a child and that she attempted suicide during puberty.[4] At age 17, Johnson became pregnant and gave birth to twins, Jennifer and Kristina, with her abusive first husband, Craig Bratcher.[2] Bratcher committed suicide in 1996.

Johnson married twice more before meeting Steven Beard while she was a waitress at a country club in Austin, Texas. Beard, a retired Fox Broadcasting executive and self-made multi-millionaire more than twice her age, was a widower whose wife had died of cancer. Johnson moved in with Beard after he convinced her that he would legally adopt her daughters. They were married on February 18, 1995, with Beard's family and friends suspicious that Johnson had married him for his money.[5]

Husband's murder

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On October 3, 1999, Beard was shot in the stomach while he was asleep at their home in Westlake Hills, Texas. Beard was later released from the hospital, but succumbed to a blood clot on January 22, 2000.[2] Local police tied the shooting to Tracey Tarlton who Johnson had met at Saint David’s Pavilion, a mental health facility, after Johnson was admitted there for depression. Johnson and Tarlton had begun a friendly relationship, often inviting each other to dinner or to just 'hang out'. Over time, they had realized that they both wanted an intimate relationship, but Johnson had repeatedly told Tarlton that it would only be possible if they murder Beard. Tarlton confessed to the shooting and was arrested at home six days after the shooting, and subsequently charged with assault. The police began to hear that Johnson had spoken negatively about Beard. Their attorney, David Kuperman, refused to allow police to interview Beard while he was hospitalized due to his grave condition.[citation needed]

External videos
video icon HLN:Scorned Lover's Week: Texas vs. Celeste Beard

Tarlton remained silent until July 2000, when she read in a local newspaper that Johnson had remarried six months after Beard’s death and realized that their relationship had been a sham. Shortly before her murder trial began in March 2002, Tarlton told police that Johnson had persuaded her to shoot Beard, claiming that he had emotionally abused Johnson to the point of suicide. Tarlton was determined that getting rid of him was the only way the women could be together.[6] Johnson has vehemently denied this accusation.

Trial

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Based on Tarlton's statement, Johnson was arrested on March 28, 2002. At Johnson's trial, prosecutors charged that she had married Beard for his money and wanted him dead because he was tired of her extravagant spending and was considering divorce.[7] The Beard attorney, David Kuperman, testified that Steven did not want a divorce and the underlying issues of the spending were addressed during joint therapy (both Beards in attendance) sessions treating Johnson's depression.[8] According to Beard's accountant, Johnson spent $321,000 in October and November 1999, an additional $249,000 by December 10 and another $100,000 in the six weeks ending March 31, 2000.

Johnson's attorney, Dick DeGuerin, alleged that she had nothing to do with the shooting and that Tarlton, whom he dismissed as an unreliable witness due to documented mental instability, acted alone; Tarlton was obsessed with Johnson, who denied making sexual advances toward her. According to Johnson and several witnesses, Tarlton tried to kiss her after she had passed out during her daughters' 1999 high school graduation. When Tarlton was arrested for drunk driving and Johnson bailed her out, Beard, angered by the relentless phone calls, demanded that Tarlton stop contacting the couple. Several witnesses saw no unusual problems in Johnson and Beard's marriage, and DeGuerin alleged that Johnson's daughters lied on the witness stand because they would inherit no money if their mother was acquitted. Kristina was adverse during her testimony, answering to the defense, "I do not remember," 298 times.[9]

In 2003, Johnson was convicted of capital murder, under The Texas Law of Parties,[10] receiving a 2 consecutive 40 year life sentences. She will be eligible for parole on April 1, 2042, at the age of 79.[11][12] Johnson has continued to maintain her innocence for 19+ years and as of 2019 is imprisoned at the Texas Department of Criminal Justice Lane Murray Unit in Gatesville.[13] Tarlton received a 10-year reduced sentence in exchange for testifying against Johnson, and was released on parole in August 2011 and lives in San Antonio.[14]

In the media

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The case was covered on such news documentaries and true crime programs as American Justice, Snapped (1st episode), Deadly Women, Vengeance: Killer Millionaires, Reasonable Doubt, and ABC's 20/20.[15][16][17][18][19][20] Previously unrevealed information about the lives, the crime, and the trial in the exclusive biography, The Celeste Beard Johnson Story, was released in 2019.[21]

Johnson and five other inmates published From the Big House to Your House, a cookbook that lists recipes that can be made in prison cells with ingredients from the prison commissary.[22]

In 2017, Celeste's daughter, Jennifer, was wounded after a shooting while attending a Halloween party. She had to undergo more than ten surgeries but survived.[23]

On June 13, 2021, Lifetime aired Secrets of a Gold Digger Killer, a TV film that featured Julie Benz as Celeste.

