Frances Pritchard (Robin Riker) is the villainess of "Til Death Do Us Part", episode 3.03 of Crossing Jordan (airdate March 14, 2004). She was the wife of Carlton Pritchard, who was found dead after having apparently fallen off a stool while dusting. When medical examiner Dr. Garret Macy came to the scene, he talked with Frances and noticed how unaffected she appeared to be about her husband's death. When he brought it up, Frances revealed that Carlton was her fifth husband--and was now the fifth one to have died.
Believing Frances to have killed Carlton and her other husbands, Garret had M.E. Peter Winslow examine the crime scene and perform Carlton's autopsy, with the latter revealing high concentrations of mercury. After going with Garret to talk with Frances again, during which she discussed the deaths of her previous lovers, detective Annie Capra concurred with Garret that something was off about Frances and decided to open an investigation. When Frances learned about the investigation, she protested that she hadn't killed anyone and even agreed to take a polygraph, which she passed.
Frances was exposed as a killer, however, when the long lost corpse of her first husband, Andre Deutch, was found. Upon examination, Peter concluded that Andre (who Frances had claimed was killed in a freak accident in his workshop) had really been electrocuted while bathing, revealing that Frances had murdered Andre before placing his body in the workshop and shorting out a circuit to make his death appear accidental. Garret also learned from grief counselor Lily Lebowski that Frances likely didn't view her actions as a crime, explaining how she was able to pass the polygraph.
Garret went to Frances' house and talked to her on her front porch, where Garret accused her of wanting to have all the control in her relationships. In response, the evil Frances indirectly confessed to killing her husbands, stating that she was strongly against divorce and that she had killed her lovers to make them "understand" the vow they had taken by marrying her (while also citing that she'd believed Carlton would be different than her previous husbands). Frances then accepted the fact that she would be arrested for her crimes, but asked Garret if they could sit for a little while longer before going, with Garret agreeing to.
Trivia[]
- Robin Riker also appeared as the evil Catherine Madison on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and later appeared on Wizards of Waverly Place as the villainous Linda Greybeck, and in Psycho Granny as psychotic villainess Colleen Barton.
Quotes[]
- "Carlton should've been different. So neat...so precise. But he still left the cap off the damn toothpaste. (Garret: "That makes no sense to me.") Well, divorce makes no sense to me!" (Frances' confession)