TX TX - Donna Foster, 49, Round Rock, 16 June 1995

The district attorney's office said investigators determined on June 16, 1995, the Fosters were in their hot tub with their next door neighbor Bill Smith and his stepdaughter. The four ate dinner, and after the neighbors left, the Fosters returned to the hot tub around 10:30 p.m. Officials said about an hour later, Foster began banging on Smith's door, saying he found his wife lying face down in the hot tub...

The district attorney's office said Donna Foster had a very low blood alcohol level and no drugs in her system, but she did have "suspicious injuries" consistent with being held under water.

According to officials, before her death, Donna Foster told her close friends and family that her husband had been taking money out of her bank account without her knowledge and that she was going to divorce him. Officials said she also had in excess $350,000 in life insurance with her husband named as the beneficiary.

Click to expand...

In the fall of 2014, a friend of Donna Foster’s called the Williamson County district attorney’s office wanting the case to be reopened, said Williamson County First Assistant District Attorney Mark Brunner. He said the district attorney’s office put the case together “from scratch” based on what the Round Rock police had and based on evidence uncovered during a civil wrongful death trial against Foster.

Donna Foster’s family won a wrongful death lawsuit against William Foster in 1996. A forensic pathologist from Dallas, Dr. Linda Norton, testified during the trial that Donna Foster’s right ear was split and that she had scrapes on her shoulders, knuckles and on the back of her arms, as well as bumps and bruises on top of her head.

William Foster, who was a custom home builder, said his wife had fainted in the hot tub while he went inside for a few minutes. Norton testified that Donna Foster’s heart was “absolutely pristine” and there was no medical reason for her to have fainted.

Click to expand...