Episode 525: The Death of Joan Robinson Hill- Part 1

1h 33m · Morbid · 01 Jan 08:01

The New York Times Texas New York City California Houston

On March 19, 1969, thirty-eight-year-old Houston socialite Joan Robinson Hill died at Sharpstown General Hospital from what doctors at the time believed was flu-related symptoms. Hill’s body was quickly taken to the mortuary and embalmed before an autopsy could be performed, violating Texas law and undermining any attempts determine the cause of Joan’s death. Nevertheless, Joan’s father, a wealthy oil tycoon, believed his daughter’s death to be a homicide, used his influence to have her remains exhumed and had not one, but two additional autopsies performed to determine the cause of death.

Despite conflicting reports from the pathologists regarding a cause of death, Joan’s father was eventually successful in convincing the district attorney that her death was no accident, but was in fact murder committed by her husband, John Hill. After two unsuccessful attempts to convince a grand jury of John’s guilt, the district attorney finally convinced a third grand jury that John Hill had intentionally contributed to Joan’s death and he was charged with “murder by omission,” a first in the history of the Texas courts.

John Hill was put on trial for the murder of his wife in the winter of 1971, but the jury would never get a chance to weigh in on his guilt or innocence. In September of 1972, after one mistrial and several delays leading up to a re-trial, John Hill was murdered by an intruder who’d broken into his home. Although investigators believed Hill’s murder to have been a robbery gone wrong, many in Houston suspected Joan’s father, believing his son-in-law had evaded justice, had paid to have John Hill killed, leaving the deaths of Joan and John Hill an enduring mystery.

As always, thank you to the fantastic David White, of Bring Me the Axe Podcast, for research assistance

References

Associated Press. 1971. "Doctor 'hated' first wife." Corpus Christi Times, February 26: 1.

—. 1972. "Houston doctor slain at home." Corpus Christi Times, September 25: 13.

—. 1969. "Meningitis said fatal to socialite ." Corpus Christi Times, October 11: 13.

—. 1971. "Judge calls mistrial in Houston slaying." Fort Worth Star-Telegram, February 27: 12.

—. 1970. "Panel indicts doctor in death of wife." Fort Worth Star-Telegram, May 23: 3.

—. 1973. "District judge clamps lid on Houston doctor's murder." Odessa American, April 27: 3.

—. 1971. "Testimony continues in trial of physician." Odessa American, February 23: 2.

Gonzalez, J.R. 2009. 40 years later: Joan Robinson Hill. March 19. Accessed November 7, 2023. https://blog.chron.com/bayoucityhistory/2009/03/40-years-later-joan-robinson-hill/.

New York Times. 1977. "Oilman is cleared in Houston murder of his son-in-law." New YorkTimes, October 22: 1.

Thompson, Thomas. 1976. Blood and Money: A True Story of Murder, Passion, and Power. New York, NY: Doubleday.

United Press International. 1980. "Heiress may have been toxic shock victim." United Press International, November 23.

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Thank you to the wondrous Dave White of Bring Me the Axe Podcast for Research!

References

Amis, Martin. 2000. When darkness met light. May 11. Accessed March 21, 2024. https://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/2000/may/11/features11.g2.

BBC News. 1998. Fred West 'admitted killing waitress'. March 25. Accessed March 19, 2024. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/69928.stm.

—. 2001. How many more did Fred West kill? September 27. Accessed March 19, 2024. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/1567038.stm.

—. 2021. The 12 victims of Fred and Rosemary West. May 27. Accessed March 18, 2024. https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-gloucestershire-57182844.

Bennett, Will. 1995. Step-daughter Charmaine was first to die. November 22. Accessed March 19, 2024. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/stepdaughter-charmaine-was-first-to-die-1583071.html.

Birmingham Evening Mail. 1974. "Missing girls theory." Birmingham Evening Mail, January 7: 1.

Birmingham Post. 1968. "Missing waitress mystery deepens." Birmingham Post, January 23: 2.

—. 1974. "Student missing for six days may return ton university-police." Birmingham Post, January 2: 2.

—. 1968. "Yard detectives join search for Gloucester girl." Birmingham Post, January 9: 1.

Campbell, Duncan. 1995. "How a string of girls came to die in depraved and appalling circumstances." The Guardian, October 7.

Duce, Richard. 1995. "West's suicide avenged killings, QC tells jurors." The Times, November 16.

Duce, Richard, and Bill Frost. 1995. "Court told of depravity at 25 Cromwell Street." The Times, October 7: 4.

Evening Post. 1968. "Helicopter joins hunt for Mary." Evening Post, January 8: 1.

Evening Standard. 1974. "Have you spotted this girl?" Evening Standard, July 4: 18.

Frost, Bill. 1995. "Cromwell Street murders case man is dead." The Times, Janaury 2.

Frost, Bill, and Richard Duce. 1995. "I'm being made a scapegoat, says West." The Times, November 2.

—. 1995. "No place for sentiment, West jurors are told." The Times, October 4.

—. 1995. "West: I fell under Fred's spell." The Times, October 31.

Gloucester Echo. 1994. "Did builder know Mary?" Gloucester Echo, March 8: 3.

—. 1994. "Graden bodies: Who were they?" Gloucester Echo, March 2: 1.

Gloucestershire Echo. 1995. "From angelic child to coldest of killers." Gloucestershire Echo 5.

—. 1995. "Fred West found dead." Gloucestershire Echo, January 2: 1.

—. 1995. "I'll see you in court, Rose." Gloucestershire Echo, January 4: 1.

Knight, Adam. 2014. Fred West's brother denies incest claims. November 7. Accessed March 17, 2024. https://www.herefordtimes.com/news/11587578.fred-wests-brother-denies-incest-claims/.

Lee, Adrian, Tim Jones, and Damian Whitworth. 1996. "Fred West's brother hangs himself." The Times, November 29.

Ovington, Paul. 1974. "Hunt steps up as fear grows for Lucy, 21." Western Daily Press and Times, January 4: 1.

Sounes, Howard. 1995. Fred & Rose: The Full Story of Fred and Rose West and the Gloucester House of Horrors. New York, NY: Open Road Media.

United Press International. 1995. "British jury convicts West of 10 murders." UPI Archive, November 22.

West, Mae, and Neil McKay. 2018. Love as Always, Mum: The True and Terrible Story of Surviving a Childhood with Fred and Rose West. London, UK: Seven Dials Press.

Williams, Martin. 1994. "'Our sister is still alive'." Gloucester Echo, February 26: 1.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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