Beth Ellen Frost Dallas medical examiner shot dead by husband in murder suicide after filing for divorce amid financial difficulties.
A former college basketball player fatally shot his estranged wife, a Dallas medical examiner, at her place of work then turned the gun on himself in what authorities say was a murder-suicide.
James Edward Frost II, 51, who played for the University of Missouri in the 1990s, and Beth Ellen Frost, 46, were found dead at the Dallas Medical Examiner’s Office around 4:45 p.m. Tuesday, the Dallas Morning News reported.
The former NCAA basketball player is believed to have shot his wife and another employee at the office before killing himself, Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins told the paper.
The second victim was injured but the person’s identity and condition were not immediately released.
According to court records cited by the paper, the couple had been married since July 2001 and had two children — a 9-year-old girl and a 5-year-old boy.
Dr Frost was supporting husband amid business failings
Beth filed for divorce on May 2, according to the records, which say the marriage had become ‘insupportable because of discord or conflict of personalities between Beth and Jed that destroys the legitimate ends of the marriage relationship and prevents any reasonable expectation of reconciliation.’
Beth didn’t initially request a protective order or custody of the kids, but a child custody evaluation was ordered in early October, court records reveal.
She reportedly believed James would enter into agreements to give both access to their children and their estate.
Leading up to the divorce, Dr Frost was paying most of the bills and living expenses while James Frost was embittered in financial difficulties after starting a luxury leather bags company. The husband was also embroiled in a lawsuit with his own father who claimed his son owing him over $300K, that he never paid back.
Beth, who received her osteopathic medical degree from Kansas City University in 2012, had been with the Dallas office as a medical examiner since June 2020, according to her LinkedIn profile. She was the office’s forensic pathology fellow from 2016 to 2017.
James, who went by ‘Jed,’ became a teacher and basketball coach at Odessa and Park Hill South high schools near Kansas City — and later coached at Iowa State University and the University of Hawaii, according to the report.
After stints as an insurance and financial representative, he reportedly launched a luxury leather bag business called FROST, with items ranging in price from $5,000 to $75,000, the Dallas Morning News reported.
Immersed in financial liabilities and lawsuits
The couple by now were being sued by Jed’s father, James Frost Sr., who had filed a lawsuit against them in August alleging that they failed to pay back $228,916 he had loaned them.
The elder Frost claimed in the lawsuit that he loaned them the money to buy property, including a house in 2006 and another in 2010.
Frost Sr. said they had repaid just under $75,000 and were ‘fully aware’ that he expected to be repaid in full — but that they refused to fork over the balance when he demanded it.
In a recent court filing, Beth denied Frost Sr.’s allegations and requested that the suit be consolidated into their divorce case, the Morning News reported.
Jed was also being sued by State Farm Federal Credit Union over a loan of around $50,000, while Bank of America were asking him to repay $12,000.
Jed reportedly denied owing the money.
On the FROST website, Jed says he was inspired to start the bag company after giving a gift to his wife.
‘This gift was so remarkable because it carried with it my story, our story. I knew instantly that this was a concept I had to share with the world,’ he says on the site.
