00:00:15
MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG:
Trucking tycoon, Bill Hall, Jr., was a hit with the ladies.
00:00:19
Even at the age of 16, he had
a reputation as a major fox among the local girls.
00:00:26
He had a baby face,
and the most prettiest smile, the most cutest
nose, I mean, Bill was just,
00:00:32
he was hot. MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG:
Fast forward 31 years and Bill was still
breaking hearts.
00:00:38
Including that of a
so-called exotic dancer, Bonnie Contreras. It was easy for me
to start loving him.
00:00:45
Video footage
of her having sex with your husband,
the only man you've been with your entire life.
00:00:52
At some point you have
to say, this has to stop. Leave me alone. It all came to a head during
a high speed chase, in which,
00:01:00
Bill, Bonnie, and Frances,
eventually, all collided in a tragic date with destiny.
00:01:07
Nearly half of the
women who are murdered are killed by their partners. But men are also increasingly
victims of domestic homicide.
00:01:15
Are you sure the person
lying next to you in bed would never hurt you? If not, you might
want to think again.
00:01:22
Never in a million
years would I have thought my husband would
have been cheating on me,
00:01:26
or living this double life. I'm Michelle Trachtenberg,
and it's time for another tale
00:01:31
of Meet Marry Murder. MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG:
Little did Frances Hall know, there were actually three
people in her marriage, herself,
00:01:54
her husband Bill Hall,
and Bonnie Contreras. Now, only two of
them remain alive.
00:02:00
I know she's not
this vicious person that they portray her to be. Just like I'm not this home
wrecking, gold digging person,
00:02:10
they portrayed me to be. She's a nut case. She is what you considered
your typical psycho
00:02:17
girlfriend, crazy ass. You know you're
with a married man. No, it takes two
to tango, I agree.
00:02:25
He ain't going to
leave his wife. He ain't going to
leave his wife. You don't mind being like this?
00:02:33
MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG: The story
of Bill, Bonnie, and Frances, begins in San Antonio,
Texas in 1979.
00:02:40
I remember us living
in the projects. They were called
the Cassiano Homes. There was two of us in
the beginning with my mom,
00:02:47
and then she later
had two more children, and then there was four of us. We come from very,
very humble beginnings.
00:02:54
When I'm staying humble, poor. Poverty level poor. Bill lived fairly
close to her-- and they
00:03:01
were high school sweethearts. She was working
at a movie theater and they started
dating after that.
00:03:08
And this love affair began
and they've never looked back. MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG:
Trucking tycoon, Bill Hall Jr.,
00:03:15
had always been a
hit with the ladies. Even all the way
back when he was 16. You know we started
as a friendship,
00:03:23
you know, he was a
real respectful guy. With me he was very respectful. And I think he knew
I was a good girl.
00:03:29
MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG:
As teenagers, Bill Hall, Jr.
and Frances Ariza, couldn't have been
more different.
00:03:35
Back then I thought he was the
most cutest guy I had ever met. He had a baby face,
and the most prettiest
00:03:41
smile, the most cutest nose. I mean, Bill was
just, he was hot. He looked good in his jeans too.
00:03:49
He's also determined
to be a success in life. He's one of those risk takers. And by 1981, Bill can't
hold back anymore,
00:03:58
and he proposes to Frances. We got married at 18. He got down on bended knee in
front of my mother's house.
00:04:06
And it was 10 o'clock, because
my mom had a strict curfew, you got to go to bed at 10:00.
00:04:10
And he got down on his knees
in front of the side door that we came in. And I was like, are you serious?
00:04:15
And he goes, yes, I
want to marry you. And I was already
in love with him. MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG: Soon
they started having children.
00:04:21
Bill's pride and joy. And Nicki came along
April 1st in 1983. And Justin was
born June 7, 1987.
00:04:31
MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG:
Both Bill and Frances were determined to
give their children
00:04:34
the best life possible. She's working some
odd jobs, like cleaning. He gets a job at his
aunt's trucking company,
00:04:42
but Bill has a dream, he
wants his own company. And in the early 1980s, the
couple gets their first truck.
00:04:50
They hire half a dozen
employees and they start Bill Hall, Jr.'s Trucking. By 1989, they have become
the largest trucking company
00:05:02
in the entire state of Texas. They're doing well. Bill Hall, Jr.'s Trucking
is worth $12 million.
00:05:11
Once Bill's business
took off, and he started making a lot of
money, he enjoyed that money.
