Dr. Laura Spencer Horton

Laura Horton is the daughter of James and Carrie Spencer. She is the mother of Mike and Jennifer Horton. She has been married to Mickey Horton and Bill Horton. Although stable for a long time, Laura Horton eventually followed her mother's footsteps and careened into insanity. For over a decade, she was locked away in a sanitarium. She has since come back, and regained her life.

When Dr. Laura Spencer came to Salem in May of 1966, she was a psychiatry intern at Salem University Hospital. Fresh out of Johns Hopkins University, she came to Salem at the suggestion of a college friend, Bill Horton. Bill, who had also graduated from Johns Hopkins, had told Laura about the town. Laura decided to come to Salem because otherwise she would have returned to her native Chicago and worked in her father's hospital; since Laura wanted to avoid a work relationship with him, she took the alternative and broke out on her own in Salem. Living in a small apartment building, Laura soon ran across her upstairs neighbor Tony Merritt. Tony, a friend of the Horton family, was very taken with her and asked her out. Unfortunately, Tony still held deep feelings for Marie Horton, his former fiancée, and their relationship ended quickly.

While working at the hospital, Laura came into contact frequently with Bill Horton. First developing a nice friendship, the two began dating over the late summer of 1966. By year's end, they were in love with each other and planning to get married. However, something strange suddenly came over Bill that he refused to share with anyone. And out of the blue, Bill broke up with Laura and left Salem. Laura was devastated over Bill's behavior and sought comfort from the Horton family, in particular from Mickey, Bill's brother. Soon after this, Mickey asked for Laura's help with a murder case he was working on. Susan Martin had shot her husband in cold blood after he accidentally caused the death of their son. Mickey wanted Laura to evaluate Susan's state of mind at the time of the shooting because he wanted to enter an insanity plea. Indeed, Laura found that Susan had temporarily snapped as a result of her son's death. Her work on the case was crucial to the case and helped Susan avoid prison. In addition, the work on the case brought Laura and Mickey together. They were soon married.

Their marriage was solid at first. But a short time after the wedding, Bill returned to Salem. It turned out that Bill had left Salem as a result of a disease he'd believed would've prevented him from practicing medicine. In any case, when he returned he was aghast to find that Laura and Mickey had gotten married. Though Laura still held feelings for Bill, she wanted to remain content with Mickey. Still, the constant interaction between Laura and Bill at the hospital made both uncomfortable. One night, a drunken Bill raped Laura in his office at the hospital. To avoid added conflict, Laura kept quiet about the rape. When Bill later remembered having been forceful with Laura, she told him that nothing had happened; she said that he had only stupidly tried to seduce her but she turned him down and left. Meanwhile, Mickey began worrying about the fact that Laura hadn't gotten pregnant so he asked his father to perform some tests to see if he was sterile. Weeks later, before the results of the tests were finished, Laura discovered that she was pregnant! Overjoyed, both of them forgot about Mickey's sterility test since it seemed obvious that he wasn't. However, Tom did get the results back anyway. When he did, he called Laura into his office. Mickey was sterile. Overwhelmed, Laura tearfully confessed to Tom that Bill had "seduced" her (she couldn't tell Tom that his own son was a rapist.) Realizing that she was carrying Bill's child, Laura asked Tom to remain quiet about this. Tom agreed that no one should know who the father of this child was and remained silent. Unfortunately, Bill accidentally found Mickey's test results one day and realized that perhaps he was the father of the child. When he confronted Laura, she finally admitted that he had raped her and that she was carrying his child. Knowing that the truth would kill Mickey, Bill promised Laura that he wouldn't divulge their secret. Nine months later, Laura gave birth to Michael William Horton. The boy had been given the names of both fathers. Keeping their secret actually brought Laura and Bill closer and they developed a meaningful friendship that bordered on quiet romance. But in 1969, Bill was sent to prison for murdering Kitty Horton. During the trial, Bill refused to say why he had seen Kitty on the night of her death, making him look as though he had purposely killed Kitty. He was sent to prison for seven years.

