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Fireman’s Marriage Went Up In Flames (Meet Marry Murder with Michelle Trachtenberg)

October 27, 2022 / 38:33

This episode covers the murder of Fire Captain Robert Poynter, the role of his wife Chacey Tyler Morman, and the investigation that followed. Michelle Trachtenberg narrates the story, detailing the events leading up to the murder, the manipulative behavior of Chacey, and the aftermath of Bob's death.

Michelle discusses the background of Robert Poynter, a respected firefighter from Royse City, Texas, and his tumultuous marriage to Chacey. After an affair led to their marriage, Chacey's manipulative nature and financial motivations became apparent, culminating in a plot to murder Bob.

Chacey's relationship with Michael Garza, who ultimately carried out the murder, is explored. The episode highlights how Chacey lured Bob to a secluded area under false pretenses, leading to his tragic death.

The investigation revealed Chacey's deceitful behavior and her attempts to portray herself as a victim. Despite her claims of innocence, evidence pointed to her as the mastermind behind the murder.

Ultimately, Chacey was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to life in prison. The episode concludes with a reflection on Bob Poynter's legacy as a hero and the tragic outcome of his marriage.

TLDR

Chacey Poynter plotted and executed the murder of her husband, Fire Captain Robert Poynter, for financial gain.

Episode

38:33
00:00:09
MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG: A remote dirt road. A desperate 911 call. [phone ringing]
00:00:15
[sobbing and heavy breathing] MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG: And a killer waiting in the darkness.
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I think when she had him change the life insurance to make her the primary 100% beneficiary,
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his days were numbered at that point. MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG: The victim is Fire Captain Robert Poynter.
00:00:49
But who would want to murder a heroic first responder. The loving father of three daughters.
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Could his wife be responsible? I got a phone call from my Battalion Chief and he just said, hey, you know, we just need to let
00:01:06
you know man that Bob's dead. And my first reaction, in my head, was, she killed him didn't she?
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MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG: If so, why would she do it? If I could sum this case up in one sentence
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I would say this was a case about sex, lies, money and murder. We've been having problems.
00:01:30
Where I was coming to meet him at the Jack in the Box so we could talk. MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG: Nearly half
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of the women who are murdered are killed by their partners. But men are also increasingly victims of domestic homicide.
00:01:45
Are you sure the person lying next to you in bed would never hurt you? If not, you might have to pay more attention.
00:01:54
I'm Michelle Trachtenberg, and it's time for another tale of Meet Marry Murder. MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG: Captain Robert Poynter
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is a true American hero. A beloved family man, so admired by friends and colleagues
00:02:22
alike, that he was called a gentle giant. He was a-- I would say, a true firefighter's firefighter.
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I mean, he loved doing that. He was always calm. He was never, never get worked up, has never raised his voice.
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And, so he was, he just knew exactly what he was doing at all times. MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG: Tales of Robert's humble heroism
00:02:56
were well known in his hometown of Royse City, Texas. It was a Six Alarm fire, the biggest
00:03:03
fire in our city's history. And there was a little girl, I don't know how old she was, five or six, little blonde headed girl.
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And she was scared and she was crying. And Bob noticed. And there's a picture of him and he's sweating, he's hot.
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And he's bending down, and he's hugging the little girl, who he didn't even know.
00:03:27
Just letting her know, hey, we're fine, everybody's OK, we're safe. And, that's who he was.
00:03:35
MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG: Robert, otherwise known as Bob, met his first wife Amy back in high school.
00:03:40
Bob's, just, you know, a good guy. He has married his childhood sweetheart, Amy.
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After 20 years of marriage and two daughters, Nicole and Natalie, Bob and Amy were ready to call it quits.