00:05:18
He did things like
travel to Vegas, he showered his
friends with gifts. She's at home
making tortillas,
00:05:24
and, you know, playing
bingo with his mother. MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG: After
their two children grew up
00:05:29
and left home, Bill had
even more time to kick back and enjoy his growing fortune.
00:05:34
Bill loved motorcycles,
loved to ride fast. You know I had never
been around a motorcycle.
00:05:39
But he always had them. He loved them. I bought him a Harley Davidson
V-Rod for his 40th birthday.
00:05:45
MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG:
But Bill also had another passion, women. He was a very successful,
very handsome man.
00:05:51
And I think he had women
throwing themselves at him. He starts going out, more
and more, hitting the bars,
00:05:58
buying the drinks,
having affairs. At one point, Bill has an
affair with his cousin's wife,
00:06:04
and gets her pregnant. MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG:
Friends said, that despite Bill's
frequent one night stands,
00:06:09
their three decade old
marriage seems strong. Their love was
just never ending. Those two were never
going to be apart.
00:06:18
They were made to be together
and all of the things that we see in our
daily life, every day
00:06:24
that cause families
to break up, they had overcome those hurdles. Buying a house,
raising two children,
00:06:33
growing a business from the
ground up, good times and bad. I said to myself, well you
know what, I put in a lot
00:06:40
of time and effort with you. And a lot had to do with it. I love this man. I genuinely love this man.
00:06:48
MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG:
Things finally changed for Bill and
Frances in the fall of 2010.
00:06:52
When Bill crossed paths with a
woman named Bonnie Contreras. I first met Bill when I
was at a spinach festival
00:07:00
in my hometown. A former stripper, Bonnie was
originally from Crystal City. A farming community two hours
southwest of San Antonio,
00:07:09
known as the spinach
capital of the world. And the site of a huge
annual spinach festival.
00:07:15
I was actually helping my
aunt sell chicken on a stick. He was passing by with
a group of friends.
00:07:21
They kind of just backtracked
themselves back to the booth. And Bill and I just
started talking
00:07:28
and I, kind of, just
ignored everybody else. And, you know, we kind
of hit it off right away.
00:07:32
I came home and a
week later I find out that he's looking for me. MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG:
A month later,
00:07:38
as Bonnie was meeting up
with a handsome stranger, 19 years for senior, she had
just one question on her mind.
00:07:45
When I first met him, I
didn't see a ring on him. So I figured, oh, you
know, he's a single man.
00:07:51
He asked me if I wanted
to go out for lunch. I accepted. Our first date was
at a restaurant
00:07:57
called Scuzzi's, it's
an Italian restaurant. I asked him, I said,
are you married?
00:08:01
He said, yes I'm
married, I'm separated. And, you know, I'm
going through a divorce.
00:08:06
So after that I felt like
it wasn't a necessity for me to keep hounding him about
it, or for me to keep asking
00:08:14
him questions about his family. MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG: That
first dinner with Bonnie
00:08:18
would end up being the beginning
of the end of Bill's marriage. But for Bonnie, it was just the
beginning of what she thought
00:08:25
would be the rest of her life. He was a very special
man that came to my life when I was only 27 years old.
00:08:31
We connected right away. It became an
everyday thing where him and I were just constantly
together from morning to night.
00:08:41
He was going to become
my husband one day and the future
father of my kids. MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG:
For her part, Bill's wife
00:08:49
Frances had no clue about the
game that Bill was playing. It's so weird because
people have said,
00:08:56
well you know she
put up with his ways, and she knew about it. No I didn't. No I didn't.
00:09:01
Not once did I
know that Bill had been messing around
with-- around my back, or anything like that.
00:09:07
I wasn't the type of
woman that, oh, OK, well as long as he comes home
to me and blah, blah, blah.
00:09:11
Uh, uh. Uh, uh. I'm Hispanic, I got
some spunk in me. MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG:
So how did
00:09:17
this self-styled
Hispanic woman with spunk react when she found out? (CHOKED UP) I made the
choice, I said to myself,
00:09:26
I'm going to forgive him. Because it's been a
hell of a ride and I'm not ready to leave
this man, or anything.
00:09:36
And first and
foremost, I loved him. As hurt as I was, I was more,
I was worried about what
00:09:46
he was going through. But, I figure I can handle
this, I'm going to handle this.
00:09:56
I'm going to save my marriage. MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG:
For Frances, saving her marriage would end
up being easier said than done.
00:10:03
Because according to Bonnie,
there was nothing left for Bill and Frances to save.
