Celeste Beard was found guilty of murder after her husband, Steven Beard, was fatally shot in October 1999 by a woman who claimed to be Celeste’s lesbian lover.
Nancy HallCeleste and Steven Beard.
In October 1999, Steven Beard, a retired millionaire and former television executive, was shot in the stomach while sleeping in his Austin, Texas home. Though he initially survived the attack, he died a few months later from complications. His wife, Celeste Beard, seemed outwardly distraught, stating that her “whole world” had ended with her husband’s sudden death.
But investigators soon began to suspect that Celeste had orchestrated Steven’s murder.
Before long, they connected the shooting to a woman named Tracey Tarlton, a woman who Celeste had met during a hospital stay. The two women had struck up a friendship — and perhaps more — and police were able to link ballistic evidence from Steven’s shooting to Tarlton.
Though Celeste Beard claimed that Tarlton had acted on her own, Tarlton told quite a different story about what had led to Steven Beard’s murder.
From A Waitress To A Millionaire’s Wife
Nancy HallSteven and Celeste Beard during their marriage, which began after they met at an Austin country club.
Born in 1963, Celeste Beard was adopted as a baby, and later described her childhood as abusive. She married three times, and had twins girls, Kristina and Jennifer, with her first husband when she was 17.
At first, Celeste’s adult life seemed to be a series of jobs and relationships that didn’t last. But all that changed in 1995, when Celeste met Steven Beard while working as a cocktail waitress at the exclusive Austin Country Club
Steven wasn’t just wealthy; he was a millionaire several times over. A former Fox Broadcasting executive and co-founder of Austin’s KEYE-TV, he was also a widower who had recently lost his wife of 45 years to cancer. And though Steven was 70, and Celeste 32, they seemingly fell in love and got married. Steven even adopted Celeste’s twin daughters.
Nancy HallSteven Beard with his wife, Celeste, and her twin daughters, Kristina and Jennifer, in a photo taken before his death in 1999.
That said, Steven’s friends and family were skeptical about whether it was real love or if Celeste was a gold-digger. “They didn’t have anything in common,” their neighbor told PEOPLE in 2003. “Except his money.”
Indeed, Celeste Beard seemed to enjoy her new wealth. According to ABC News, she filled her life with lavish vacations, shopping sprees, and easily spent the couple’s $35,000-a-month budget.
But cracks soon began to show between the couple.
The Events That Led To Steven Beard’s Murder
Just months after their marriage, Steven Beard discovered that Celeste Beard had been taking his late wife’s jewelry and silver out of his safe deposit box. This breach of trust — and Celeste’s out-of-control spending — led Steven to file for divorce. Though the couple reconciled and Steven withdrew his petition, their problems continued.
Celeste struggled with depression and, according to her daughters, once waved a gun around in front of the family. In 1999, she voluntary checked herself into St. Davids Medical Center for Mental Health, a psychiatric hospital in Austin, to help manage her symptoms. While there, she met Tracey Tarlton, a bookstore manager who was openly gay.
YouTubeTracey Tarlton allegedly began a relationship with Celeste Beard, which later played a key role in the murder case.
The two women soon grew close. While Celeste would later deny anything romantic occurred, Tarlton described the relationship as intimate. According to Tarlton, Celeste confided in her, vented about Steven, and hinted at wanting a different life. The two women started spending time together.
They continued to see each other even once they checked out of St. Davids. During a barbecue event, Steven allegedly saw Tarlton and Celeste kiss — though Celeste claimed that Tarlton had just tried to kiss her. Celeste’s lawyers would later claim that Tarlton was obsessed with Celeste, and that Celeste had only wanted to be her friend.
Then, early in the morning on Oct. 2, 1999, Tracey Tarlton showed up at the Beards’ home. While Celeste allegedly slept in another room, she crept into Steven’s bedroom and shot him in the stomach, then fled. Incredibly, Steven Beard remained conscious long enough to dial 911 and tell the operator, “My guts just jumped out of my stomach!”
Steven Beard lived for nearly four months after the shooting. He had multiple surgeries and was briefly discharged from the hospital in January 2000. But on January 22, he died from a blood clot directly linked to the shotgun wound.
Meanwhile, investigators began to close in on a suspect.
The Investigation Into Steven Beard’s Death
Channel 4Steven survived emergency surgery the night he was shot, but complications from the gunshot wound led to his death months later.
After speaking with Celeste Beard’s daughters, investigators learned about Celeste’s relationship with Tracey Tarlton. They discovered that Tarlton owned a shotgun, and were able to match it to a shotgun cartridge that Steven’s attacker had left at the scene.
Tarlton was initially charged with attempted murder, then murder, after Steven’s death. But though investigators had their suspicions about Celeste — who had reportedly complained about missing a vacation on the morning her husband was shot — Tarlton said nothing to implicate her friend.
At least, not at first.
But when Celeste remarried only five months after Steven’s death, Tarlton felt betrayed. She agreed to testify against Celeste in exchange for a shorter sentence.
YouTubeIn exchange for a reduced 20-year prison sentence, Tracey Tarlton agreed to testify against Celeste Beard.
“I felt like I loved her, and I believed that she loved me,” Tarlton later said during her testimony. “She spent a lot of time letting me know that she did.”
Tarlton told police that Celeste Beard had orchestrated the entire plot. She said that Celeste had told her that Steven was abusive, that she wanted him dead, and that she had asked Tarlton to kill him. Celeste had allegedly implied that if Steven were dead, she and Tarlton could be together.
Then, in March 2002, Celeste Beard was arrested and charged with capital murder.
Celeste Beard Faces Justice
Celeste Beard’s trial began the following year, and it was sensational from start to finish.
Prosecutors painted Celeste as a cold, manipulative gold digger who married Steven for his money and plotted his murder when he threatened to cut her off. Financial records revealed that Celeste had spent hundreds of thousands of dollars in the months leading up to Steven’s shooting, and prosecutors alleged that Steven had grown tired of her excessive spending.
Celeste’s defense attorney, on the other hand, argued that Tarlton was mentally unstable and obsessed with his client. He claimed Celeste had no motive to kill Steven.
However, Celeste Beard’s daughters ended up testifying against her. They presented a damning piece of evidence to the jury, a recording of Celeste telling Kristina: “I hired somebody to kill Tracey.”
On March 19, 2003, Celeste was found guilty of capital murder and sentenced to two consecutive 40-year terms. She will be eligible for parole in April 2042. Tarlton, thanks to her plea deal, was released on parole in 2011 after serving about 10 years behind bars.
OxygenCeleste Beard was convicted of orchestrating the murder of her millionaire husband and sentenced to life in prison.
Following the trial, Celeste Beard has largely faded from the spotlight, though she has been the subject of multiple true crime shows, including Snapped, Deadly Women, 20/20, and a Lifetime movie titled Secrets of a Gold Digger Killer. She even co-authored a prison cookbook titled “From the Big House to Your House” with other inmates.
As for Tracey Tarlton, she now lives a quiet life in San Antonio after completing probation in 2021. Her role in one of Texas’s most dramatic crimes still follows her, but she’s reportedly trying to move forward with her life.
After reading about Celeste Beard, discover the story of Lorena Bobbitt, the woman that cut off her husband’s penis. Then, check out this article on the murder of Greggory Smart who was shot by his wife’s teen lover.