‘Keep your wedding band off,’ Texas man told wife before strangling her. Jury finds him guilty

A 61-year-old man who authorities say verbally and physically abused women he had relationships with in Texas for more than 30 years was found guilty on Friday for the 2019 choking death of his wife in their North Richland Hills home.

A Tarrant County jury reached their verdict on a charge of murder against Victor Baxter, who according to court documents in 2019 told his wife, ““I am super pissed at you…there’s no love in me for you… keep your wedding band off.”

Hours after he was convicted on Friday, jurors sentenced Baxter to life in prison.

The body of Mary Baxter, 40, was found at 1:36 a.m. on March 11, 2019, in the family’s home in the 7700 block of Amy Lane in North Richland Hills.

Initially, North Richland Hills police said there were no signs of foul play and they were unsure how she had died. Then officials with the Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office ruled that Mary Baxter died from asphyxia by strangulation and her death was a homicide.

Just months after his wife’s death and while he was in custody for the homicide, Baxter sent a letter to his ex-wife, Patricia “Patty” McParland, scolding her for talking to law enforcement, telling her to lie and recant to his attorney and law enforcement, and threatening to release nude and sexual pictures of her if she did not do as he demanded. He was charged with obstruction/retaliation.

History of abuse

In September just before the murder trial, prosecutors filed documents against Baxter involving extraneous offenses that included crimes, wrongs and acts against other women.

The documents obtained by the Fort Worth Star-Telegram on Tuesday gave these accounts against Baxter:

Victor Baxter had previous romantic relationships with at least five other women before he married Mary Baxter.

He was mentally and physically abusive to each of the women and controlled their finances, they told authorities. At least three of the those women said they witnessed him to be abusive and controlling to his mother.

Baxter married one woman from 1984 until 2002. During the relationship, he was physically and mentally abusive, she said. One specific assault arose from that wife refusing to give him money. He responded by pushing her so hard that she fell, hit her head, and injured her jaw such that she couldn’t shut her mouth. Baxter was arrested for the assault.

Baxter had a hard time keeping a job throughout the relationship, and he had multiple affairs during the marriage, including an affair with another woman in which he got her pregnant and they had a child.

That daughter was physically and sexually assaulted by Baxter while she was in middle school, prosecutors said.

A third woman had been in an on-and-off relationship with Baxter since 2002. He was constantly controlling and physically assaulted her on many occasions, such that she lived in fear of him, she said. Baxter was also verbally abusive and he copied down her credit card number and Social Security number and would use them to make purchases.

That third woman did not report abuse to the police in fear that the abuse would escalate. She has also witnessed Baxter be abusive toward his mother, who lives in fear of him, she said. She also knows Baxter to use cocaine. He reached out to her after he was arrested for Mary’s murder. When she didn’t want to talk to him, she received multiple hang-up calls that she took as a threat from Baxter.

A fourth woman describes Baxter as an “abusive son of a (expletive).” He would drag her from the bed while she was sleeping and beat her, she said. He also stole $10,000 from her 401k. Baxter moved another woman into their home during their marriage and forced the fourth woman to have a sexual relationship with that woman while Baxter would watch, she said.

Patricia McParland was in a relationship with Baxter for many years and the two were married from approximately 2011-2017.

Baxter was physically, verbally and financially abusive throughout the relationship, controlling much of McParland’s life, she said, according to the documents. He controlled all the finances and took $5,000 to $10,000 from McParland’s 401k. When McParland was sick, he refused to pick her up from the hospital and while she was there, Baxter moved Mary Baxter into his bedroom.

Victor Baxter also had a history of violence toward Mary Baxter, prosecutors said. He threatened to kill her, he made repeated threats to kill himself, and he had a history of mental illness and emotional problems.

On or about March 13, 2018, Mary Baxter reported to North Richland Hills police that her husband was abusive to her and was forcing her to begin a massage business in their home and perform sexual acts on clients for money. This was after she went to the doctor on March 12, 2018, and a nurse questioned Mary about numerous bruises, cuts, and a swollen thumb.