In the meantime, Laura's marriage to Mickey began to go downhill. Laura suspected that Mickey was having an affair with his secretary, Linda Patterson. The following year, Linda revealed their affair; she claimed that her newborn daughter Melissa was Mickey's child. Though Laura wanted a divorce, she and Mickey agreed to remain married for Michael's sake. Nevertheless, Laura was certain that Melissa wasn't Mickey's daughter because he was sterile. In the end, it was proven that Melissa was the daughter of Linda's ex-boyfriend, Jim Phillips.

After Bill was released on parole in 1970, he told Laura why he'd seen Kitty the night she died. Kitty had found out about the rape and Michael's true parentage and had tried to blackmail Bill with it. That was why he had seen Kitty on the night she died and that's what he couldn't tell the court! Laura admired Bill's sacrifice to keep the truth from coming out, and the two settled into a close friendship once again. Meanwhile, Laura and Tom organized a secret hearing with the Medical Review Board to reinstate Bill's medical license. In the clandestine hearing, Bill confessed all of the details surrounding Kitty's death. As a result, the board reinstated Bill's license and he was able to return to work at the hospital as a surgeon.

Laura and Bill's special friendship did not go unnoticed, however. Mickey began to suspect them of having an affair. After having his own affair and being caught, Mickey confronted Bill and Laura with his supposed knowledge of their affair. Naturally, Bill and Laura denied this since they hadn't had any such affair. However, they did feel guilty because, even though they hadn't physically had an affair, they constantly declared their love for one another and their need for one another. During one such moment, a young Michael overheard them. Distraught by the declarations of his mother and uncle, Michael ran out of the house and was hit by a car. Luckily Michael survived the accident, but the incident reminded Bill and Laura of the delicate situation that they were in. They were aware that not only Mickey, but also Michael, could discover the truth at any second, and thus decided to keep their distance.

Shortly after this in 1974, Mickey suffered a heart attack while arguing with Michael about the supposed affair that Bill and Laura were having. Mickey survived, but disappeared from the hospital while everyone attended the wedding of Susan Martin and Greg Peters. Later, Mickey's wrecked car was found off the side of the road and he was presumed dead. Laura was comforted by Bill, and began to see him again. Eventually they became engaged. Since Mickey was dead, there was nothing to stop them from being together. But almost a year later, as Bill and Laura were planning the wedding, Tom discovered that there was a man in nearby Brookville who looked exactly like Mickey. Bill and Laura went to the town and met Marty Hanson. Marty was Mickey, but he was suffering from amnesia. As Marty, Mickey had married a young girl named Maggie. Even after Bill and Laura told Marty who he was, Marty refused to return to Salem. He was happy in Brookville with Maggie, and he speculated that if he had run away from his old life it was because it had been an unhappy life. "Marty" gladly had a divorce decree made to legally rid himself of Laura and remarry Maggie. With this divorce, Laura and Bill were finally free to marry each other. In a small ceremony in the Horton living room, Bill and Laura were finally married.

Meanwhile, the truth about Michael finally broke out after he suffered an accident and needed blood. After Bill was proven to be Mike's father, Mickey's memory returned with a vengeance. He was furious at both Laura and Bill for having kept the truth from him. He tried to strangle Laura, and shot Bill. Consequently, Mickey was placed in a sanitarium.

A short time later, Laura became pregnant. While at Maggie Horton's farm in Brookville, Laura gave birth to Jennifer Rose Horton. After Jennifer was born, Bill and Laura's marriage suffered greatly. First, they both worked heavy schedules at the hospital and never really saw each other. But the clincher was Bill's friendship with colleague Dr. Kate Winograd. Bill and Kate had a brief affair, but Bill came back to Laura. Yet, Laura continued thinking that Bill was sleeping with Kate. It was during this time that Laura began to lose control of her sanity.

