Naman Shrestha
Investigation Discovery’s ‘The Black Widower: The Six Wives of Thomas Randolph’ delves deep into the multiple marriages of Thomas Randolph, but the show primarily focuses on the murder of his sixth wife, Sharon Causse. It showcases how the investigation led the police to discover some dark secrets in his previous marriages, making him a primary suspect in several of his wives’ deaths. Thanks to exclusive interviews with not just the officials and the loved ones of the victims, the series also features an extended interview with the convict himself, letting us in on his mind and perspective.
Thomas Randolph Was Alleged to Have Played a Part in the Deaths of Atleast 2 of His 6 Wives
Born to Dorothy Arlene Randolph in 1955 in Fairfield, Illinois, Thomas “Tommy” William Randolph was a part of a loving household, with his father working in the Air Force and his mother working as a bookkeeper. Wanting to become a rock and roll star from his early days, he developed an extroverted and flirtatious personality. At the age of 20, he married 18-year-old Kathryn “Kathy” Thomas after the latter became pregnant. A while after the birth of their first child, the two became parents for the second time and welcomed Krista into their world. When cracks began to appear in their marriage, they decided to part ways after seven years.
On April 7, 1983, the day the divorce was finalized, Thomas got married to Beckie Gault. About three years into the marriage, she turned up dead at their home with a bullet wound in her skull. Since there were five life insurance policies on her, with Thomas being the sole beneficiary, suspicions were raised. Then, a key witness named Eric Tarantino stepped forward and testified that Thomas had asked him to do the killing for him in exchange for a portion of the life insurance money he would receive. But after eight months of rehearsing ways to kill Beckie, Eric said he decided not to go ahead with the murder and escaped.
In light of Eric’s testimony against Thomas, the latter was initially charged with the murder of Beckie. However, he ended up getting acquitted of those charges when he pleaded guilty to felony witness tampering for trying to hire an undercover police agent to kill Eric. Following that, Thomas moved to Indiana to pursue law. It didn’t take long for him to move on, as in March 1994, he tied the knot for the third time, this time with Leona Stapleton. However, their marriage was short-lived, as they parted ways in less than a year, in February 1995. In 2006, she died of lung cancer. In the summer of 1995, Thomas met Gayna Allmon, a recently divorced woman, and in October of the same year, they got married.
Gayna claimed that one day, her husband was cleaning his guns in the kitchen when one of them went off. Fearing for her life, she decided to get divorced. Not long after their split, in August 1997, Thomas tied the knot with Francis Thomas, who also had a daughter named Rachel Gaskins. About seven years into their marriage, she died in a hospital in April 2004 following heart surgery. Nevertheless, the authorities considered the circumstances suspicious since Thomas was the last person by her bed. However, he ended up suing the hospital for the wrongful death of his wife and received a hefty settlement. In the summer of 2005, he met Sharon Causse, who would go on to become his sixth wife.
Thomas Randolph’s Initial Conviction For Sharon’s Murder Was Reversed
While surfing an online dating website in 2005, Thomas met Sharon Causse, and they developed a liking for each other. As things got serious, he moved from Utah to Vegas. During a cruise trip, they got the captain of the ship to marry them and announce them as husband and wife. Despite his marriage, Thomas reportedly used to get involved with other women, something which Sharon allegedly knew about. When Sharon unexpectedly died in May 2008, the detectives closed in on Thomas after they took a look at his past marriages. Although it appeared that it was a case of a home invasion gone wrong, the prosecutors believed that Thomas had hired his handyman, Michael Miller, to murder Sharon, only to fatally shoot him after the deed was done.
After gathering enough evidence against Thomas, the police arrested him in January 2009 at his mother’s house in Clearfield, Utah. About nine years after the death of Sharon Causse and Michael, Thomas stood on trial for the same in June 2017. In the next month, the jury returned with a guilty verdict for him. He was convicted of committing murder and murdering Sharon and Michael James Miller with the use of a deadly weapon and given two death sentences. However, Thomas appealed that prosecutors should not have presented evidence related to his second wife’s death back in 1986 as he believed it tainted the judgment of the jury. After the court accepted his appeal, his guilty verdict was reversed in July 2020.
Thomas is Serving His Sentence in Prison While Working on Getting His Conviction Reversed Again
Three years later, on August 11, 2023, Thomas Randolph’s retrial for the murder of Sharon Causse and Michael commenced. However, the result was not any different as on August 24, 2023, he was found guilty of orchestrating his sixth wife’s murder and fatally shooting his apparent hitman, Michael Miller. He was convicted of one count of conspiracy to commit murder and two counts of murder using a deadly weapon. When he was declared guilty for the second time, the daughter of Sharon Causse, Colleen Beyer, felt elated and relieved.
She told Las Vegas Review-Journal, “I’m so relieved, it’s unbelievable. It’s been 15 years, and it’s been a twisted nightmare. I’m absolutely ecstatic and thrilled and relieved that he’s off the streets – that he cannot do this to another woman again,” she said, teary-eyed outside the courtroom. Because he’s a predator, he’s a serious predator.” In April 2024, Thomas Randolph was sentenced to 60 years to life in prison for his crimes. However, soon after the sentencing, he and his defense attorneys filed an appeal to get his conviction reversed yet again. The result of that is currently pending. As of writing, Thomas Randolph AKA the “Black Widower” is incarcerated at Lovelock Correctional Center at 1200 Prison Road in Lovelock, Nevada.
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