Robin Lee Row was born on September 12, 1957. She grew up in the United States and later worked as an employee at the YMCA.

On February 10, 1992, a fire broke out in a Boise apartment. The fire was serious, and fire crews arrived to find three bodies inside. The victims were identified as Randy Row, aged 34, and his two children, Joshua, aged 10, and Tabitha, aged 8. All three died from carbon monoxide poisoning.

After the fire, investigators began looking into the cause. They found evidence that a liquid accelerant had been used to start the fire. They also discovered that the smoke alarm in the apartment had been turned off. During the investigation, Robin Lee Row, the wife of Randy and mother of Joshua and Tabitha, was identified as a primary suspect. She was living with friends at the time.

The investigation revealed more about Robin Row's past. In 1980, she had lost another son, named Keith, in a fire at a cabin in California. The cause of that fire was a portable heater, and afterward, she collected $28,000 from his life insurance policy.

As police continued to investigate, they found that Robin had been embezzling money from her job at the YWCA. They also learned she had taken out life insurance policies on her husband and children worth more than a quarter of a million dollars. Because of these findings, Robin was arrested on February 13, 1992, and charged with three counts of first-degree murder.

Her trial began in 1993. By March, Robin Row was found guilty on all counts. On December 16, 1993, she was sentenced to death by Judge Alan Schwartzman.

Robin Row's appeal was later dismissed in 2011. She remains on death row in the Pocatello Women's Correctional Center in Idaho.