At a glance
- Location: Clearwater, Florida
- Case period: Murder occurred on a Super Bowl Sunday; investigation and legal proceedings stretched more than six years
- Victim: A successful local businessman, shot to death in his own home
- Critical clue: A handgun discovered hidden in the victim’s wife’s car, along with jewelry and keys reported missing from the scene
For investigators in Clearwater, Florida, the case began with a scene that looked almost too obvious — a ransacked home, a missing vehicle, and a husband dead on the foyer floor. But the harder detectives looked, the less the “robbery” made sense. According to police, nothing of real value was missing, and the wife’s own behavior at the scene would soon raise more questions than answers.
A Whirlwind Romance Turns Deadly
Rebecca and Larry Fenton met at a gym in Clearwater when she was in her late 30s and he was in his early 50s, according to court records and interviews with Rebecca herself. The relationship moved fast — Larry proposed within three months, and the couple married twice, once in Clearwater and again months later in Laughlin, Nevada, for extended family. Larry, a former architect who had built a fortune in the surgical equipment business, was described by Rebecca as attentive and generous. “I felt like the first lady,” she said of their marriage. “Doors were just automatically opened for you.”
The 911 Call
On a Sunday afternoon as Super Bowl festivities were getting underway across the country, Rebecca told police she had been working out in the couple’s detached home gym while Larry napped inside, planning to watch the game later that evening. When she returned roughly two hours later, she said she found Larry motionless in a pool of blood in the foyer, at the base of the staircase. Her 911 call captured her sounding frantic: “My husband’s laying in the middle of the floor and he’s not moving… our house has been ransacked.” Paramedics confirmed Larry had been shot four times, in the neck and back, and had died almost instantly, according to police.
A Staged Scene
Investigators initially treated the case as a possible home invasion — drawers were pulled out, cabinets left open, belongings strewn across rooms, and Larry’s Jeep Cherokee was gone from the driveway. But detectives said the disorder didn’t add up. Valuables, including Larry’s wallet full of cash, were untouched. “It looked like somebody just took their hand and knocked the books off the shelf onto the floor,” one investigator said. “What end does that accomplish? I believe this was a staged crime scene.”
Red Flags at the Scene
Detectives grew more suspicious of Rebecca almost immediately. Local news cameras captured her smiling and laughing with officers on the sidewalk outside the home just after reporting her husband’s death — behavior investigators found jarring given the circumstances. Rebecca later said she was reacting to a joking comment from an officer about the crowd of onlookers, and that she may also have been in shock. “I understand it doesn’t look good for me,” she told investigators. Detectives were also troubled that Rebecca said she ran through the house to see “what the hell had happened” rather than attempting to render aid, and that despite claiming to have checked Larry’s pulse twice, no blood evidence was found on her body or clothing.
Secrets Behind Closed Doors
As detectives dug into the Fentons’ private life, they learned Rebecca had worked for seven years as a high-priced escort, with a prior prostitution arrest — a fact she readily admitted. She also acknowledged growing restless in the marriage almost immediately after the wedding. “I remember feeling a little lost,” she said. “Who am I now?” Investigators additionally learned of a close relationship between Rebecca and a younger prep chef named David, though both denied any physical affair. Detectives theorized Larry may have been killed after Rebecca’s plans to leave him fell apart when the other relationship ended.
The Case Detectives Thought They Had
Two days after the murder, police found Larry’s missing Jeep abandoned just a block from the home. Inside was only costume jewelry, a jar of coins, an iPod and a laptop — nothing a fleeing burglar would likely leave behind, according to investigators. Then came what appeared to be the breakthrough: Larry’s own gun, wrapped in plastic, tucked under the front passenger seat of Rebecca’s car, along with his jewelry and the Jeep’s missing keys. Detectives also uncovered life insurance policies and an estate that stood to net Rebecca more than $1 million. “It didn’t make any sense” for an intruder to plant evidence in her vehicle, one investigator said — unless she had done it herself.
The Moment Police Had to Let Her Go
With what looked like overwhelming circumstantial evidence, detectives brought Rebecca in believing they had their suspect. But the forensic results upended their case. Gunshot residue testing came back negative. Then Rebecca passed not one, but three separate polygraph examinations — two administered by investigators and a third conducted independently. Without physical evidence tying her directly to the weapon, prosecutors did not have enough to charge her. “And they had to let me go,” Rebecca said. The case went cold, and detectives feared it might never be solved.
“I absolutely know that Rebecca is the shooter and believe it based on the totality of the entire investigation without a doubt.”
The Case Reopens
Years later, the home where the murder occurred burned to the ground in a fire investigators determined involved accelerants. Rebecca denied any involvement, noting the house was in foreclosure and she stood to gain nothing from its destruction. Still, the suspicious fire drew renewed attention from cold-case investigators, who began re-examining the original evidence. A break came when Rebecca herself called 911 during a domestic dispute with a boyfriend, Alfred Nolan — a man with an extensive criminal record. Nolan later told detectives that during an earlier fight, Rebecca held a knife to his throat and said, “I’ll kill you like I killed Larry.” Rebecca denied the incident ever happened. Detectives acknowledged Nolan’s credibility problems but said other witnesses had heard him describe the alleged confession before police ever contacted him.
Where the Case Stands Today
Rebecca Fenton was ultimately arrested for her husband’s murder more than six years after he was killed. She has continued to maintain her innocence, pointing to the absence of gunshot residue, the lack of fingerprints on the weapon, and her passed polygraphs. Her case drew the attention of Andrew Tizzard, a former British Home Office investigator, who has publicly argued the conviction was a miscarriage of justice and says he intends to pursue her appeal. For now, Rebecca remains behind bars without the possibility of parole, saying she expects to spend the rest of her life in prison.
