Fatal Vows: The wife who tried to kill two husbands - The Tracey Richter Case
The story will be told on Crime & Investigation Network as part of its Fatal Vows series
John Pittman and Tracey Richter met at the University of Northwestern in Chicago
John Pittman and Tracey Richter were an attractive young couple with promising careers in medicine. Their relationship ended in a murder-framing hoax so convoluted it eluded the authorities for nearly a decadeJohn, a 4th year medical student, met 19-year-old Tracey at University of Northwestern in Chicago. She was an exceptionally bright and beautiful student, studying radiology on scholarship. John was completely smitten by her. Two year later when John began his first year as a medical resident, they moved to Denver Colorado to get married.They were young, in love, with their careers ahead of them. John was studying to be a surgeon and Tracey worked in a lab. Soon they eagerly awaited the arrival of their first child. Apart from the usual tribulations of new marriage, such as tensions between the new bride and her in-laws, the beautiful couple seemed to have a flourishing marriage.Nevertheless, John sensed shortly after they are married, that there was something amiss with his new bride. He began to notice unusual behavior patterns such as an erratic temper and a strange penchant for manipulation.A series of unaccountable incidents follow that make him increasingly wary.One such event was the occurrence of $15,000 worth of unaccounted charges on his father’s credit card. Tracey became especially involved in trying to figure out who did it, but as the investigation continues the suspects were narrowed down to either Tracey or John's parents' decorator. John fiercely defended his wife at the time, but began to suspect that his wife was trouble.Following the birth of their son Bert, the relationship began to disintegrate. John was a young and ambitious surgeon, working up to 120 hours a week and was never at home. His wife Tracey was caring for her young child at home, and complained of loneliness. During this time he began to suspect his wife was seeing other men.
The relationship began to show signs of strain after the birth of their son Bert
She increasingly expressed dissatisfaction with their relationship and instigated fights with her husband when he returned from work. This escalated to the point where one evening, after getting into one of their regular arguments, she proceeded to wave a gun in his face, threatened to kill him, and told him he’d never leave the house alive.John realised he urgently he needed to get out of the marriage. He began to covertly make plans to get a separate apartment in Chicago, but wanted to keep it under the radar so as not to further infuriate his wife, or endanger his son Bert with his wife’s erratic behavior.As he tried to extricate himself from the marriage he noticed strange men coming in and out of his apartment in Denver, credit cards disappearing, and the odd hours she was keeping. Was his wife cooking up a devious plan against him?He began to fear for his safety and hired a private investigator. The investigator followed a bizarre trail of clues, and told John his life was in danger and that he needed to get out of town in a hurry. He believed that Tracey had hired someone to kill him.
Tracey pulled a gun on her husband John and threatened to kill him
The same year her divorce with John finalised, Tracey married Australian entrepreneur Michael Roberts, following a whirlwind Internet romance. Michael fell for her charm and supported her in her fight against her ex, as well as in another twisted ongoing litigation she has with a dentist, who she claimed sexually assaulted her while undergoing dental surgery.Michael moved to the US after they are married and had two children with her. He began to notice early on in their marriage that she was having affairs. According to Michael, she dressed up, left the house under a false pretense, only to return at odd hours of the night. He tried to work through their relationship but her unpredictable temper and violent outbursts made this increasingly more difficult.During this period of time, her first husband John worried his son was living was in a precarious environment with his ex-wife and attempted to seek sole custody, thereby unwittingly unleashing a horrifying set of events.On December 13th 2001, shortly after John sought custody of Bert, Tracey killed her 20-year-old next-door neighbour, claiming that he had broken into her home, and that she had killed him in self-defense.
The story will be told on Crime & Investigation Network as part of its Fatal Vows series
John Pittman and Tracey Richter met at the University of Northwestern in Chicago John Pittman and Tracey Richter were an attractive young couple with promising careers in medicine. Their relationship ended in a murder-framing hoax so convoluted it eluded the authorities for nearly a decadeJohn, a 4th year medical student, met 19-year-old Tracey at University of Northwestern in Chicago. She was an exceptionally bright and beautiful student, studying radiology on scholarship. John was completely smitten by her. Two year later when John began his first year as a medical resident, they moved to Denver Colorado to get married.They were young, in love, with their careers ahead of them. John was studying to be a surgeon and Tracey worked in a lab. Soon they eagerly awaited the arrival of their first child. Apart from the usual tribulations of new marriage, such as tensions between the new bride and her in-laws, the beautiful couple seemed to have a flourishing marriage.Nevertheless, John sensed shortly after they are married, that there was something amiss with his new bride. He began to notice unusual behavior patterns such as an erratic temper and a strange penchant for manipulation.A series of unaccountable incidents follow that make him increasingly wary.One such event was the occurrence of $15,000 worth of unaccounted charges on his father’s credit card. Tracey became especially involved in trying to figure out who did it, but as the investigation continues the suspects were narrowed down to either Tracey or John's parents' decorator. John fiercely defended his wife at the time, but began to suspect that his wife was trouble.Following the birth of their son Bert, the relationship began to disintegrate. John was a young and ambitious surgeon, working up to 120 hours a week and was never at home. His wife Tracey was caring for her young child at home, and complained of loneliness. During this time he began to suspect his wife was seeing other men.
The relationship began to show signs of strain after the birth of their son Bert She increasingly expressed dissatisfaction with their relationship and instigated fights with her husband when he returned from work. This escalated to the point where one evening, after getting into one of their regular arguments, she proceeded to wave a gun in his face, threatened to kill him, and told him he’d never leave the house alive.John realised he urgently he needed to get out of the marriage. He began to covertly make plans to get a separate apartment in Chicago, but wanted to keep it under the radar so as not to further infuriate his wife, or endanger his son Bert with his wife’s erratic behavior.As he tried to extricate himself from the marriage he noticed strange men coming in and out of his apartment in Denver, credit cards disappearing, and the odd hours she was keeping. Was his wife cooking up a devious plan against him?He began to fear for his safety and hired a private investigator. The investigator followed a bizarre trail of clues, and told John his life was in danger and that he needed to get out of town in a hurry. He believed that Tracey had hired someone to kill him.
Tracey pulled a gun on her husband John and threatened to kill him The same year her divorce with John finalised, Tracey married Australian entrepreneur Michael Roberts, following a whirlwind Internet romance. Michael fell for her charm and supported her in her fight against her ex, as well as in another twisted ongoing litigation she has with a dentist, who she claimed sexually assaulted her while undergoing dental surgery.Michael moved to the US after they are married and had two children with her. He began to notice early on in their marriage that she was having affairs. According to Michael, she dressed up, left the house under a false pretense, only to return at odd hours of the night. He tried to work through their relationship but her unpredictable temper and violent outbursts made this increasingly more difficult.During this period of time, her first husband John worried his son was living was in a precarious environment with his ex-wife and attempted to seek sole custody, thereby unwittingly unleashing a horrifying set of events.On December 13th 2001, shortly after John sought custody of Bert, Tracey killed her 20-year-old next-door neighbour, claiming that he had broken into her home, and that she had killed him in self-defense.