Credit: Netflix

Thomas Randolph is the elusive subject of Netflix’s newest true-crime documentary, The Widower: ‘Til Death Do Us Part, also dubbed ‘Black Widower,’ whose three of six wives died under mysterious circumstances while in a relationship with him.

According to 8 News Now, Randolph was allegedly found guilty of two counts of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder regarding the deaths of his sixth wife, Sharon Causse, and hitman Michael Miller. While Black Widower was reportedly sentenced to death, his conviction was later overturned when the Nevada Supreme Court ruled that the jury shouldn’t have taken into account his second wife, Becky Gault’s, death.

Again in 2023, Randolph was convicted of the same counts in Sharon and Michael’s murders by a second jury trial, following which he was sentenced to 60 years’ imprisonment.

Although the Netflix true-crime documentary covers his multiple marriages and trials, here’s more to know about Randolph’s six wives.

Kathryn “Kathy” Thomas

According to The Widower: ‘Til Death Do Us Part, Thomas Randolph and Kathryn “Kathy” Thomas met via friends and tied the knot on August 2nd, 1975, when Randolph was 20, and Kathy was 18. Although her initial description of her ex-husband in the documentary begins on a positive front, she details how he grew “very scary psychologically.”

Per Law & Crime, Randolph reportedly threw a bowl of oatmeal at a wall because Kathy didn’t put the right amount of sugar in it. She further claimed that Thomas constantly double-crossed and cheated on her, prevented her from communicating or seeing her friends, and that they both sold and used substances.

Thomas and Kathy eventually divorced in 1983, but before their separation, a man named Steve claimed that Randolph instructed him to kill Kathy. However, Kathy and Steve married after her divorce.

Becky Gault

According to the 2024 ID documentary The Black Widower: The Six Wives of Thomas Randolph, his relationship with Becky Gault started as an affair during his first marriage. The same day his first divorce was finalised, Becky and Randolph tied the knot. Those close to Becky recalled her being jovial and full of life, but after her marriage, she started using drugs. Like Kathy’s allegations, they also claimed Thomas tried to prohibit her from contacting her friends and family.

Becky was scared of Thomas as well, but she finally made the hard call and left him. But one day she went back to his house to bring back some of her things in November 1986, and later that day, she was found dead with a gunshot wound and a suicide note at his home (via the Las Vegas Sun).

The responding detective, Dick Martin, who combed the scene, suspected foul play, citing inconsistencies. However, police didn’t identify the house as a crime scene, so they didn’t investigate further. Yet, two years after Becky’s death, Thomas’s former friend Eric Tarantino admitted that he was ordered to kill her by Randolph, who promised him half of the life insurance policy on Becky.

The docuseries also claimed that they allegedly rehearsed it for almost a year. While Eric’s confession resulted in Thomas’s arrest and he was charged with murder, Thomas allegedly asked his cellmate, an undercover officer, to murder Eric. Following the coroner’s ruling that Becky’s death was a suicide, Thomas was acquitted of the charges, only receiving 18 months’ imprisonment for witness tampering.

Leona Stapleton

Thomas Randolph walked the aisle once again in March 1994, this time with his third wife, Leona Stapleton. Speaking of Stapleton, Randolph told in the ID true-crime documentary, “She was fun, she was a good person… [Leona] was a smarter one; she knew I was having sex with other women.”

Although little is known about Stapleton, she and Thomas relocated to Indiana from Utah while they were together. However, their union hardly lasted a year. They divorced in 1995, and she died from cancer in 2006.

Gayna Allmon

Thomas Randolph and Gayna Allmon met through a personals ad and married each other in October 1995. Although she was not seeking a serious relationship, Thomas managed to sweep her off her feet with flowers and expensive jewels.

According to The Black Widower: The Six Wives of Thomas Randolph, he made a life insurance policy on her right after their courthouse wedding. While she noticed several alarming traits, two incidents persuaded her to leave without a second thought.

Gayna claimed to have received a call from the Edinburgh, Ind., police department, and was informed about the murder accusations involving Becky’s death. Briefly after, she began noticing Thomas “acting kind of different,” cleaning his guns at their dining table before shooting a bullet roughly a foot away from her. That was her breaking point, after which she quit her job and reportedly went into hiding.

Gayna revealed she replaced the diamonds from her jewellery with cubic zirconia that Thomas had gifted during the relationship before returning it to him, calling it “fair play.” They divorced in July 1997.

But in the Netflix true-crime documentary, The Widower: ‘Til Death Do Us Part, a man named Glenn Morrison alleged that Randolph offered him half of the life insurance payout to murder Gayna and shoot him in the leg. However, he refused.

Francis Randolph

Thomas Randolph met Francis while working at a nursing home when the latter was married to another man. However, Thomas unsurprisingly wooed her and eventually convinced her to leave her then-husband, leading to their marriage in August 1997.

“[Francis] was the one God put on the Earth for me,” he said in The Black Widower. “That was the love of my life… When I met Francis, I totally changed… I straightened up, I grew up.” It turns out, Thomas’ mother believed the same.

While Francis had a heart condition all her life, she had several minor strokes during the marriage. She went through a treatment in April 2004, which reportedly went well. However, later that day, her daughter Rachel Gaskins said that Thomas advised her to leave the hospital room, and her mother died within half an hour.

The death was never seen as a crime, but Rachel said in the ID series that Thomas, who had life insurance policies on herself and Francis, killed her mother. On the other hand, Thomas said Francis’ death was due to medical malpractice, and he sued the hospital. He received a nearly $400,000 wrongful death settlement, out of which Rachel also got some, but not the life insurance payout.

Sharon Causse

Sharon Causse and Thomas Randolph crossed paths on Match.com in 2006 (via The Widower on Netflix). She was a divorced hairstylist with a daughter, Colleen Beyer. The daughter recalls their relationship moving a bit too fast, as the two married on a cruise ship within months of their first date.

Colleen reveals in the Netflix documentary that after the wedding, her mother amended her will and left everything to Thomas. Meanwhile, Randolph took out three life insurance policies on Sharon, worth $350,000.

Sharon’s friend, Deirdra Marley, recounts Thomas exerting excessive control towards Sharon in The Black Widower, citing that he used to call several times a day at the salon where she worked. She further noticed bruises on her after Thomas and Sharon took a boat ride, when he told her about the life insurance.

In May of 2008, Thomas and Sharon went out on Mother’s Day for dinner, but right after they entered their home, she was caught off guard and shot by Michael, and Thomas shot Michael back. According to NBC 8, he rang 911, reporting an intruder he shot in self-defence. However, investigators noticed foul play, suspecting the crime scene was staged. It was only after talking to Michael’s family that they learned that Thomas paid Miller to kill his sixth wife in exchange for half the insurance policy payout.