Sandra Bridewell biography

In February 1975, the situation had grown so dire that Stegall tried to kill himself. As the story goes, Sandra found him in a closet with a gun pointed to his head, and talked him out of it. Regardless of what truly occurred, what's for certain is that it was only a short-term fix: A few weeks after his first suicide attempt, Stegall was discovered lying in his bed with both wrists slashed and a gunshot head wound—later determined to be from a .22 caliber gun.

Second Husband's Death

Sandra quickly moved to straighten out her financial situation. She collected the insurance on her husband's life and sold his practice, and then began dating other wealthy men. A little more than three years after Stegall's death, she was exchanging wedding vows again, this time with Bobby Bridewell, a well-known Dallas developer.

Bridewell adopted Sandra's three girls and the family made their home in the upscale Dallas neighborhood of Highland Park. But in 1980, life took a tragic turn when Bobby Bridewell was diagnosed with cancer. The grieving Sandra motored on with her life. While her husband fought his illness, she had the couple's entire home remodeled, forcing the ailing Bridewell to move in with a friend. He never returned to his house. Two years after the diagnosis, Bridewell died.

Friend's Death

Sandra seemed to have a difficult time dealing with Bobby's death, finding support and hope in the friendship of her late husband's oncologist, Dr. John Bagwell, and his wife, Betsy. While the couple was initially happy to reach out to their friend, Sandra became a persistent visitor in the Bagwell household, going so far as to show up unannounced in New Mexico, where the doctor and his wife were vacationing. The couple received frequent requests for child care from Sandra, and lots of phone calls.

The Bagwells soon found themselves trying to break all ties with Sandra. Sandra, however, wasn't used to not getting what she wanted. In early June 1982, she called Betsy Bagwell and asked if Betsy could take her to the airport, claiming that her vehicle wouldn't start. Betsy agreed to help Sandra out and took her to the airport, and then to a church lot where Sandra's car was parked so that Sandra could get her license, which she claimed she had forgotten in her vehicle.

The exact details of the following incident remain a mystery. What is known is that on June 16, 1982, police discovered the 40-year-old Betsy Bagwell dead in her Mercedes in the airport parking lot. She'd been shot in the head, and her death was later ruled a suicide. The weapon was a stolen .22 caliber pistol, which Bagwell was found holding in her right hand.

Sandra was the last person to see Bagwell alive. Questions surfaced about Bagwell's death, as a lack of evidence had been found—she hadn't left a suicide note, and had been living a happy life prior to the event. John Bagwell hired a private investigator to look into his wife's death. Police, however, had closed the case and refused to reopen it.

Third Marriage

As always, Sandra moved on with her life, which found her wooing another man into her clutches in June 1984. Alan Rehrig was a good-looking 29-year-old who had just moved to Dallas to take work at a mortgage company.