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Man, he loved his girls. He would literally work his fingers to the bone for those girls.
00:04:05
He would take every opportunity he could to work extra jobs, to work extra hours, to work overtime,
00:04:13
to do whatever he could to earn money. And that money was always for his girls. MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG: By 2008, Bob and Amy's marriage
00:04:23
was all but over. The final nail in the coffin was Nicole's discovery that her dad had a secret cell phone,
00:04:31
and was having an affair. Nicole tells mom that dad's having an affair with this other woman.
00:04:38
MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG: Bob had started dating Chacey Tyler Morman back in December 2007.
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She was younger than his wife, not much older than his daughters actually. Chacey Tyler Morman is a 20-year-old nurse's aide.
00:04:52
And she's a flirt. She's been hanging around Bob's fire station. Checks to see when Bob's going to be there.
00:04:59
Make sure that he sees her, and little by little, she worms her way into his life.
00:05:05
She was younger. And she told him things he wanted to hear. And so, I think, she knew exactly what she was doing,
00:05:13
you know. She was the one that pursued him. And she really, really pushed it. Unfortunately, you know, Bob, he just he took it all in.
00:05:29
To me, the big thing about this case, is what a manipulative person Chacey Poynter was.
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I've never seen anything like it. MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG: Brian Frederick, a criminologist,
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and expert on the Chacey Poynter story, believes that Chacey saw Bob as something of a challenge.
00:05:47
So once Chacey Poynter set her sights on him, all bets are off. The fact that he was married, and maybe unavailable,
00:05:58
was sort of a game for her. You know, and if she could get him away from his wife,
00:06:04
that would be a true test of her ability to have some sort of control over him. MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG: Chacey was
00:06:08
able to get enough control over Bob to convince him to divorce Amy. And by May 2009, to start a new family with her.
00:06:17
December 28, 2009, Chacey and Bob get married. They've been seeing each other now for two years
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and now they have a little child together. MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG: According to experts,
00:06:27
the speed at which Bob and Chacey's relationship progressed, commonly leads to big problems later on.
00:06:34
Chacey and Robert didn't have the most ideal start to their relationship. They started off as an affair, she got pregnant very quickly.
00:06:41
And I think that really locked down the relationship much faster than, maybe, both of them
00:06:45
were intending. So what had started out as a fun fling, really, turned into a huge responsibility
00:06:52
on both their parts. MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG: Having a new young wife quickly proved to be a drain on Bob's bank account too.
00:06:59
She was a very manipulative person. A very materialistic person. I mean, when you looked at her text messages, with Robert,
00:07:09
it was one big purchase or vacation to the next. That's how she seemed to live. What's my next big purchase?
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What's my next vacation? That's kind of how she lives. MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG: Bob soon realized that there was
00:07:24
a lot more to Chacey than just being manipulative and materialistic. Unfortunately, none of it was good.
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She had real bad mood swings. She would come, sometimes, and she would be smiling.
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And then, the next thing you know, they would be in the offices, and she'd be screaming at him.
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MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG: Compared to Bob's first marriage-- which did last 20 years, his second marriage to Chacey,
00:07:53
was on the rocks from almost the very beginning. So just how dangerous, and manipulative,
00:08:00
was Chacey Poynter? Well, you're about to find out. There was-- there was a loud shot.
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I had my phone in my back pocket. And I called-- I called-- I-- I just-- I-- I ran.
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I didn't know what else to do. [music playing] MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG: Before marrying
00:08:29
his much younger second wife, Bob Poynter got her to sign a prenup agreement. Which makes you wonder, did he already suspect that she
00:08:39
