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A wealthy Texas woman is murdered with strychnine.  Patsy Wright  Lab tests showed strychnine killed her CASE DETAILS In October of 1987, the friends and family of 43-year-old Patsy Bolton Wright mourned her tragic and unexpected death. Her daughter, Leslie, was shocked when she heard the news:
 Strychnine was found in her medicine Eight days after Patsy’s memorial service, a routine autopsy was performed. The lab technician checked for 56,000 different foreign substances in Patsy’s blood samples. Suddenly the machine showed a violent positive reaction. Within seconds, the substance was identified … strychnine. Because of its horrible side effects, strychnine poisoning is considered an unusually cruel way to die. Death by strychnine is also very rare. In the death of Patsy Wright, the Arlington, Texas, authorities faced a puzzling question: How had this dangerous poison entered Patsy’s bloodstream? The morning of Patsy’s death, a frantic phone call woke up Steve and Sally Horning. The caller was Sally’s sister, Patsy Wright. Patsy told her sister that she took some cold medicine and was feeling nauseous. She then collapsed while still on the phone. Fearing for her sister’s safety, Sally and her husband drove to Patsy’s house:
Sally’s husband Steve began mouth to mouth resuscitation:
 Patsy’s family tried to save her But the medics were unable to save her and Patsy died shortly after. At first no one suspected foul play. But, in her phone call, Patsy had mentioned taking cold medicine, which was later found to contain huge amounts of strychnine. Authorities ruled out product tampering or suicide. Patsy Wright seemed to have everything to live for. She had two children to whom she was very close. Patsy and her sister, Sally, were successful businesswomen. They owned two wax museums worth millions. Also, Patsy had just bought three quarter horses and planned to train them herself. Sergeant Jay Gustafson of the Arlington police began to investigate Patsy’s death as a murder. He had two clues which made him think that the killer was probably someone Patsy knew very well. First, the burglar alarm had not been set on the night she died. Second, only those close to Patsy knew she had a habit of taking nighttime cold medicine before bed. The first people Sergeant Gustafson questioned were Patsy’s sister and brother in law.  He was seen watching her from the car The Sergeant looked for a motive. Patsy’s wealth came from the two wax museums she owned with Sally. Not only were the museums tourist attractions, they were also centers of social life in their respective towns. When Patsy died, the museums were inherited by Sally, and her husband, Steve:
Authorities felt that if Steve had poisoned Patsy, he would not have used mouth-to-mouth resuscitation to try to save her, taking potentially deadly liquid into his own mouth. Patsy’s ex-husband, Robert Cox, was also questioned by Sergeant Gustafson:
Patsy had obtained a restraining order against Cox during their separation because she claimed he was harassing her. But Robert Cox maintained his innocence and there was no evidence to suggest he was guilty. On the night she died, it appeared that someone had been with Patsy. Next to her bed were two empty dinner plates on a tray. Could there have been an unknown visitor that night, intimate enough to know Patsy’s personal habits and to share a late-night dinner with her? The strychnine that killed Patsy was in a pure powder form, the most concentrated type of the poison available. Very few outlets sell strychnine and all sales are controlled by the federal government. Authorities hope that someone will remember a suspicious sale around the time of Patsy’s death. Watch this case now on Amazon Prime in season one with Robert Stack and season three with Dennis Farina. Also available on YouTube with Dennis Farina. Various seasons available now on Hulu. SUBMIT A TIP |
J
I’m surprised that the police didn’t check for DNA on the fork on that dinner plate. There was two dinner plates right so I’m sure somebody came over and had dinner wit patsy.
Duane
I read somewhere, that there is a book. Does anybody know the title?
HD
Hi,
Maybe I’m stupid but there’s one thing I absolutely don’t understand! Patsy’s sister says they couldn’t send an ambulance to Patsy’s house because they didn’t know the address of the house (rental house). But then it says Sally and her husband drove to Patsy’s house!? How could they get there if they didn’t know the address? I don’t understand, I must be stupid. Please explain to me.
Duane
I know where a lot of family and friends live. But I couldn’t tell you the address or street number.
Ajjhhh
I think it was the daughter. Her mannerisms and fake subtle cry when talking about her mom on the show just seemed fake. Then the call the next day?
Frank Controne
Highly unlikely Sherlock Holmes. Please don’t make RIDICULOUS and BASELESS accusations.. We’re talking about peoples’ lives. Your daughter might have appeared the same way.
Goof.