00:10:08
I wasn't trying
to hurt anybody. It was a decision he made
and I was respecting it.
00:10:14
And I guess the
decision he made, it just wasn't what
other people wanted, and that's where
things got really bad.
00:10:39
After 31 years of marriage
to his wife Frances, Bill Hall Jr. decided
to start shacking up
00:10:44
with former exotic
dancer Bonnie Contreras. Bonnie thought Bill was
serious about leaving his wife,
00:10:50
but according to everyone
else, Bonnie was wrong. I think it's easier
for him to have the wife
00:10:58
and keep her on the side. He had no intention of putting
that woman in Frances' place,
00:11:03
ever. You ask his cousins,
his, sisters everyone that worked for
him, they knew Bill
00:11:09
they knew where his heart was. And maybe his heart
and his genitalia were in different
rooms, I don't know,
00:11:15
but there was no way
he was going to leave Frances, especially for Bonnie. MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG:
But that wasn't
00:11:20
what Bill was telling Bonnie. Bill never talked
bad about his wife. He said, you know, I'm
always going to love her.
00:11:26
She's the mother of my kids, she
gave me 32 years of her life. You know, I'm always going
to respect her for that.
00:11:32
He goes, but I'm just not
in love with her anymore. MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG:
For almost three years,
00:11:37
Bill Hall Jr. led a double life. One day after another,
a week, then a month, then years, and it kind of just
started getting more intense.
00:11:46
MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG:
Bill was so good at leading his double
life, that at the time,
00:11:50
Frances claims she didn't
even know Bonnie existed. I would have never,
in a million years,
00:11:57
guessed that my husband had
been living a double life. Never. We were so in sync.
00:12:03
I mean, it's almost like, man
the last year of his life, like we were, boom,
boom in together.
00:12:13
We were together every day. Every day he would
come to my house at-- anywhere from like 6:00,
7 o'clock in the morning.
00:12:21
We'd spend all day
together, lunch, you know, breakfast, dinner. Bonnie's satisfied.
00:12:27
She's got her man. And does she have her man? He buys her two cars,
he's paying her rent,
00:12:33
he tells her she
doesn't have to work. I mean, why should she? He can afford everything.
00:12:37
He pays for breast enhancements. This goes on for three years. MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG: But in
defense attorney, Lee Cutter's
00:12:43
opinion, Bonnie was
far from your run of the mill, sugar baby. Evil gold digger.
00:12:50
Is that OK? I mean, incredibly
manipulative woman? MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG: And
that's not even the worst
00:12:56
thing ever said about Bonnie. I've gotten more
than 100,000 messages. I've gotten bad
ones, to good ones,
00:13:04
to God bless you,
to go kill yourself, to you deserve to die too. MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG:
Gold digger,
00:13:12
or no, according to
Bonnie Contreras, the love that she and
Bill shared was real.
00:13:18
He was a very loving,
very free spirited person. He was very funny, very
easygoing man, very easy
00:13:26
to get along with. MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG:
But by September 2013, Bill was starting to
lose interest in Bonnie.
00:13:32
Bill starts to get a little
tired of this relationship. So he starts being
a little distant.
00:13:37
And the spigot turns
off, and Bonnie is wondering what's going on? I mean, my man, and my money.
00:13:44
I mean, what's happening? So she starts texting
him, and you know, he's not responding like he used to.
00:13:50
She starts sending
a barrage of texts. She tries to reach
him by phone, he's not returning her phone calls.
00:13:55
So she texts him and she
finally gets to the point where she's just had it. And she threatens him and
she says, you respond to me,
00:14:02
or I will tell
Frances everything. She won't let up. She keeps threatening him. So he finally says, go
ahead, tell Frances.
00:14:11
MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG:
After believing Bill Hall, Jr. had been a faithful husband
for more than 30 years, one
00:14:17
fateful day in September 2013,
Bonnie Contreras gleefully informed Frances Hall, that she
couldn't have been more wrong.
00:14:26
I get a call on my phone
and all I heard is, Frances? And I go, yeah. She goes, you don't know
who I am but I need to talk
00:14:34
to you about your husband. And I thought, oh my god,
he's been in an accident. And she went on, no, I need
to talk to you about Bill.
00:14:42
I've been having
an affair with Bill and we need to talk
because this needs to stop.
00:14:46
We need to get this
out in the open. Frances was angry with Bill. I think she was hurt
and she felt humiliated.