had an ulterior motive? It gives you the indication that, perhaps, Robert didn't fully trust Chacey.
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After all, he didn't really know her very well at the time that they were getting married.
00:08:50
And perhaps, he just wanted to safeguard his assets, in case she wasn't very sincere about her actual love for him.
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MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG: Bob and Chacey's prenup stipulated that in the event of divorce,
00:09:02
Bob's money would be split between his three daughters. But Chacey, she wouldn't be entitled to a single dime.
00:09:11
I believe that it was totally about the money. MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG: Knowing that her prenup was ironclad,
00:09:17
Chacey persuaded Bob to take out a fat life insurance policy, just in case. There was a life insurance policy.
00:09:25
A $680,000 life insurance policy that Bob had. And Chacey had talked him into changing it
00:09:35
so that instead of his daughters, she would be the primary beneficiary. MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG: Beneficiary, or no, by 2010,
00:09:44
Chacey knew that her marriage was headed for stormy waters. About three years into that marriage
00:09:51
things start falling apart. It was pretty evident that there were problems. You could see it.
00:09:59
And on phone conversations, conversations they would have at the fire station. She was sometimes really loud and she would call him
00:10:12
every name in the book when they would get into arguments about stuff. So, it was, you know, like I said very evident
00:10:19
that they were having issues. MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG: All of a sudden, Chacey's wild side
00:10:24
started to kick back in. She lost a bunch of weight. A fact, which was not lost on Bob.
00:10:30
She says, Bob doesn't find her as attractive anymore. But Chacey has this newfound confidence.
00:10:37
And she starts hitting the bars, and the nightclubs, going out and meeting men. Chacey Poynter lost a lot of weight.
00:10:44
And she started getting attention from all these other men. So, she starts meeting a lot of men,
00:10:56
and not just meeting them, but she's hooking up with them. She was, just from knowing how, you know, from the stories
00:11:04
that I heard from Bob, she was always, always about her first. It was always about her first.
00:11:15
MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG: In fact, Chacey, was so all about Chacey, that she'd leave even her four-year-old daughter with Bob's daughter,
00:11:22
Natalie, to go out on dates. And she's so bold that she actually has Natalie stay
00:11:28
at home to babysit the four-year-old child, while she goes out cheating on her dad.
00:11:35
Chacey didn't seem to have too much concern about being caught. And that could be because she was just brazen,
00:11:41
or because, she was want to be caught. But she would do things, like, leave her Facebook open with messages, that
00:11:51
could easily be read by anyone. MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG: But as hurt as he was, Bob was still trying to hold his marriage to Chacey together.
00:12:00
Well, Bob is obviously devastated. He had gone through a divorce before, and he did not want to go through that again.
00:12:11
And it was all because of his daughter. You know, he did not want to hurt her that way.
00:12:17
And, so, he expressed that to me a lot. He did not want to leave her. No matter what, he did not want to leave that baby girl of his.
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MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG: In a last ditch effort to save his marriage, Bob even books
00:12:31
a romantic getaway, in the hope of making things right with Chacey. Robert had found out that Chacey
00:12:38
had been cheating on him a few days prior to the vacation. But they went down there anyway to try to, you know,
00:12:44
work things out one last time. And from what we could tell, it just didn't go very well at all.
00:12:49
She was texting two of her different men that she was having affairs with, constantly,
00:12:54
over this time period. So it appears, whatever they wanted to accomplish, or Robert at least wanted to accomplish in Mexico,
00:13:01
did not happen. So it doesn't appear to have been a very successful, from his point of view,
00:13:07
vacation in bringing the family back together. He called me the day they got back.
00:13:14
And he told me then, he's like, that's it. When he called me, you know, I just said, hey,
00:13:20
how's it going brother? And he said, not good. You know that's it, I'm contacting my lawyer.
00:13:27
Bob didn't seem really sure where his relationship was going in September. He emailed his divorce attorney, at the same time
00:13:35
he was text messaging Chacey, trying to find out if they could talk and get together and reconcile.
00:13:41
He files for divorce, but he doesn't actually go through with it. MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG: While Bob may have been waffling
