Chacey Poynter: Witness to Murder | Full Episode

foreign [Music] call came in around 10 50 P.M it's a female hyperventilating [Music] and then the phone goes dead she's pinging on Kenner at 25.95 she's extremely out of breath she sounds like she's running that we got First Responders arriving to a unmaintained County Road 25.95 they don't know what they're getting into as they're going down this dark Road in the middle of the night 38 we're out with that female 25. they see a white female flagging them down and he's been shot in the head please is he okay I need to know if my husband is okay dispatch calls me on the cell phone said hey I think they need you out there on scene figure I'll make sure she's okay you want a little bit of oxygen help you out she was just frantic she had blood on her shoulder area and uh it's all over her leg and her shirt what's your name chasing Chasey Chasey what tell us what what happened and the g started rolling and I didn't see anything uh so I saw a shadow that's awesome no was it your husband what's his name Robert Robert Poyner yeah he's a firefighter just just breathe for me [Music] I arrived here right around midnight so we're walking up with our flashlights at this point on you can start making out a silhouette of somebody still in the Jeep the jeep was covered in blood there was no indication of a struggle he's the right he's around the corner we had a witness Tracy Poynter and if there was somebody loose you know at large that had killed her husband and I could see Robert and as soon as that that shot he slumped over into the passenger seat yeah I just wanted to be okay was he dead or alive he was dead this is a case about six lies money and murder [Music] all right [Music] thank you foreign [Music] [Music] the harrowing night of September 9th 2016 is forever etched in the memory of Chasey pointer calm yourself down it's something I can't get out of my head and when I walked up to him I yelled his name and I just felt something when she says her husband Robert Poynter a decorated fire department Captain was gunned down by a shadowy figure just feet away from her on this Rural Road in Royce City Texas you can see if you look below us Tire Treads from tractors deep ruts it's a true Farm Road detective Michael Burke photographed the scene they're not out of the murder they were still watering the ruts they were still muddy that was pretty rough it's not even a traveled Road it's for Farmers to use to make access to their fields that night Sergeant Shane Meek wondered how Chasey and her husband ended up on this broken road and questioned a breathless Chasey in the back of his squad car breathe for me Miss pointer calm down and breathe for me okay great fast like that you're not helping yourself okay slow breath Chasey says the couple planned to meet at a fast food restaurant for tacos I was gonna meet him at the Jack of the box I don't I don't ever take this road right what made you come down this one I missed my last one oh you do yeah okay no I I didn't I never never been down this road before she texted her husband what do you say to him told him uh that GPS said that I was three miles out Casey says while texting she got stuck [Applause] I called him after that I told him that my jeep was stuck and that I needed him to come help me as a fire captain Robert was used to coming to the rescue he rushed to her side I sat on the phone with him he drove out there [Music] why did he park there he told Jacey that the ruts were too deep and he wasn't going to be able to get his truck down here I met him almost all the way down to his truck and we walked back together and he went to go get my Jeep got on the driver's side as Chasey waited on the side of the road for Robert to back up she heard a gunshot I think I reacted to the sound it was Robert I jumped in the Jeep it was rolling very slowly I was holding his head in my left hand and I put the Jeep in part with my right hand and I just I was calling his name you could see his eyes I could just feel the blood foreign this was a clean assassination Robert unfortunately didn't have a clue what what happened to him the victim was sitting in the driver's seat he's got an entry wound approximately right here in the temple on the right side of it yes sir and the wadding from a shotgun shell was still in his skull and could you tell if that blast was was shot from forward of the vehicle or from behind it was hard to tell Chasey says as she ran for help she saw that shadowy figure there was a man there's a tall person that's all I know he's taller than me and what was he wearing a dark clothes designer did you see any type of firearm rifle or anything like it in his hand no while sympathetic Sergeant Meek was puzzled some guy just happened to be standing in the shadows of the trees to step out and shoot this guy point blank in the in the head where the gun just didn't make sense all right well give me a second my partners need to speak to me I'll be right back with you okay I was terrified I just watched my husband get shot and the man that did it was still out there but whoever that suspect was why would he want Robert Poynter dead Robert was a devoted public servant a career firefighter honestly it's one of those things you don't even believe in at first at the University Park Firehouse near Dallas where Robert spent 19 years as a firefighter and later a captain the pain of his loss is still raw for his buddies Jason Paul Earl and Mark but every day you still feel this absence yeah you still miss the man how could you not I think of bob every day I come up here it burns me up inside but every time I pass his locker I get choked up inside it makes me want to cry I'm about to cry now a firefighter with the touch of a gentle giant my last fire was Bob this little girl she was crying Bob took the time