Offender Record · OFF-2026-010
Betty Lou Beets (photo from the Radford University biography)
Betty Lou Beets
Also known as Betty Lou Dunevant, Betty Lou Branson
Sex
Female
Race
White
Height
5'2"
Weight
118 lbs
Hair
Black
Eyes
Brown
Born
1937
Custody
Deceased
States
TX, VA
Distinguishing featuresHearing-impaired since childhood due to measles
Custody
Deceased at Huntsville Unit · #810
Custody record at the facility
Executed by lethal injection on February 24, 2000 at 6:18 p.m. CST at Huntsville Unit, Texas.
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Summary of the record
Betty Lou Beets was convicted of capital murder on October 11, 1985 for shooting her fifth husband, Jimmy Don Beets, on August 6, 1983 near Cedar Creek Lake, Gun Barrel City, Texas. She was charged with murder for remuneration under Texas Penal Code § 19.03(a)(3), with the prosecution alleging she killed to obtain his insurance and pension benefits. She was also charged with the 1981 murder of her fourth husband, Doyle Wayne Barker, but was never tried for that offense. Beets was executed by lethal injection on February 24, 2000 at age 62 at Huntsville Unit in Huntsville, Texas.
Documented Arrests, Charges and Convictions
Dispositions are shown exactly as the cited records report them. Pending charges are updated when a court acts; a record with no remaining conviction or pending charge is removed from the site.
Offense date Jan 17, 1972, Texas
Attempted murder of Billy York Lane; reduced to Aggravated Assault
Unknown, Texas · unknown · Texas Penal Code · Arrested Jan 17, 1972 · Convicted Convicted · Sentence: Charges dropped from attempted murder to misdemeanor aggravated assault after victim signed affidavit admitting he threatened her life
On January 17, 1972, Beets shot Billy York Lane, her second husband, whom she had married on July 28, 1970. Lane was waiting outside her home at night and Beets shot him. She was initially charged with attempted murder with malice but Lane signed an affidavit admitting he had threatened her life, and charges were reduced to misdemeanor aggravated assault. Beets and Lane later remarried briefly in 1972 before divorcing again.
SourcesRadford University serial killer biography: Beets, Betty Lou
Pattern and Background
Victim counts and the pattern of the offenses as stated by courts, agencies and the cited reporting. Suspected counts are what officials have said publicly, not a finding of this site.
1
Victims convicted
0
Victims confessed
2
Victims suspected
Active years
1983–1983
Victim profile
Partners or spouses
Stated motive
Financial gain
Range from home
local
Accomplice
Yes
Education
some high school
Marital history
Married, Divorced
Children
6
Died
2000-02-24 · executed
Places Lived, Worked and Frequented
Each place and date range comes from a cited record. Dates marked approximate are as reported. Know a place that is missing? Use Edit record under the photo; a moderator reviews it before it appears.
TX
Mesquite, Texas
approx. 1954 – 1970 · Moved to Mesquite Texas with first husband
Texas
approx. 1960 – 1983 · Worked as waitress, cashier, topless dancer, bartender
Gun Barrel City, Texas
approx. 1979 – 1985 · Mobile home near Cedar Creek Lake in Henderson County; where Jimmy Don Beets and Doyle Wayne Barker were buried
Huntsville, Texas
Oct 14, 1985 – Feb 24, 2000 · Huntsville Unit, Texas Department of Criminal Justice; TDCJ #810; originally incarcerated at Mountain View Unit (now Patrick O'Daniel Unit)
VA
Danville, Virginia
approx. 1942 – 1954 · Family home
Photographs by Year
Photo from case-law.vlex.com
Betty Lou Beets (photo from the Radford University biography)
Photo from en.wikipedia.org
Betty Beets
Timeline
Mar 12, 1937
Betty Lou Dunevant born in Roxboro, North Carolina.
1940
Betty Lou contracted measles at age 3 and lost her hearing.
1942
Betty Lou claimed she was raped by her father at age 5.
Jul 18, 1952
Betty Lou married Robert Franklin Branson at age 15 after finishing 9th grade.