Anonymous
It is amazing to remember watching it over 30 years ago. And to relive the case with more advanced knowledge. Let me dissect some evidence. A call was made to another place. But records only show what line called what line. There is no verification that it was the victim calling everyone at the other residence. In fact I’m not so sure the victim would have even been able to do that. And why not just call 911? Your in-laws are the last people you may want to call for help. Why tell family that you are hurting and cry to them? A Texas lady is not like that. All that is circumstantial. But sometimes all you have is circumstantial evidence.
James Ferguson
I still have a lot of information about this case but no one seems very interested.
Philip Guitar
Hi James,
I am documentary film producer. I would be interested in hearing what you have to say.
Thanks,
Philip Guitar
Philip@redacesproductions.com
XR
It probably was Ted Bundy
Anonymous
? ted bundy didnt murder his victims that way
David
Poison is usually a choice for a female, and whether that female did it herself or had someone do it for her, this was done by someone with either an known or secret animosity toward Pasty Wright. If it is ever solved, I suspect that it is someone who, in some way either watched or was watching the night she died. Strychnine is a horrible way to be poisoned, and it was intended to both grab attention and also to be a taunt to someone else as well.
Anonymous
Most poison homicides are done by females. The killer has a psychological profile of being nice and kind. They are too kind to violently kill someone.
Hmmmm Interesting
I agree with most people on here. I doubt it was the daughter, but could definitely see where other people are getting that from. My money is on the Sister and Husband. Their story makes no sense what so ever. Why would you not call the police right away when she randomly stopped talking. The perfect window, no screen open in the bed room but the door is locked and the security system is off? Oh, and it just so happens that the sisters own 50-50 stake in a multimillion dollar business together. I would look super closely at their financial records, see if a list of different things may be going on:
1. Financial trouble on the sisters end
2. Patsy Wanted to sell her portion
Also, the one thing that gets them immediately exonerated is the bs about risking his own life during CPR…who even says he did CPR? there is no way to tell if he was actually taking mouthfuls of that liquid or not…
Again, the husband didn’t seem sad at all. His story sounds like bull and the whole way they conducted themselves was crazy, on top of the fact that they and the children had by far the most to gain by her death. The only other would have possibly been her ex-husband but he was a relative non factor prior to this and for all we know her testimony may have even helped him out. The sisters statement is the only one that implicates him in any way… I wonder why that might be… saying that he asked her to lie and that “No, She was going to tell the truth”… IDK it all seems pretty fishy to me. I wonder how much the sister and her husband walked away with, couple million? sounds like motive to me.
Anonymous
I read somewhere that CPR must be performed on a hard, flat surface. Wasn’t she still in bed when the medics arrived? Also, if he did take in liquid and spit it out, wouldn’t he have shown some symptoms? She was poisoned with almost pure strychnine (rat poison is like 3%) so even if he spit it out you would think traces would have still been ingested.
Anne
There’s no evidence he even performed CPR. Also, they both benefited incredibly financially from her death. To this day they never mention her death or wanting justice for her murder. I think that speaks volumes.
Anonymous
I think it was the daughter. The day after she gets a “call” from an unknown person saying they were glad she was dead? When the daughter said she thought the caller was referring to the poisoning, when did she think it? The call was the day after the murder. The autopsy was 8 days after.
Cheryl Howes
I believe it was the sister with a backup of the brother in law In looking it up, the sister was in the process of talking patsy into signing a new WILL (behind her husband’s back) and was done but not signed in time of her death, to keep the brother in law from getting any inheritance as patsy didn’t trust him by her words. This would have made her sole beneficiary, I believe. Also as stated by people, the drug in the cold medicine is a woman’s choice, it was most likely the sister with help from Bob, the ex and Payner. But unfortunately, we won’t know as another website said Payner was killed in a standoff. I believe that the sister enticed/bribed the ex as his hate for Patsy into breaking in and putting the drug in her medicine as he would have access to her house and she got ahold of the drug, which puts those two together. I also believe she had Payner torch the museum a few years later for the insurance money, which she paid him off with and also to throw off suspicion from her. I believe the plate issue was something that the brother in law added a plate to throw people off and his excuse by him that he got some poison in his mouth by resuscitation, bogus, I don’t believe it! Although the daughter suspicious, I don’t believe it was her.
