Black widow killer who persuaded her lesbian lover to shoot her millionaire husband when he cut off her $35,000 a month allowance STILL claims to be innocent

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A notorious black widow who conspired to kill her millionaire husband when he cut off her $35,000 a month allowance still insists she is 'not a murderer'.

Celeste Beard, 53, has spent 14 years behind bars in Texas after she was given a life sentence for manipulating her former lesbian lover into shooting her fourth husband, 70-year-old TV tycoon Steven Beard.

Mr Beard died in January 2000 from complications caused by a gunshot wound inflicted by Tracey Tarlton, 59, at the behest of his wife - who tells Channel 4's Women Who Kill Tarlton should have taken all of the blame in a shocking interview.  

Celeste Bear, 53, conspired to murder her husband with her lesbian lover Tracey Tarlton. She maintains her innocence and insists only her friend is to blame for his death 

She was convicted of her crimes in 2003 and is not up for parole until 2046 when she will be 83 - but there's no chance of release until she admits her guilt

Tracey Tarlton pleaded guilty to killing Steven Beard for her friend, his wife Celeste Beard, who manipulated her into the murder 

In the documentary, in which viewers hear from female criminals behind bars, Beard doesn't flinch as she blasts her former companion.

'I mean it’s just crazy, how does she walk around and function knowing her lies got me put in here for life?

'I just wish she would tell the truth, I wish she would have a conscience. That’s why I think she got breast cancer, I feel like that was her karma.'

Tracey spent 10 years in prison and is now spending the remaining 12 years of her sentence on parole. 

She made a deal with the prosecution in exchange for her damning testimony against Celeste.

But despite the evidence against her, including testimonies from her own daughters who recalled how she manipulated them, Beard continues to protest her innocence.

'Being alone in here, my children will never forgive me for not being the mother that I needed to be,' she says. 

'But I am not a murderer, and I know deep down inside that they know that I did not participate and I hope some day that they will forgive me.'  

Celeste and Steven met when she was still married - he gave her an allowance of $35,000 a month but threatened to put a stop to it after growing concerned about her spending

In 1993 Celeste moved to Austin, Texas with her two daughters where she began work at Austin Country Club 

Steven and Celeste met when she started working as a waitress at the Austin Country Club in Texas in 1993.

Already three-times married, Celeste, then 31, struck up a close friendship with the television tycoon who was worth around $12million. 

His friends believed that Celeste was only after his money, but the couple wed in 1995, with Celeste having left her then husband and moved her two daughters in with Steven following just six months of dating. 

Steven gave his new wife a $35,000 (£27,917) allowance each month.

'That was my stipend,' she explained.

'I could spend it however I wanted, I would have diamonds. I had over half a million dollars in jewellery. I had 26 fur coats.

'He didn’t care because he was enjoying his life. If he got mad at me about spending too much money, it didn’t last very long.'

But Steven ultimately became concerned about her spending habits and replaced the monthly payments with a $500,000 (£399,201) trust - which had disappeared within six months.

State prosecutor Gary Cobb said of Celeste's behaviour: 'She developed an insatiable thirst for more, this woman who didn’t have ten dollars to spend on anything, she was spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on nothing.

'She decided if he was going to put limits on it then he had to die and that was just insane.' 

Celeste (right) met Tracey (left) at Austin psychiatric hospital St David's, where they struck up a close friendship which led to an affair

Celeste met Tracey when they were both patients at St David's, a top psychiatric hospital in Austin, where they struck up a close friendship that eventually led to an affair - something which Celeste denies. 

Tracey says of their time together: 'In St David’s she was vivacious, funny, she was the belle of the ball. I was attracted to her energy. 

'One night she came into my room and she kissed me. As time progressed we became closer and closer and we entered into the beginnings of an affair.'

A jury convicted Celeste in March 2003 of capital murder and injury to an elderly person, carrying two life sentences 

But Celeste vehemently denies any relationship: 'It wasn’t like that. I felt sorry for her, she couldn’t even tie her own shoes she was so medicated.

Questioned about Tracey's version of events, the prisoner says: 'Well that’s not true. 

'I didn’t hang around her as much as she would like everyone to believe I did.'

Tracey fell for Celeste's lies about Steven's abusive behaviour.

She thought her friend was in danger and wanted to help her, and they attempted to kill him several times before Celeste took drastic action.

'She finally asked me to shoot him and I said “no what do you mean I am not going to shoot him”,' says Tracey. 

'I was shocked and resistant but it became more and more pressing for her and she became more and more threatening about it and I finally thought if he doesn’t die she’s going to die. So I said I would do it,' Tracey explains.

Celeste told Tracey that Steven had been abusing her and that she needed to kill him, and begged her friend to shoot him 

Celeste established a plan; a disguised  Tracey would enter the house and shoot Stephen as he slept, and Celeste would get rid of the shotgun cartridge.

Only Celeste failed to do so, and a police ballistics team traced the cartridge back to Tracey and she was arrested.

Steven had managed to make a 999 phone call after the shooting and was taken to hospital, but three months later he developed a blood clot as a result of the gunshot wound and died - the case then became a homicide. 

During Celeste's trial, audio recordings of phone calls with her own daughters were played in which she admitted to hiring someone to kill Tracey, but she insists they were edited.

'It was manipulated, it was altered, they didn’t even play the rest of the phone calls or the whole thing,' she says, then adds, when asked if it is her voice on the recording: 'Yes it is.'

Celeste will be eligible for parole in 2046, by which time she will be 83. But if she still refuses to admit her guilt it is likely she will spend the rest of her life behind bars.

Women Who Kill airs on Channel 4, Wednesday February 1st at 10pm.