- Black widow Margaret Kellis was charged with the manslaughter of her husband Dallas after he was shot dead in 2016
- Margaret claimed she couldn’t possibly be involved, having spent the morning at her local McDonald’s
- Investigators uncovered inconsistencies in Margaret’s story, forged cheques in her dresser and mountains of debt, leading them to uncover a flimsy alibi.
When Dallas Kellis’ first wife, Louise, passed away, the couple had notched up 41 years of married life.
So it caused quite a stir among family and friends when he remarried just two years later, aged 71.
Dallas’ new bride raised eyebrows too. Unlike Dallas, who was considered outgoing and fit for his age, Margaret, then 76, relied on an electric wheelchair, and didn’t seem at all friendly.
She’d been married three times before, and had outlived all her husbands.
Still, having first dated in their 20s, perhaps the spark had been rekindled.
‘They didn’t date very long before they got married. Because it’s like, you’re older, why wait? You never know when it’s going to be your last day,’ Margaret’s granddaughter Candace said, on the documentary Snapped. They got married in February 2011 and lived in a quiet neighbourhood.
One morning in July 2016, Margaret – known to her friends as Frankie – drove to McDonald’s to buy breakfast, a ham toastie, taking it home to eat before heading out for the day.
When she returned though, Margaret was faced with the unthinkable – Dallas was in bed and unresponsive.
Calling emergency services, a distraught Margaret went into a detailed explanation of her trip to Macca’s before saying, in a quiet voice, ‘I think my husband’s dead.’
‘There’s blood on his pillow’
The operator assured her an ambulance was on the way, and told Margaret to start doing CPR.
Sobbing, Margaret replied that it wasn’t possible because she was disabled.
‘There’s blood on his pillow,’ she cried, as she tried to give Dallas chest compressions on the bed.
The operator encouraged Margaret to stay calm and continue CPR. When the ambos arrived, they declared Dallas dead – but were shocked to discover he had two gunshot wounds, one in the head and one in the abdomen. They requested police back-up. Why hadn’t Margaret mentioned it to the operator?
Between sobs, Margaret told the officers she’d been out at Macca’s and that there must have been a robbery. Her husband’s wallet and watch were missing, she told them.
But the police saw no sign of a break-in, and nothing out of place. And judging by the position Dallas’ body was in, it was clear CPR hadn’t been performed.
Police suspected he’d been shot in his sleep.
And when they’d conducted a gunshot residue test on Margaret that day, she began to wipe her hands with a cloth.
The test was inconclusive, but officers noted the cloth smelled strongly of bleach. It raised red flags. Had she tried to destroy crucial evidence?
CCTV footage from Macca’s showed Margaret in the drive-through the morning of Dallas’ death, confirming her alibi.
In the weeks that followed, investigations into the shocking murder continued.
While Margaret told the police the couple had only one gun, an old rifle, family members claimed she was known to carry a handgun. No gun was ever found during the investigation.
‘Had he really known the woman he chose to spend the rest of his life with?’
Searching the couple’s home, police did find Dallas’ missing wallet, along with fraudulent cheques, in Margaret’s dresser.
‘There were several cheques made out to Dallas, and the signature on it said Dallas, but it was quite apparent the signature wasn’t Dallas,’ officer Eric Galloway explained.
Within days, Dallas’ sister approached the police claiming that on the day of his death Margaret had rung her at 7.06am to tell her the shocking news. But Margaret’s call to emergency services hadn’t been until 7.21am – 15 minutes after she’d rung her sister-in-law.
Police also learned Dallas had racked up about $61,000 in debt since marrying Margaret. Worse, after running a background check on the seemingly sweet gran, they discovered she had prior charges for prescription fraud and shoplifting.
Even more shocking, she’d been released from prison on drug charges just months before she reunited with Dallas.
Had he really known the woman he chose to spend the rest of his life with?
‘I believe Frankie was spending Dallas’ money, without him knowing at first. Dallas found out and confronted Frankie before [he was killed]. To come up with a story to tell law enforcement, she did go to McDonald’s,’ Pinehurst Police Detective Anthony Guerra told Snapped.
In October 2016, Margaret Kellis was charged with first-degree murder and felony forgery and uttering, and detained.
The following July, Kellis appeared in Moore County Superior Court in her wheelchair, as her lawyer Arthur Donadio tried to have her bail reduced from $1.5 million to $150,000.
Her request for a bail reduction was denied.
In June 2019, with the case against Margaret Kellis considered to be mostly circumstantial, prosecutors offered her a plea deal. Even without a weapon, the evidence was stacked against her.
Margaret Kellis, then 81, pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter and was sentenced to 84 months in prison. Released from prison in October 2023, Margaret Kellis’ current whereabouts are unknown.
Dallas Leon Kellis was survived by his brother Max and two sisters, Larue and Ruby, and laid to rest near his parents.
