Robert Edelman, the former Dallas real estate developer convicted in 1988 of conspiring to have his estranged wife murdered, appears to still be alive. The most recent public records place him in Dallas in 2014, when a federal bankruptcy court ruled against him in a multimillion-dollar fraud case. No public report of his death has surfaced since.
What He Was Convicted Of
In early March 1988, a federal jury in the Northern District of Texas found Edelman guilty on two counts of conspiracy to commit murder for hire. The target was his wife, Linda Edelman, who had filed for divorce in October 1985 during what neighbors and court observers described as a bitter custody fight.1D Magazine. The Edelman File
The plot came apart through an FBI sting. A private investigator Edelman had hired, Joseph James Young, tried to recruit a killer and instead ended up dealing with an undercover agent. Linda Edelman’s divorce attorney helped stage her disappearance so Robert would believe the murder had been carried out, and agents moved in after Young attempted to pay for the job.2Justia. United States v. Robert Marc Edelman, 873 F.2d 7913Super Lawyers. Everyone Likes Ike
Judge Barefoot Sanders sentenced Edelman to five years and a $50,000 fine on each count, running consecutively, for a total of ten years and $100,000.2Justia. United States v. Robert Marc Edelman, 873 F.2d 791 After Thanksgiving 1988, he also pleaded guilty to state conspiracy charges, received a nine-year sentence running concurrently with the federal term, and relinquished all parental claims to his two children.4D Magazine. Down and Out in Federal Prison
Release and Return to Dallas
Edelman was incarcerated at the federal penitentiary in Bastrop, Texas, and served about five years of the ten-year sentence. By November 1994 he was back in Dallas, living with his second wife, Diana Key, whom he had married in a proxy ceremony in 1988 while still in custody, and was reportedly looking at returning to real estate development.5D Magazine. Lovers and Other Suspects4D Magazine. Down and Out in Federal Prison
The 2013 Bankruptcy and 2014 Fraud Ruling
Edelman did return to real estate, and it produced fresh legal trouble that also produced the most recent confirmation that he is alive. He became involved with Drexel Highlander Limited Partnership, a Dallas development. In early 2011, the partnership and its investors sued him in state court. The night before a scheduled pretrial conference, he filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on March 4, 2013, in the Northern District of Texas, moving the fight into bankruptcy court.6U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Northern District of Texas. Memorandum Opinion, Case No. 13-31182-BJH
After a two-day trial in March 2014, the bankruptcy court ruled against the Edelmans on May 6, 2014, and awarded Drexel Highlander approximately $4.5 million in damages. The court held the debt nondischargeable because it stemmed from fraudulent conduct, finding that Robert and Diana Edelman had lived rent-free in a luxury condominium for 56 months, secured company loans that were diverted for personal expenses, and collected roughly $1.34 million in compensation and benefits from partnership funds. Diana Edelman was found to have received commissions on unit sales despite not being a licensed real estate agent or an authorized salesperson.7D Magazine. Robert Edelman’s Very Bad Day in Bankruptcy Court6U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Northern District of Texas. Memorandum Opinion, Case No. 13-31182-BJH
That ruling is the last public record of Edelman in the available file. He was alive, in Dallas, and actively litigating. Nothing in the record indicates he has died since.
Why People Ask
The Edelman case drew heavy media attention in Dallas and beyond, and it keeps circulating through books and television. Dallas journalist Jim Schutze wrote My Husband’s Trying to Kill Me!: A True Story of Money, Marriage and Murderous Intent, published by HarperCollins in October 1992.8Publishers Weekly. My Husband’s Trying to Kill Me The story was also adapted into a television movie titled Dead Before Dawn.3Super Lawyers. Everyone Likes Ike Viewers and readers who encounter the case for the first time often want to know what happened to the man at the center of it. Based on the public record, he served his federal time, went home to Dallas, went back into real estate, and was in bankruptcy court in 2014.