{{Short description|American murderer on death row}} {{BLP sources|date=March 2013}} {{Use American English|date=December 2025}} {{Use mdy dates|date=December 2025}} {{Infobox criminal | name = Robin Lee Row | image = | image_size = | alt = | caption = | birth_name = | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1957|9|12}} | birth_place = | death_date = | death_place = | cause = | resting_place = | nationality = | alias = | allegiance = | motive = Insurance fraud | charge = | conviction = First degree murder (3 counts)<br>Aggravated arson | conviction_penalty = Death | conviction_status = On appeal | occupation = YMCA employee | spouse = Randy Row (deceased) | parents = | children = Joshua, Tabitha, Keith, and Christina (all deceased) | apprehended = {{Start date and age|1992|2|13|br=yes}}<ref name=findlaw/> }} '''Robin Lee Row''' (born September 12, 1957)<ref name="idoc">{{cite web|url=https://www.idoc.idaho.gov/content/prisons/death_row|title=Death Row | Idaho Department of Correction|website=idoc.idaho.gov|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110502060524/https://www.idoc.idaho.gov/content/prisons/death_row|archivedate=May 2, 2011}}</ref> is a death row inmate in Idaho, having been convicted of the murders of her husband and two children. The murders took place on February 10, 1992, when a fire broke out on the first floor of the southwest Boise apartment <!-- 10489 Seneca --> in which her husband, from whom she was separated, and her two children were living.<ref name=findlaw/> When fire crews reached the scene of the burning structure, they found three bodies that were subsequently identified as her husband Randy (age 34) and their children Joshua (10) and Tabitha (8). All three had died due to carbon monoxide poisoning.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ktvb.com/news/20-years-since-Robin-Row-killed-her-husband-2-kids-139142329.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130423041813/http://www.ktvb.com/news/20-years-since-Robin-Row-killed-her-husband-2-kids-139142329.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=23 April 2013|title=20 years since Robin Row killed her husband, 2 kids - KTVB.COM Boise|date=23 April 2013|publisher=}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.kboi2.com/news/local/128708973.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131102104807/http://www.kboi2.com/news/local/128708973.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=2 November 2013|title=Federal judge rejects Robin Row's death row appeal - Local & Regional - Boise, Meridian, Nampa, Caldwell, Idaho News, Weather, Sports and Breaking News - KBOI 2|date=2 November 2013|publisher=}}</ref>
==Investigation== Fire investigators concluded that a liquid accelerant was used to start the fire and, upon further investigation, that the smoke alarm had been turned off.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://idahonews.com/news/local/idaho-death-row-inmate-robin-row-to-have-court-appointed-mental-health-exam|title=Idaho death row inmate Robin Row to have court-appointed mental health exam|last=Staff|first=KBOI News|work=KBOI|access-date=2018-01-20|language=en-US}}</ref> Row had been living with friends and investigators had placed her as the main suspect.{{citation needed|date=March 2013}} Current Ada County Sheriff Gary Raney was the chief investigator on the case.{{citation needed|date=March 2013}} As he delved into the case, he saw many red flags that indicated that Robin Row was the main suspect.{{citation needed|date=March 2013}} Further investigation concluded that in 1980, she and her son Keith were living in a cabin in California. Her son died in a fire that was caused by a portable heater that ignited his blankets.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2010/aug/06/only-woman-idaho-death-row-appeals-sentence/|title=Only woman on Idaho death row appeals sentence|publisher=}}</ref> The boy died, and Row collected $28,000 from the life insurance policy.{{citation needed|date=March 2013}}
==Arrest and conviction== As the investigation progressed, Row was embezzling money from the YMCA where she worked.<ref name=findlaw>{{Cite web|url=https://caselaw.findlaw.com/id-supreme-court/1087446.html|title=FindLaw's Supreme Court of Idaho case and opinions.|website=Findlaw|access-date=2018-01-20}}</ref> Detectives found that Row had taken out life insurance policies on her husband and children, totaling over a quarter of a million dollars. She was arrested on February 13 and charged with three counts of first-degree murder.<ref name=findlaw/><!--{{citation needed|date=March 2013}}--> Her trial began in 1993; she was found guilty on each count in March, and sentenced to death on December 16 by Judge Alan Schwartzman.<ref name=findlaw/><ref name=wstdth>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=_W0fAAAAIBAJ&sjid=E_EDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6477%2C6273545 |work=Spokesman-Review |location=Spokane, Washington |agency=staff and wire reports |title=Woman sentenced to death for killing husband, 2 kids |date=December 17, 1993 |page=B3}}</ref><ref name=woexmhf>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=0KZCP5UExFUC&dat=19931217&printsec=frontpage&hl=en |work=Moscow-Pullman Daily News |location=Idaho-Washington |last=Fick |first=Bob |agency=Associated Press |title=Woman ordered executed for murdering her family |date=December 17, 1993 |page=4A}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ktvb.com/news/crime/death-row-inmate-lands-in-ada-county-jail/395943350|title=Death row inmate lands in Ada County Jail|publisher=|access-date=2017-08-03|archive-date=2017-08-04|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170804055002/http://www.ktvb.com/news/crime/death-row-inmate-lands-in-ada-county-jail/395943350|url-status=dead}}</ref>
==Appeals== In 2011, Row's appeal was dismissed by U.S. District Court Judge B. Lynn Winmill.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ktvb.com/story/news/local/2014/06/27/11530173/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402154415/http://www.ktvb.com/story/news/local/2014/06/27/11530173/|url-status=dead|archive-date=2 April 2015|title=Only woman on Idaho death row appeals sentence|date=2 April 2015|publisher=}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ktvb.com/story/news/local/2014/06/28/11692751/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150313165600/http://www.ktvb.com/story/news/local/2014/06/28/11692751/|url-status=dead|archive-date=13 March 2015|title=20 years since Robin Row killed her husband, 2 kids|date=13 March 2015|publisher=}}</ref> She is the sole death row inmate in Pocatello Women's Correctional Center (PWCC) in Pocatello.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.idoc.idaho.gov/content/prisons/death-row |title=Death Row | Idaho Department of Correction |website=Idoc.idaho.gov |date= |accessdate=2022-12-05}}</ref>
==See also== * List of death row inmates in the United States * List of women on death row in the United States
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== [https://caselaw.findlaw.com/court/id-supreme-court/1087446.html FindLaw.com] – State v. Row (1998)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Row, Robin Lee}} Category:1957 births Category:Living people Category:Arson in Idaho Category:American female murderers Category:American murderers of children Category:American people convicted of murder Category:American people convicted of arson Category:Place of birth missing (living people) Category:American prisoners sentenced to death Category:1992 murders in the United States Category:People convicted of murder by Idaho Category:Prisoners sentenced to death by Idaho Category:Criminals from Idaho Category:Familicides in the United States Category:Women sentenced to death Category:20th-century American murderers