One man at the center of a shooting, a murder trial, and a murder-for-hire plot

It was 1979, and T. Cullen Davis found himself in a courtroom yet again. He had been there for divorce proceedings, a murder case, a civil trial, and a case related to a murder-for-hire plot involving his ex-wife, the divorce judge, and 13 other people. He hoped that his fortune might save him again. Long before OJ Simpson, Cullen tested the waters. Could money buy an acquittal?

The Shooting at Stonegate Mansion

On August 2, 1976, 35-year-old Priscilla Davis returned from a night out with her 30-year-old boyfriend Stan Farr to a $6 million mansion in the upscale neighborhood of Stonegate in Ft. Worth, Texas. She had built the five-bedroom mansion with her estranged husband, a husband she would soon divorce. Upon entering the house, Priscilla and Stan were confronted by an intruder in black clothes and a long black wig, who shot them both, Stan four times and Priscilla once in the chest. Wounded, Priscilla fled from the house, just as two family friends, Beverly Bass and Gus “Bubba” Gavrel Jr., arrived. The man in black shot at them both and wounded Bubba, who ended up paralyzed.

Stan was pronounced dead, but he wasn’t the only casualty. The police found Priscilla’s 12-year-old daughter, Andrea Wilborn, dead in the basement, shot once in the chest. Priscilla, Beverly, and Bubba had all seen—and recognized—the shooter: Priscilla’s soon-to-be ex-husband, 43-year-old oil magnate T. Cullen Davis.

Married in 1968, Priscilla and Cullen divorced after six years of marriage and a history of Cullen’s alleged domestic abuse against Priscilla and her daughter Dee. Cullen was worth millions as the co-owner of the energy corporation Kendavis Industries International. Priscilla sued for $50 million in the divorce, and the day of the shooting, the divorce judge had significantly increased her alimony. A motive, perhaps?

Bolstered by the statements of Priscilla and the other witnesses to the shooting, as well as Cullen’s lack of an alibi, prosecutors charged him with the murder of Priscilla’s daughter Andrea, planning to prosecute him for the murder of Stan and the attempted murders of Priscilla, Beverly, and Bubba in subsequent trials. But what seemed like an open-and-shut case evolved into a shocking legal saga.

The First Trial: The Murder of Andrea Wilborn

Cullen hired the best defense attorneys a rich man can buy, led by well-known lawyer Richard “Racehorse” Haynes, and the capital murder trial began in 1977. After the prosecution laid out its argument and the testimony of the three eyewitnesses, Beverly, Bubba, and Priscilla, the defense claimed that Priscilla lied in a ploy to get Cullen’s money, colluding with Beverly and Bubba when identifying him as the shooter. They painted her as a promiscuous junkie who abused prescription drugs, so her testimony could not be reliable. They supported this unnecessary victim-blaming with an argument that the real target of the shooting was Stan. And besides, there was no physical evidence that Cullen was the shooter. Not to mention his alibi, they said. His girlfriend (and later wife) Karen claimed that he had been home asleep the whole time, contradicting what she first told the police, that he hadn’t been home at all.

In a surprising verdict. Cullen was acquitted. One juror reportedly said that rich men don’t kill their wives, but hire someone else to do it. Maybe they do, if they have enough money for an expensive defense.

But the story didn’t end there. Cullen was found not liable in Priscilla’s civil trial against him over Andrea Wilborn’s death.

As the divorce proceedings between Priscilla and Cullen continued, the FBI learned—just nine months later—of a murder-for-hire plot by Cullen to kill 15 others, including Priscilla, Beverly, Bubba, and the divorce judge.

In a sting operation, the FBI faked the judge’s death and took photos to show Cullen proof of the deed when he met with his friend and employee David McCrory, who he had convinced to help him, or so he thought. They wired McCrory up for audio as he met Cullen in a car to discuss who should be killed next, and the entire conversation was caught on tape. “You want Beverly Bass killed next—quick, right?” McCrory asked. Cullen answered, “All right.” Cullen gave McCrory $25,000 to continue the murderous plot.

Prosecutors charged Cullen with solicitation to commit murder, and with the audio evidence, the verdict seemed obvious.

The Second and Third Trials: The Murder-for-Hire Plot

Backed by the same defense team, Cullen stood trial for the murder-for-hire plot in 1979. But the trial resulted in a deadlocked jury, and the judge declared a mistrial.

Determined to win a guilty verdict, the prosecution retried the case. In the second trial, the defense brought in a linguist, Dr. Roger Chye, who analyzed the audio recording and made a creative claim that Cullen was talking about sunglasses, not murder, when he replied, “Good,” to McCrory telling him that he killed the divorce judge. In fact, they contended, Cullen’s reply was actually about finding his sunglasses, not murder.

The defense added that Priscilla conspired with McCrory to set Cullen up. They said that Cullen only met with McCrory after an FBI agent called to tell him to play along. It was supposedly an extortion conspiracy against Cullen by McCrory and Priscilla to frame him. But, the prosecution asked, where was this FBI agent? And why didn’t Cullen notify the police or even tell them of the plot when he was arrested? Testifying in his own defense, Cullen claimed he eventually realized that the informant wasn’t associated with the FBI. 

But those details didn’t matter. The jury acquitted him. Chief prosecutor Jack Strickland said, “I don’t know if it is possible to convict Cullen Davis. It makes me wonder whether there is a dual standard.” It was the only explanation in an unexplainable set of events. How could someone evade justice that many times? 

For Cullen, the price for getting away with murder is estimated between $10 and $13 million. He gave up on murder, finally, perhaps because he no longer wanted to buy his acquittals, and he became a born-again Christian. It’s not surprising that he found God after eluding the law three times. Priscilla received a divorce settlement of $3.3 million, and Cullen filed for bankruptcy in 1987 amidst a poor economy, and his company closed. He became a salesman.

Watch the T. Cullen Davis Case

The case is covered in American Justice (Season 16, Episode 8), Behind Mansion Walls (Season 1, Episode 5), 48 Hours (Season 29, Episode 41), and Dominick Dunne: Power, Privilege & Justice (Season 3, Episode 3). Priscilla and Cullen both appear in American Justice, and Cullen protests his innocence, of course.

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