Jan 17, 1972
Betty Lou shot her second husband Billy York Lane; initially charged with attempted murder but charges were reduced to misdemeanor aggravated assault.
Oct 03, 1979
Betty Lou married Doyle Wayne Barker.
Aug 10, 1981
Doyle Wayne Barker disappeared and was later found to have been killed by gunshot; buried in yard of mobile home.
Aug 19, 1982
Betty Lou married Jimmy Don Beets, a retired Dallas fire captain.
Aug 06, 1983
Betty Lou shot and killed her fifth husband Jimmy Don Beets with a .38 caliber handgun while he slept in their mobile home near Cedar Creek Lake, Gun Barrel City, Texas.
Aug 12, 1983
Jimmy Don Beets' fishing boat was found drifting in Cedar Creek Lake.
Jun 08, 1985
Betty Lou Beets arrested for capital murder of Jimmy Don Beets and charged with capital murder in connection with Doyle Wayne Barker's death.
Jul 11, 1985
Betty Lou Beets' trial for capital murder began in Henderson County District Court, 173rd Judicial District.
Oct 11, 1985
Betty Lou Beets found guilty of capital murder for remuneration of Jimmy Don Beets.
Oct 14, 1985
Betty Lou Beets sentenced to death; received by Texas Department of Corrections on this date, TDCJ #810.
Sep 21, 1988
Texas Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed Betty Lou Beets' conviction and death sentence on rehearing.
Feb 24, 2000
Betty Lou Beets executed by lethal injection at 6:18 p.m. CST at Huntsville Unit, Huntsville, Texas, at age 62.
Sources
Solve the Case is never the original source. Each item below is the public record a statement on this page rests on, with an archived copy where one exists.
News report · Wikipedia ·
Betty Lou Beets“She was convicted of shooting her fifth husband, Jimmy Don Beets, on August 6, 1983. She was deaf due to a childhood bout of measles and claimed she was sexually abused by her father.”
Other · Radford University Department of Psychology ·
Radford University serial killer biography: Beets, Betty Lou“Betty Lou Beets, Texas Black Widow; Born 03/12/1937 in Roxboro North Carolina”
Other government record · Texas Execution Database ·
Execution Report: Betty Beets“In August 1983, Betty Beets reported her fifth husband, Jimmy Don Beets, missing. Two .38-caliber bullets were found in his remains and three .38-caliber bullets in Doyle Wayne Barker's remains.”
Other · Amnesty International ·
Death Penalty USA: Betty Lou Beets“After a four-day trial she was convicted and sentenced to death. She was sentenced to death in 1985 for the murder of her husband after a trial in which crucial mitigating evidence was never presented to the jury.”
Other government record · Clark Prosecutor's Office ·
Betty Lou Beets #616“Betty Lou Beets, convicted of murdering her husband in 1983, was put to death by lethal injection at 6:18 p.m. CST at a state prison in Huntsville, Texas.”
News report · CBS News ·
Texas Executes Betty Lou Beets“Betty Beets was charged with killing both men, but after she received the death penalty for the murder of Jimmy Don Beets the other case did not go to trial.”
Court record · United States Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit ·
BEETS v. SCOTT (1995)“On October 11, 1985, petitioner Betty Lou Beets was convicted of the capital murder of her fifth husband, Jimmy Don Beets. She was sentenced to death.”
Court record · Texas Court of Criminal Appeals ·
Beets v. State, 767 S.W.2d 711“Betty Lou Beets was convicted of committing the offense of capital murder of Jimmy Don Beets, who was then her lawful husband.”
Other · Find a Grave ·
Doyle Wayne Barker (1939-1981) - Find a Grave Memorial“Funeral services are at 3 p.m. here today for Doyle Wayne Barker, a 41-year-old Rains County native whose wife has been charged with murdering him and another husband.”
News report · United Press International ·
A twice-widowed woman and her daughter have been charged“Betty Beets, 48, was charged with capital murder Saturday in the deaths of Jimmy Don Beets, who was believed drowned in 1983, and Wayne Barker, who disappeared in 1981.”
Discussion
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