48 Hours Mystery: Thou Shalt Not Kill

(CBS)  In November 1994, the body of 33-year-old Farah Fratta was discovered in the garage of her Humble, Texas home.

"I remember the last day quite well, the day that it happened. Memories of her voice are definitely in my head," Farah's eldest child, Bradley, told "48 Hours Mystery" correspondent Richard Schlesinger. "When my mother was murdered I was about 7 1/2 years old."

"Farah Fratta, a very pretty lady. Her story was pretty tragic once she married Bob," Prosecutor Kelly Siegler explained. "The marriage was in a lot of trouble, a divorce was pending…

"It was November the 9th, 1994. That was the evening when Farah stopped to get her hair cut… with no idea about what was going to happen.

"At the time Farah was getting her hair cut, the shooter and the get-away driver were in a car together on the way to Farah'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."

Bradley said his father took him, his brother and sister to church that night.

"While we were at the church, they would have us doing a bunch of little fun activities which also involved praying," he said.

"So Farah got her hair done, pulled into her garage… It just so happens 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," said Siegler.

"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," said neighbor Laura Hoelscher.

"And I saw her laying down there by her car," said Darin Hoelscher.

"It was at that time, when we realized she wasn't getting up, we dialed 911," said Laura. "I just started giving them a play by play of what we were seeing."

Listen to the Hoelscher's 911 call

"After leaving the Catechism class we went back to the house. The first thing I remember was just all the yellow tape everywhere," Bradley explained. "I just remember arriving there and my dad acting very surprised as to what was going on."

"Bob Fratta was nowhere near the murder scene when Farah was shot," Siegler said. "He had definite proof to say, 'Bob wasn't there. Bob was at Catechism with us.' How many people use church as their alibi and use their own children as their alibi? Who does that?

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[stcoro]

This story left out one of the key pieces of evidence used by the prosecution to convince the jury that he was a continuing threat. In order to show that he was still a masterful manipulator, the prosecution introduced evidence that he convinced Vivian King to use her attorney-client privileged envelope to smuggle into prison pictures of naked women. During the prosecutions presentation of this evidence, King got up from the defense counsel table and left the courtroom, leaving her co-counsel and client to defend against the claim.

[sheshecrv]

The bottom line is Mary did absolutely nothing to stop this murder. She said she didnt want to get involved. Wow, that sickens me. My heart goes out to the family of the victim.

[Mishilka]

I think his gym buddies are also to blame. I mean how could one think asking for a hitman is a joke!!! But as always the woman took all the blame.

mimislifelessons.blogspot.com

[stef08713]

We don't need to know the details of his sexual behavior. Obviously he is a sick person, look what he did to his wife. For those kids, I'm sure its hurtful enough living with the fact that their dad is a murderer and the whole world knows it. Unfortunately, there are a lot of parents who don't censor what their kids see that's just the way it is. We don't need more people like Fratta walking around. Fortunately there are good people like the grandparents who have to pick up the pieces. Thank God for them and people like them.

[rmagee3]

In response to beachgirl37, you must be a relative or one of those idiot penpal women that write to these losers and believe they are all innocent!! Wake up!! This idiot KILLED his wife and if he had the opportunity you might be next. 48 hours has represented many stories in which they believed that the assused might be innocent and there is no reason for them to side with anyone. There job is just to tell us the story and I think they have done a wonderful job. Unlike you I have no connection to these people to cause me to be biased.

[kboun001]

Thank God for the grandparents...if it was not for them, the three kids would not have grown up into the wonderful adults they are today. I was very moved in how they survived such a crushing blow that most people cannot even imagine. All of them, the children and grandparents, have to suffer because of that steroid junkie cop of a dad

[Lorraining]

I've been watching 48 Hours for years and this is the first time that I've posted here. While all the stories are heartbreaking, this one really got to me. I can't even begin to say how much I admire the wonderful grandparents and children of this beautiful woman who was murdered. Her husband is without a doubt one of the most horrible sociopaths of which I've ever heard...and all the people that could have possibly prevented this by reporting to the police that he was looking for a hitman...yet did nothing, make this tragedy even worse. How could this happen? I can't help thinking that if just one of the many people that this monster had told that he wanted to kill his wife had gone to the police, perhaps this could have been prevented.

I am so saddened by the heartbreak that Farah's parents and children have suffered and I'm sickened that they had to go through a second trial. I can't even imagine what they have gone through.

To the grandparents...you are truly wonderful people. To the children...God bless you. Your dear mother will always live inside you.

[Beachgirl37]

http://robertalanfratta.com

[Beachgirl37]

Nothing like one sided journalism! Great job Jenna on focusing on one side of the story! What happened to our media being unbiased and informative? So much left out, so much rearranged in the wrong timeline. So many stories changed (Kitty's story just keeps changing and getting bigger) Using interviews of people who were ruled to be not credible by a judge! The sad thing is, is that people are more worried about disgusting made up details, rather than the fact half the story was left out! This wasn't 48 hours Mystery... this was "48 hours -- let me tell you what to believe" and people fall for it! Hope your ratings were worth it and hope you get a big promotion Jenna! Great Job!!

[iowa0319]

Your IQ level must be astounding. Hopefully we can count on you to go away and quit wasting space.

[Beachgirl37]

Nothing like one sided journalism! Great job Jenna on focusing on one side of the story! What happened to our media being unbaised and informative? So much left out, so much rearranged in the wrong timeline. So many stories changed (Kitty's story just keeps changing and getting bigger) Using interviews of people who were ruled to be not credible by a judge! The sad thing is, is that people are more worried about disgusting made up details, rather than the fact half the story was left out! This wasn't 48hour mystery... this was "48 hours let me tell you what to believe" and people fall for it! Hope your ratings were worth it and hope you get a big promotion Jenna! Great Job!!