Former Houston Police Officer Robert Fratta to be Executed for 1994 Murder of Estranged Wife

On Tuesday, Robert Fratta, a former suburban Houston police officer, is set to be executed for the 1994 murder of his estranged wife, Farah.

Fratta, 65, was convicted of hiring two men to carry out the killing, which occurred amid a contentious divorce and custody battle for their three children. Prosecutors said Fratta had repeatedly expressed his desire to see his wife dead and asked several acquaintances if they knew anyone who could help him.

The middleman, Joseph Prystash, hired the shooter, Howard Guidry, who shot Farah Fratta twice in the head in her home’s garage in the Houston suburb of Atascocita.

Fratta was arrested in 1995 and convicted in 1997. He was sentenced to death in 1998.

The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles rejected his clemency petition last week. Fratta’s lawyers have argued that he was mentally ill and his trial attorneys were ineffective.

Fratta is set to be the seventh inmate executed in Texas this year. He will be the third inmate executed in the United States in the past week.