oh, my got. he shot me. it came out of nowhere. a sweet stay-at-home mom from a strong family of faith shot point blank at her own garage door. my dad is like collapsed on the ground. it was very traumatic to see, very very emotional time. her survival seemed like a miracle. i didn t know if i would live. was this some awful random crime, or did someone want her dead? that was mystery number one. someone was out there. yeah, we were scared. mystery number two, a secret 1,600 miles away. there were several text messages. it s just slowly snowballing. it was like a punch in the gut. and mystery number three? i m going to hurt you. who would they turn out to be? i m like damn, what did this lady do? faith, temptation, and a twist the size of texas. let s be very clear. justice needs to be served. i don t think it has been. carrollton, texas, just north of dallas, is the kind of place where the upwardly mobile go to buy their dreams. the sc
In carrollton, texas. Remarkably, she survived. Ek nancy howard was Shot Poi Blank at her home In Carrollton, texas. Remarkably, she survived. A week into the investigation, detectives got a lead from an inmate who claim to know he knew the real story behind the crime. His name was billy earl johnson. The cops nude he was a tough guy from east texas, an area about 90 miles from carrollton, home to those piney woods. Billy was the ringleader of a colorful crew. Many petty criminals, related to billy by blood or marriage. Certainly a strange cast of characters. East texas folks and some people might depict them as the he hog gang. A gang just getting by in a region struggling to make it. Theres a lot of drugs and methamphetamine. Someone makes money, extra money, they handed out to each other. It is meeting with investigators, he was a Man On A Mission who wanted to cut a deal and fast. I got grandkids that i want to spend the rest of my life with. I want to be free. And i went out this
investigation detectives wall and turner got a lead from an inmate who claimed to know he knew the real story behind the crime. his name was billy earl johnson. the cops knew billy earl was a tough guy from east texas, an area about 90 miles from carrollton, home to those piney woods. billy was the ringleader of a colorful crew, many of them petty criminals related to billy by blood or marriage. it s certainly a strange cast of characters. but they re east texas folks. and people might depict them as the heehaw gang. a gang that was just getting by in a region struggling to make it. there s a lot of drugs, a lot of methamphetamine out there. if somebody makes money out there, has extra money, they just hand it out to each other. at his meeting with investigators billy earl was a man on a mission. he wanted to cut a deal and fast. i m 49 years old. i don t get out till 15 years. i have
done too much dope. the neighbors were home. he [bleep] him just as far as he could take it. and john would buy it hook, line and sinker every time. reporter: mr. john s big money scheme to kill nancy howard was an economic bonanza for east texas. according to charlie, billie earl couldn t seem to spend that money fast enough. motorcycles, vehicles for his children, all three of them, a car for his mother, three or four four-wheelers, something for the grandkids. a ski boat. he bought me a riding mower, a four-wheeler, numerous assault weapons. just anything he wanted. reporter: and so for more than two years the murder plot bankrolled by john killed nothing but time. they didn t follow through with it because they wanted more money. reporter: they have been called the hee-haw gang. but they were very valuable to you, all of these characters. it would have been a tough case if we only had one or two of them as witnesses. but when we have this number of people involved, some
i was married to a man named frank howard. for the majority of our marriage, i was married to frank howard. but when john walked in the door, he started taking over. frank was a man who was loving and kind. he had integrity. john? john was about himself. reporter: prosecutors laid out their theory. john, aka frank howard, had hired a hit man to kill his wife, but for more than two years, he d ended up throwing money at one potential killer after another to get the job done. this group of characters, some people have even called them the hee-haw gang. yes. reporter: very questionable characters absolutely. reporter: with long rap