00:13:47
on getting Chacey to sign the divorce papers, Chacey knew, exactly, what she wanted to get from Bob.
00:13:53
And I don't believe she wanted to be with Robert Poynter. But Robert Poynter made very good money.
00:13:58
Made over $100,000 a year as a Captain with the University Fire Department, he worked a lot of overtime.
00:14:04
He'd bought her a lot of nice things, let her redo the houses, like she went bought her a jeep,
00:14:09
she wanted to get breast enhancements. So she became accustomed to that lifestyle
00:14:14
that he could provide for her. MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG: Caught between wanting to leave Bob,
00:14:19
but needing to stay for his money, Chacey had a tough decision to make. She stood to gain a lot of money if Bob were dead.
00:14:28
On the other hand, if they were to divorce she'd be penniless. MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG: That's about the time
00:14:33
Chacey decided to end her marriage, permanently. I believe she'd been planning this murder for a while.
00:14:39
MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG: During the summer of 2016, Chacey's extracurricular love life, suddenly,
00:14:45
got very active. She was having multiple affairs. There were four different affairs
00:14:50
that had gone on, that we know of, within the last 12 months. MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG: As a criminologist,
00:14:57
Dr. Brian Frederick's specialty is in intimate partner violence. So psychopaths are known for being sexually promiscuous.
00:15:06
And, you know, it's probably not a requirement that they be attractive, right. But, you know, she did have sort of this femininity about her.
00:15:18
That she most likely used to her advantage, quite successfully. MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG: Chacey starts
00:15:24
telling each of her boyfriends that she wants Bob gone. She was running this con on multiple men
00:15:29
almost in an indiscriminate way. Kind of, like, just throwing anything at the wall
00:15:33
and seeing what would stick. So charm, lies, manipulation, these are all characteristics
00:15:40
of a psychopath. And she talks about wanting him dead in multiple of these text messages,
00:15:47
to all these different men. Now, most of them didn't take the bait, you know. They told her leave him, call the police,
00:15:53
the normal reactions that most people would have, if that were true. MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG: But Chacey didn't leave.
00:16:00
Instead, she pushed the lie that Bob was an abusive and violent husband. Chacey starts complaining that Bob is taking testosterone
00:16:10
and steroids, she says, because he's treating a low testosterone problem. And she says it's making him angry and abusive.
00:16:20
But it is very interesting that Chacey was already pinning these behaviors on Robert.
00:16:25
It's almost as if she was already building a case against why he was a horrible person,
00:16:30
and why she had to do away with him. MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG: Anyone who knew Bob, however,
00:16:34
also knew the abuse Chacey was accusing him of, couldn't possibly be true. Around this time, Bob's grown daughter, Natalie--
00:16:43
she's 16 at the time, moves in with them. And she lives there for about six months
00:16:49
and she says she never, in that time that she lived with them, ever saw any evidence
00:16:53
at all of any abuse. Chacey claimed that Robert was abusive towards her. And we found no evidence of that.
00:17:03
We talked to his ex-wife who said, Robert was a big old teddy bear. She did not act like a battered woman in any way
00:17:11
that we could find. There was never any phone calls to police. None of her friends got up on the witness stand
00:17:18
and testify to that. People who were friends testified the opposite, that Chacey was the dominant person
00:17:24
in this relationship MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG: Chacey's lies about Bob were about one thing, and one thing only,
00:17:31
hoping that one of her many nights in shining armor would come to her rescue. She had so many of them that she was bound to find one,
00:17:39
that was so wrapped up in her story, and who he thought she was. That he might have seen it as an opportunity to save
00:17:47
the person who he admired. I mean this is a Machiavellian trait cunning, manipulative, and unscrupulous.
00:17:56
MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG: Chacey had a plan. All she needed was a man. The question was, which one would
00:18:04
she be able to dupe into helping her murder her husband? POLICE OFFICER: Let me ask you this, OK?
00:18:10
And I need to be honest with me OK? Were you out here with anyone else, other than?
00:18:13
No. MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG: By 2016, Chacey Poynter was busy plotting the murder of her husband Bob.
00:18:33
