About

On October 3, 1999, Steven Beard, a retired 75-year-old television executive with a net worth of about $12 million, was shot in the stomach with a 20-gauge shotgun while asleep at his home in West Lake Hills, Texas – a suburb of Austin. He survived the shooting and called the police emergency line himself to obtain help. He progressed toward recovery with the assistance of his 37-year-old second wife, Celeste Beard, but he then developed a blood clot and died nearly four months later on January 25, 2000. The weapon was traced to Tracey Tarlton, the manager of Austin's largest independent bookstore, who had been having an affair with his wife after they had met each other in a psychiatric treatment program. Tarlton said Celeste had told her Steven Beard was an abusive husband who had to be killed to free Celeste from her oppressive marriage.