covered her and tell her we were all okay and everything was fine and that's the way Bob always was not just that little girl his girls his girls were number one on his list always always how much help he needed he was always there Robert Poynter had three daughters a six and a half year old with Chasey and from his first marriage Natalie and Nicole the things she missed the most are the simple things like being able to call him being able to see him and hug him you know back in 2008 his 20-year marriage to their mother Amy Poynter his high school sweetheart began to unravel signs started showing up that something was amiss he was shorter with conversations he wasn't home as much there were excuses when he was gone then Nicole discovered her dad had a second cell phone that was the initial realization that there was somebody else and eventually this other woman you learn her name it was Chasey Tyler Moorman Chasey was a 20 year old working as a nurse aide she was introduced to Robert through a mutual friend from the first moment that I ever met him in person we were never apart after that what was his marital status as far as I knew he was separated from one understand she continued to go up to the station to kind of let him know that she was interested and did that quite often she pursued Bob she pursued Bob we'd been married 20 years and here's a young girl that's giving him attention and I just think that she continued to try and you know fill any need and be there we started seeing each other in December of 2007 and I I was pregnant by May of 2009. Robert and Chasey were married on December 28 2009 she was 22. he was 40. I knew I wanted to marry him what is it about Robert that you fell in love with he's goofy he would just make me laugh but almost seven years later Chasey says the couples love faded and that night in the squad car Chasey decided to share her frustrations stupid when we got married I didn't want to be married anymore foreign we've been we've been having problems I was coming to meet him at the Jack In The Box so we could talk what do you all fight over my doctor he's trying to take my daughter away from me just over an hour after Chasey Poynter held her husband's bloodied head in her hands she kept giving Sergeant Meek details not of the shooting we're trying to work on it but of the state of her marriage why would he try to take your daughter away like what reason did he give you he knows that that's what's going to hurt me the most yeah her story kept adding all these different twists and turns and pieces of information that just weren't fitting in the place of the puzzle you're talking about marital problems at a time when your husband's body is still in the Jeep why did you go there I don't know Chasey says three years into their marriage the couple grew apart nothing really set it off we slept in separate bedrooms I never felt he loved me like he could have he loved his ex-wife alive and I felt like she still had a lot of him according to Chasey Robert had a temper he was taking testosterone and steroids to treat low testosterone levels and Chasey claims that made him violent there would just be times you know he would grab me by my hair um I could get thrown up against the wall this was verbal abuse and physical abuse is that right verbal mental physical Robert's ex-wife Amy doesn't buy it that is all made up and he did get on treatments he had normal testosterone for her to say that he had Roid Rage and all that that that just wasn't him so she's lying to me is what you're saying yes I am when Natalie was 16 she lived with her dad and Chasey for six months and never saw him become violent so it was useless to try to come to me and act like Dead with some kind of Beast did you ever see him slam chase you against a wall absolutely not Natalie and Nicole have told us that it never happened are they telling the truth no sir they've never really cared for me from the beginning I was the younger girl that came in and took their father Chasey believes she had a good reason for not reporting the alleged abuse to authorities you know I don't walk out and announce he's beating on me I'm not going to do that because it would jeopardize his job despite their problems Chasey says she tried to keep the spark alive in the marriage I don't mean to embarrass you with this but what is this from this was done before Robert I had a friend of mine who was a photographer and she did a Boudoir shoot for me he wasn't attracted to me after I lost all the weight he he liked me when I was heavier over a two-year span Chasey transformed her body the first picture is December probably about 2013. uh the second picture was December 2015. I lost a total of 104 pounds I got up every morning ran strict diet worked out I pushed myself pretty hard Chasey admits she began seeing other men a lot of men when I dropped the weight I didn't hide in his shadow anymore you had confidence correct I started meeting people you know I was going out more I was doing things for myself Natalie accidentally found evidence on Chase's computer that her stepmother was cheating she had left to open on her Facebook and she was talking to Men on there that weren't dad what kind of conversations very sexual and gross Natalie says while her father pulled overnight shifts at the firehouse Chasey often snuck out for hours at a time leaving Natalie and her then four-year-old sister alone she was never wearing gym clothes but she always said she was going to the gym and often my little sister would wake up and she would cry and cry because she couldn't find her mom Natalie eventually Found the courage to tell her dad about Chase's cheating ways I will stand up for what I know what I believe in and that to me wasn't right you said what so I think Tracy's cheating on you deeply troubled Robert filed paperwork