00:14:55
MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG:
Despite Bill's infidelity, Frances made a decision to
stand by her man, which didn't
00:15:01
make Bonnie happy at all. I started sending her
pictures, and, of course, I sent her a picture that Bill
had taken of me, of my behind.
00:15:08
MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG: It
was actually more than that according to Frances. She sent, was it
two or three videos?
00:15:16
I know there was
one her from behind, one from her in the front. I don't know what the other
one was, I can't remember.
00:15:25
It might have been two. Sending you,
not just pictures, but actual video footage of her
having sex with your husband.
00:15:34
The only man you've been
with your entire life. MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG:
One message finally
00:15:37
sent Frances over the edge. We get inside his Range
Rover, and he's driving, and I get it on
the passenger side.
00:15:44
And as soon as he puts it in
drive, I go, what's going on? And he's driving,
and I mean, his--
00:15:52
the tears are coming out. And I'm looking
at him like, god. And I mean, did I get mad?
00:16:00
Did I have a temper? Of course I did. I grabbed his phone, I
threw it at him in the car.
00:16:05
It hit him in the head. It shattered. The phone broke. And then that's
when I asked him how
00:16:12
long has this been going on? And he wouldn't tell me. And he finally said,
almost three years.
00:16:16
And I was like,
I was devastated. MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG:
Beyond Bill's looks, Frances knew Bonnie was into
him for a very simple reason.
00:16:25
She got my phone number
and she contacted me. She was telling me about the
company, about the money,
00:16:31
she was scuffling about
how she had busted her butt from the ground up. Said, hey, by all
means, I'm not trying
00:16:37
to interfere in any of that. You know, she kind
of said, well you know it's not fair
that you're just
00:16:42
going to be sitting pretty. And I said, you know what, I
said, just leave me out of it.
00:16:47
And that was one of the first
times that her and I, you know, kind of got into it.
00:16:54
MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG: Now that
his cheating had been exposed, Bill decided to get
back with Bonnie.
00:16:59
Something, which caused his
kids some serious heartache. If you've ever
experienced infidelity,
00:17:06
either as a child
when your parents-- one of them were unfaithful,
or as a partner in a marriage,
00:17:13
it's devastating. On both ends. Of course, the kids were mad. His daughter had been contacting
me leaving nasty messages.
00:17:22
MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG: Of
course, Frances weighed in. She started texting me. And when she started
texting me, it
00:17:28
was not pleasant text messages. She was talking everywhere from
my daughter, from, you know,
00:17:34
personal things. So then I-- I hit back. You want to get nasty
with me, well I'm
00:17:40
going to get nasty with you. Some of the things
that Bonnie said were really, really
cutting deep.
00:17:46
She talked about how she
had had a hysterectomy, and she wasn't a real woman. She sent Frances diagrams,
and called her a broken woman,
00:17:58
hollow, empty, a lot of
very explicit language and it was pretty nasty. As soon as she didn't
get what she wanted, money,
00:18:07
she threatened him. He goes, we'd break up for
a while, and I was fine. He goes, there was times
I wanted to call it off,
00:18:15
and I would. And then she called
that she was doing this, doing that to herself.
00:18:21
That she was going
to tell me, she knew about where my kids lived. I'm not nobody's doormat.
00:18:26
MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG:
Now it was Bonnie's turn to throw Bill out. It was actually the second
time that I had kicked him out.
00:18:32
I, kind of, told him, you know
look, I'm fed up with this. I'm fed up with her. I'm fed up with you.
00:18:36
I'm fed up with the kids. I threw out all his clothes. I changed the locks. I changed bank accounts,
I did all of the sort.
00:18:44
So I would have no
contact with him. MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG:
On the outs with Bonnie,
00:18:48
Bill begged Frances
to take him back. Bill was struggling with this. He didn't know how to get
this woman out of his life
00:18:55
and fix his marriage
with Frances. And it's something he very
clearly did not want to lose.
00:19:00
I had only
witnessed him that low and that was when
his mother passed. Instead of me being pissed,
I told him, you know what,
00:19:08
it's OK, we'll figure this out. And he was like,
are you sure Vieja? Are you going to leave me?
00:19:14
And I go, no, no. I go, I'm mad as
freaking hell and I really need for you to leave.
00:19:19
I go, but we'll figure this
out, we'll work with it. MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG:
Meanwhile,
00:19:25
after realizing she'd
kicked out her golden goose, Bonnie now wanted Bill back. And she wasn't the
type to give up easily.