It was revealed that Victor Baxter had been abusive to his wife regularly since Feb. 14, 2018. On March 15, 2018, Mary Baxter reached out to a friend, Annette Daigle, about staying with her to get away from her husband.

On May 13, 2018, Mary Baxter contacted Esmeralda Gonzalez to run her legacy page on Facebook once she was deceased. Later that day, she was committed to the hospital for self-harm.

Mary Baxter had a separate bank account that she was using to save money and leave her husband. Victor Baxter found the bank information and transferred all the money in the account to himself, according to court records.

On June 17, 2018, Baxter and his wife had a fight because Mary was “not completing wifely duties” and he took her wedding ring and put it in his safe, the court documents state.

He assaulted his wife and left bruises on her arm. Mary Baxter told Esmeralda Gonzalez about the assault at a St. Patrick’s Day party in March 2018 and said that Victor had gone overboard.

On or about Feb. 10, 2019, Victor Baxter again assaulted Mary Baxter, resulting in bruising on her left eyelid and on her right cheek.

Baxter made numerous phone searches for pictures of young nude boys and girls during February and March of 2019, prosecutors said.

On or about March 8, 2019, Victor Baxter once again assaulted Mary Baxter. After the assault, he told her to put ice on her injuries, cover them with makeup, and come up with a lie to tell people.

On March 10, 2019, the day before she died, Mary Baxter went to a pet store with a hat and sunglasses on to cover her two black eyes.

That same day, Victor Baxter and his wife adopted a cat, but hours later, he forced her to return the cat, causing her to be upset and emotional. When the store would not allow Mary to return the cat, Victor Baxter called the store yelling and threatening to call the police.

On the evening of March 10, 2019, Baxter was verbally and physically abusive to Mary Baxter and told her that he didn’t need her in his life. anymore, prosecutors said.

Mary Baxter was found dead the next morning.

Victor Baxter had a a history of taking life insurance policies out on people. His mother called Globe Life Insurance and represented herself to be Mary Baxter on March 28, 2019, to make a payment on the account and keep Mary’s policy active, according to court documents. Victor Baxter also called Globe Life and tried to alter the policy for his benefit.

Throughout 2020, while he was in the custody of the Tarrant County Jail, Baxter attempted to buy his daughter’s testimony by promising her money, a home and a better life for her and her son if she testified on his behalf, prosecutors said. He in fact did not have any money and filed for bankruptcy when released from jail on Feb. 28, 2021.

He remarried and his problems continued, according to court documents.

Baxter made his new wife pawn jewelry that belonged to her mother and was important to her so that he could have the money. He moved into his new wife’s home in Cresson, Texas, moving her son out and brought in his mother into the home in Parker County. He has cut his new wife off from her family, sold her car, and controlled her phone. Baxter also had numerous cameras installed on the home to keep watch.

Court records stated that Baxter, on or about May 17, 2022, went to a AT&T store and then a pawn shop in Tarrant County in an attempt to tamper with evidence prior to the hearing.

On or about July 25, Baxter sent his new wife to meet and assist a former inmate, Jessie Williams, in Fort Worth. The new wife later interacted with Fort Worth Police Department after a welfare check was called in by her children with concerns about her whereabouts. Police learned that Baxter’s new wife had been held against her will by Jessie Williams, who had been told by Baxter that he could have sex with her, according to the documents. The new wife was unaware of any agreement regarding sex and was under the impression she was going to take him a phone and discuss the Bible.

In late June to early July, Baxter sent David Allen “Rooster” Seymour to stay with new wife in Cresson, the documents say. Seymour is a documented member of the Aryan Brotherhood and convicted felon. Baxter gave Seymour permission to have sex with his new wife, but she declined, according to the documents.

According to court records, his ex-wife Patricia McParland was not surprised that Victor Baxter killed Mary Baxter and believed he would have killed her too if she had remained in the marriage.

Domestic Violence Hotline

If you’re experiencing abuse or partner violence and need help, you can call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233, or you can chat with an advocate on the website. SafeHaven of Tarrant County’s hotline number is 1-877-701-7233.