[1] Arrington was originally sentenced to death for the murder of Vivian Ritter, a legal secretary who worked in Leesburg, Florida, for a public defender who unsuccessfully represented her two children on felony charges.

Nathaniel Powers, a witness at the scene, told police that he broke the couple up after he saw Jack choking her in the front seat of the car.

As the police were unable to locate the weapon Arrington was found guilty of manslaughter instead of more severe charges and sentenced to twenty years in prison.

[5][2] On April 22, 1968, while out on an appeal bond for her manslaughter conviction, Arrington went to Pierce’s office in Leesburg with the intention of killing him.

[2][8][9] Prior to her capture Arrington burgled the home of Judge Troy Hall, who had given her son his life sentence.

The notes threatened to kill the wife of Hall and to dismember Ritter if law officers did not back off and release her children from jail.

A taxi driver reported dropping off Arrington half a block away from Pierce's office on the morning of April 22.

[12] On March 1, 1969, Arrington escaped from Florida Correctional Institution in her pajamas by cutting a window screen and jumping out.

Her death sentence was commuted to life in prison during August of 1972, when the US Supreme Court declared capital punishment as unconstitutional.