Laura's mother, Carrie, had been a paranoid schizophrenic since Laura's childhood. It was her mother's condition that had driven Laura to become a psychiatrist in the first place. In 1979, Carrie finally committed suicide in her hospital room. Her mother's death and Bill's non-affair with Kate took a heavy toll on Laura. She began acting very strangely towards people she knew and loved. When Julie William's face was burned in an explosion, Laura told Julie that Doug would never love her again and encouraged her to divorce him. She also put little Jennifer on a cross-country bus thinking that she'd be safer that way. Though Jennifer was rescued, Laura just plunged deeper into insanity. She began to suffer from hallucinations; she constantly heard her mother's voice, telling her that she was "losing control." Finally, the voice told her to kill herself. Laura tried to hang herself, but was saved in the nick of time by Bill. After being placed in Lakewood Sanitarium, Laura became catatonic.

For 18 years (13 years in real time), Laura was catatonic. Sometime during those 18 years, she was transferred to Pine Haven Sanitarium outside of Chicago. In 1993, the world once again focused on her. She began receiving visits from Kate Kiriakis, who wanted to make sure that Laura was not coming out of her catatonia. But Vivian Alamain, who was also a patient at Pine Haven, saw Kate visiting Laura, and vowed to find out her secret. Vivian noticed that Laura truly hated Kate when she placed a picture of Kate on her lap; Laura slowly managed to tear it apart. Some time later, Vivian discovered that the people who ran Pine Haven, Anne Goldberg and Nurse Jackson, kept their patients catatonic with drugs in order to continuously receive money from the families. Knowing this, Vivian told Laura to stop taking the medication. Little by little, Laura became more lucid. At one point, while Jennifer was visiting her, she said "Jen!" However, she decided it was for the best if she didn't reveal her ability to speak just yet.

Jennifer became convinced that her mother was finally coming out of her state. To help her, Jennifer brought Laura to Salem to celebrate New Year's Eve at the Penthouse Grill. While Laura was thrilled to be around her loved ones again, she remained focused on one person: Kate. From her wheelchair, Laura gave Kate hateful looks that did not go unnoticed.

Finally, Laura's time as a vegetable was up. In February, Ivan, who was working as an orderly at Pine Haven, injected her with a medication that would counteract the drugs she had been given. She was able to speak soon enough to tell Ivan that Vivian was being prepped for a lobotomy! After they rescued Vivian, a fire broke out in the hospital. Even with the fire, Anne Goldberg and Nurse Jackson came after them. Laura knocked them both out with a glass bottle and a gurney. Then, Vivian and Laura made their way into a sewer pipe, and escaped the inferno.

For a short time, Vivian and Laura were presumed dead because the bodies of two women were found in the hospital. Meanwhile, they were really hiding out at the Alamain mansion, waiting for the right time to resurface. The right time came when Kate Kiriakis was questioned at Billie Reed's trial. Laura walked into the courtroom, and was welcomed home by her family. Although Jennifer wanted to take Laura home, she wanted to stay and watch the trial. Kate was asked if she had ever known the murder victim, Curtis Brown; she denied it. Laura then stood up and declared that she was lying. When placed on the stand, Laura calmly stated, "Kate was married to Curtis; he was her husband."

Laura knew more secrets about Kate that Vivian desperately wanted to know. However, Laura refused; in due time, she said, everything would come out. After Lucas was placed in jail, Laura finally confronted Kate and revealed (to the audience) the source for her hatred toward Kate. After a party that Alice had thrown at the Penthouse Grill, Laura went to see Kate, who had stayed home taking medication to recover from the stress of seeing Lucas sent to jail. Before being committed, Laura had seen Kate and Bill sleeping together; she said that this, and the fact that Lucas was Bill's son, was the reason for her nervous breakdown (NOTE: This was a complete rewrite of history.) Kate begged Laura not to reveal this. She agreed...but not for long.

Bill Horton soon came back from Somalia to reunite with his wife. The reunion wasn't very touching. Laura was cold towards Bill. Eventually, she told him that the reason they'd had problems before she was committed was because she'd known about his affair with Kate. In addition, she informed him that Lucas Roberts was his son. Like Kate, he also asked Laura to keep quiet. She agreed, but on one condition: that he neither see Kate nor his son Lucas. He reluctantly agreed.

