Texas woman convicted of stabbing husband 193 times, inspiring Lifetime film, paroled

A Texas woman who was convicted of murder after she was accused of stabbing her husband 193 times has been granted an early release from prison.

Susan Wright, now 44, was found guilty in 2004 of killing her husband, 34-year-old Jeffrey Wright, KHOU reported. Following a resentencing, she was ordered to serve 20 years in prison, the outlet reported.

The Houston-area murder case gained national attention and led to a 2012 Lifetime movie, “Blue-Eyed Butcher.”

She served 16 years of her sentence before being granted parole last year. Wednesday, she was released from Lane Murray Unit in Gatesville, KTRK reported.

Her parole agreement includes “anger control training, counseling and obtaining gainful employment,” KPRC reported. She will be required to wear an ankle monitor, according to Cox Media.

A KTRK camera crew met her at her family’s home when she was released.

“I would just like privacy, please respect that,” she told the crew. “I’m sure that y’all can understand, but don’t do this to my family. Even if you do it to me, don’t do this to them, please.”

Wright said during the trial that the stabbing was in self-defense after her husband raped and beat her, court records show.

But prosecutors argued Wright killed her husband in January 2003 in order to gain a $200,000 life insurance policy, records show. Wright seduced her husband, who allowed her to tie him up on their bed, prosecutors said.

She then got on top of her husband and repeatedly stabbed him while he was defenseless, records show. The prosecuting attorney, Kelly Siegler, gained notoriety when she straddled one of her male prosecutors and re-enacted the crime during the trial.

Of the 193 times Jeffrey Wright was stabbed, 41 were in his face and 46 were to his chest, court records show.

“In his head, in his chest, and in his neck and in his stomach. And his leg from when he kicked me,” Wright testified, recalling the stabbing. “I stabbed him in his penis for all the times that he made me have sex and I didn’t want to. And I couldn’t stop because he was going to kill me and I couldn’t stop.”

He was found nude and buried in the backyard, according to court records.

Wright’s plan to fabricate her husband’s death “fell apart” when the family dog dug up Jeffrey’s body, prosecutors argued.

She admitted to her mother before being taken into custody that she stabbed her husband, documents say She said she committed the act while her kids were in bed, according to a criminal complaint.

“Momma, it wasn’t me. I snapped. I was up there and I saw somebody do it but it wasn’t me,” she said, according to the complaint.

It took jurors five hours to find Wright guilty, according to Cox Media.

This story was originally published January 5, 2021 at 3:53 PM with the headline "Texas woman convicted of stabbing husband 193 times, inspiring Lifetime film, paroled."