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Texas oil tycoon Cullen Davis, acquitted in shootings, dies aged 93
Texas oil tycoon Cullen Davis, acquitted in the 1977 murder trial over the deaths of his stepdaughter and another man, has died aged 93. The case drew national attention because of the family’s wealth, the shootings at Davis’s mansion and the dramatic allegations against him.
In August 1976, 12-year-old Andrea Wilborn and Stan Farr, the boyfriend of Davis’s former wife Priscilla, were killed; Priscilla and another witness survived being shot. Davis’s first trial ended in a mistrial, and a jury acquitted him at the second. He was later arrested over an alleged plot to kill 15 people, but was not imprisoned; he maintained his innocence. His family said he died at home on 6 November 2026.
In short
- Texas oil tycoon Cullen Davis has died aged 93.
- He was acquitted in the 1977 murder trial.
- A later alleged murder plot also led to no prison sentence.
Explained simply
Cullen Davis was a wealthy oil businessman in Texas, where disputes over money and family life drew wide attention. In 1976, shootings at his mansion killed his 12-year-old stepdaughter, Andrea Wilborn, and Stan Farr, who was living with Davis’s ex-wife, Priscilla.
Davis was tried twice over the killings: the first trial ended without a verdict, and a jury acquitted him at the second. Priscilla and another witness survived the shootings, but accounts of what happened that night conflicted. The case became a national story because it combined a prominent family, a wealthy defendant and a violent crime.
Davis was later arrested over an alleged plot to arrange a murder, but was not imprisoned. His oil business went bankrupt in the 1980s, during a sharp downturn in the oil industry.
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Originally published by Daily Mail as “Colorful Texas oil tycoon who once stood trial for murdering his stepdaughter and whose wife had live-in lover dies aged 93”.