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‘Driven to Extremes’ — Texas-sized case of love, infidelity, road rage and possibly murder

Posted at 8:28 PM, Oct 14, 2016
and last updated 2016-10-14 20:28:44-04

Peter Van Sant and "48 Hours" investigate a Texas-sized case of love, infidelity, rage and possibly murder in “Driven to Extremes” to be broadcast Saturday at 10 p.m. on CBS 6.

The only thing for certain in this case is that on October 13, 2013, millionaire trucking magnate Bill Hall Jr. died when his motorcycle collided with the Cadillac Escalade driven by his estranged wife, Frances Hall.

Exactly what happened leading up to that moment is what’s up for debate.

Was it an accident or did Frances Hall intentionally kill him after being driven into a jealous rage by menacing texts sent by her husband’s mistress, Bonnie Contreras?

That fateful day, Frances Hall was driving in the opposite direction when she saw Bill on his Harley Davidson and Contreras in a Range Rover owned by the Halls. Frances Hall pulled a quick U-turn. She floored it and allegedly gave chase, reaching 90 mph, reportedly to confront Contreras.

Frances Hall., Bill Hall Jr. and Bonnie Contreras.

Frances Hall., Bill Hall Jr. and Bonnie Contreras.

Contreras claims Hall rammed the Range Rover multiple times. Bill Hall was not wearing a helmet. He ended up dead. Contreras says Frances Hall intentionally ran him down.

“It was an accident,” Frances says. “I would have never in a million years have hurt my husband.”

“You have this toxic love triangle,” says Leigh Cutter, Frances Hall’s attorney.

“You have this multimillionaire husband and wife, and you have this mistress trying to wedge her way between them.”

“Frances Hall took a two-ton death tank to what should have been a fistfight,” says prosecutor Stephanie Paulissen. “She was out for blood.”

Says Cutter: “I don’t think anyone imagined by the end of the day that there would be a dead body and someone in handcuffs.”

Frances Hall says she loves Bill with all of her heart. “I will never love another like I loved this man,” she tells Van Sant.

What really happened at high speed on a Texas highway? And what will a jury believe?

Van Sant and "48 Hours" interview prosecutors, defense attorneys, members of Hall’s family and more to tell the story.

“Driven to Extremes” is the second part of a Saturday night double feature.

At 9 p.m., Erin Moriarty returns to the investigation into the case against Ashton Sachs in “Shadow of Death.”

Police say Sachs snuck into his family’s upscale California home and shot dead his parents Andra and Brad Sachs, and paralyzed a younger brother.

It’s a case 48 HOURS has been covering for two years. Police initially thought the wealthy couple was killed after a business deal went bad. Ashton – then-19 years old - gave an emotional eulogy at his parent’s funeral.

However, a month after the shooting, Ashton Sachs was charged with murder. Family members told"48 Hours" that Ashton was obsessed with violent video games and fascinated with the notorious Menendez murders of 1989.

Yet, what seemed like an open-and-shut case is anything but. Moriarty has the latest stunning new twist in the Sachs case.