for divorce but ended up not following through he was trying to save the marriage he had already been divorced once he didn't want to lose his his third daughter and not be able to be with her all the time Robert installed a security camera next to the front door to try and catch Chasey cheating with one of her lovers then just 12 days before Robert's murder the doorbell rang as soon as that doorbell rang I was out that door telling him he had to go and off he runs and Robert knew correct I love him he's pain in the ass but I love him on the night of Robert's murder Sergeant Meek had a hunch that Chasey Poynter knew more than she was saying something just didn't sit right JC do you mind if I she was read right look up at me all right listen to me you have the right to remain silent anything you say Cannon will be used against you in a court of law how'd your friend's house but Chasey kept on talking better friends yeah revealing what she was up to before that fateful rendezvous with her husband whose house was that Michael Garza hanging out with someone named Michael Garza are you and Michael Garza dating or anything like that you have a relationship yes well then that red flag goes off did y'all have a date was it date night no we we just hung out wait we had sex obviously watch more of the police body camera [Music] okay what were you saying I'm sorry he's contacted an attorney to get a divorce and I was okay I was okay with that we've been married six years almost seven years investigators say the more Chasey pointer talked the more she seemed like a suspect than a grieving wife we we don't we don't meet up the hyperventilating's now stopped and she's gone into this stutter talking so I which leads me to believe that she does these pauses and so hi Tom to gather additional thoughts so are you thinking is this a performance yes sir it started seeming more and more that way and a performance with a recurring character Michael Garza I was at Michael's house at Michael's house and what tell me his name again I'm sorry Michael Garza Michael Gardner yes y'all have a relationship yes yes yes Michael Garza who is he he was a place that I would go to to vent and and I loved him for that Chase he began having an affair with Michael Garza after meeting him on Facebook in the summer of 2016. this selfie captured one intimate moment it was something I felt guilty about Robert shared his frustrations about Chasey with his buddies at the firehouse and I told him hey you just got to cut your losses divorce sucks but you're miserable and he said yeah you're right you're right but I'm invested those are the exact words I'm invested in this Robert was hopeful the marriage could be saved he took Chasey and their daughter to Mexico on vacation but it backfired we fought he thought I was on the phone with somebody else it upset him it was the Wednesday that Bob had come home from Mexico he said the trip wasn't good he said I just can't do this anymore and when did he die that's right not long after Chasey told Sergeant Meek about the affair with Michael Garza I'll be transporting the female to Royse City police department she was driven downtown to be questioned by detective Michael Burke let me get this door let's have to sit right there the interrogation started at 2 20 in the morning [Music] it lasted eight hours I love them I I really do love them we've had a lot of issues in our marriage among those issues her affair with Garza Michael and I ended up having sex while I was there and she gave more detail about Robert's murder right to the front line maybe I could see dark clothes that's it I don't know as a white like I don't know anything somebody for what you're saying shoots your husband cold-blooded murder and just let you run away there was someone sitting there when somebody comes out to murder a random stranger you know a big red flag is that they don't let a witness go and that suggested what to you suggested she might have known the killer look the way your husband was killed somebody was right next to him detective Burke pressed her I think you're full of crap I don't know who pulled the trigger see I think you do and that's the problem no I don't two hours into the interrogation detective Burke broke through [Music] you say that letter for me please [Music] Mikey as in Michael Garson instead of passenger side now cornered Chasey changed her entire story she says she told Garza about Robert's alleged anger issues [Music] like boys Chasey told 48 Hours Garza rode with her that night the plan was to confront Robert outside the Jack-in-the-Box and demand leave Chasey alone did you see him put a shotgun in your vehicle yes sir you never saw a shotgun no sir how can that be true I was on my phone Garza tells me make a right onto County Road 25.95 I've been asking what was going on he said he's going to meet us here Chasey now claims it was Garza setting a trap he told me to take my Jeep back up around the first corner and let Robert know that my jeep was stuck and I need him to come help me you had to tell Robert something to get him to come to the location right yes sir but my Jeep wasn't stuck when Robert arrived she noticed something kind of touching he wore the cologne that he wore on our wedding day and he hadn't worn it since and I made a joke about it and he laughed Robert could never have imagined that he was just moments away from death as I was walking to the Jeep I said stop who are you yelling stop to to Garza but why would you have shouted that way if this was just going to be a conversation between two men isn't that indicative that you shouted stop because that meant don't shoot him no I didn't at that point I didn't want him to even talk to Robert at that moment sorry at that time there was a gunshot foreign did Garza say anything to you nothing until after I called 