But this was not going to be a secret for very long. Laura discovered that Bill had seen Lucas a couple of times, and became furious. Bill became worried that she was going insane again. Though she didn't admit it, Laura feared the same thing; twice she heard her mother's voice once again taunting her. However, she stole one of Marlena's prescription forms and prescribed herself a medication that kept her "in control."

After both Lucas and Kate were cleared of murder charges, Victor held a party at the Penthouse Grill. The party's main purpose was to rebuild Kate's image in the public's eye. Unfortunately, Laura struck. Pushed by Vivian, Laura stopped the party and told everyone in attendance that Kate had had an affair with Bill and that Lucas was their son.

Her mission to destroy Kate was over, and Laura tried to settle back into normal life. But she found it hard adjusting to 1994. She couldn't accept the fact that she had missed Jennifer growing up. Desperate, she relied more and more on her medication. Soon, she became dependent on it.

Mike Horton finally came back from Israel to see his mother. A week after he arrived, he noticed something wrong with his mother. She was always very agitated. At first, he assumed that it was nerves. After all, Laura was trying to be reinstated into the hospital staff. But Laura's agitation came from her constant struggle with adjusting to modern-day Salem. Her dependence on the drugs she had prescribed herself became so strong that she was reduced to stealing prescription pads from anyone she could. One night, she broke into Dr. Layton's fertility clinic, hoping she could steal some of his pads. As she was about to leave the lab, she overheard people, and hid behind a counter. It was Vivian and Ivan; she saw them switching petri dishes so that Vivian would be impregnated with Victor's child instead of Kate. Laura kept mum about this until the right time came.

Finally, Mike caught Laura taking her drugs, and berated her for this. He told her that the drugs she was taking were an obsolete anti-depressant that caused serious side-effects! Laura became quite upset, and fell into self-pity mode by declaring that if she hadn't been locked away she would've known that. After Mike left, she turned to alcohol to drown her sorrows. However, Mike caught her with the bottle of vodka and took away. He made her realize that she'd have to face her new life without drugs or alcohol.

In May, Tom died of a heart attack. Bill, who had gone to Chicago two months earlier, came back for his father's funeral. While in town, Bill expressed his concern that Laura was going insane again. Resulting in this was Laura's divorce from him. After this, Bill left Salem once again.

Meanwhile, Laura encouraged Jennifer and Peter's relationship. She remembered Peter from New Year's. Although she couldn't speak then, she remembered that he'd flown her from Pine Haven on his jet. Laura realized a few months later just what kind of a man Peter was when she saw him speaking to Leo, a known drug dealer. After this, she ordered Jen to stop seeing Peter. Of course, Jennifer did not do this. Convinced that Peter was a bad influence, Laura conspired with Alice to bring Jack Deveraux back to Salem. Even though Jack did set foot in Salem, he saw Jennifer professing her love for Peter and quickly left.

In late summer, Salem suffered the Great Blackout. While working to help the victims of the Blackout, Laura met Daniel Scott. He introduced himself as a publishing executive. They began dating, and he began giving her extremely exquisite gifts. Having been reinstated into the hospital staff, Laura remarked how ugly the color of her office was. So, Daniel had the walls painted. He also gave her a statuette of The Oracle. Unbeknownst to Laura, Daniel was working for Peter. The paint in the office contained a substance that, when breathed, produced delusions. The statue contained a radio transmitter with which to drive Laura crazy. Laura began hearing Peter's voice, saying that he was planning to kill Mike and Jennifer. Of course Laura warned her children, but they just feared that Laura was going insane again. After she took a vacation from work, Laura wasn't acting so crazy anymore (because she wasn't breathing the poisoned paint!) So Daniel gave Laura a pearl necklace; it had been coated with the poison. Naturally, Laura wore it everywhere...and she began acting crazy again. At Mike's 30th birthday party, she heard Peter's voice saying that there was a bomb in his gift to Mike. Just as Mike was about to open it, Laura heard the box ticking; she grabbed it out of his hands and threw it into the punch bowl, telling everyone that Peter was going to kill them. Acting embarrassed, Peter took the box, and showed everyone the clock that he had been planning to give Mike. Everyone began to think that she really was losing it.