In 2022, ABC aired two episodes titled "What the Sisters Saw - Part 1 & 2" on the show Who Do You Believe? and one episode titled "Tainted Love" on the show 20/20.[24] The shows featured interviews with Celeste, her two daughters, and other people in the case.

See also

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Other murders in the Austin area:

References

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  1. ^ a b TDCJ Number: 01157250. "TDCJ Offender Details". offender.tdcj.texas.gov. Retrieved January 11, 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  2. ^ a b c d HEWITT, BILL (August 11, 2003). "Marriage, Money and Murder – Vol. 60 No. 6". PEOPLE.com. Time Inc. Retrieved January 11, 2017.
  3. ^ Hall, Nancy (2019). The Celeste Beard Johnson Story. Vegas Publisher, LLC. pp. Chapter 1. ISBN 978-0996843751.
  4. ^ "Hidden City Crime Files: Austin". Travel Channel. Retrieved January 11, 2017.
  5. ^ "Snapped – women who kill – Celeste Beard". youtube.com. February 13, 2012. Archived from the original on April 25, 2013. Retrieved July 22, 2014.
  6. ^ Leung, Rebecca (May 12, 2003). "Texas Tycoon's Murder Shatters Fairy-Tale Marriage". CBS News. Archived from the original on June 22, 2003. Retrieved July 22, 2014.
  7. ^ Krajicek, David. "Celeste Beard: fortune hunter has husband murdered â€" — Compulsively Extravagant — Crime Library on". Trutv.com. Archived from the original on April 21, 2012. Retrieved August 8, 2012.
  8. ^ Kuperman, David (1999). The Celeste Beard Johnson Story. Vegas Publisher, LLC. pp. Chapter 17. ISBN 978-0996843751.
  9. ^ Hall, Nancy (2019). The Celeste Beard Johnson Story. Vegas Publisher, LLC. pp. Chapter 17. ISBN 978-0996843751.
  10. ^ Haigler, Becky. "Drop Law of Parties Texas". Archived from the original on August 10, 2020.
  11. ^ "TDCJ Parole Review Information - SID Number: 05144897". offender.tdcj.texas.gov. Retrieved January 11, 2017.
  12. ^ Krajicek, David. "Celeste Beard: fortune hunter has husband murdered â€" — Murder's Aftermath — Crime Library on". Trutv.com. Archived from the original on June 17, 2008. Retrieved December 19, 2015.
  13. ^ "Johnson, Celeste Beard Archived December 27, 2015, at the Wayback Machine" (Archive). Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Retrieved on December 28, 2015.
  14. ^ "S.A. residents help convicted murderer bounce back into society". kens5.com. Archived from the original on June 4, 2013. Retrieved July 22, 2014.
  15. ^ "London's Underworld: Trailer Video on Crime and Investigation Network". Crime & Investigation. Archived from the original on April 30, 2009. Retrieved August 8, 2012.
  16. ^ "Deadly Women: Blood For Money". TV.com. August 27, 2009. Retrieved August 5, 2017.
  17. ^ "DEADLY WOMEN". Investigation Discovery. August 27, 2009. Retrieved August 5, 2017 – via YouTube.
  18. ^ ""Vengeance: Killer Millionaires" Fatal Fortune". IMDB. Retrieved January 27, 2023.
  19. ^ ""Reasonable Doubt" Obsessed with Celeste". IMDB. Retrieved January 27, 2023.
  20. ^ "20/20 on ID Presents: Homicide". TVGuide.com. Retrieved March 24, 2017.
  21. ^ Hall, Nancy (2019). The Celeste Beard Johnson Story. Vegas Publisher, LLC. pp. 1–500. ISBN 978-0996843751.
  22. ^ Barlow, Zeke. "Incarcerated cuisine from former Camarillo resident." Ventura County Star. May 8, 2011; retrieved January 6, 2015.
  23. ^ Autullo, Ryan. "Man awaits punishment after pleading guilty to Halloween party shooting". Austin American-Statesman. Retrieved November 29, 2019.
  24. ^ Moscufo, Michela; LeVine, Abbey; Berman, Tom; Kilmer, Chris (November 19, 2022). "Twin daughters recount testifying against their mother in deadly alleged love triangle". ABC News. Retrieved June 19, 2024.

Further reading

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  • Marlow, John (2009), Evil Wives: Deadly Women Whose Crimes Knew No Limits, Arcturus, ISBN 978-1-84837-367-9
  • Celeste: The Celeste Beard Johnson Story by Nancy Hall and W.R. Mesiano ISBN 978-0996843751
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