Randy Roth was convicted of first-degree murder in April 1992 for drowning his fourth wife, Cynthia “Cindy” Baumgartner Roth, in Lake Sammamish, Washington, on July 23, 1991, to collect nearly $400,000 in life insurance. He was sentenced to 50 years in prison. Investigators concluded Cindy’s death was not the boating accident her husband described but the latest step in a years-long pattern of marrying women, insuring their lives, and profiting when they died.
What Happened at Lake Sammamish
On July 23, 1991, Randy took Cindy and her two sons, Tyson and Rylie Baumgartner, to Idylwood Park on Lake Sammamish. He and Cindy paddled out on an inflatable raft while the boys stayed on shore.1vLex. State v. Roth, 881 P.2d 268
Randy told police that Cindy developed a leg cramp in the water, that a passing boat’s wake flipped the raft on top of her, and that he heard her cough, waited about 30 seconds, righted the raft, and found her face-down. He said he tried mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, pulled her into the raft, and rowed back to shore, a trip he estimated at 20 minutes.1vLex. State v. Roth, 881 P.2d 268
What he didn’t do drew attention. He never signaled the other boats on the lake. He never waved down anyone on the beach as he approached. When he landed, he told the boys to fetch a lifeguard but “not to create a fuss.” Witnesses watched him calmly deflate the raft and gather the family’s beach gear while a lifeguard and paramedic tried to revive his wife.2Seattle Times. Roth Portrayed as Cold Killer
At Overlake Hospital Medical Center, where Cindy was pronounced dead, Randy had the boys carry bags of wet towels to the car without telling them what had happened. On the drive home, when ten-year-old Rylie began to cry, Randy said: “There’s no need to cry; it’s over with.” He then stopped at a video store and rented comedies for the boys, including Weekend at Bernie’s.3Seattle Times. Dead Woman’s Son Testifies Roth Told Him to Stop Crying
Why Investigators Didn’t Believe the Accident Story
King County detectives took possession of the actual inflatable raft and ran videotaped reenactments on the lake, trying to reproduce Randy’s version of events. Powerboats passing within ten yards could not tip the raft. An officer could only flip it by grabbing it from underneath and pulling with her full body weight. Investigators concluded Randy’s account was “implausible.”1vLex. State v. Roth, 881 P.2d 268
His account also shifted. He told Cindy’s son that he had performed CPR; he later told a detective he had not. He asked the medical examiner, Dr. David Roselle, not to perform an autopsy. One week after Cindy died, he invited a female co-worker to Reno using airline tickets he had originally bought for his wedding anniversary with Cindy.2Seattle Times. Roth Portrayed as Cold Killer
The financial picture was the strongest thread. Cindy and Randy had married on August 3, 1990, after a brief courtship.4Radford University. Roth, Randy – Serial Killer Case File During the marriage, Cindy changed the beneficiary on an existing policy from her two sons to Randy, and additional policies pushed the total coverage on her life to roughly $385,000.5Seattle Times. Randy Roth: Killer or Martyr
On October 10, 1991, the King County Prosecutor’s Office charged Randy with first-degree murder. Prosecutors later added first-degree theft, based on insurance proceeds from what they called a staged residential burglary, and second-degree theft, for a false Social Security benefits claim filed on behalf of his son after Cindy’s death. Bail was set at one million dollars.2Seattle Times. Roth Portrayed as Cold Killer
A Pattern of Dead and Endangered Women
Cindy was Randy’s fourth wife. As detectives went back through his life, three other cases came into focus.