What convinced everyone that Laura was going insane, however, was an incident that began at the hospital. While in her office one day, a man dressed as a fireman rushed in and told her to pull the fire alarm because there was a fire! Laura obliged, and was taken for a loon. The fire department said that no fireman had gone to the hospital day. Laura was then recommended another vacation. While at home, she overheard her family debate putting Laura in another sanitarium. Upset, Laura snuck out (from the second floor!) and went to the Salem Inn to see Daniel. She was still wearing those darn pearls, and she was very much out of touch with reality. In Daniel's room, she fell asleep. Later, she woke up on the edge of the roof of the hotel...with her family, Peter, and Daniel telling her, "Don't jump!" Laura had no idea what was going on (Peter and Daniel had put her there.) She almost lost her balance, but Peter caught her. In the process, the necklace broke, with the pearls falling off the roof. This episode convinced everyone that Laura was unstable. They quickly admitted her into University Hospital, and made arrangements for Laura to be admitted into Brooktree Sanitarium (also outside of Chicago.)

Desperate to avoid yet another tenure at a bedlam, Laura called Vivian from her hospital room. Vivian and Laura's friendship had deteriorated by then, and Vivian was very surprised to hear from her. Laura asked Viv to help her escape from University Hospital, but Vivian refused; she was pregnant with Victor's child and couldn't risk putting herself in such a situation. So Laura blackmailed Vivian by telling her that she knew just how she'd gotten pregnant with Victor's baby. So Vivian and Ivan went to the hospital dressed as Brooktree orderlies and got Laura out. They proceeded to steal the actual Brooktree ambulance, and made their escape. Laura hid in the Alamain mansion for a while. Although Peter, Abe, and another detective came to search the house, they found no evidence of Laura (she was hiding inside the suit of armor.)

A short while later, Laura heard Victor say that Jennifer had been hospitalized and secretly went to visit her. After briefly speaking to Jen, Laura went to roof of the hospital to avoid being seen by two police officers. Jennifer raced after Laura to tell her that she didn't have to hide anymore (they'd realized the paint fumes were the problem). On the roof both, Laura and Jen fell on a scaffold that was hanging precariously on the side of the building. After being rescued (by Mike, Mickey, and Peter), Laura went back to normal and accepted Peter.

Yet, Laura continued to see Daniel. Peter's scheme had not been uncovered, and Laura was already smitten with Daniel. Daniel began to fall for Laura, and soon came time to make love. At the last moment, Laura ran out of Daniel's hotel room. Later, she phoned Daniel to apologize, and explained to him that she hadn't been with a man in over 18 years; she also told him that she was going to seek treatment for her apprehension at a facility outside of Salem called The Meadows, at Marlena's suggestion.

As soon as she arrived at The Meadows, Dr. Perkins, who ran the place, told Laura that they did not use real names. So Laura took the name Monica. She befriended one of her fellow patients, Clark, and he became her role-playing buddy. Little did Laura know that "Clark" was her daughter's ex-husband, Jack Deveraux. Laura and Jack had never met, and neither had ever seen a picture of the other, so they didn't know (yet another rewrite, since Jennifer once took Jack to see her mother at the sanitarium).

After they thought they had made progress, "Clark" and "Monica" decided to put their newfound skills to the test. Laura went back to Salem and asked Daniel on a date, which he turned down. He told her he couldn't see her anymore because he had to leave town. Upset, Laura went back to The Meadows, where she found "Clark" equally upset. He said that the woman he loved rejected him. The two comforted each other...and fell into bed together. The next morning, "Clark" and "Monica" agreed that it was for the best to remain friends. Soon after, they both left The Meadows.

