Who Was Serial Killer Oscar Ray Bolin Jr. Married To?
There are many examples of convicted criminals who find love in prison. In fact, crime writer David Lohr said in HuffPost that "inmates convicted of the most heinous crimes tend to attract the most love interest behind bars." Ted Bundy, Charles Denton "Tex" Watson, Angelo Buono, and Charles Manson were all so lucky — as was serial killer Oscar Ray Bolin Jr.
Bolin murdered Teri Lynn Matthews, 26, Natalie Blanche Holley, 25, and Stephanie Collins, 17, in Tampa Bay in 1986. As reported by the Tampa Bay Times, he was also linked to the rape and strangulation of two women in 1987. In fact, it was while he sat in prison for the former that he was linked to the three murders. He was executed in 2016 after 28 years behind bars.
Despite his heinous crimes, he married his lawyer, Rosalie Martinez, while in prison, and they stayed together until his death — about 20 years. Here's her story.
She was married to a former lawyer
Before she met Oscar Ray Bolin, Rosalie Martinez was married to a prominent Tampa lawyer, Victor D. Martinez, the Tampa Bay Times reported. When she began working on Bolin's case, she became convinced he was innocent. In a 1996 "20/20" interview, Rosalie said part of the reason for their marriage was to help generate media attention (per ABC News). The other reason, she said, was her unhappy former marriage. "I wanted to break out," she said. "I wanted to be loved like I've never been loved before, passion, someone to put me on an emotional pedestal, not with material things."
Rosalie and Victor had four daughters together when she fell in love with the serial killer, leaving her husband dumbfounded. "It would have been a lot more understandable to me if she'd said, "I'm sorry, I've fallen in love with the orthopedic surgeon next door, and we're flying off to Hawaii,'" he said.
In 1996, Rosalie and Bolin married from her home via speakerphone and remained together until his execution in 2016.
She became an outspoken opponent of the death penalty
In 2016, the Daily Mail reported that Rosalie Bolin had become "one of the state's most outspoken death penalty opponents" after her union with Oscar Ray Bolin. The same year, Reuters reported that she had taken on the task of investigating death penalty cases across the state.
Since Oscar's 2016 execution, not much is known about the activities of Rosalie. A LinkedIn page that appears to be hers suggests that she has owned a company called Criminal Specialist Investigations, Inc. since 1996, the same year she married the serial killer. It also says she is on the board of directors for the human rights organization Floridians Alternatives Against the Death Penalty. In her profile, she describes her work: "As a Mitigation Specialist, I examine and develop evidence for presentation in the penalty phase of capital litigation. I maintain a network of resources and interface with experts and provide consultation services on cases in all phases of capital litigation."