ROBIN LEE ROW | The Only Woman on Idaho's Death Row–33 Years: Convicted of Murdering Husband and Two Children for Insurance Payout, Possibly Killed Three More of Her Children | Autographed Letter Signed

Robin Lee Row. Autographed Letter, Signed. Handwritten, Commercial #10 (4.125 × 9.5 envelope). Boise, ID. May 16, 2025. Content unknown. SEALED.

Burning Down the House: The Robin Lee Row Case

Robin Lee Row, born on September 12, 1957, is an inmate on death row in Idaho. She was convicted of the murders of her husband and two children. The murders occurred on February 10, 1992, when a fire erupted on the first floor of the southwest Boise apartment where her husband, Randy Row, and their two children, Joshua and Tabitha, were residing. Robin Row was separated from her husband at the time. When fire crews arrived at the scene, they discovered three bodies, later identified as her husband Randy, age 34, their son Joshua, age 10, and their daughter Tabitha, age 8. All three victims died due to carbon monoxide poisoning.

Fire investigators concluded that a liquid accelerant was used to start the fire. Further investigation revealed that the smoke alarm in the apartment had been turned off. At the time of the fire, Robin Row was staying with friends. Investigators quickly identified her as the main suspect. Gary Raney, who is currently the Ada County Sheriff, served as the chief investigator on the case. As the investigation progressed, he noted numerous "red flags" that pointed to Robin Row as the primary suspect.

The investigation also uncovered details about previous incidents involving the deaths of Row's other children. According to one source, in 1980, while living in a cabin in California with her son Keith, a fire occurred. This fire was reportedly caused by a portable heater that ignited his blankets, resulting in the boy's death. Following Keith's death, Row collected $28,000 from a life insurance policy. Some evidence in the 1980 case, which was officially ruled accidental, suggested it was possible that Row had locked the six-year-old boy in a bedroom with an electric heater positioned against the bed. Another source mentions that it is possible Row suffocated her 15-month-old daughter, Kristina, in 1976, claiming the baby died from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). A separate source also mentions that another son, Keith, died in a 1980 California house fire ruled accidental, and a fourth child died of sudden infant death syndrome.

Arrest and Conviction
During the investigation into the 1992 fire, detectives discovered that Robin Row had taken out life insurance policies on her husband and children that totaled over a quarter of a million dollars. She had purchased $276,000 in life insurance on her family in the year preceding the fire. The motive for the murders was determined to be collecting life insurance money from these policies. Additionally, investigators found that Row was embezzling money from the YMCA where she was employed.

Robin Row was arrested on February 13, 1992, just three days after the fire. She was charged with three counts of first-degree murder. Her trial commenced in 1993. In March 1993, she was found guilty on each of the three counts. On December 16, 1993, Judge Alan Schwartzman sentenced her to death. Judge Schwartzman, in imposing his first death sentence, stated that Row was a pathological liar. He noted that her purchase of significant life insurance on her family and her admission of having an affair with another man contradicted her explanation for the fire. Row eventually admitted to setting the 1992 fire but claimed she only intended to damage the house so she and the children could escape from Randy, whom she accused of abusing them. Judge Schwartzman characterized the slayings as "the final betrayal of motherhood" and "a descent into the blackened heart of darkness."

Appeals and Current Status
Robin Row has pursued appeals against her conviction and sentence. In 2011, her appeal was dismissed by U.S. District Court Judge B. Lynn Winmill. The Idaho Supreme Court upheld her conviction and death sentence in a decision on March 18 and subsequently refused to reconsider the decision on May 20. This exhausted her state appeal opportunities. However, her case remains eligible to be heard by a federal district judge, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, and the U.S. Supreme Court. At one point, a June 18 execution was ordered for Robin Lee Row following the Idaho Supreme Court's decision, but her public defender planned to immediately go to federal court to void the death warrant and stay the execution.

As of today, Robin Lee Row remains on death row in Idaho. She is the only woman on Idaho's death row. She is housed at the Pocatello Women's Correctional Center (PWCC) in Pocatello, making her the sole death row inmate at that facility. She has been incarcerated in the state women's prison in Pocatello since December 1993.

• VIDEO: Redial: Longest woman on death row | https://youtu.be/xWXbjdFE7vc

• VIDEO: WOMEN ON DEATH ROW: ROBIN LEE ROW - IDAHO U.S.A. | https://youtu.be/35Bpsx_7cBM

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