Upon arriving in Salem, Laura was introduced to Dr. Roger Hunt, a new member of the hospital staff. Although they went out on a couple of dates, the relationship did not pan out because Laura kept thinking about Clark. She began searching for Clark all over Chicago. After months, she found Clark in her very own home one day arguing with Jennifer. Jen introduced Laura to her ex-husband, Jack Deveraux. Livid, Laura pretended not to know him. When they were alone, they agreed it was for the best to keep their past affair a secret. Although, Laura was tempted to tell Jen, she decided not to. However, she did tell Alice, who kept mum. After this, Laura's conscience felt a lot better.

Then Daniel strode back into town, wishing to reunite with Laura. At first, Laura was angry at Daniel for leaving so suddenly. But when Daniel offered to take her to London on vacation, Laura packed her bags in a flash and left with him. Two weeks later, they came back glowing! Unfortunately, Daniel then disappeared. Jack, who had been suspicious of Peter and Daniel since the beginning, was convinced that Peter shot Daniel. Two weeks later, a letter from Daniel arrived from Florida with no return address. He explained that he had to leave for business purposes. This was proof enough for Laura that Jack was wrong about Daniel.

Laura actually settled into a normal life for a few months. After Gina was proven to be Hope, Laura successfully aided her in recovering all of her memories through hypnosis. When Peter began having nightmares about his childhood in Aremid, she also suggested hypnosis; he refused.

Jennifer's wedding to Peter finally arrived. They had agreed to marry in the old Blake residence in Aremid, where Kristen and Peter had grown up. The night before the wedding, Jack entered Laura's room and accidentally kissed her thinking that it was Jennifer. At that moment, Jennifer walked in and walked right out. She assumed Laura and Jack were sleeping together! Laura explained to Jennifer that Jack was Clark from The Meadows and that they had already slept together once before. Naturally, this didn't sit too well with Jen and she stormed out of the room. The next day, Jennifer forgave Laura and asked her to be the Matron of Honor.

During the wedding reception, Tony DiMera was shot. Although Mike and Laura tried to save him, he died. Seeing how life can be taken away so easily, Laura decided to pursue Jack more than ever. In the end, it was a futile effort. Jack only had eyes for Jennifer, and Laura accepted that fact.

In the meantime, Laura dedicated herself to helping the Lady in White of Aremid. She injected her with "psychotropic" drugs, which allowed the Lady to be more coherent. She injected John with the same drugs, and he remembered that the Lady was Rachel Blake.

In the summer of 1996, Daniel Scott came back to Salem once again. Laura was very angry with Daniel and did not want anything to do with him. Under pressure from Jack, Daniel finally confessed that he had worked with Peter to gaslight Laura. Laura was horrified to find out that it hadn't just been the paint fumes but an evil plan from Peter that had almost sent her back to the institution. She even had a few nightmares about it and became quite disturbed.

Meanwhile, Laura joined Marlena in their quest to expose Kristen as a conniving DiMera. She finally did this at Peter Blake's funeral. Laura saw Kristen "adjusting herself", and noticed that her unborn baby was nothing more than a pillow! When she confronted Kristen, Stefano caught Laura. Before taking her to the Blake house, Stefano traumatized Laura by showing her that the body in Peter's coffin was simply Daniel Scott's body wearing a Peter mask.

Stefano kept Laura captive in the Blake house. He was going to kill her, when Kristen found them she begged Stefano not to. So Stefano arranged for a Dr. Kay to come and perform a laser surgery on Laura that would wipe out her short-term memory. They did this, and Laura came returned to her family not knowing where she'd been for the past 2 weeks. They thought she was going crazy again when she began claiming that Peter was still alive.

Laura began having flashes of what had happened to her. At that time, Jennifer hired Lynn Burke to be Laura's personal nurse. Laura grew to trust Lynn, not knowing that she was working for Stefano. She gave Laura her "medication", which were really pills that kept her memory from returning. In time, Lynn stopped giving Laura the pills, and Laura's memory pieced together. She told everyone that Kristen had not been really pregnant; she spoke of the "contraption" that she hid under her skirt. Unfortunately, Kristen had already had the baby by that time, so Laura couldn't prove her claim. She also said that Peter and Stefano were both alive (at this point, everyone thought that both were dead.) People once again thought that Laura was going off the deep end.