Janis Miranda Roth, Second Wife
Janis Miranda Roth died on November 27, 1981, after falling 300 feet from Beacon Rock in Skamania County, Washington. Randy was the only witness. His account shifted: in some tellings he was walking ahead of her, in others she had stepped toward the cliff edge to take a photograph.6Seattle Times. Roth on Witness Stand Is Detached, Clinical A $100,000 life insurance policy on Janis had gone into effect just 20 days before her death, with Randy as sole beneficiary. The morning after she died, he contacted an insurance agent about collecting the proceeds. He did not notify her friends or relatives.1vLex. State v. Roth, 881 P.2d 268
A former friend, Tim Brocato, testified that about a month before Janis died, Randy had asked him if he could “ever kill his wife.” After the death, Randy told Brocato he didn’t want to share the details because he “would have to lie about it.”1vLex. State v. Roth, 881 P.2d 268 Janis’s death was ruled accidental at the time. Randy collected the insurance and continued collecting Social Security survivor benefits in the name of her daughter, Jalina Miranda, after he no longer had custody of the child.2Seattle Times. Roth Portrayed as Cold Killer
Donna Clift, Third Wife
Donna Clift married Randy in 1985 after a three-month courtship. Before the wedding he showed her a life insurance policy he wanted to take out on her, with specific payouts detailed for different types of death. She refused the new policy but changed the beneficiary on her existing small policy from her daughter to Randy. Weeks into the marriage, she found a wooden box in his closet holding Janis’s ashes.7Seattle Times. Third Wife, Former Girlfriend Testify
On a rafting trip down the Skykomish River, Clift became convinced Randy was intentionally steering their raft into rocks. The raft punctured. She testified she was screaming for help while he told her to shut up. She left him after three months, telling the court she “was scared of him.”1vLex. State v. Roth, 881 P.2d 268
Mary Jo Phillips, Girlfriend
Mary Jo Phillips began dating Randy in 1986 and moved in with him shortly after. He suggested she needed life insurance and proposed marriage. When Phillips told him she had cancer and was uninsurable, his behavior “abruptly turned to ice,” and the relationship ended. She later learned he had lied about how Janis died, telling her Janis was killed in a climbing accident on Mount Rainier.7Seattle Times. Third Wife, Former Girlfriend Testify
The Trial and Verdict
Randy Roth’s trial began on March 10, 1992, in King County Superior Court before Judge Frank Sullivan. King County Senior Deputy Prosecutor Marilyn Brenneman led the state’s case, calling roughly 150 witnesses over seven weeks and describing Randy as a “cold-hearted manipulator” who targeted single mothers.8Seattle Times. Randy Roth: Killer or Martyr
Cindy’s son Rylie, then ten, testified about his stepfather’s coldness on the day his mother died. He also described a punishment Randy had inflicted on his brother Tyson, forcing the boy to do calisthenics outside in winter while being sprayed with a garden hose.9Seattle Times. Dead Woman’s Son Testifies
Randy took the stand himself. Reporters and jurors described his testimony as precise, thoughtful, and clinical, delivered in a monotone with no visible emotion.6Seattle Times. Roth on Witness Stand Is Detached, Clinical Defense attorney George Cody argued the case was built on circumstantial evidence and “faulty circular logic,” and that the state had never proven Janis’s death was a murder in the first place.10Seattle Times. Roth’s Fate Rests With 12 of His Peers
The jury began deliberating on April 22, 1992, and returned guilty verdicts on all three counts: first-degree murder, first-degree theft, and second-degree theft.11CaseMine. State v. Roth, No. 31067-4-I The court imposed an exceptional sentence of 600 months, or 50 years, on the murder count.12Seattle Times. Randy Roth Loses Initial Appeal
Appeal, Insurance, and Cindy’s Sons
Randy appealed, raising seven challenges. His main argument was that the trial court should not have admitted evidence about Janis’s death and his history of insurance fraud. The Washington Court of Appeals disagreed, finding the two deaths “strikingly similar” and the earlier conduct “highly relevant” to motive, a common scheme, and rebutting the defense’s accident theory. The court affirmed the conviction and sentence on September 26, 1994.1vLex. State v. Roth, 881 P.2d 268
A Washington law barred Randy from collecting any of Cindy’s life insurance proceeds after his conviction. A civil fight followed over who would control the money. In April 1992, Cindy’s best friend Lori Baker, the legal guardian of Tyson and Rylie under Cindy’s will, sued in King County Superior Court to prevent Randy’s father Gordon Roth, who had been named trustee, from distributing funds to Randy’s son Greg or to the Roth family. Baker argued the money should go solely to raising Cindy’s boys.13Seattle Times. Suit Seeks to Keep Randy Roth’s Family From Insurance Claim By July 1992, the boys were living with Baker and attending Silver Lake Christian School.14Seattle Times. Cynthia Roth’s Young Sons Adjusting but Still Grieving
Randy Roth is serving his sentence at Stafford Creek Corrections Center in Washington.15Decider. A Rose for Her Grave: The Randy Roth True Story
The Book and the Lifetime Film
True-crime writer Ann Rule featured Cindy Roth’s murder in her 1993 book A Rose for Her Grave and Other True Cases, the first volume in her Crime Files series. Rule described Randy Roth as “a man who married, and murdered, for profit.”16Google Books. A Rose for Her Grave and Other True Cases
In 2023, Lifetime adapted the story as A Rose for Her Grave: The Randy Roth Story, with Laura Ramsey as Cindy, Colin Egglesfield as Randy, and Chrishell Stause as Lori Baker. The film centered on the friendship between Cindy and Lori and Lori’s efforts to protect Cindy’s sons after the murder.17MediaVillage. Lifetime’s A Rose for Her Grave