But she had no intention of pulling the trigger herself. She believed a man named, Michael Glenn Garza,
00:18:41
would do it for her. In the summer of 2016, she met a guy named Michael Garza on Facebook, and then began a relationship.
00:18:48
Michael is just, he's bananas over her. He is madly in love with Chacey. Michael Garza is the one who took the bait.
00:18:57
So I think she was kind of baiting all of these men, to see who would tell her what she wanted to hear.
00:19:02
And then she finally found that in Michael Garza. MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG: Now that she
00:19:06
had a pawn willing to do her bidding, Chacey starts putting her plan into action.
00:19:11
She started to really trash Robert, to Michael. He was the type of guy-- he thought Chacey was the best thing
00:19:19
that he was ever going to get. And she was very manipulative with him. Well, Michael Garza hears this,
00:19:25
and you know he's very protective of Chacey. So, Chacey works that story. She puts this in his head.
00:19:34
Here's this bully of a husband, this brute, who's brutalizing this beautiful young woman.
00:19:40
MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG: But while Chacey is busy badmouthing Bob, Bob is still trying to patch things up with Chacey.
00:19:45
On September 8, 2016, the day before the murder, Bob texts Chacey and says, look, I think
00:19:55
we can really work this out. Let's try. Let's give this marriage a go. But on the same day, he contacts the divorce lawyer.
00:20:04
So he's covering his bases here. MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG: Chacey suspects Bob is hedging his bets.
00:20:10
So she decides to up the ante. No, and I think that what made her do it when she did it,
00:20:15
was finding out that, hey he's going to leave me. So that the window of opportunity
00:20:19
here is closing for me. MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG: After spending the day with her lover, Michael Garza, on the night
00:20:25
of September 9, 2016, Chacey sends her husband a message. Chacey texts Bob, and she says, yes Bob,
00:20:34
let's try to work this out. I think we can save this marriage but I really need to talk.
00:20:39
She says, I really love you Bob. I really do. And she's texting in all caps emphasizing that.
00:20:47
Over the next couple of hours she engages in these text messages with Bob. Kind of like a cat and mouse game.
00:20:54
And she's laying out this trap. Her plan was-- she told him we're going to meet up at Jack in the Box
00:20:59
in Royse City, for late night tacos. And that's something that they used to do when he was a fireman.
00:21:05
So he worked late hours, long hours. And he might come home late at night and he would bring home Jack in the Box tacos for her.
00:21:13
And then some more time goes by and she says, I'm almost there. The GPS says I'm three miles away.
00:21:20
15 minutes later Bob sends a text message and says, long three miles. All of this two hours worth of texting back and forth,
00:21:31
this little game of hers, she never had any intention of meeting Bob at a restaurant.
00:21:36
She's actually been having sex with Michael Garza all afternoon, all night, and they have a plan.
00:21:43
MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG: Finally, Chacey texts Bob to let him know where she'll be waiting for him.
00:21:47
So Chacey finally leaves Michael Garza's house, and she gets in her Jeep and she drives
00:21:52
out to this old dirt road, untamed road out in the sticks. She goes to this place on County Road 2595.
00:22:02
Which is very secluded area, it's not a regularly traveled road. Then she texts Bob and she says, Bob
00:22:08
my Jeep is stuck in the mud. Can you help me? So she knew that this damsel in distress tactic,
00:22:15
that this would, you know, cause some distress in him. And that she would be able to lure him to wherever she needed
00:22:20
him to be to get the job done. MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG: Without a second thought, Bob hops in his truck and heads out to help Chacey.
00:22:27
Well Bob's first responder instincts kick in right away, and he jumps in his truck and he heads out to rescue
00:22:33
his damsel in distress. He would just do it. I'm going to help. That's just how he was.
00:22:37
MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG: As Bob gets ready to turn off the highway onto the small country road,
00:22:41
Chacey is already there waiting for him. She walked him down that road. Hand in hand walked him down that road,
00:22:49
that distance, knowing what was coming for him. MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG: When Bob gets into Chacey's Jeep,
00:22:54
Michael Garza, is ready and waiting. He goes to climb in and boom. Michael Garza had been inside lying in wait with a shotgun.
00:23:04
And he blasted Robert in the temple. It was obviously a terrible, terrible thing that she
00:23:12
walked him to his death. That's what struck me is that, how evil it was that she