00:19:32
So on October 8, 2013, as
Bill and Frances were staying in a nearby hotel trying
to work things out,
00:19:40
Bonnie decided to make her move. I wanted my boyfriend
back home, you know. And so I went looking
for him, and I kid you
00:19:48
not, I started looking
for him at all the hotels. I couldn't find him. And I said, he has to be over
here at the resort off of 151.
00:19:55
So, little did I know,
I was driving there and I went up to the
entrance, and I see her car
00:20:04
parked behind the Range Rover. And I said, what? This doesn't, this doesn't
look right, you know.
00:20:10
She shows up to
the hotel and she lies to the bellhop to get in. I told the
concierge to tell him
00:20:17
that Miss Contreras was there. When the concierge
was talking to Bill, I could hear Frances
in the background,
00:20:23
you know, yelling, and fighting
with him, and stuff like that. And I guess she then
wanted to come downstairs
00:20:29
and he didn't let
her come downstairs. Because you know, then that
would be a scuffle and a fight.
00:20:34
MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG:
The hotel incident was the last straw for Frances. It got to the point where,
at some point you have to say,
00:20:41
this has to stop,
leave me alone, stop. MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG: By now,
Frances was way past her limit
00:20:49
for Bill's double dealing. And after a daylong,
knockdown, drag out fight, she kicked Bill to
the curb for good.
00:20:56
She got very
physical with him. Lamps broke in the
house, and you know, she banged up his
bike really bad.
00:21:06
And she was really, like, this
is really coming to reality. MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG:
Could Bill Hall,
00:21:10
Jr. have ping ponged back
and forth between his wife and mistress forever? No one's really sure.
00:21:16
But what we do know, is that
as far as Bonnie was concerned, Bill's marriage was over.
00:21:22
Like he told me, and
he was honest, he goes, I'm always going
to love that woman.
00:21:25
That's the mother of my kids but
I'm just not in love with her anymore. MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG: That's
not what Frances was hearing.
00:21:31
He comes around
and not begs me, but you know, he she
tells me, I love you. You know you're
the woman I love.
00:21:38
With the situation between
Bill Hall, Jr. and his wife Frances, and his mistress
Bonnie threatening to spin out
00:21:46
of control, it was
only a matter of time before this volatile
love triangle found itself on a collision
course with destiny.
00:21:58
9-1-1 OPERATOR: Bexar County
9-1-1, what is your location? MAN (ON PHONE): 1604
right passed Medina River.
00:22:06
Man needs medical attention. He's bleeding. MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG:
After Bill Hall, Jr.'s wife
00:22:28
Frances told him
to hit the road, Bill decided that he and his
mistress Bonnie Contreras
00:22:35
should do just that. Literally. We were supposed to go on
a bike rally so we woke up,
00:22:40
he took his meds. You know, I went
to a doctor's visit with him because he
had gotten surgery
00:22:47
on one of his shoulders. We left home and
he got on his bike. And he tossed me his
cell phone and the keys.
00:22:54
And we were driving
down 1604 going towards Macdona Lacoste Road. MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG: With Bill
riding his Harley motorcycle,
00:23:02
Bonnie follows behind
in her car on their way to the popular tourist
town of Corpus Christi,
00:23:07
on the Gulf of Mexico. But just minutes into
their drive, the pair unexpectedly run into
Bill's wife Frances.
00:23:15
So I go to a volleyball game. My niece was having a
volleyball game, Miranda. She saw her husband,
Bill, on his motorcycle.
00:23:23
And not far behind him, Bonnie
in the family's Range Rover. MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG: Despite
having seen many pictures
00:23:29
of Bonnie, not all of
them fully clothed, the two had never encountered
each other in the flesh.
00:23:35
Until now. And that's when she
actually physically sees Bonnie Contreras for
the very first time.
00:23:40
1604 is a loop in San Antonio. And she's at one
of the crossroads, and she's sitting there in
their family's Escalade.
00:23:50
And she sees Bill go by
on his very distinct, baby blue Harley Davidson. And then, she sees
her family's--
00:24:02
her brand new supercharged
Range Rover, and Bonnie in the driver's seat. She sees me, she
passes me, she's coming,
00:24:11
and she starts
giving me the bird. And she said, I grabbed
the steering wheel. And I squeezed it so hard.
00:24:19
And I said, that's it. I'm going to
confront this woman. I turned around,
and there we go.
00:24:30
We start cat and
mousing each other. She steps on the
brake, I'm speeding up. Were we going fast?
00:24:37
Probably. I wasn't looking
at my speedometer. There was cars--
she'd pass a car.