anonymous
-Patsy’s second ex-husband, Bob Cox. After divorcing her first husband, Patsy entered a disastrous short-lived marriage with Bob, who had a severe gambling problem and pretty much lived on her money. After they divorced, Patsy was forced to obtain a restraining order against Bob because he was harassing her. Years later, Patsy was deposed to testify at a civil trial between Bob and an insurance company. Bob ran his own unsuccessful wax museum which had burned down and the insurance company believed Bob started the fire himself. Since Patsy knew a lot of unflattering information about her ex-husband, Bob tried to convince her to lie in her testimony, but she refused. Patsy was poisoned only ten days before the civil trial began and without her testimony, Bob was able to win the case. Bob refused to cooperate with investigators in Patsy’s murder investigation or take a polygraph
However, one major complication in the case is the fact that a tray with two dinner plates was found in Patsy’s bedroom, which seemed to suggest she had an intimate dinner with someone else on the night she was murdered. Patsy had a boyfriend at the time, but he was three hours away in Austin on that particular night. Given their turbulent history, there’s no way Patsy and Bob would have had an intimate dinner together in her bedroom, leading to suspicion that Patsy’s killer was a secret lover no one else knew about. But it’s also possible that Patsy simply used two separate plates to eat dinner alone and this clue is nothing more than a red herring. There are also two other strange events which may or may not connected to this case…
-in 1984, Lori Ann Williams, a 26-year old receptionist at Patsy’s wax museum, suddenly fell ill and died, but her cause of death was never determined. After Patsy’s death, there was suspicion that Williams might have been poisoned as well. Williams’ body was exhumed, but the autopsy results were inconclusive
-a year after Patsy’s death, one of her wax museums burned down. Two weeks later, a man named Stanley Lester Poyner was caught trying to steal a ledger from the ashes. Since Poyner had a previous arrest for arson, he was looked at as a possible suspect in both the museum fire and Patsy’s death, but was released due to lack of evidence. In 1991, Dallas police made an attempt to re-question him. However, Poyner tried to flee the scene in his vehicle and since he nearly ran over a police officer in the process, the police opened fire on Poyner and killed him
Anonymous
Plus there was a towel to spit the mouth wash on. How did he know to spit saliva on a towel? Was the food that bad, she needed mouth wash and just want to sleep? I don’t think Patsy even called. I think one of the two called the other person. Their story doesn’t add up.
Nobody
It wasn’t sally or Steve. It was a man whom she worked with at the wax museum. That’s who killed patsy.
Anonymous
How did Paysy know it was the Cold medicine? She also had food she was eating. Something does seem right about Sally and Steve.
Deborah Decker
I believe that overlooked her daughter. Her interview and body language was that of a guilty person. People who lie voice Gore’s up in timber ” no not me”, frequent blinking, plus rummaging though her mother’s home and report of strange phone call while she was there. I believe police dropped the ball right there.
Tarus Fatah
Holly! Never even considered that. I think you nailed it on the head
Anonymous
She is like her mother. Never wanting to show how she hurts. She refused to even accept that she was going through that ordeal. But the suspects that provided the medicine information really have to be looked at. That is information only the killer would know.
thinkingoutloud
steve and sally didn’t even assume patsy was poisoned when she first arrived, so why was steves first instinct to give CPR? he has some involvement so he purposefully did CPR to show the cops that she was poisoned but he spit it out to act like he didn’t know it was poison
Anonymous
Any time someone explains evidence the police didn’t know existed, that is very suspicious. So any evidence the killer left on the dinner plates or whatever is now useless because when questioned the first thing they did was explain all the evidence. It is like reading a kids book report. The ones that copy the back of the book are lying.
anon
women are almost always who poisons. Fact.
Anonymous
That is true. But some gay guys have also done that.
Michael
The show stated that her wax museum business was worth 4 million in the early ’80s. 4 mill seems insane to us NOW– and consider that it would be more than ten mill in 2017 accounting for inflation. It’s partly why I don’t want to be mega-wealthy… the predators probably come at you from every angle.
Anonymous
Who benefits the most is always a focal point. Insurance companies have a checklist for possible homicides.
Annie
I hope they find out who killed her.
Anonymous
Poisonings are hard to solve. The killer can be anywhere when they digest them. You have to look at every detail.
Anonymous
The Husband of the Sister, and the Husband Worked to work her against her also, and the Sister and Her Husband wanted Patsy more flexible about business and her lover, and a third Person were involved in the deed. The Sister’s Husband even used Patsy’s Lover, with his help, to get to her, to control her, so they offed her. I Get from the Gift of Jehovah Lord God, 1 Cor ch 12.
James Ferguson
You live in a fantasy world
T
Ummm…wow.