00:23:19
had no remorse for that. She just walked him hand in hand down there, where she knew what was coming for him.
00:23:26
MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG: Chacey then put the next part of her plan into action. Meanwhile Chacey is calling 9-1-1.
00:23:33
And she is just acting hysterical. Royse City Police Department got a phone call
00:23:40
around 10:45, 10:47 PM. It was a Friday night. Lady, they could barely hear anything, she's running,
00:23:53
they here her breathing heavily. They get a ping from the 9-1-1 where her cell phone is.
00:23:59
It's off County Road 2595. Which is just south of the Royse City High School. 9-1-1 OPERATOR: OK, calm down.
00:24:06
Where are you at? The county road doesn't even really appear to be a county road.
00:24:09
It looks more like a field. Their on scene less than three minutes. POLICE OFFICER: Ms. Poynter? - Yeah, yeah.
00:24:15
POLICE OFFICER: You OK? - Yeah. POLICE OFFICER: OK. I just, I keep seeing his face.
00:24:19
POLICE OFFICER: Right. Once they got there, they immediately made contact with her, and their body cameras were rolling.
00:24:26
Body cameras are used to record everything as it is. It removes interpretation, it removes I forgot I said this,
00:24:35
or I didn't say this I said that. So it's a silent witness that's always credible.
00:24:41
MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG: As the cops arrive, Chacey continues her drama show. That get out there and they say a woman.
00:24:46
She has blood on her, she's hyperventilating, saying that somebody shot her husband down the road.
00:24:53
We've been having problems. Where I was coming to meet him at the Jack in the Box so
00:24:58
we could talk. We used to stop and get tacos at Jack in the Box when he'd come home late from work.
00:25:07
When I went off the road, that's when I called him. And I said, I need you to come help me.
00:25:11
And he said, where are you? And I told him, I said, I'm on a dirt road. That's all I know, I don't know the numbers.
00:25:15
And so I-- Probably half a mile down the road, around a bend that is heavily wooded, and then, Robert Poynter
00:25:22
was sitting there, in a Jeep, Chacey Poynter's Jeep, with a shotgun blast to the head.
00:25:29
POLICE OFFICER: Breathe for me Ms. Poynter. Calm down and breathe for me. OK? I got some questions.
00:25:34
I'm trying to fill in some holes, OK? OK. POLICE OFFICER: Have you ever been out here before?
00:25:38
No. I never, I've never been out here before. POLICE OFFICER: Only tonight? Right now?
00:25:42
Yes. POLICE OFFICER: Right now ton-- The body cam footage is quite powerful. It shows her panting, and nervous,
00:25:49
and every emotion that she has. If you see the video of her in the back of the ambulance,
00:25:57
in the back of the police car, you know, she was-- she thought she was really good at acting.
00:26:04
And she would turn those emotions off and on at will. There was, there was, there was a loud shot.
00:26:13
And the Jeep started rolling, and I didn't see anything, and I thought I saw a shadow.
00:26:17
I ran. I didn't know what else to do. I think Chacey was emulating what she believed a grieving
00:26:24
wife would look like. And she basically, in a very superficial way, presented what she thought other people should expect of her.
00:26:33
MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG: As Chacey continues her act, the officers on scene start trying to piece
00:26:37
together exactly what happened. And she tells this, this bizarre story. She claims that she-- her truck got stuck in the mud.
00:26:46
And that her husband came out to rescue her. And all of a sudden, out of nowhere,
00:26:52
this guy comes out with a gun and shoots him. It isn't adding up. It doesn't make any sense.
00:26:57
Of course it's a lot easier to manipulate a man you're having sex with than law enforcement.
00:27:02
This type of behavior is often seen with individuals who we sometimes label as psychopaths.
00:27:07
That they have this shallow emotion that they display to others, but it's only used as a way
00:27:12
to get to their goal. It's interesting when people manufacture stories, they don't know how to fake their emotions
00:27:21
at the right time. If they're supposed to be outraged, it has to happen during a certain point
00:27:30
in the conversation. They don't feel these feelings. It's not genuine. But they, kind of, know how to pretend to look like you have
00:27:38
the feelings of a person who might actually care about her loved ones. And, she basically did it to the best of her ability,
00:27:46
but it was way over the top. And if they're supposed to be sad, there's a certain thing that would trigger
00:27:52
an uncontrollable response. All these things have to line up. You almost have to listen to the story and match those things up
00:27:59
to find out if they're actually on point. MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG: Even knowing that Chacey's insane
00:28:06
story about Bob's murder makes no sense, police still need evidence before they're
