A Time To Kill is examining the complex murder of Anita Fox, who was murdered in Colleyville, Texas, in 2014, by Bernard “Little Joe” Gorman and his father, Bernard “Big Joe” Gorman.
On September 23, 2014, the 69-year-old grandmother was murdered in a well-to-do house in a quiet leafy suburb where she worked as a cleaner. She had been stabbed to death. The cops initially assumed the crime was a home invasion, and Fox was just unfortunate to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
However, after further investigation, the police soon learned that Fox had been the intended target and was the victim of a shocking life insurance scam that involved members of her own family and led directly to her murder.
Before her death, Fox had willingly allowed her daughter and son-law, Virginia and Mark Buckland, to take out life insurance policies under her name. The Buckland’s had already amassed policies worth $4 million on Fox when the grandmother blocked them from creating another worth $1 million.
Incredibly, rather than close the policy, the Buckland’s, on the advice of insurance agent Charles Mercier, had it transferred to Bernard “Big Joe” Gorman and his brother, Pat Gorman. Despite being strangers to Fox and the Buckland couple, the Gormans stood to inherit $1 million on the death of Anita Fox.
The Gorman family were members of the Irish traveling community, and Mercier was known to trade almost exclusively in insurance policies to this nomadic Irish community. Fox was also descended from an English traveling family.
Big Joe Gorman and his son, Little Joe Gorman, decided they didn’t want to wait until Fox died of natural causes, so they traveled to Colleyville, Texas, where they stalked their victim before murdering her as she cleaned her employer’s home.
Watch the Latest on our YouTube ChannelThe elder Gorman died of natural causes before he could be arrested, but his son was charged with murder. He eventually pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit murder and received a 14-year prison sentence.
Virginia and Mark Buckland accused of being indirectly involved in Anita Fox’s murder
Anita Fox’s son, Al Fox, accused his sister, Virginia Buckland, and her husband, Mark Buckland, of being complicit in the murder of his mother. He filed a legal motion alleging they were “negligently responsible” for the death, which prevented them from claiming any of the insurance money.
The Buckland’s continued to argue that they deserved a share of the cash; however, in July 2019, they and Mercier pleaded guilty to making a false statement and, in May 2021, agreed to forfeit any insurance claims. They may still face a prison sentence.
More from A Time To Kill
Follow the links to read about more savage murders profiled on A Time To Kill.
Erskine Felix believed Menachem Stark owed him money, so he orchestrated a kidnapping with the help of his cousin, Kendel Felix, in the hope of extorting the money. However, it went badly wrong when Stark was killed during the kidnapping.
Tina Faelz was just 14-years-old when she was stabbed a shocking 44 times by fellow high schooler Steven Carlson in a Californian field in 1984. It took nearly two decades before DNA evidence finally put Carlson behind bars.
A Time To Kill airs at 10/9c on Investigation Discovery.