The Carrollton Plot: Dateline: The Carrollton Plot - A complete investigation overview of the Nancy Howard case, explored

NBC’s Dateline episode, The Carrollton Plot, recounts the terrifying events surrounding the attempted murder of Nancy Howard. In August 2012, Nancy was shot on the head by an unknown man, right outside her home in Carrollton, Texas.

Nancy miraculously survived the attack but got devastating news during her recovery. The police told her that it was her husband, John Franklin Howard, also known as Frank, behind the attack. He had hired a man named Dustin Hiroms to kill her.

Frank was later arrested by the police on August 26, 2012, and was found guilty of capital murder. He was then sentenced to life imprisonment in 2014, with a chance for parole after serving 30 years of his prison sentence.

Here’s a complete investigation overview of Nancy Howard’s case depicted in Dateline: The Carrollton Plot.

Dateline: The Carrollton Plot - A complete investigation overview of the Nancy Howard case

Nancy Howard in Dateline: The Carrollton Plot | Image via NBC

1) Nancy Howard was attacked on August 18, 2012

As per Dateline, Nancy was grabbed by the neck by an unknown man on August 12, 2012. He demanded that she give him her handbag. As she gave him his handbag, Nancy was shot on the head by the attacker, who then ran away.

Nancy somehow went inside her home and called 911 while bleeding. After she was taken to the hospital, it was found that the bullet was lodged in her right lung, and she also lost her left eye.

2) Dustin Hiroms was arrested on August 25, 2012

As per Nancy’s description of her killer, the police arrested a young man named Dustin Hiroms. He was revealed to be the one who shot her and was hired by her husband, Frank. As per the Van police department, Hiroms was paid $30,000 to kill Nancy.

However, after his arrest, Hiroms told the police that he received around $80,000 for killing Nancy.

3) The plan to kill Nancy had been going on for three years

As per Dateline, the investigators learned that Frank had been trying to get Nancy killed since 2009. As per KLTV, Hiroms’ stepfather, Billie Johnson, contacted the police and told them that he had been contacted by Frank Howard three years before the attack happened.

Johnson further revealed that he was contacted multiple times and had been sent money to plot to kill Nancy Howard. Furthermore, the police also retrieved photos and text messages from Frank’s phone that revealed that he had been having an affair for three years.

4) The reason behind the murder plot

Nancy has no idea why her husband would try to kill her. However, she told the BBC that the main reason would be that he thought she would never divorce him, which led to him taking this drastic turn and trying to kill her. She said:

"I had made that vow to the Lord that I was not going to divorce him."

5) Frank Howard’s arrest and trial

According to Dateline, Howard was arrested on August 26, 2012, for hiring a hitman to kill his wife. In August 2014, Frank’s trial took place. He was found guilty by the jury after just two hours of deliberation.

Later, Howard was sentenced to life imprisonment with a chance for parole after 30 years of serving his sentence.