9-1-1 did he run up to me and he took my phone from me when he threw it down on the ground prosecutor Jeff Kovach doesn't buy any of it the question is which one of those stories does she want us to believe heard him scare him or just have a talking to none of them are credible investigators believed that you were luring your husband to this remote area so he could be murdered there was no plan to to bring him out and murder him there was no talk of that [Music] on September 10th the morning after her husband's murder Casey Poynter was arrested for conspiracy to commit murder the couple's daughter would stay with Chase's mother did you conspire to have your husband murdered no sir you're telling me that you are speaking the truth yes sir investigators then set out to find the man who allegedly shot Robert Poynter but Michael Garza the truck driver had hit the road [Music] [Music] the funeral is absolutely beautiful it was very ceremonial on September 15 2016 just five days after his wife was charged in his death Captain Robert Poynter was laid to rest we had guards guarding his urn his ashes the entire time Firefox from All Over Texas honored him did the Fireman's Prayer [Music] when duty calls me oh Lord wherever Flames May rage give me the strength to save some life whatever be its age I remember trying to hold it all together and then when I lost it it's when we walked out other fire stations and police came in and they lined from the church all the way to the fire station I remember the bagpipes painful one of the hardest things is they give the last call for Robert Poyner you still think that person's still there somewhere that this couldn't have happened that's the thing with Bob you always had this underlying feeling that even if he had a walk through fire somehow that man would make it through Amy Says in the lastest days of his life Robert was finally ready to walk away from Chasey it was kind of beaten down he was tired where he was just ready you know to get a divorce I think she knew he was ready to move on investigators say just the day before he was gunned down Robert had reached out to a divorce attorney on Facebook sending this provocative message I'm thinking of a surprise attack he said something to her about a surprise attack on me he had contacted a realtor said he was going to put the house up for sale he was going to have custody of our daughter the next day he is killed do you think that's just a coincidence that's not a coincidence that's why the murder happened when the murder happened what was the attraction for Chasey with your dad was it Love or Money Money Natalie says Chasey had convinced her father to change his almost 685 thousand dollar life insurance policy instead of the girls getting the money Chasey was made the primary beneficiary we believe that was the motive that she saw him as an ATM machine and he was going to milk the last little bit of money she could get out of him prosecutor Calvin Grogan says investigators discovered a mountain of digital evidence there were plenty of text messages after the life insurance beneficiary designation change occurred in April indicating that Chasey Poynter was looking for somebody that would take care of Robert and many of those techs more than ten thousand were between Chasey and her lovers she's having affairs with multiple men Danny Mims Brad golden Sean butcher Michael Garza prosecutors believe Chasey began grooming Garza for murder convincing him that Robert was an imminent threat she used sex to manipulate men she's not going to come right out so I hate when you kill my husband for me Stacy pointers plays the victim and then she uses that to manipulate people and so she told all of these men that she's just abused battered woman she texted Garza from that Mexican vacation where the couple was to reconcile quote he's coming after me sooner or later Garza answers F him no I will shot that dude it's Michael Garza talking about murdering your husband I didn't think he was serious I didn't want him involved I told him that I'm telling you man this girl is good this is Brad golden she would be in my house every day every day he's the lover caught on the security camera video says Chasey manipulated him I never even suspected suspected more never should have been married she had told me she'd been divorced since 2014. Brad says Chasey told him horror stories about Robert She always told me the reviews of turf I don't know she was trying to give me to feel sorry for her and I just wasn't falling for it or whatever because I kept trying to geared to me you know were you ever able to collaborate any of her story of abuse we spoke to neighbors we spoke to friends I mean there was no evidence to support it at all Chasey had made allegations about Robert's anger issues to ex-lovers Sean Butcher and Danny Mims who she often texted eight days prior to the murder I wish he'd run out of air in a fire moving back to July 11th I need him gone gone g-o-n-e all capitalized Danny Mims replies I'm not a magician Chasey answers well I need one did you want him dead no I was upset Sean butcher says to Chasey what do you need to leave Tracy Poynter says I would be better off with him gone benefits and can't lose custody investigators have said you were going from person to person to try to find someone who would kill your husband I wasn't the day before the murder it's from Chasey de garz I've made up my mind what do you think she's made up her mind about I think it's pretty clear it's about killing Robert Poynter with Michael Garza on the run a SWAT team raided his house [Music] coming up empty but the next day Garza turned himself in and he was charged with Robert poynter's murder he did not want to speak to us only wanted to speak to his attorney and that's as far as we got with their two suspects now Behind Bars