Thomas Randolph: Vegas widower sent chilling messages to stepdaughter after realizing he won't get wife's money
Colleen Beyer, daughter of murder victim Sharon Causse, has revealed how her mother's widower Thomas Randolph — suspected to be one of the most twisted serial killers in modern times — reacted to his sixth wife's last will and testament.
The devastated daughter opened up about the ordeal in 'The Widower', a three-part true-crime docuseries produced by Dateline NBC which explores the dark origins of the eccentric Las Vegas man who is suspected to have murdered his wife to cash in on insurance money on multiple occasions.
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Colleen Beyer told producers how Randolph believed "he was in control of everything" thanks to a will he had in his possession. "After my mom died, I called Randolph and asked him, 'What'd you do to my mother?' and he said, 'I didn't do anything to your mother, it was Michael who shot and killed your mother.' And he hung up on me," Beyer said, recalling how "cold" he was.
Just days later, Randolph called the house and left Beyer a couple of messages, as the latter pretended everything was normal and that they were still family. In his messages, Randolph tried to push for the sale of the house he had shared with Sharon Causse. "I am just gonna try my darndest to buck up and get the cleaning done and save us some money to get this house for sale, get it on the market, and get on with it," he told Beyer in one message. In another, he told her "it makes me feel better when I hear your voice."
Randolph was confident that he would inherit everything considering the will he had in his possession, but Beyer received "another will" from her mother's best friend, Alice Wolfe, just days after the tragedy. Wolfe recalled to producers in a confessional, "She writes it out. I'm watching her do it. And we go to the notary and have it notarized. And she gives it to me, and she says, 'If anything happens to me, Alice,' she says, 'Please give this to Colleen.' She had left the house to Colleen."
Tragically, Causse met her fate in May 2008 during an apparent "home invasion" that left her and Randolph's associate Michael Miller dead. Authorities soon turned their suspicion towards Randolph, who had made Causse his sixth wife. An investigation would later reveal he had previously been tried and acquitted for the murder of his second wife Becky Gault, whose mother told producers he had taken out at least three life insurance policies in her name with himself as the sole beneficiary.
Authorities also found that Randolph had a $360,000 life insurance policy out on Causse. He was subsequently charged for the murders of Sharon Causse and Michael, with prosecutors alleging the accused had hired one Michael to kill Sharon Causse.
Randolph maintained his innocence, but was eventually found guilty of double homicide and sentenced to death. Last month, however, the Nevada Supreme Court ruled that the jury shouldn't have been presented evidence from Gault's 1986 murder as Randolph had been acquitted of those charges, thereby overturning the most recent convictions. Now, the four-time widower is awaiting a retrial while remanded in custody.
"I'm just happy as can be because, as I told everybody, I didn't do this," Randolph recently told the Killer Genes podcast. "I didn't kill Becky. I didn't kill Sharon. And I think I'm more happy not with the fact that I'm getting a new trial, I'm more happy that the system didn't let me down like it's let down so many other people. Like it had let me down for going on 13 years."
While Thomas Randolph has claimed innocence, Beyer told NBC that the will change suggested Sharon Causse may have realized something was fishy. "She had to have suspected something that she would go behind his back and change everything and leave it to me," Beyer said of her mother. She then recalled how Randolph became "really upset" when the will in her possession was ruled as valid. "Then I started gettin' really nasty phone messages," she added.
"You know it's really weird," Randolph said in one voicemail. "We sat there and we talked about the house. I could see it in your eyes, you was lying through your teeth. No wonder your mother didn't like you."
Scared out of her wits, Beyer stopped talking to Randolph, only to have him call her again a few days later. He said he was "calling to apologize for being so upset with you. But that's what happens when people look me in the eyes and lie to me. Now the lawyers are going to get all the money, 'cause I still get half of the house 'cause I'm married to your momma." He added: "I forgive you and I'm sorry I called you bad names. Bye!"
"He thought he was in charge and in control of everything," Beyer told producers. "And he doesn't like it when a woman takes control away."
The first part of 'The Widower' premieres on Thursday, February 18 at 10 pm on NBC. The following two parts will air Friday, February 19, and Sunday, February 21, at 9 pm on NBC.