MURDERER - DEBORA (FARRAR) GREEN

DEBORA J. (JONES) (GREEN) (FARRAR) GREEN

UPDATE: Current photo added.

September 2010 prison photo October 2008 prison photo

Debora (Farrar) Green in court
She has resumed her prior married name of Green after divorce.

Debora Green is currently incarcerated Topeka, Kansas, CF-Central

Maximum Security Prison, having been convicted of: Intentional,

Premeditated murder of greater than 1 person; Aggravated Arson;

Substantial Risk of Bodily Harm; Attempted Murder in 1st Degree;
Attempted/Intentional/Premeditated Murder.

Debora Green began her sentence on Jun 06, 1996 after copping an

Alford plea deal for:

Count I, the capital murder of Kelly Fararr, aged 6;

Count II the capital murder of Timothy Farrar, aged 13;

Count III aggravated arson; County IV, the

attempted first degree murder of her then husband,

Cardiologist Dr. Mike Farrar;

Count V, the attempted capital murder Kate Farrar, aged 10.

Green was sentenced to two concurrent 40 year prison terms

without possibility of parole & other concurrent sentences.
In response the prosecution dropped the death penalty.

Parole Eligibility: November 21, 2035

Dr. Debora Green was a former physician, who also had a degree in

chemical engineering. Her propensity for drink outweighed her

desire to continue pursuing her career. A person who was used to

getting her way at anything she desired, Debora didn't react well

when thwarted. When she didn't get her way she was belligerent,

violent and abusive.

Debora once told a nanny "I didn't want kids; I never had. I am

doing it for Mike." The outward appearance of the "perfect family"

was important to her, but the reality was far from it. Debora deliberately

pit her children against her husband and filled their minds with vile

stories about him. When their mother drank, the children were afraid,

of her and of her threats.

Debora was known to have abused Tim, the eldest child, both physically

and mentally while he was alive.

In death, she not only accused him of poisoning his father, but

of setting the fatal fire that killed him and his younger sister Kelly, that

almost killed his sister Kate. The same son, that when surrounded by

flames he asked her for help, for what to do, and she told him to wait

instead of saving himself.

Trusting her, he did.

Green had repeatedly poisoned Mike Farrar, her husband, who

had to undergo multiple heart and brain surgeries, 11 in total, related

to the poisoning damage. She'd gotten the idea for the castor beans

from an Agatha Christie novel. Whether it was for the insurance or

out of revenge, she failed to kill him.

Evidence showed that Green had checked out several books on

intrafamilial homicide, as well as "Necessary Lies," a book with a plot

regarding an intentionally set fire which burned several children to

death.

"After counseling with my attorneys I plead no contest to

all charges. I understand the court will find me guilty of all

counts. I am aware that the State can produce substantial

evidence that I set the fire that caused the death of my

children. My attorneys are ready and able to present

evidence that I was not myself when Tim and Kelly died.

However true that may be, defending myself on these

charges would only compound the suffering of my family

and my daughter, Kate. I love my family very much. I never

meant to harm my children but I accept the fact that I will be

punished harshly. I believe that it is best to end this now so

that we can begin to heal from our horrible loss."

Debora Green did not say she was innocent of the charges and

she did not deny that she had set the fire, nor did she claim

it was an arson fire.

Evidence proferred during the plea proceedings negated her claims

that she did not intend to cause the death of her children. Evidence

related to her actions and demeanor while the fire was burning and

her children missing were part of the evidence proferred.

To wit: She did place ricin, a poison, in the food of Michael Farrar;

Testimony from fire investigators regarding accelerants that pointed

the guilt directly at Debora for deliberately setting the fire while the

children were sleeping.

The Judge in the case ensured that Green fully understood the

proceedings and her plea, and asked if she was taking anything

that would affect her ability to understand the proceedings.

"I am taking prozac, Desyrel, and Klonopin."
Do they affect your ability to understand what is going

on here in court? No sir.

1994 - May 21 - Arson fire at Farrar residence.

1995 - August 7 - receipt from Olathe Earl May Garden Center -

Debora Green purchased castor beans.

Dr. Mike Farrar first becomes ill. As time goes on his condition

worsens.

1995 -September 20 - Debora Green purchase of castor beans

North Kansas City Earl May store. She claimed they were for a

science project for her son. Evidence show no such project existed.

1995 - October - Dr. Mike Fararr moves out of the family residence.

October 24 - Fire at the Farrar residence which Kate Farrar escapes,

Timothy and Kelly and their dog Boomer, do not.

1995 -November -Naval Research Laboratory in Washington,

D.C. determine that ricin is determined to be the cause of Fararr's

illness.