00:24:43
And I'd pass right
in back of her. She'd step on the brake
and I'd come close. And we just started
going down the street.
00:24:50
It seemed like for miles. And all through the time,
I'd kind of move over, and I'd tell her, pull over.
00:24:56
Nope. And pull over, and, nope. I was terrified. The only thing that was
going through my head
00:25:02
was Bill, and me, flipping over
because we were going so fast. As soon as she flipped me
off, man, I just passed her.
00:25:12
I parked, and I always
remember that I said, please dear God, just let
me confront this girl.
00:25:18
You know what, if she wants
him, she can have him. I had even thought to
myself, we're done.
00:25:23
MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG: While
getting back in her car, Frances spots Bill
on his motorcycle.
00:25:28
There was a point where
Bill pulls off to the side, and he slows down some. And Bonnie and Frances are
still playing brake check.
00:25:37
And Frances looks over
and she sees Bill, and he makes eye
contact with her. And he goes, oh f-- because
he knows, oh my god,
00:25:47
my wife who I'm working
it out with, now has run into my mistress. All of a sudden,
I look this way
00:25:52
and she just slammed
on her break. I mean, it was so fast
that I went like this,
00:25:57
and I just stepped on my brake. MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG:
No surprise, Bonnie remembers a slightly
different version of events.
00:26:08
I felt somebody
hit me from behind. And I thought it was
an accident at first, you know, it's a bump, a hit.
00:26:17
You know, you feel like, oh
you know somebody hit me, they're not paying attention.
00:26:21
But then when I felt
it for the second time, I said what the hell? And so I looked through
the rear view mirror
00:26:28
and I saw it was her. And I got thrown onto
oncoming traffic. MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG:
And suddenly, Bill is
00:26:35
in no one's rear view mirror. I remember him
pulling over and I'm like, where is this guy?
00:26:40
But I remember seeing dust. And I was like, and
I thought, well, it might have been a
dirt devil, you know,
00:26:46
you're out in the country. So I'm coming back this
way looking for Bill, but I remember I didn't
go that far back.
00:26:52
I see where the bike flew
and then I see Bill fly. And I just started screaming at
the top of my lungs and crying.
00:27:01
MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG: Some good
Samaritans quickly call 9-1-1. 9-1-1 OPERATOR: Bexar County
9-1-1, what is your location?
00:27:10
MAN (ON PHONE): 1604
right passed Medina River. Man needs medical
attention he's bleeding.
00:27:16
MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG:
Bonnie arrives at the scene of the
accident, moments before Bill's wife Frances.
00:27:21
I was just so scared and I
was screaming, I was crying. I was calling his sister.
00:27:26
MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG:
EMTs arrive and begin working on Bill within minutes. But Frances still
doesn't realize
00:27:32
exactly what has just
happened to her husband of over 30 years. She didn't know
that Bill had run
00:27:38
into the back of her vehicle. And then she goes,
where's Bill at? And I think at that
point the panic sets in.
00:27:47
My sister Connie calls
me, where you at? I go-- instead of
answering I don't know or--
00:27:54
I told her, I can't find Bill. She goes, what are
you talking about? Bill's Harley had gone in
between the two vehicles,
00:28:01
sending him flying into
the air, and crashing down hard on the pavement. He has no helmet on.
00:28:08
To this day, Frances maintains
that she had no idea that Bill was dying on the
side of the road,
00:28:14
as she kept on driving
to look for him. As I'm turning around looking
for Bill coming this way,
00:28:19
my sister-in-law calls me. And I go, hello? What did you do? And I go, huh? What did you do?
00:28:30
What did you do to Billy? I go, what the hell
are you talking about? I'm looking for him.
00:28:36
She goes, no, you hit him. I go, what? MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG: By
now, Frances had found her way
00:28:43
back to where Bill
was lying injured and being worked on
by medical personnel. Somebody was wearing
a suit, a uniform.
00:28:51
And they grabbed me,
and I went like this, and I just ran to Bill. And I remember my sister had
Bill in between her legs.
00:28:58
His head. And I go what happened? And my sister's bawling and
Bill has this thing-- the mask.
00:29:04
By then, I guess the volunteer
fire department got there. And they're putting the mask
and he took it off and he goes,
00:29:10
I can't breathe. I can't breathe. And we put it back on and
he kept putting it off.
00:29:15
There was like two or
three times he busted it. I can't breathe. And he would tell me,
Vieja, I can't breathe.