The truth finally came out at Kristen and John's wedding. Laura interrupted the nuptials claiming once again that Kristen had faked her pregnancy. The wedding continued and was finalized. During the reception, Laura hit Kristen, whose teeth fell out and landed in Vivian's champagne glass. It was revealed to everyone that "Kristen" was John Jr.'s nanny, Susan Banks. Furthermore, Susan confessed that Kristen had faked her pregnancy and that little John Jr. was her son, Elvis. Susan also confessed that Stefano was indeed alive.

During this time, Laura also pushed Mike to pursue the girl he loved, Carrie Brady.

Laura was hell-bent on finding Peter so that Jack would be cleared of his murder. She made Kristen admit that Peter was still alive, and Jack was released for a temporary amount of time. Meanwhile, everyone discovered that Trent Davis, Jennifer's neighbor, was really Travis Malloy, Jack's ex-cellmate in prison who was working for Stefano. Jack soon flew the coop. Jack and Jen wound up in the Grand Canyon, while Laura anguished over the shoot-to-kill order the FBI had on Jack. After Jack and Jen informed Laura that Travis was dead, they came back to Salem, took Abby, and left town again.

Laura, now aware that Peter was after Jennifer, decided to get to him first. Knowing that Peter was watching her, Laura took every possible precaution to lead him astray on his search for Jennifer. Sadly, her plan did not work; Peter tracked Jack and Jen to a circus in Dayton, Ohio...which was coming to Salem. Refusing to let Peter get to her daughter, Laura grabbed a gun and decided to take action. Laura was willing to kill Peter for to protect her daughter. Before she could do it, Laura received the news of Jennifer's death. She had been killed in a car accident. Devastated, Laura was hell-bent on revenge against all of the DiMeras. Although Laura attended Jennifer's funeral, she didn't stay too long. With a gun in her purse, Laura went to the Blake house searching for Kristen. By night's end, Kristen Blake was dead.

Who killed Kristen? That was the big question. Laura seemed extremely happy at Kristen's death and assured everyone she encountered that her death was the best thing to happen to Salem. On top of that, she found out that Jennifer was not dead at all! Jennifer had staged the car crash to bring Peter out of hiding (it worked; Peter had attended her funeral, was arrested, and sent to prison.) Laura was on cloud nine. Soon, people began to suspect her of having killed Kristen. Stefano felt that she was hiding something and soon began accusing her of Kristen's murder. Roman and Abe found Laura's coat's button near the pool, as well as a bottle of Laura's prescription pills. And Laura's gun was found in the Salem River. The evidence, although circumstantial, was inexplicably enough to arrest Laura. Some of the evidence had been turned in by Marlena, and Laura waged war against one of her best friends. With the threat of serving a jail term, Laura finally revealed what had happened the night of Kristen's death. Laura had gone to the Blake house with the intent to kill Kristen. When she arrived, she found Kristen, told her what a horrible person she was, and shot at her three times. However, she'd missed; Kristen had fainted. Laura left the scene, with Kristen on the floor, and Celeste passed out behind some bushes. This story fell under skepticism at first, but Celeste finally came forward and confessed its truth.

Yet, Laura was not freed. Even though she hadn't killed Kristen, Abe and Roman brought charges of attempted murder against her. After a hearing, Laura was sentenced to a psychiatric evaluation. After many weeks in a hospital, Laura was released. Furthermore, she made peace with Marlena once again. The following year, Laura was Marlena's matron of honor at her long-awaited wedding to John Black.

The character of Dr. Laura Horton has been played by:

Floy Dean (1966)
Susan Flannery (1966-1975)
Susan Oliver (1975-1976)
Rosemary Forsyth (1976-1980)
Jaime Lyn Bauer (1993-1998; 1999)

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