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The story of Verna Heath's "attempted murder" is an infamous plot that sent shockwaves across Texas in the early 1990s. Known as The Texas Cheerleader Murder Plot, this bizarre case revolves around Wanda Holloway, a mother obsessed with her daughter Shanna's success, planned to have Verna Heath killed.
However, Verna was never harmed as Wanda's plot was exposed when her ex-brother-in-law turned whistleblower, and Wanda was caught on tape. The case became a media sensation, revealing the dark side of obsessive parenting.
This case decades later is presented in this documentary of the same name. The Texas Cheerleader Murder Plot documentary premiered on Investigation Discovery (ID) on December 18, 2024, Wednesday at 9:00 PM ET/PT. The special will also stream on Max the following day, Thursday, December 19, 2024, for two hours.
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Five key facts about Verna Heath's attempted murder case
1) A rivalry spurred by cheerleading tryouts
The root of the plot lay in a rivalry between two teenage girls: Shanna Widner and Amber Heath. Shanna, Wanda Holloway's daughter, had not made the cheerleading squad twice. Wanda blames Amber Heath, Verna's daughter, for this failure. Convinced that eliminating Amber's mother would disrupt her support system and give Shanna an edge, Wanda chose to take matters into her own hands.
2) A chilling proposal to a family member
Wanda turned to her ex-brother-in-law, Terry Harper, as a last resort to carry out her plan. She reportedly asked Terry to find a hitman who would kill Verna Heath.
Feeling shocked and unwilling to go through with the crime, Terry reported about the same to the police. He agreed to help gather evidence against Wanda and recorded his conversations with her, which would eventually become crucial evidence against her.
3) Diamond earrings as a down payment for the murder
The most terrible part of the story in terms of payment was the method Wanda had taken to pay for the killings. In a parking lot meeting, Wanda produced a pair of diamond earrings as an advance payment. She reportedly intended to pay $5,000 to kill Amber and $2,500 to kill Verna.
4) Tapes that closed the case
The tapes taken by Terry Harper were devastating. According to coverage by the The New York Times, Terry asked Holloway on Jan. 28,
“You want her dead?”
To which Holloway replied:
“I don’t care what you do with her. You can keep her in Cuba for 15 years. I want her gone.”
She discussed logistics and payment with an unsettling lack of remorse. These tapes were the proof needed to ensure Wanda's arrest and eventual conviction for conspiracy to commit murder.
5) Consequences for Verna Heath and Amber Heath
Although Verna Heath and Amber Heath were unscathed, the incident stayed with them for a long time. They decided to keep away from public views and quietly went forward from there, trying to return to their lives. Verna had learned that some people were prepared to go to extreme extremes over ambition, leaving this haunting memory of a plot behind the family.
The actions of Wanda Holloway went beyond parental advocacy into dangerous and illegal territory. This story has been etched in public memory for decades as a bizarre and cautionary tale.