00:29:22
Vieja, I can't breathe. Like, I can't breathe. And I was just,
like, never thinking.
00:29:33
I just assume he-- I don't know what I assume. I thought he had an accident. MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG:
What happens
00:29:39
next is still cause
for some dispute. Frances claims
Bonnie was screaming for her to be arrested.
00:29:45
But Bonnie insisted
she was too focused on Bill to worry about Frances. Either way, Frances was soon
in the back of a police cruiser
00:29:54
on the way to the station. The officer looked at me
and he goes, are you his wife?
00:29:58
I go, yes. And he goes, turn around. And he put the
handcuffs on me and he took me straight to the car.
00:30:05
He put me in the back of
a SUV, just to calm me down, because I was just
so hysterical.
00:30:12
And I had so much anxiety that
they wouldn't let me near him. And I'm glad because
I don't have,
00:30:17
I don't have those images. What had started out as
a fight between two women over the man they both
wanted for their own,
00:30:24
now left him fighting
for his life. With the fate of both women
hanging in the balance.
00:30:46
[police radio sounds] MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG: Bill
Hall, Jr., the trucking tycoon,
00:30:57
at the center of a tug of war
between his wife and lover, had been riding
on his motorcycle.
00:31:02
When he was caught in
the middle of a road rage war between the two women. Badly injured, he
was being airlifted
00:31:10
to the hospital, when he died. His wife of 31 years, only
learning about the tragic news
00:31:16
while in police
custody, after fleeing the scene of the accident. (CRYING) I remember
seeing the news on the TV.
00:31:26
And I was still in shock. I remember, you know,
with the phones, you don't know numbers
anymore, all you know is names.
00:31:36
And I couldn't remember
anybody's phone number. And I remember
being in that cell.
00:31:42
And I remember I kept
calling Bill's mobile for him to answer. And I finally remembered
my sister, and I go,
00:31:51
what happened? She goes, Bill died. And I go, no. I remember begging my sister,
you got to get me out of here.
00:31:59
I need to go with him,
please get me out of here. And she goes, we're
trying, we're trying.
00:32:07
Investigators go
to the scene and they see the damage on the Harley
inflicted by Frances' car.
00:32:15
That night, they took
me to the magistrate, or that morning,
I can't remember. All I remember is that
they transferred me
00:32:24
across the street, or something. And they kept me there
for the longest time and I was still in shock,
because I was like, no.
00:32:33
And I think that was
when they told me they were charging me with murder. In Texas we have what's
called felony murder.
00:32:42
MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG:
Apparently, Bill died because Frances had
allegedly committed a felony.
00:32:47
Because she was
in a vehicle, it's considered a deadly weapon. And so, just the mere act of her
following Bonnie, and telling
00:32:54
her to pull over, that's
considered aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. It's a felony that carries 2
to 20 years in prison in Texas.
00:33:02
But this was so like,
this only happens in TV, I could not believe this. I, you know, when we finally
said that we were going
00:33:12
to trial, and this and that. I thought, well the truth
is going to come out. They're going to see
that it was an accident.
00:33:19
They're going to see that I
would have never hurt him. They're going to see
that I love this man.
00:33:25
That I didn't hurt him. And, you know, they might
have shown mercy on me. I never really thought I was
going to go to prison, never.
00:33:35
MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG:
Bonnie Contreras was satisfied with the charges. The second she
turned around, she
00:33:41
was already committing a crime. When you start to give chase to
somebody at that rate of speed
00:33:50
you're going to harm somebody. You're either going to
run them off the road, you're going to cause
a major accident,
00:33:59
somebody was bound to get
hurt when she gave that chase. I don't know if she thought
it was going to be me,
00:34:07
or if she thought it was
going to be him, or both. I don't know, but, to me,
I mean, she killed him.
00:34:16
She took his life. MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG:
Three years later, the case against Frances went to trial.
00:34:23
Bonnie took the stand as a
witness for the prosecution. I basically told
them what I saw.
00:34:29
And I told them,
you know, that she started hitting me from behind. I didn't do this
intentionally.
00:34:56
I know I didn't do
this intentionally. You know, and it's so
weird, because he was
00:35:02
talking to me and everything. And then, I thought
oh, you know, he's going to have a long
recovery, but he'll be OK.
00:35:10
Frances' bumper is taken
out and shown to the jury. The bumper that hit
the other bumper
00:35:16
over, and over, and over again. The prosecution argues that
this was a woman in rage.
