Fratta trial

Throughout her testimony, she referred to her father as Bob, saying the night of her mother's murder I remember Bob getting a phone call," she testified. Amber was four years old when her mother died, killed by two hit men hired by Roert Fratta. Amber and brothers Daniel and Bradley were raised by their maternal grandparents. Amber testified she has visited her father only once and that was last year. Seeing his daughter break down and crying, I thought he would have some sort of emotion.

He didn't. It was really frustrating. Her older brother, Daniel Baquer, took the stand telling the jury he visited Fratta in jail two years ago and didn't care to go back.

Robert Fratta looked down when Daniel testified. Amber and Daniel didn't testify in Fratta's first trial. Supreme Court on Monday turned down an appeal from a former Missouri City police officer convicted of hiring a hitman to kill his wife, one of two Houston-area death row losses in the high court this week.

Though he has consistently maintained his innocence, Robert Fratta was sentenced to death in after a Harris County jury found him guilty of masterminding a murder-for-hire plot designed to do away with his wife Farah. Robert and Farah Fratta were embroiled in a heated divorce and custody battle when the year-old mother was shot in the head while stepping out of her car at their home.

The ex-officer and erstwhile firefighter was at church at the time, but investigators flagged him as a suspect in part because he'd reportedly asked around for a hitman before the crime.

In the end, prosecutors said, he hired Joseph Prystash, who in turn hired a third man to carry out the killing. All three men are now on death row. Prosecutors used the photos to show how they believe the murder happened, that she was shot twice at close range. He's now retired. At the time, Detective Valerio went to the Fratta house after the shooting. He recalled to the jury Robert Fratta's demeanor after Farah Fratta had been dead only a couple of hours.

The defense pointed out that Fratta was a licensed police officer, employed by Missouri City. Prosecutors then pushed Valerio about Fratta's emotions that day. His hair was perfect, his eyes weren't red. That's something we noticed back in After 14 hours of interviews by investigators, Fratta emerged, eager to talk to the media. He didn't cry or appear sad to us.