I remember at the end that his second wife and his boys from his first marriage were trying to make a life together. So that tells me that it's probably a true story and when he was put in prison for murdering his first wife, his second got custody of his boys.
I was Brad's lawyer in Houston. Cheryl was a very pretty redhead and accomplished lawyer. There was a tasteful nude photo of her on the wall. That was alluded to in the movie. When Brad's business went under our relationship deteriorated. When years later I saw Dead by Sunset I was shocked.
Interestingly, I knew another person involved in a murder about which Ann Rule wrote. Sammy Gonzalez from San Antonio who helped hire a hitman. I forget the name of the book.