{"id":411278,"date":"2026-08-19T22:52:09","date_gmt":"2026-08-19T22:52:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/411278\/"},"modified":"2026-08-19T22:52:09","modified_gmt":"2026-08-19T22:52:09","slug":"arlington-tx-man-guilty-of-capital-murder-in-wifes-killing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/411278\/","title":{"rendered":"Arlington TX man guilty of capital murder in wife\u2019s killing"},"content":{"rendered":"

A state district court jury on Wednesday found a 57-year-old man guilty of capital murder in the killing of his estranged wife outside her house in Arlington.<\/p>\n

Frederick Spears was in the course of committing obstruction or retaliation when he stabbed Mary Spears<\/a> multiple times in September 2025, the jury found.<\/p>\n

Judge Amy Allin, who presides in the 297th District Court in Tarrant County, sentenced Spears to life in prison without parole, the compulsory punishment prescribed in the Texas penal code in cases in which prosecutors, as they did in the Spears case, waive the death penalty.<\/p>\n

The jury returned its verdict<\/a> after 17 minutes of deliberation, according to the Tarrant County Criminal District Attorney\u2019s Office.<\/p>\n

Five days before the Sept. 22, 2025, killing, Frederick Spears threatened his stepson with kitchen knives and was arrested. An emergency protective order was issued directing Frederick Spears to stay away from his relatives, according to the district attorney\u2019s office.<\/p>\n

When he was released from the Arlington City Jail on a bond on Sept. 18, Frederick Spears asked police for a ride to his wife\u2019s house<\/a> so that he could pick up his vehicle. An officer drove him to Mary Spears\u2019 house, where Frederick Spears got into an argument, police have said. The officer instructed Frederick Spears to leave the location, and he did.<\/p>\n

\"Mary Mary Spears (left) was a devoted mother whose life revolved around her three children, according to her family. The 53-year-old was fatally stabbed by her husband on Sept. 22, 2025. Ashton Spears <\/p>\n

The department acknowledged that the officers should not have arranged transportation to the house.<\/p>\n

After the homicide, the department said that it would conduct a comprehensive administrative review. When asked on Wednesday for the review\u2019s findings, a police spokesperson directed a reporter to submit an open records request.<\/p>\n

Frederick Spears waited in the backyard of the house, in the 1000 block of Shortleaf Pine Drive, until Mary stepped outside, according to the district attorney\u2019s office.<\/p>\n

The 53-year-old woman, who weighed 83 pounds, tried to defend herself as Spears attacked, according to the district attorney\u2019s office. Spears repeatedly stabbed her, pushing her to the ground and plunging the knife into her heart.<\/p>\n

Police later found Spears behind a church in Arlington. When officers approached, he stabbed himself and tried to stab a police K-9.<\/p>\n

Tarrant County Assistant District Attorneys Chase Payne and Allenna Bangs prosecuted the case. Defense attorneys Tim Brown and Jonathan Lowe were appointed to represent Spears.<\/p>\n

This story was originally published August 19, 2026 at 4:26 PM.<\/p>\n

Related Stories from Fort Worth Star-Telegram<\/p>\n


\n \"Profile
\n <\/a><\/p>\n

Emerson Clarridge<\/a><\/p>\n

Fort Worth Star-Telegram<\/p>\n

Emerson Clarridge covers crime and other breaking news for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. He works days and reports on law enforcement affairs in Tarrant County. He previously was a reporter at the Omaha World-Herald and the Observer-Dispatch in Utica, New York.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A state district court jury on Wednesday found a 57-year-old man guilty of capital murder in the killing…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":411279,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[150,152,151],"class_list":["post-411278","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arlington","tag-arlington","tag-arlington-headlines","tag-arlington-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/411278","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=411278"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/411278\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/411279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=411278"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=411278"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=411278"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}