Anonymous
Process of elimination. The killer could have just left it in the cold medicine. But they had to make sure it was that person that was going to use it. Because the daughter or a boyfriend could have used it. Pasty was the intended target. And people with that poison don’t even know it was poison until it is too late. They don’t just make phone calls. The get slurred in speech and just pass out. There is also evidence that a clean up was attempted than abandoned.
Anonymous
The Murderer was a Worker, for them in the wax bus. cleaning, I see him with a key, using, he knocked her out, the mouth to mouth was a cover up, know what was to come.
Anonymous
You have a very good gift. I believe that is exactly what happened.
Anonymous
If it was prepmaned murder , steve would of cleverly performed mouth to mouth and made sure to tell authorities he did this to elimunate him as a suspect. He knew to spir out the green fluid and made sure he told authorities.
Shirley
He knew to spit out the green stuff, so because of that, he’s guilty? Would you wanna swallow something from someone else’s mouth when doing CPR? Absolutely not. He’s not guilty for trying to save her life and using common sense at the same time.
thinkingoutloud
i agree with you anonymous, he purposely did that OR even said he did it to rule himself out as a suspect.
Anonymous
That only put his DNA on the dinner towel. We will never know who ate with her 100 percent now.
james Ferguson
Check the Mansfield feed stores, that is where he most likely purchased the Strychnine (simple rat poison) He may even have had a federal license to purchase it.
James Ferguson
The person I’ve mention in the above post also dated Lori Ann Williams who worked at Patsy Wrights wax museum, she also died mysteriously before Patsy’s death.
Anonymous
Was this John Clays Cutting Horses or something like that? Mansfield..
James Ferguson
What are you talking about.
Watchful Eye
Yeah! The sister and brother in-law seem pretty suspicious…not buying their story at all
Watchful Eye
Smart money is on the sister and brother in-law
James Ferguson
If there was an unknown person with Patsy that night I think I know who that person is. This person was seeing Patsy and had ask me to be sure not to mention this to anyone. This person was a horse trainer and was working for a lady in Arlington, and as I remember was also involved in the purchase of of some of the horses she had purchased.
I have other information on this guy which I would share with the proper people.
unsolved
Hi James – please send us more information at unsolved@unsolved.com, through our tip form (https://unsolved.com/content/tips) or through our app. Thank you.
June
Both Leslie and Wayne (Patsy’s children) took and passed polygraphs. Sally Horning (Patsy’s sister) did phone the police for an ambulance (did not have 911 back in1987) when Patsy called them, but they did not know her address #. It was a rent house. So they drove there and called the police again. There is only Steve Horning’s word that he gave Patsy CPR. Same with the plates – only Steve noticed them. Even if two plates were there, so what? Maybe she used two plates. You’d think the cops would have taken photos, analyzed the leftover food, etc. That would have helped. Patsy’s windows had been broken sometime before this happened. That’s why she got the alarm system. But nothing had been stolen. Was someone hired to break in and put the strychnine in her Nyquil? When did the breaking of the windows happen? Did the neighbors notice any cars? A lot is left out. Patsy was supposed to testify, in about 10 days, in Bob Cox’s insurance trial, that an item he said was lost in a fire (insurance company thought he set it), was actually in his office. He had been trying to talk her out of it. She didn’t testify, and he won the case and was awarded 1.3 million.
Anonymous
Her daughter had the guilty face and her sadness was very fake looking.
marshal william
Sent by
Anonymous
Why didnt sally n steve call 911 if they feared she collapsed while she was on the phone wirh them. Why would they thinkbthey would of been able to get there faster n save her over the medics.
Brittany Howard
They didn’t come in one one because Patsy had just moved into a rental and her sister did not know the address and she dialed 911 the operator told her she could not send police if they did not have an address that’s why they drove over there
Anonymous
Someone was already with her. Why would Patsy call her sister when a house guest could have taken her to the hospital? (I think that house guest was her someone she knew helping her get over a cold, it makes little sense. If someone you know is there, why call your sister as your closest person you know?)
Anonymous
Was the daughter interrigated. She seemed to b3 decisive when seen on the program unsolved mystetious. Did she take a polygraph
Anonymous
Polygraphs are not 100 percent. One of suspects admitted to opening a window like he was already inside. (How did he know the room needed air in it?)
Anonymous
One suspect said on Unsolved Mysteries “window was open just… I suppose for getting fresh air in there. Open it up, jumped through the window. ” That is quite a made up contradiction.