00:28:11
able to charge her, and they're about to get it. I got a phone call from my Battalion Chief
00:28:18
and he just said, hey, you know, I just needed to let you know man, that Bob's dead.
00:28:27
And my first reaction in my head was she killed him, didn't she? MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG: Bob Poynter
00:28:48
was a well-respected firefighter and family man in his small community just outside of Dallas, Texas.
00:28:55
So when word got out that he'd been murdered, the loss seemed to be felt by everyone.
00:29:02
His funeral on September 15, 2016, was very emotional, and very beautiful. It was attended by his fellow firefighters
00:29:14
from the University Park Fire Department. As well as firefighters, and police officers,
00:29:21
from all over the state of Texas. I don't even know how to describe it. It was-- I'd never been to a firefighter funeral.
00:29:31
Just, you know all the bagpipes, and the other firemen, and police officers, you know from the surrounding
00:29:39
communities coming. And just seeing his family, his mom, who is one of the sweetest
00:29:50
ladies ever. And watching the distress on her face, and his daughters. It was the worst day in my time there, 20 years, so.
00:30:17
I was his Lieutenant for several years and the first fire we ever fought together he grabbed me by the shoulders
00:30:26
like, hey we got this bro. And that was his thing. He said that all the time. And so if you go to our fire station,
00:30:33
right now there's a flag hanging on the wall, and below it is that, we got this bro.
00:30:40
MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG: After the dust settled on Bob's funeral, it wasn't hard to figure out who the number
00:30:45
one suspect was in his murder. She was the beneficiary of his life insurance policy,
00:30:50
which was worth over $600,000. She would have got a pension, on top of that, a survivor benefit pension.
00:30:57
All the assets, I mean, it was worth probably, close to $1 million in total assets that she would have got.
00:31:04
MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG: Not only that, but Chacey also knew she'd probably lose custody of her daughter
00:31:09
if she and Bob got a divorce. She knew that she was fixing to lose everything. She knew he had all the cards and so she wanted
00:31:22
that life insurance money. She wanted that money and she wanted the baby girl. MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG: The crazy story that Chacey told police
00:31:30
the night of Bob's murder, that a mysterious killer stalking Country Road 2595 had shot Bob in the face with a shotgun,
00:31:39
wasn't helping her case either. It isn't adding up to cops. So they take Chacey in for questioning.
00:31:47
MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG: Under the harsh interrogation room lights, Chacey's bizarre account of Bob's murder
00:31:53
starts falling apart. She was taken to the police station about 2:00 in the morning.
00:31:58
When she got there, her story changed pretty quickly. Now she finally admits she knows who the shooter was.
00:32:05
It was Michael Garza, it was her boyfriend Then she admitted to her affair with Michael Garza.
00:32:12
Admitted that they had had sex with day of the murder. And said, I don't know, maybe he did this.
00:32:18
MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG: Even after outing Garza as Bob's murderer, Chacey insists
00:32:22
she never meant for Bob to die. But the more Chacey talks, the more it seems, like that isn't actually true.
00:32:29
But then she admitted to a plan of what they were going to do after the fact, which was going to be to burn
00:32:35
the truck that he was in. Michael Garza was going to have to leave the state for a while,
00:32:42
lay low. So she changed it multiple times throughout the interview. She was trying to do what she always did,
00:32:50
which is, save her own skin. It's not a surprise to me that she would say and do anything
00:32:55
to try to keep herself from going to prison for the rest of her life. MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG: At this point,
00:33:03
the investigators are pretty much on the same page. But when you look at the text messages
00:33:09
it's pretty clear that she was the one who initiated this. That she wanted it to happen.
00:33:15
And she wanted it to happen quick. The very next morning she was arrested. Officers, obviously, didn't believe her story.
00:33:23
MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG: Meanwhile, as Chacey is being held at the police station,
00:33:26
Michael Garza is still on the loose. Garza was a truck driver and he immediately went on the run.
00:33:33
But after he found out that SWAT team had raided his home, he turned himself in.
00:33:39
So police still need some hard evidence to connect Michael Garza to the murder. And then five weeks later, they get it.
00:33:48
A farmer finds a shotgun out in his field. We had his Facebook photo-- which he quickly took down,
