Texas Woman Arrested 24 Years After Husband Was Found Dead Near Lake Lewisville

An Arrest That Took 24 Years

Frank Weiss was a Plano, Texas resident whose body was discovered near Lake Lewisville in 2002. His death opened a cold case that Frisco Police worked for more than two decades without a charge. On April 20, 2026, that changed – Lisa Honrud, 55, the woman who had been his wife, was taken into custody in Waxahachie, Texas and charged with his murder. She has not been convicted.

Frisco Police Chief David Shilson said in a statement: “For 24 years, the Weiss family has waited for answers. Today’s arrest is an important step toward justice, and we will continue working until everyone involved is held accountable.”

What Broke the Case Open

Frisco investigators cited three factors in the arrest: advancements in investigative techniques, modern technology, and new information from a key witness. None of those elements have been publicly detailed beyond those broad categories, which is standard practice in active prosecutions where the defense has not yet reviewed the full evidence record.

The mention of a key witness is the most significant public disclosure. Cold cases of this kind – where the primary suspect has lived without legal consequence for more than two decades – frequently turn on a person who knows something and finally chooses, or is compelled, to say it. What that witness provided and when they came forward have not been disclosed by investigators.

Twenty-Four Years of Silence

When the person charged in a spouse’s death is the surviving partner who lived freely for years, the narrative that emerges is one of long concealment. For 24 years, if the charges are accurate, Lisa Honrud lived with knowledge of what happened to Frank Weiss – through memorial dates, through the ongoing investigation, through whatever the Weiss family experienced in his absence.

That kind of duration is one of the defining features of cold case domestic homicides. The intimacy of a marriage means the person most likely to know what happened is also the person with the greatest stake in silence. When that silence finally breaks – through technology, through a witness, through a combination of both – the arrest that follows carries the weight of every year that passed.

The Weiss Family and Two Decades Without Answers

The police chief’s statement – “the Weiss family has waited for answers” – is the clearest window into the human dimension of this case. Cold cases like this one do not sit in a file untouched. There are family members who mark anniversaries, who have watched the case go quiet, who have wondered whether anyone was still working on it.

Frisco Police did not release details about the Weiss family’s contact with investigators during the years of the investigation. The arrest on April 20 is the first formal legal acknowledgment that the department has identified someone they believe is responsible for Frank Weiss’s death.

What the Prosecution Faces

Cold case prosecutions present specific evidentiary challenges. Physical evidence ages, witnesses’ memories shift, and the original scene has long since changed. Prosecutors in the Honrud case will need to build an argument strong enough to meet the burden of proof at trial, drawing on whatever technology and witness testimony formed the basis for the April 20 arrest warrant.

Lisa Honrud is charged but not convicted. No trial date has been announced. For the Weiss family – who have waited since 2002 for someone to be held legally responsible for what happened to Frank – the proceedings now underway are the moment they were told to keep hoping for.

References: Texas woman arrested in husband’s cold case murder after 24 years | North Texas woman arrested for killing husband in 24-year-old cold case