Audrey Marie Hilley

Audrey Marie Hilley (née Frazier, later Homan; June 4, 1933 – February 26, 1987), also known by the aliases Robbi Hannon and Teri Martin, was an American murderer and suspected serial killer.

She was suspected in the death by poisoning of her husband and the attempted murder of her daughter, and spent three years as a fugitive from justice.

Audrey Marie Hilley was born Audrey Marie Frazier in the Blue Mountain neighborhood of Anniston, Alabama, on June 4, 1933.

Her parents were Huey Frazier and his wife, Lucille (née Meads) She married Frank Hilley on May 8, 1951; they had two children, Mike and Carol.

Despite Frank's well-paying job and Marie's secretarial employment, the couple had little money set aside in savings due to Marie's excessive spending habits, leading to tension in the marriage.

Unbeknownst to Frank, his wife frequently engaged in sex with her bosses in exchange for money or superior performance evaluations.

Frank began suffering from a mysterious illness, as did his son Mike, but Mike's symptoms–which his doctors attributed to stomach flu–abruptly stopped when he moved away to attend a seminary.

In 1975, after returning home early due to his illness, Frank found Marie in bed with her boss.

He turned to Mike, then an ordained minister living in Atlanta, for advice.

In May 1975, shortly after a visit from Mike, Frank visited his doctor complaining of nausea and tenderness in his abdomen, being diagnosed with a viral stomach ache.

The condition persisted and he was admitted to a hospital, where tests indicated a malfunction of the liver; doctors diagnosed infectious hepatitis.

Frank Hilley died early in the morning of May 25, 1975.

Frank's autopsy, performed with his wife's permission, revealed swelling of the kidneys and lungs, bilateral pneumonia, and inflammation of the stomach.

Because the symptoms closely resembled those of hepatitis, that was listed as his cause of death and no further tests were conducted.

Frank had maintained a moderate life insurance policy, secretly taken out by Marie at the time of his initial illness, that she redeemed for $31,140.

Three years later, Marie took out a $25,000 life insurance policy on her daughter Carol; a $25,000 accidental death rider took effect in August 1978.

Within a few months, Carol began experiencing nausea and was admitted to the emergency room several times.

A year after filing the insurance policy on her daughter, Marie gave her an injection that she claimed would alleviate the nausea.

However, the symptoms only worsened, with Carol's enduring numbness in her extremities.

After medical tests found no disease, Carol's physician, fearing the symptoms were psychosomatic, had her undergo psychiatric testing at Carraway Methodist Hospital in Birmingham.

There, Carol secretly received two more injections from her mother, who warned her not to tell others about the shots.

A month after Carol was admitted to the hospital, her physician reported she was suffering from malnutrition and vitamin deficiencies, adding that he suspected heavy metal poisoning was to blame for the symptoms.

Panicking, Marie had Carol discharged from the hospital that afternoon.

The following day, Carol was admitted to the University of Alabama Hospital.

Coincidentally, Marie was arrested for check kiting; they were written to the insurance company that insured Carol's life, causing that policy to lapse.

University physicians concentrated their investigation on the possibility of heavy metal poisoning, noting that Carol's hands and feet were numb, she had nerve palsy causing foot drop and she had lost most of her deep tendon reflexes.

Physicians noticed Aldrich-Mees lines on Carol's nails.

Forensic tests on samples of her hair were conducted by the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences on October 3, 1979, revealing arsenic levels ranging from over 100 times the normal level close to the scalp to zero times the normal level at the end of the hair shaft.

This indicated that Carol had been given increasingly larger doses of arsenic over a period of four to eight months.

That same day, Frank's body was exhumed, and upon examination, showed between ten and 100 times the normal level of arsenic.

It was concluded that both Frank and Carol had suffered from chronic arsenic poisoning, with Frank's poisoning being fatal.

Marie was incarcerated on her check kiting charges when she was arrested on October 9 for the attempted murder of her daughter.

Anniston police found a vial in her purse, tests of which revealed the presence of arsenic.

Two weeks later, Frank's sister found a jar of rat poison which contained 1.4–1.5% arsenic.

On November 9, Marie was released on bail, after which she registered at a local motel under an assumed name and disappeared.

While a note was left behind indicating that she "might have been kidnapped," Marie was listed as a fugitive.

On November 19, a burglary occurred at the home of Marie's aunt.

The occupant's car was stolen as well as some clothes and an overnight bag.

Investigators found a note in the house reading, "Do not call police. We will burn you out if you do. We found what we wanted and will not bother you again."

Her life and crime spree are the subjects of the 1991 telefilm Wife, Mother, Murderer.