Spectrum Ordered to Pay $7 Billion to Murder Victim's Family

A Jury in Texas has awarded the family of 83-year-old Betty Thomas more than $7 Billion in punitive damages following Thomas' stabbing death by a Spectrum Cable employee.

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A Dallas County jury found Spectrum Cable grossly negligent and ordered Spectrum to pay $7.37 billion to the family of Betty Thomas.

Cable Technician Murders Woman

According to FOX 4 KDFW Roy Holden Jr confessed to stabbing 83-year-old Betty Thomas and was convicted of her murder in 2019. Holden Jr was working for Spectrum Cable when he performed a service call at Thomas's residence. He returned a day later and stabbed her to death and took her wallet.

Police found him the following day using Thomas' credit card and still wearing the same clothes he wore during the murder.

Holden Jr. is serving a life sentence.

Cable Company Sued

Holden Jr. being sentenced to prison for life wasn't the end of this story as the family of Thomas decided to sue Spectrum Cable for failure to properly screen Holden before hiring him. Dallas County jurors awarded the family $375 million in compensatory damages. Charter Spectrum is responsible for 90% of that money.

In addition, jurors also found Charter Spectrum grossly negligent and ordered it to pay $7.37 billion to the family of Betty Thomas.

Cision PR Newswire reports that Charter Spectrum's employees have had a history of theft over several years that have gone uninvestigated or reported to police.

Hamilton Wingo trial lawyer Ray Khirallah says about Charter Spectrum,

"Charter Spectrum had too many chances to prevent this tragedy, and the company showed a complete disregard for the safety of its customers. Worse, the trial reveals how vulnerable Charter Spectrum customers remain today at the hands of a company that appears not to care about public safety. This verdict fairly reflects the extent of the evidence against Charter Spectrum and the dangerous nature of the company's serious misconduct and violations of the law."

The $7 billion judgement is expected to be reduced at some point.

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