Janet Overton was poisoned and murdered by the hands of her husband Richard Overton, Richard used various chemicals and toxins in trace amounts for an extended period of time to kill Janet. 

Janet Overton was a woman from Orange County, California. She also worked as a school board leader in her county. Overton was described as a visionary individual with great plans as a school board leader which sometimes became conflicting with the opposition. 

She had no idea of the upcoming tragedy as she prepared for a picture-perfect outing with her husband and son, the three had planned to go whale watching on January 24, 1988.

Let us learn more about Janet Overton and take a closer look at her murder case update and husband. 

Dateline: What Happened To Janet Overton? Murder Case Update

Janet Overton was poisoned to death by her husband back on January 24, 1988. 

Although Janet collapsed and died on January 24, 1988, it was later revealed she was being poisoned for an extended period of time according to Oxygen. 

Her husband used selenium to poison her Mascara for an extended period of time which was absorbed by her body and took cumulative effect. However, it is reported she could have taken Cyanide in her coffee the day she died. 

The mystery of her murder took a rather long time to solve as there was no apparent cause of her death was seen on her autopsy report. The officials took the case more seriously after an abnormality appeared on her autopsy report. 

After battling a mysterious illness for years, a popular school board official collapses in her Dana Point driveway. But when the coroner reclassifies her death as a homicide, investigators must unravel the cause behind her baffling demise.

— Oxygen (@oxygen) December 8, 2021

Later when the officials discovered Janet’s husband Richard had experienced poisoning from his ex-wife, they started to investigate the case. The contents of her stomach were reexamined and had a very strong odor of Cyanide. 

Then Richard was arrested by the authorities and charged with the murder but during his initial trial he suffered a heart attack and the trial was announced as a mistrial. Richard was later found guilty of first-degree murder in his second trial. 

He was sentenced to life in prison for his deeds, the case was indeed a tough one to crack as everything went as planned for Richard and no evidence of murder was found initially but later the truth came to the surface, and justice was served to the departed soul. 

Janet Overton Jealous Husband Richard Overton Explored

We cover the mysterious and complicated case of Janet Overton. Her sudden death in 1988 inspired a TV move staring our favorite, John Ritter. It was solved by superhuman mutations in smelling ability only a third of…

— It’s Always The Husband Podcast (@alwaysthehubs) June 7, 2020

Janet Overton’s husband Richard Overton kept track of everything including her affairs and ‘seductive gears.’ 

The details found in Richard’s journals, both on paper and on his computer could suggest he was jealous of his wife Janet. 

He was found guilty of Janet’s murder and served his life sentence at Folsom State Prison. 

Richard died at the age of 81 years old back in 2009 at the facility and his cause of death was said as advanced dementia and complications of diabetes according to Oxygen.