A Tarrant County jury convicted a 57-year-old man of capital murder in the stabbing death of his estranged wife, prosecutors said.
The Tarrant County District Attorney's office says Frederick Spears was automatically sentenced to life in prison without parole after being found guilty of killing 53-year-old Mary Spears at her Arlington home on Sept. 22, 2025.
Prosecutors said Spears had recently been arrested for threatening a family member with kitchen knives and was under an emergency protective order to stay away from his family. They said he later bought a knife and saw kit, waited outside Mary’s home and attacked her when she stepped into the backyard.
Mary’s son later found her unresponsive with multiple stab wounds.
Spears was later found behind an Arlington church, where police said he stabbed himself and attempted to stab a police K-9. Officers intervened and took him to a hospital before his arrest.
The case was prosecuted by Tarrant County Assistant District Attorneys Chase Payne and Allenna Bangs.
