Marion Butler Dudley was born on May 13, 1972, in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. 

On June 20, 1992, four people were killed in a series of shootings during a drug deal at a home in Houston, Texas. Marion Dudley, Arthur Brown Jr., and Tony Dunson arrived at the residence of Jose and Rachel Tovar to buy drugs. They decided to rob the Tovars of cocaine and money instead. Inside the home, they bound six people and shot them. By the time the police responded, three victims were already deceased: Jose Tovar, Jessica Quiñones, who was seven months pregnant, and Frank Farias. One of the three survivors, Audrey Brown, later died in the hospital, making the total number of victims four.

After the murders, Dudley, Brown, and Dunson fled the scene. They were aware that they were suspects and wanted by the police. The trio purchased a Jeep Cherokee and asked two women to drive them from Birmingham, Alabama, to Louisville, Kentucky. They bought plane tickets to Ohio under fake names and traveled to Columbus before heading north. The police located a vehicle belonging to Dudley but did not get any new leads from it. The mothers of the men believed in their innocence and urged them to turn themselves in.

On July 8, 1992, Dudley and Dunson were arrested at a mobile home in Fayetteville, North Carolina. Arthur Brown Jr. was captured later, on October 23, 1992, in Northport, Alabama. All three suspects were charged with capital murder. Prosecutors decided to seek the death penalty for Dudley and Brown, but not for Dunson.

Arthur Brown Jr. was the first to be convicted of capital murder in November 1993 and was sentenced to death. Marion Dudley followed, also found guilty of capital murder, and was sentenced to death on January 23, 1995. Dunson received a life sentence and remains in prison.

Dudley was executed by lethal injection on January 25, 2006, in Huntsville, Texas. He was the first person executed in Texas that year. During the execution process, he refused to walk to the chamber and was carried there. When asked for a final statement, Dudley did not respond and kept his eyes closed. The lethal drugs were administered, and he was pronounced dead after eight minutes.

Arthur Brown Jr. continued to appeal his conviction until he exhausted all legal options. He was executed on March 9, 2023, also by lethal injection, and proclaimed his innocence until the end.