Becky Schwartz Was Living the Good Life With Her Wealthy Husband — Did She Kill Him?

In July 2017, Anton "Leo" Stragaj spoke with 48 Hours about a crime he said he did not commit. In an exclusive jailhouse interview with Peter Van Sant, Stragaj said he was framed. In May 2014, Dr. Steven Schwartz was murdered at his mansion in Tarpon Springs, Fla. His body was discovered by his second wife, Rebecca "Becky" Schwartz, who told a 911 operator her house had been broken into. Police arrived to find Dr. Schwartz had been strangled, shot, and stabbed.

Stragaj was a handyman working for the Schwartzes. "Your DNA was on the victim," said Van Sant. "You didn't call 911 ... you add all that up, and you've got yourself a murder suspect." Despite the overwhelming evidence, Stragaj insists Dr. Schwartz was dead when he got to the house. Dr. Schwartz's son, Carter, began suspecting his stepmother, Becky, might be responsible. Where is she now? Here's what we know.

In March 2025, almost 11 years after Dr. Schwartz was killed, Becky was found civilly liable for his death, per WFLA. A jury awarded his children $199,071,904.00. Attorney Wil Florin told the outlet his kids were finally getting some justice. Dr. Schwartz's children were represented by Florin and attorney Shaun Cummings, and they hope this will pave the way for a criminal case brought against their former stepmother.

In order to reach this verdict, Florin said the jurors had to feel pretty confident about their decision. Video from a deposition Becky gave in 2016 shows her pleading the Fifth when asked about the night her late husband was murdered. When Dr. Schwartz's son, Carter, spoke with Van Sant in 2017, he referenced the amount of money Becky spent on herself and her two biological sons. He claimed little was spent on him or his siblings.

Carter has always believed Becky allegedly killed his father for financial reasons."Even as a young child, I could see she wasn't there because she loved him," he recalled. Becky also had a history of financial troubles. After her 2-year-old son was killed by a drunk driver, she went to work for Mothers Against Drunk Driving. She was later convicted of embezzling more than $12,000 from the organization.

According to Carter, Becky was stealing from his father. He claimed she siphoned money out of Dr. Schwartz's accounts and used it to pay off credit cards she had in her name. When Carter told his father, Dr. Schwartz said he was going to take care of it immediately. That never happened. To make matters worse, Dr. Schwartz had already changed his will to make Becky the sole beneficiary of his estate.

In a strange turn of events, Dr. Schwartz's murder caused an event from his past to resurface. In November 1961, he was involved in a murder. Phillip Dyer was a high school friend of Dr. Schwartz's who recruited his old friend to drive him to and from a robbery. The incident occurred in Hobbs, N.M., and the intended victim was a local dentist named Dr. Victor Cook.

Dyer told Van Sant that the robbery might have something to do with a gambling debt, as Dr. Schwartz loved to gamble. The robbery went terribly wrong. Dr. Schwartz ended up shooting Cook right between the eyes. He ended up spending nine years in prison while Dyer was behind bars for one. After their sentences were commuted, they both went to college and tried to move on.