investigators hope to find direct evidence linking Garza to the murder five weeks later that evidence would come from a farmer and I believe I found the shotgun who Unearthed the murder weapon while plowing this field less than a quarter mile from where Robert was shot that shotgun was still loaded the shell hadn't been ejected okay and there's two more uh in the magazine and they're all man killing slugs consistent with what the medical examiner said when she used to kill Robert Poynter we did a a search on the firearm Mossberg 835 ultimatic I came back to Matthew Garza Michael Garza's brother police now had what they needed Michael Garza would be the first to face trial Michael Garza just happened to be the person that was in Chase's life at the right time and all it really took for Chase is to basically just dangle the debate [Music] do you think Chasey intended to scare her husband or kill him chat now with the 48 Hours team on Facebook and Twitter [Music] and then when I was up there was nobody there okay I'm crazy from her bizarre performance the night her husband was murdered to her confession about her lover Michael Garza Michael was gonna shoot he was gonna do it investigators were convinced Chasey Poynter was determined to have her husband killed that night he's around the corner investigators believe you knew about the mission planned the mission to murder your husband for money that's what they say and look at me they're right aren't they no sir on July 10 2018 the prosecution put the alleged trigger man Michael Garza on trial he had pleaded not guilty when Garza took the stand he made a shattering announcement implicating Chasey he says that he gave her his brother because he thought that she was abused he implied that she did it Garza told the court he couldn't have murdered Robert Poynter because he was tending to a sick animal on the Family Farm his Alibi is that he was tended to Oreo the cow while this whole murder was going on the jury didn't find Garza's Alibi credible I actually do believe that his testimony helped us on July 20th Michael Garza was found guilty and sentenced to 99 years in prison foreign it was a huge step forward but it also felt like the real battle had just begun the pointer family now focused on chasing in my mind she's always pulled the trigger because she was the instigator of all of it what were you thinking going into trial I was very hopeful prosecutors were hopeful too that they would prove Chasey wanted Robert's money and that she was The Mastermind there's no way Michael Garza was ever going to get Robert Poyner out on that road alone only Chase he could do that and she played her part well using Chase's texts prosecutors demonstrated that her alleged love for Michael Garza was really a Sinister ploy he is upon he's the dumb idiot she got to do this in fact Garza didn't know that after he she shot Robert Chasey planned on spending the night with another lover she was texting Brad golden while she's out there committing this Murder She had sex with Brad gold that morning they still planned to meet up that night what the heck is going on I don't know my life was out of control chasey's defense attorneys Scott cornod and Frank Hughes say the state's obsession with Chase's Affairs tainted the jury Tracy have an Affairs has nothing to do with murder it just demonizes her Chasey pointer is not guilty of murder she's guilty of being negligent because she should have anticipated that this Thug Garza would commit a murder to get to her calling 9-1-1 is probably the strongest point that we have in her defense no one who planned to kill someone would shoot them and call 9-1-1 but the prosecutors argued at the sight of her dead husband Chasey had a moment of Cheers it's one thing to talk about killing somebody it's another thing to go through with it while Chasey chose not to take the stand jurors did hear her speak he knew that I was seeing someone through those recorded police videos I didn't want to be married anymore one that captured this revealing moment at the end of her two-week trial the jury began its deliberations we waited for a while hour two hour three hours went by after the fourth hour hey okay they have a verdict okay Chasey Poynter was found guilty of murder I cried and I'm relieved they got it that they saw who she really was she met him and she walked him to his death smiling and giggling talking about tacos and cologne she's evil [Music] Chasey told me that you always had Robert's heart I think that's true she took away all choice of anybody of having any relationship or any you know future with him this is his bunker gear having it is almost like having part of his presence which is comforting in a way and uh painful in another how do you want your father to be remembered he really was what he was Jen he was kind [Music] he was rare we were lucky to have him [Music] this is Injustice true Redemption and remorse comes from telling the truth isn't the time you did that he wasn't supposed to die [Music] Anton's Chasey pointer to life in prison with the possibility of parole in 30 years are your tears now tears of what you did to your own life or tears of what you did to him that's both [Music] Robert poynter's life insurance benefits were split among his three daughters JC's mother and stepfather share custody of the couple's daughter with Robert poynter's parents I was nine years old my whole family was gone I had just lost everything no one should have seen what we saw that morning 13 years later a stunning arrest I believe he killed his family and then was able to go to the prom 48 hours Saturday at 10 9 Central on CBS CBS News original reporting [Music]

Channel: 48 Hours

Views: 4,909,995

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Id: KHroaY9Hy_s

Length: 41min 47sec (2507 seconds)

Published: Tue Dec 13 2022