00:35:23
And it was this
woman's rage that caused the death of this man. MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG: Lee
Cutter, and her defense team,
00:35:30
presented a very
different version of events leading up to that
fateful day in October 2013.
00:35:36
I have always maintained that
Bonnie Contreras is the reason that Bill Hall is dead.
00:35:41
If you look at Bonnie's
childish behavior, once Frances decides
to turn around, she's telling her to pull over.
00:35:48
And Bonnie's brake checking
her, she's flipping her off. MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG:
Frances' lawyers
00:35:53
claim that she had to
swerve unexpectedly after Bonnie had intentionally
slammed on her brakes.
00:35:59
Causing Bill to accidentally
plow into the back of her car. She didn't know
that Bill had run
00:36:04
into the back of her vehicle. Which is also, people say,
well, how is that even possible?
00:36:11
Imagine where you're at, you
are just complete tunnel vision, chasing down this terrible woman
who has been tormenting you.
00:36:21
MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG:
On September 8, 2016, the jury came back
with their verdict
00:36:25
as Bill's friends and family
watched from the gallery. The jury's verdict was
heard guilty of murder
00:36:31
and aggravated assault
with a deadly weapon. No one was prepared
for that guilty verdict.
00:36:38
Frances was potentially facing
99 years, or life, in prison. They immediately took
Frances into custody
00:36:44
and I just remember
her looking terrified. She had no idea what to do. I had some guards
that were there
00:36:51
and they were pretty
cool-- and not cool they were being sweet-- and
this is what's going to happen.
00:36:56
And this and that, and
then, they took me. MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG:
Frances' attorneys
00:37:04
believed there was still hope. However, in Texas, a
defendant can request to be sentenced by a jury.
00:37:10
So that's exactly
what Frances did. Hoping they'd be more
merciful than the judge.
00:37:16
The defense argues that this
was a case of sudden passion. And that means an
experience so profound
00:37:24
that you are not capable
of clear thinking. It's an experience
so out of body that it renders the mind
incapable of cool reflection.
00:37:34
Now that wouldn't
change the conviction but it could certainly change
the level of punishment
00:37:39
from 5 to 99, to a
range of 2 to 20 years. I figured, 99, you know,
I figured I'm going to spend
00:37:46
the rest of my life there. I'm not going to see my
kids, or my grandkids. I'm not going to see my family.
00:37:52
MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG:
No surprise, Bonnie Contreras
argued against Frances' plea for a light sentence.
00:37:58
She says that her-- she never
meant to hurt either of us. But at that precise moment,
she wanted to cause harm to me.
00:38:07
And maybe it backfired on
her, and it just, you know, instead of me, it was him.
00:38:12
I know she was
going through a lot, but just, I really
wish she would have made such a different
choice, and not
00:38:20
given me a chase that day. Because had she not turned
around and giving chase, he would still be here.
00:38:27
MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG:
When the jury returned Frances'
sentence, it was clear where their sympathies lay.
00:38:34
They found her, that she
had acted in sudden passion, which is a mitigating fact.
00:38:40
That reduced her sentence
to a maximum of 20 years, and a minimum of
two years in prison.
00:38:45
And ultimately, the jury
gave her two years in prison. I thought, OK. That beats, it beats
the rest of my life.
00:38:57
And I figured, I
can do two years. I can do 730 days. I can do that. Not to say, and even now, I
don't care what anybody says.
00:39:10
I should not have served a
day in jail, a day in prison, but OK. I feel like two years it's
no justification for me.
00:39:19
But, you know, she did her
time, and I know she suffered. You know, while doing her time.
00:39:26
MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG:
Despite everything that happened, Frances Hall's
love for her late husband
00:39:30
lives on. Frances will always
tell you, I took a vow, and I meant what I said. And I'm a woman of my word.
00:39:39
Sicker, poorer, for
better or for worse, I will stay with Bill Hall. And that's what she did.
00:39:46
MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG:
At the same time, Bonnie Contreras
is learning to live without the man she
thought she'd be spending
00:39:52
the rest of her life with. Bill's missed every day. He's missed every
single day of our lives.
00:40:00
He was a grand man, you know. Kind of hard to surpass,
and he will always be a special man in my life.
00:40:06
But we got to keep pushing
forward, we can't look back. Bill was a good man. A great man.
00:40:13
He was the most
exceptional person I had ever met in my life. He was the best husband,
the best father.
00:40:20
Am I ever going to
find another Bill? Hell no. God broke the mold
with that one.
00:40:28
[soft electric music playing]