The Murder of Nancy Dillard Lyon (Crime Documentary)
- 5 years ago
"Nancy and Richard Lyon were a wealthy Dallas couple who had everything but lost it all. One of them ended up serving a life sentence in a Federal prison; the other ended up dead.
Richard Lyon met Nancy Dillard at Harvard, where they studied to become landscape architects. They came from different worlds. His world was mundane middle-class Connecticut – hers the wealthiest neighborhood in all of Texas - Park Cities, a high-end leafy enclave replete with high-end mansions and high-profile socialites. Despite their differences, Nancy and Richard’s marriage was picture perfect. At least from the outside.
In reality, the marriage was in trouble. Over Memorial Day 1989, the Dillard family visited Sierra Tucson Hospital, a detox center, where Nancy saw a sex therapist. She confided to Richard that she had sexual intimacy problems, and the cause may be incest with her brother, Bill, which occurred when they were children. Richard is disturbed and shocked by the revelations: he did not have sex with his wife for months.
For his part, Richard found that he was never truly accepted into the Park Cities elite. Nancy got the promotions, whereas his career was stagnating. He became jealous and frustrated, looked outside his marriage for solace, and fell into the sympathetic arms of a young, blonde co-worker, Tami Ayn Gaisford. The one night stand turned into a fling, and the fling turned into an affair. Nancy found out, and this happy marriage soon descended into mayhem.
They were at each other’s throats. Richard was openly carrying on with his lover, Tami. Nancy was furious. Richard packed up and left the family home.
During that time there were two events, seemingly small, but in fact significant. The first was an infestation of fire ants, a common problem in Texas, even in the tony suburbs of Park Cities. The second was a simple gift: a bottle of wine left on the doorstep of the Lyon family home. Nancy does not know who left it there, but she drank it, and it made her temporarily, but violently, sick.
Richard did not stay away for long. He frequently came back to the family home to help with the fire ant infestation. The couple used arsenic to poison the ants. But he also came back for sex, and Nancy obliged. She appeared to be undecided about the future of their relationship.
Meanwhile, Nancy was suffering from more unexplained bouts of sickness. Perhaps it was the stress of her deteriorated marriage and the uncertainty of her future. But whatever the cause, Nancy wrote to her husband, telling him that enough is enough.
In September 1990, Nancy filed for divorce.
On January 9th, 1991, in the emergency room of the Presbyterian Hospital, Nancy Lyon was extremely sick. The resident physician examines her. Her face was twisted in pain, but there was no obvious medical cause for her condition. The doctors speculated that the cause is ‘toxic shock syndrome’.
Richard stayed at Nancy’s side, and, along with the Dillard family, anxiously paced the hallwa
Richard Lyon met Nancy Dillard at Harvard, where they studied to become landscape architects. They came from different worlds. His world was mundane middle-class Connecticut – hers the wealthiest neighborhood in all of Texas - Park Cities, a high-end leafy enclave replete with high-end mansions and high-profile socialites. Despite their differences, Nancy and Richard’s marriage was picture perfect. At least from the outside.
In reality, the marriage was in trouble. Over Memorial Day 1989, the Dillard family visited Sierra Tucson Hospital, a detox center, where Nancy saw a sex therapist. She confided to Richard that she had sexual intimacy problems, and the cause may be incest with her brother, Bill, which occurred when they were children. Richard is disturbed and shocked by the revelations: he did not have sex with his wife for months.
For his part, Richard found that he was never truly accepted into the Park Cities elite. Nancy got the promotions, whereas his career was stagnating. He became jealous and frustrated, looked outside his marriage for solace, and fell into the sympathetic arms of a young, blonde co-worker, Tami Ayn Gaisford. The one night stand turned into a fling, and the fling turned into an affair. Nancy found out, and this happy marriage soon descended into mayhem.
They were at each other’s throats. Richard was openly carrying on with his lover, Tami. Nancy was furious. Richard packed up and left the family home.
During that time there were two events, seemingly small, but in fact significant. The first was an infestation of fire ants, a common problem in Texas, even in the tony suburbs of Park Cities. The second was a simple gift: a bottle of wine left on the doorstep of the Lyon family home. Nancy does not know who left it there, but she drank it, and it made her temporarily, but violently, sick.
Richard did not stay away for long. He frequently came back to the family home to help with the fire ant infestation. The couple used arsenic to poison the ants. But he also came back for sex, and Nancy obliged. She appeared to be undecided about the future of their relationship.
Meanwhile, Nancy was suffering from more unexplained bouts of sickness. Perhaps it was the stress of her deteriorated marriage and the uncertainty of her future. But whatever the cause, Nancy wrote to her husband, telling him that enough is enough.
In September 1990, Nancy filed for divorce.
On January 9th, 1991, in the emergency room of the Presbyterian Hospital, Nancy Lyon was extremely sick. The resident physician examines her. Her face was twisted in pain, but there was no obvious medical cause for her condition. The doctors speculated that the cause is ‘toxic shock syndrome’.
Richard stayed at Nancy’s side, and, along with the Dillard family, anxiously paced the hallwa