1996 -February 12 - Green submitted to testing and interviews by

psychiatrists and psychologists and did not meet the legal definition

of insanity. She had known the difference between right and wrong

both at the time of the event and in the months after.

1996 - April - Green enters Alford Plea.

1996- July 13 - Green announced her remorse at the loss of her

children and for accepting the plea agreement in a letter.

"I'm sorry my children are dead. I'm sorry I'm here and not

with Kate. But what I'm sorry 'for' (my fault) is that I took a

plea bargain for something I didn't do and didn't fight for my

rights and my innocence through the legal system. I'm sorry I

put my parents through all this - they knew I was making a big

mistake with the plea, but I was so scared I didn't know what

else to do."

1996 - August 27 - In another letter Green blames her attorneys,

saying she had felt "pressured."

"My attorneys were remarkably little help in my decisions.

They seemed to want to avoid a trial but provided little or

no guidance to me. Sean O'Brien, who joined my team of

attorneys relatively late, is a specialist in death penalty

cases. His orientation is simply to avoid the death penalty

at all costs.

"I wasn't in any shape during my stay in the county jail to

make any decisions, I was living in fear, fueled somewhat

by my attorneys' pessimistic attitudes.

I was also confused, which I think was due to the Prozac I

was on since my thinking didn't clear up until I got here

(Topeka Correctional Facility) and got taken off the

Prozac."

1997 - February 5 - In a letter Green is aware she is gambling

with her life since Morrison, the prosecutor stated that if she gets

a new trial, he'll seek the death penalty.

"My honest opinion is that I'm here because the legal

system is largely geared against women right now. If I

had committed a crime, I would own up to it -- I am an

honest person. I did not.

My situation in the county jail -- overmedication, fear,

and isolation -- prompted me to want things to be over

with, and I would have done nearly anything to have

that happen. I didn't receive very good advice.

I allowed myself to be frightened and bullied into pleading

to something I didn't do.

Maybe God wanted me to be here to teach or tell me something.
I cannot believe this is His plan for the rest of my life...."

2000 - October 22- Topeka Correctional Facility - Central R3gis. Use

of Pers. Property. 2 Infractions/Disciplinary reports.

2000 - Green hires Wichita Attorney, Kurt Kerns.

2000 - June 1 - Hearing before District Judge Peter Ruddick. Debora

Green files to rescind her plea agreement. Attorney Kern's game plan is

to show that Green was incompetent at the time of trial to make the

decision to plea due to the combination of medications she was administered

at the time.

The Prosecutor in her case, Morrison, spoke for the State.

Request for a new trial DENIED.

2003 - Feburary 21 - Topeka Correctional Facility - Central Viol.

Statutes (Felony Crime) 1 Infraction/Disciplinary report.

Green was reportedly caught with escape plans in her cell.

2004 - March 22 -Green filed a motion to withdraw her plea as to

all counts except the attempted first-degree murder of Mike Farrar.

Request based on new modern techniques in fire investigation and

manifest injustice.

2004 - August 2 - Supplemental motion filed to set aside her plea,

stating that the factual basis for her plea should be reviewed under a

heightened reliability standard because she had faced the possibility

of the death penalty.

2004 - September 16 - District Court- Green filed a motion for a

certificate of appealability. Green filed to withdraw the no contest

pleas on the grounds that they were based on faulty fire evidence,

and several other grounds.

District court DENIED Green's application for certifcate of appealability.

2004 - October 12 - preliminary evidentiary hearing to discuss discovery;

the district court limited the plea withdrawal proceeding to "evidence that

this could not have been an arson fire."

2005 - January 3 - Second supplemental motion, Green argued that the

court should declare the plea bargain void or permit her to withdraw her

plea because the death penalty had been declared unconstitutional in Kansas.

2005 -January 10 - Hearing. Green argued that the central question

before the court was whether reasonable doubt now infected the factual

basis for her plea. In her view, the defense need not disprove arson, but

need only prove the State could not have proved it beyond a reasonable

doubt.

2007- March 23 - Supreme State Court of Kansas court docket
Green appeals the district court's decision denying her motion to

withdraw her no contest pleas.

Court ruling: Green did not meet her burden to prove the basis

for her plea is so undercut by new evidence that the state could

not have proved its case beyond a reasonable doubt. The District

Judge did not abuse his discretion in so ruling. We conclude that

the district court did not abuse its discretion in denying defendant's

motion to withdraw her plea. Affirmed.

2008- May 15 - Green files petition challenging her convictions and

sentences. District Court denied her arguments for relief.

2008 - June 30 -District Court Petitioner application for certificate of appealability
DENIED.

Now an adult, Kate Farrar cares for both her parents and supports

her mother's efforts to win a new trial or have her sentence overturned.

Author Ann Rule covered this case in "Bitter Harvest."

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