Who Do You Believe ABC Celeste

This week's episode of ABC's Who do you Believe? featured Celeste Beard, the accused murderer of Steven Beard, giving her account of the story. The incident shook Austin, when Celeste Beard Johnson's alleged partner, Tracey Tarlton, shot Steven while he was sleeping in his mansion on October 2, 1999. He later died in January 2000 of a blood clot.

According to tonight's episode of Who do you Believe? Celeste was convicted of capital murder in 2003 and given a life sentence. Celeste is currently in prison in Lane Murray and will be eligible for parole on April 1, 2042. Tarlton received only 20 years of prison time, reduced by ten years for testifying against Celeste in court, and is currently out of prison on parole.

Who do you Believe? puts viewers in the position of an armchair detective by putting forward different accounts of the same true crime by the accused and the accuser. Who do you believe? is currently running its first season.

What did Celeste Beard do? Does the convicted killer appear on Who do you Believe? episode

Tonight's episode of Who do you Believe? showed the audience two different versions of the 1999 Steven Beard murder case, given by his ex-wife Celeste Beard Johnson, who was convicted for his murder, and Celeste's ex-lover Tracey Tarlton, who was also convicted of his murder.

Who do you Believe? Episode 3 showed the gruesome tale that led up to the murder and what Celeste's daughters saw. Celeste met Steven in 1997 when she was 32 and worked as a waitress at the Austin Country Club.

Steven was a millionaire and offered her and her twin daughters every bit of materialistic happiness from previous marriages. He had a net worth of more than 10 million dollars. One of his neighbors, Robert Dennison, said,

"They didn’t have anything in common, Except his money."

Celeste had previously been married three times, and her twin daughters described their relationship with her as "troubled" and stated that she often neglected them. Steven's kids, Paul, Becky, and Steven III, were also unhappy with the relationship.

Steven yearned for companionship after his ex-wife Elina's death, with whom he was happily married for 45 years, in 1993. The couple married the same year and started their marital bliss, short-lived as Steven's banker informed him that his wife was taking Elise's jewelry out of the bank lockers; he immediately filed for divorce.

But the couple did eventually work it out, and Steven withdrew the divorce petition. He also included the twin daughters in his will and his three children from his previous marriage.

Celeste was diagnosed with depression in 1999 and had to be admitted to St. David's Clinic, where she met Tracey, a bookstore manager. Tracey reportedly told her lawyers that the two fell in love and got into a relationship.

Celeste's lawyer, however, told the court that Tracey had allegedly become obsessed with Celeste.

Her daughters also appeared on Who do you Believe? tonight.

Prosecutors told the court that Celeste allegedly convinced Tracey that her husband was abusing her emotionally and that she was thinking about committing suicide. On October 2, 1999, Tracey shot Steven in the stomach in his mansion, just eight months after she met Celeste.

Celeste claimed that she was sleeping in another part of the home when the incident occurred. Police found gun shelling at the crime scene. Jennifer, Celeste's daughter herself, told police about her mother's close relationship with Tracey, whose gun matched the shelling case.

Even though Steven had recovered completely and was discharged from the hospital, he died of a blood clot caused by the bullet on January 22, 2000.

After Steven's death, Celeste hardly played the role of a grieving widow and reportedly went to Mardi Gras sometime after her husband's death. Five months after his death, Celeste married 41-year-old Cole Johnson. By now, everyone, including their daughters, was suspicious of her involvement in the crime.

Tracey reportedly did not reveal anything about the case until she read that Celeste had married another man in the newspaper.

She revealed that Celeste planned to kill her husband as he was reportedly emotionally abusing her. In court, she also said that Celeste had told her that Steven was the only person standing between their relationship.

The court charged her with murder, and while Tracey is out in the world right now, Celeste is in jail, waiting for the time when she will be applicable for parole. She still maintains her innocence in the case.

For more Who do you Believe? episodes, tune onto ABC on Tuesdays at 10.00 pm ET.

