T. Cullen Davis

Childers identified Davis to police, saying he had shot her and Farr, wearing no disguise except a wig. Gavrel (who died on December 6, 2018, of pancreatic cancer, aged 64) said he was shot after Bass recognized the gunman as Davis and called him by name. Police arrested Davis that same night, at the home he shared with Karen Master, his then-girlfriend who would become his third wife. At the first trial, Davis's wealth was estimated at over $100 million ($480 million today).

Due to the prominence of the case, in 2015 Tarrant County authorities chose to keep the paper court documents of the case as historical documents even though they have been digitized.

Priscilla Lee Childers died of breast cancer at the age of 59 on February 19, 2001, still adamantly insisting on Davis' guilt.

Davis married Karen Master on June 5, 1979, in Fort Worth. He adopted her two sons Trey Davis and Chelsey Davis. According to truTV, Davis lost most of his oil fortune in the recession of the 1980s, and eventually declared bankruptcy. Cullen and Karen Davis sold their home and 300-acre (120 ha) property to a real estate developer in 1984. Davis continues to live in the Fort Worth area. Karen Davis died of organ failure on September 22, 2016. Davis, in later life, became a born-again Christian, and at one point worked with televangelist James Robison.

In 1978, Davis was arrested again, this time for allegedly hiring a hitman to murder both Priscilla Davis and the judge overseeing their ongoing divorce litigation. The case largely hinged on a tape-recorded conversation between Davis and David McCrory, an undercover employee posing as a hitman for hire, which was recorded in the parking lot of the Coco's Famous Hamburgers restaurant where Davis was arrested. In the recording, Davis was alleged to have asked the undercover employee to murder his wife and the judge. The trial of Texas v. Cullen T. Davis was one of the first uses of forensic discourse analysis on tape-recorded evidence in a legal setting in the United States.

First he was accused of murdering his stepdaughter on August 2, 1976, during a contentious divorce from his second wife, Priscilla Davis. He was found not guilty. The second trial, two years later, involved allegations that Davis attempted to hire a hitman to kill both Priscilla and the judge overseeing his divorce from Priscilla. Again, Davis was acquitted.

On August 2, 1976, an intruder entered Stonegate Mansion and killed 12-year-old Andrea Wilborn, who was home alone after returning from a Bible study. The body of Andrea would later be found in the basement, apparently shot execution-style. When Childers and her then-boyfriend Stan Farr returned home, both were shot. Farr died at the scene. Childers staggered from the house being pursued by the killer as family friends Beverly Bass and Gus Gavrel Jr. (who later married), drove up to the mansion. The killer shot Gavrel, paralyzing him for life.

Davis and Childers separated in 1974 and both began dating other people openly. A judge granted Priscilla the right to live in the Stonegate property during the divorce proceedings and further authorized substantial spousal and child support payments from Davis to Childers. Her live-in boyfriend was Stan Farr, a former basketball star at nearby Texas Christian University.

In 1972, Davis spent $6 million ($39 million today) to build Stonegate Mansion, a five-bedroom, 11-bath mansion with an indoor pool and a 2,000-square-foot (190 m) master bedroom. In its prime, the luxurious, contemporary home of courtyards, tunnels and balconies at 4100 Stonegate Blvd. was decorated with more than 100 oil paintings.

Davis' second marriage was to Priscilla Lee Childers. They were married on August 29, 1968, only hours after the death of his father. It was her third marriage. Priscilla had one daughter from her first marriage, and two children from her second marriage, including Andrea Wilborn.

Thomas Cullen Davis was the middle of three sons born to legendary Fort Worth oilman Kenneth W. "Stinky" Davis. His father founded KenDavis Industries International, Inc., which manufactured goods used in the petroleum industry. Davis married Sandra Masters on August 29, 1962. They had two sons, Cullen Jr. and Brian Davis. Davis and his brothers received equal shares of their father's estate upon his death in 1968, and all three were described as possessing keen business instincts. Davis had a reputation in Fort Worth society circles for displays of bad temper and general "creepiness", according to female associates.

Thomas Cullen Davis (born September 22, 1933) is an American former oil tycoon who is best known for being acquitted of murder and attempted murder in two high-profile trials during the 1970s. At the time of his first trial, Davis was believed to be the wealthiest man to have stood trial for murder in the United States.