This is a fascinating, involving, layer by layer unfolding of the story of the death of Nancy Dillard Lyon, a Dallas socialite who was a partner in Trammell Crow, one of the largest real estate companies in the country. Coming from the prominent Dillard family of Dallas, she lived in an exclusive area where supposedly nothing goes wrong, known as "The Bubble" (Park Cities). Murder or suicide? The documentary examines the elements of Nancy's textbook lifestyle that was overturned by an evil element at work. On one occasion when they went to a movie, Nancy's husband, Richard, got her what was supposed to be a coke. She drank it and it tasted awful. She looked down and there was a powdered substance floating on the top. She thought it was aspirin, but then later, she was up all night, vomiting. There was a book written about Nancy's death, "Poisoned Dreams", by A.W. Gray.

The story has a similarity to the Joan Robinson Hill murder case from Houston in 1969. Joan's husband, Dr. John Hill, was charged with his wife's murder. The deteriorating conditions of both women, Nancy and Joan, were a baffling mystery to people that knew them. Both were young, athletic, in good physical condition, then all of a sudden, in both cases, both women for no good reason, started wasting away. Additionally, both couples lived in the most affluent sections of town, both women died mysteriously, and in both cases allegedly, poison was used by the husband to murder the wife. The Hill case was the focus of the NBC-TV movie "Murder In Texas". 2 books were written about the Hill case, "Blood and Money" and "Prescription Murder".

Dallas: Arsenic & Old Money on DVD.

The story of the death of Nancy Dillard Lyon from Court TV Crime Library.

Dallas: Arsenic And Old Money (City Confidential), last updated 11/26/12