This week, Jess wraps up her second installment of Women on Death Row: Marilyn Kay Plantz. This story really feels like a textbook case, with all the betrayal, twists, turns, affairs, greed, and manipulation!
Marilyn Kay Plantz became discontent in her marriage to Jim Plantz, leading her to engage in an extramarital affair with 18-year-old William Bryson. Instead of seeking a divorce, she conspired with Bryson to murder her husband for the $300,000 life insurance payout. Jim's charred body was discovered in his burned pickup truck, and initially treated as a potential accident. However, the investigation revealed inconsistencies in Marilyn's behavior, such as her lack of emotional response to Jim's death and her swift attempt to claim the insurance money, which raised suspicions about her involvement. As detectives dug deeper, they uncovered Marilyn's affair and her previous comments about wishing Jim were dead, indicating premeditated intent.
Following the investigation, Marilyn and Bryson were arrested, with Bryson eventually confessing to the murder plot in detail. He implicated Marilyn as the mastermind behind the crime, revealing that she had orchestrated the murder with calculated precision. During the trial, the prosecution presented overwhelming evidence of Marilyn's manipulation and planning, while her defense argued she was not involved. Ultimately, both Marilyn and Bryson were found guilty of first-degree murder, and they received death sentences. Marilyn was executed by lethal injection on May 1, 2001, becoming the second woman executed in Oklahoma since 1907, while Bryson had been executed previously in 2000.
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