Edited by Suchitra

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This week's episode of ABC's Who Do You Believe? will continue to examine more details of Steven Beard's death. Episode 4 of the series will air on Tuesday, May 24, 2022, at 10.00 pm ET.

Self-made millionaire and TV tycoon Steven Beard's death shook Austin. In the early morning hours of October 2, 1999, an intruder, later identified as Tracey Tarlton, broke into his house and shot him in the stomach while he was in bed. He called 911 himself and reported the incident. After going back and forth while being treated in the hospital, Beard reportedly died of a blood clot on January 22, 2000.

Who is Tracey Tarlton? Profile explore ahead of Episode 4 of Who Do You Believe?

Episode 4 of Who Do You Believe? will reflect what transpired with Steven Beard's murder involving Tracey Tarlton. After Episode 3, more information will be revealed; more backstories will be brought out, shocking viewers, and sending chills down their spine.

The official synopsis of the episode titled What the Sisters Saw - Part 2 reads:

"The riveting battle between Celeste Beard and her twin teenage daughters continues to unfold in part two of this unbelievable true-crime story. Secret recordings and a shocking confession point suspicion toward Celeste and her best friend’s possible involvement."

The "best friend" referred to in the episode's bio is none other than prime accused Tracey Tarlton. After the victim's death, her charges were reportedly upped to murder. Police discovered that the personalized shotgun with the indicted was precisely similar to the spent shell found on Steven Beard's bedroom floor.

Although she initially denied it, Tarlton later admitted to shooting Beard. She also struck a deal with the prosecutors - in exchange for testifying against Celeste Beard, the victim's ex-wife, she would get a 20-year sentence in prison.

Soon after marrying Celeste, Beard adopted her three daughters from a previous marriage and gave them a semblance of a family, one that they didn't get before. Her daughters were highly attached to their step-father but didn't see the tragedy coming.

Celeste reportedly met Tarlton when she checked herself into St. David's Clinic for treatment for depression. According to Suzy Spencer, one of Austin's best-known crime authors, the latter has had a history of homosexual relationships and has been open about the same since she was a teen. She was also convinced that her new best friend wanted something more than friendship.

Allison Wetzel and Gary Cobb, the prosecutors in charge of the case, asserted that Celeste had manipulated the accused into killing her ex-husband. After more than two days of testimony, Tarlton described how Celeste had orchestrated the time and place of the shooting. She said:

"She said that she had a plan and she wanted me to shoot him. By this time, cared about her tremendously, and I did believe her. I believed what she told me, and I believed that she cared in the same way for me."

Celeste reportedly married her fifth husband, Austin Carpenter Spencer Johnson, in July 2000, six months after Beard's death.

Celeste's defense attorney, Dick DeGuerrin, tried his best to convince the court otherwise. He labeled Tarlton's testimony "either delusional, or fabrications, or lies or fantasies … but it's not the truth." He also said that the two women didn't have a romantic relationship and that Tarton took advantage of Celeste.

However, testimony from Celeste's twin daughters, Kristina and Jennifer, turned the tides in Tarlton's favor as they described their mother's ill behavior towards them and recorded her phone calls.

Celeste reportedly told Kristina that she had hired someone to kill Tracey in one of the calls. The witness said:

"The day she told me about Tracey, I knew. You only want someone dead because maybe you put them up to it, and I thought, 'I know now she's guilty.' I had to separate myself from her. It was hard."

The phone call was everything the court needed to know. After 72 hours, the jury returned a guilty verdict that sent Celeste to prison.

Tracey Tarlton was reportedly handed ten years in jail and another 12 on probation. She made parole in August 2011 and was eventually released from prison. Initially, she found it hard to live in society and challenging to adapt to regular life with a prior criminal record as it hindered her employment and living situation.

However, people in her community in San Antonio helped her ease back into everyday life and reportedly held a fundraiser for her to get a jumpstart. Since then, Tracey Tarlton has chosen to live a quiet life.

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