It was May 22, 1992, in Huntsville, Alabama. A Friday evening that should have been quiet ended with a 911 call that still echoes through the Southern justice system. Betty Wilson came home from an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting and found her husband, Dr. Jack Wilson, in a pool of blood. He’d been beaten with a baseball bat and stabbed multiple times.
Everyone in town knew Dr. Wilson. He was a respected ophthalmologist. Betty, his wife of 14 years, was social, wealthy, and—as the prosecution later hammered home—had a messy personal life. But the real twist came when the police arrested not just Betty, but her identical twin sister, Peggy Lowe.
The case against Betty Wilson and Peggy Lowe is one of the strangest "tale of two trials" in American history. Same evidence. Same star witness. Two completely different results.
The Conman and the "Hit"
The state’s case rested almost entirely on a man named James White. Honestly, he wasn't exactly a pillar of the community. White was a handyman and a carpenter who had worked at the school where Peggy taught first grade. He was also an alcoholic with a history of mental instability.
White claimed the twins hired him to kill Jack for $5,000. He told a wild story about meeting them at dams, receiving money hidden in a library book titled The Sleeping Beauty and the Firebird, and being driven to the crime scene by Betty herself.
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The motive? Money. Jack Wilson was worth about $6.3 million. The prosecution painted Betty as a woman who hated her husband and wanted his estate to fund her lifestyle and her affairs. But here is where it gets weird. James White confessed to the murder. He took a plea deal to avoid the electric chair, agreeing to testify against both sisters.
Why Betty Went Down
Betty’s trial happened first. It was a circus. The prosecution didn't just focus on the murder; they put her entire character on trial. They brought up her alcoholism. They brought up her infidelity. Most controversially, they focused on her affair with a Black man, which many observers—including filmmaker Jean Adam Jr. in his documentary Finding Betty—argue was a deliberate move to prejudice a 1990s Alabama jury.
The jury heard White’s testimony and they believed him. Or maybe they just didn't like Betty. Without a single piece of physical evidence linking her to the actual killing—no blood in her BMW, no fingerprints on the bat—she was convicted of capital murder.
She was sentenced to life without parole.
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The Mystery of Peggy’s Acquittal
A few months later, it was Peggy’s turn. On paper, it should have been an open-and-shut case if Betty was already guilty. But Peggy was the "good twin." She was a soft-spoken schoolteacher. Her defense team was also better prepared.
They did something Betty’s lawyers hadn't: they brought in forensic experts who dismantled James White's story.
White claimed he beat Jack Wilson in a specific way, but the blood spatter and the lack of hair on the baseball bat didn't match his story. The defense argued that White was a lone wolf, a "deranged" man who killed Jack on his own and then pointed the finger at the sisters to save his own skin.
The result? Peggy Lowe was found not guilty. She walked out of the courtroom a free woman while her identical mirror image sat in a prison cell.
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What the Records Actually Show
If you dig into the legal appeals, like the 1995 Wilson v. State decision, you see the cracks. Years after the trials, James White actually recanted his testimony. He admitted he lied about the sisters' involvement. Then, because he’s James White, he recanted the recantation.
There's also the "lost" psychological report. It turns out the state had a report from a psychologist who evaluated White before the trials. This report suggested White didn't leave the Wilson house until a time that would have made it impossible for Betty to have picked him up, given she was seen by multiple witnesses at an AA meeting and a tanning salon. This report wasn't given to Betty’s defense team at the time.
Where Things Stand in 2026
Betty Wilson is still in prison. She’s been there for over 30 years. Peggy Lowe has remained mostly out of the spotlight, though she has consistently maintained her sister’s innocence.
The case remains a haunting example of how much "character" matters in a courtroom. If the jury likes you, you go home. If they don't, you stay. The physical evidence against both women was virtually non-existent, yet their lives took completely opposite paths based on the same set of allegations.
Key Takeaways from the Wilson-Lowe Case
- The Power of Character: Betty’s lifestyle was used to bridge the gap where physical evidence was missing.
- Witness Credibility: The entire case hinged on a man who admitted to the killing and had every reason to lie for a lighter sentence.
- The "Twin" Variable: This case is often studied in law schools because it highlights how different defense strategies and jury perceptions can lead to divergent outcomes for the same crime.
If you're looking into this case for the first time, the best thing to do is look at the forensic discrepancies. The mismatch between James White's confession and the actual crime scene photos is the most compelling evidence that the "murder-for-hire" plot might have been a fiction created to secure a plea deal.
To get a full picture of the latest efforts to reopen the case, you should watch the documentary Finding Betty or read Jim Schutze's book By Two and Two. These sources offer a more granular look at the witnesses who were never called to the stand in 1992.