Police Officer Who Paid to Have His Wife K!lled | The Shocking Execution of Robert Fratta
After nearly 30 years of legal maneuvers, two trials, and countless appeals, Robert Frraa was executed by lethal injection at the Huntsville unit in Texas. A former police officer convicted of orchestrating a murder for hire plot against his aranged wife, Fra was 65 years old at the time of his death.
His execution marked the first carried out by the state of Texas in 2023. In this video, we’ll walk you through the full timeline of the crime, the chilling details of the plan, what happened in the final hours, and the moments leading up to Frata’s death. It’s a story about control, betrayal, and justice nearly three decades in the making.
Robert Fra wasn’t just going through a messy divorce. he was unraveling. In 1994, he and his wife Farah were locked in a bitter custody battle over their three children. Farah, 33 years old and trying to build a new life, had accused Robert of abusive behavior, obsessive control, and strange sexual demands. Friends recalled that she lived in fear, convinced that if anything happened to her, Robert would be behind it.
She wasn’t wrong. Farah told multiple people that she believed Robert would k!ll her rather than let her go. At the time, Robert was a public safety officer in Missouri City, Texas. Trained in law enforcement, confident he could outsmart the system. And as the divorce neared its conclusion, he grew desperate.
He didn’t want to pay child support. He didn’t want to lose custody. And in his mind, there was one solution. Make Farah disappear. Frrada began asking around at the gym to acquaintances. He bluntly asked if they knew anyone who would k!ll his wife. Not jokingly, seriously, and repeatedly. The intent was clear.
Eventually, Freda found his men. He enlisted Joseph Price Dash, a friend and known criminal, to act as the middleman. Price Dash in turn recruited 18-year old Howard Gidri to be the trigger man. The deal was simple. Freda would provide the weapon and payment. Price Dash would coordinate the hit.
Gidri would pull the trigger. The payment about $1,000 for Gidri. Price Dash would get a few thousand more and frat his Jeep. It was a cold, calculated deal and they followed through. On November 9th, 1994, Farah had dinner with her children and Robert. Afterward, Robert took the kids to church. Farah returned home alone to their house in the Houston suburb of Atascacita.
As she pulled her car into the garage, the door closed behind her. That’s when Howard Gidri emerged from the shadows and shot her twice in the head. Farah died instantly. Gidri ran to the getaway car driven by Price Dash. Robert, meanwhile, stayed at church. His alibi was in place. Neighbors heard the gunshots.
Part 2 👏
Some even caught a glimpse of the car speeding off, but the trail went cold. Initially, there were no arrests. Farah’s family immediately suspected Robert. He didn’t show much emotion. He didn’t seem shaken. And just days after Farah’s murder, Robert attempted to cash in on her life insurance policy. Farah’s parents, Lex and Betty Bacher, fought to gain custody of the children.
A family court judge granted it and restricted Robert to supervised visits only. The judge made it clear Robert was suspected in his wife’s murder and considered unfit. The break in the case came months later. In March 1995, Howard Gidri was arrested on unrelated charges. Police recovered a 38 caliber revolver in his possession.
Ballistics matched it to the bullets that k!lled Farah. Then came the real breakthrough. Pristach’s girlfriend, Mary Jip, came forward. She told investigators everything. The plot, the payment, the roles each man played. And just like that, the case was blown wide open. In April 1995, police arrested Robert Frraa. He was charged with capital murder.
So were Joseph Price Dash and Howard Gidri. In 1996, Freda went to trial. Prosecutors laid out the full scheme. The financial motive, the custody battle, the solicitation attempts, and the chilling fact that Robert never showed remorse. Witnesses testified that Robert said things like, “I’d rather k!ll her than lose my kids.
” The jury found him guilty. He was sentenced to death. But the story didn’t end there. In 2007, a federal judge overturned Frata’s conviction, ruling that some of the codefendants statements were improperly used at trial. Frrada got a retrial and in 2009 he was convicted again and again sentenced to death. His children, now older, testified against him.
They had been raised by Farah’s parents who gave them a stable home. The Bckers had adopted them and changed their last names, severing ties with Robert. Over the next decade, Frata appealed every chance he could. His attorneys filed motion after motion challenging the evidence, the procedures, even the drugs used for execution.
All appeals were denied. By late 2022, the final rejection came from the US Supreme Court. In October 2022, a judge signed his death warrant. Execution was set for January 10th, 2023. As the date approached, Freda remained emotionless. He didn’t speak publicly. He didn’t give interviews. According to prison officials, he didn’t show remorse.
Unlike some states, Texas does not allow inmates to request a special last meal. Freda was served the same food as everyone else that day. In the hours before his execution, he was moved to the Huntsville unit. He met with a spiritual adviser and was given time for prayer. No family members visited. No stateme
nts were released. At 6:00 p.m., Freda was led into the death chamber. He was strapped to the gurnie, his arms outstretched. Witnesses took their seats behind the glass. Among them were Farah’s brother, Zayn Bacher, and Freda’s own son, now an adult. Both had waited nearly 30 years for justice. Freda’s spiritual adviser stood beside him, resting a hand on his arm.
He prayed aloud for forgiveness, for peace, for the hearts broken by Frata’s actions. The warden asked if Robert had any last words. Frata said nothing. At 7:49 p.m., the lethal injection began. Within moments, Frata took a deep breath and began snoring. Six loud, involuntary snores. Then silence.
He was pronounced dead at 7:49 p.m. Outside the prison, reporters waited. Inside, Farah’s family exhaled after decades of grief and frustration. Andy Kahan, a victim’s advocate with Crimestoppers, who had worked with Farah’s family for years, was blunt. Robert Fra was a coward in 1994, and he died a coward in 2023. He could have looked at his son.
He could have said something, anything, but he didn’t. Farah’s mother, Betty Bocker, once called Robert a monster in court. Her husband, Lex, passed away in 2018. He never got to see this day. For Farah’s children, who had grown up without their mother and rejected their father. The execution brought closure. Freda had thought he could eliminate his problems with money and manipulation.
But what he really destroyed was his own legacy, his children’s innocence, and the life of a woman who only wanted to protect her kids and move on. Investigators later described this case as one of the most methodically planned domestic murders they had seen. There was no heat-moment loss of control. This was premeditated, calculated, and executed by proxy.
Even after the verdict, Robert never expressed guilt. Not during his appeals, not on execution day, not with his final breath. And maybe that’s the most chilling part of it all. Freda didn’t just hire someone to k!ll his wife. He watched the system slowly catch up to him. Appeal after appeal, witness after witness, and still he never admitted it.
There’s something about that silence that lingers. Even as he lay strapped to a gurnie with his son in the room watching, Fratis said nothing. No remorse, no accountability. That silence now speaks volumes. What do you think? Should death still be a consequence for Murder for Hire? Is 30 years too long to wait for justice? Let’s talk in the comments.
