Charles Albright Victims

Case background and investigation

Between December 1990 and March 1991, three women were found shot dead in the Dallas area, and in each case the eyes had been removed. The killings led to the arrest of Charles Albright, a Dallas resident then in his late fifties, who was convicted of one of the murders.

The first victim, Mary Lou Pratt, was found on December 13, 1990, in southern Dallas. According to Oxygen and the Texas True Crime Blog, she had been shot in the back of the head. The second, Susan Peterson, 27, was found on February 10, 1991, a short distance from where Pratt had been left; she had also been shot. Sources give Pratt's age as 33 or 35.

The third victim, Shirley Williams, was found in March 1991 on a residential street near an elementary school. Sources reviewed give different dates for the discovery, either March 10 or March 19, and different ages. Oxygen reported that the tip of a craft-knife blade was found lodged near one of her eyes.

Albright was arrested on March 22, 1991. According to the accounts reviewed, investigators relied heavily on hair and fiber comparisons said to link him to the victims, and reported finding craft knives at his home. His trial began in December 1991, and later that month the jury found him guilty of the murder of Shirley Williams. He was sentenced to life in prison.

Charges relating to Pratt and Peterson did not proceed; Oxygen and Wikipedia state that they were dropped because of insufficient evidence. Wikipedia's entry also states that Albright had been charged in the 1988 death of another Dallas woman, Rhonda Bowie, and that this charge was likewise dropped. Albright was therefore never convicted in those cases, and they remain without a conviction.

The forensic evidence has since been questioned. Wikipedia's entry states that later DNA testing indicated that hairs presented at trial as consistent with Albright's came from a dog. Albright maintained that he was innocent throughout his imprisonment. He was held at a psychiatric prison unit in Lubbock, Texas, and died on August 22, 2020, at the age of 87, according to Wikipedia and the Texas True Crime Blog; Oxygen gives the date as August 10, 2020.