00:33:55
but we got it before we did, of him holding that shotgun. So for Michael Garza's case it was a big piece of evidence.
00:34:02
We also found shotgun shells that were fired by that shotgun on Michael Garza's front porch,
00:34:07
in the flowerbed around it. So for him, it was a big piece of evidence. MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG: Now that he's
00:34:12
seemingly been caught red handed, Garza turns on Chacey. Claiming it was actually her who killed Bob.
00:34:18
Whenever you have these types of cases where two people worked together to commit a murder,
00:34:24
they're going to point the finger at each other. It's all that other person's fault.
00:34:27
And he actually tried to put the blame on Chacey, as she was doing to him. So these two lovers are pointing fingers at one another,
00:34:35
trying to get themselves off the hook. MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG: The investigation into Bob Poynter's murder not only exposed Chacey's plot
00:34:42
to cash in on his life insurance, it is also revealed just how deep her cheating went.
00:34:48
The very night that Chacey was having her husband, Bob, killed, she was actually texting with another lover.
00:34:57
And planning to hook up with him later that night. This was just a classic tale of, you know, sex, lies, and greed.
00:35:05
When she found out that he was going to get a divorce, her answer if she had killed him,
00:35:11
she would have had all that money, you know, close to $1 million in total assets.
00:35:17
So she would have been able to maintain the lifestyle that she liked. And she would have got rid of Robert Poynter.
00:35:23
MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG: Chacey was charged with capital murder and went to trial in April 2017.
00:35:29
We felt that the case was very strong against Chacey Poynter. We had her at the scene of the crime.
00:35:36
We had her text messages where they're talking about getting rid of Robert Poynter.
00:35:42
And then we had her statement to law enforcement. So I felt fairly good about that case.
00:35:47
MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG: After being found guilty of Bob Poynter's murder, Chacey was sentenced
00:35:52
to life, without the possibility of parole, for at least 30 years. I believe she was the most culpable person here.
00:36:01
Michael Garza was the person she found to do this, but she was the driving force behind this murder.
00:36:07
I would have been completely happy with the death penalty for both of them. They didn't give him that option of life.
00:36:13
So in my head was, you know it would have been fine with me if they got that too.
00:36:20
MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG: The money from Bob's life insurance ended up going to his three daughters.
00:36:25
When you talk to her family members, they didn't seem surprised that she did this.
00:36:31
I think that says something. They knew from a young age that she was an awful person.
00:36:35
She might be in that sociopath category, just couldn't feel anything for anybody but herself.
00:36:41
And she was the biggest liar that I have ever seen at any 11 years of doing this.
00:36:46
And she was pretty good at it for a while. MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG: Today, Bob Poynter remains an All-American hero,
00:36:54
loved by all who knew him. He was a class act, a true brother in the fire service,
00:37:00
a great dad, and he's just a good man overall. And a good friend and I miss him every day.
00:37:11
MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG: When Bob Poynter made Chacey Tyler Morman his wife, he never could have predicted
00:37:16
the sweet and sassy blonde he fell in love with, would become a serial cheater. And she would eventually have him killed.
00:37:25
Yet another example, that the person you meet and marry, may one day become your murderer.
00:37:32
I am convinced that if Chacey Poynter had not been caught, that she probably would
00:37:37
have gone on to do this again. We'd be talking about a serial killer. MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG: I'm Michelle Trachtenberg,
00:37:42
and I'll see you next time on Meet Marry Murder. [drum music playing]

Badges

This episode stands out for the following:

  • 90
    Most shocking
  • 90
    Most unpredictable
  • 90
    Biggest twist
  • 85
    Most heartbreaking

Episode Highlights

  • The Descent into Darkness
    A loving father and firefighter's life takes a tragic turn as secrets unravel.
    “And a killer waiting in the darkness.”
    @ 00m 22s
    October 27, 2022
  • The Affair Uncovered
    Bob's secret affair leads to family turmoil and a crumbling marriage.
    “Nicole's discovery that her dad had a secret cell phone.”
    @ 04m 28s
    October 27, 2022
  • A Dangerous Manipulation
    Chacey's manipulative nature becomes apparent as she pursues Bob.
    “Chacey was able to get enough control over Bob.”
    @ 06m 08s
    October 27, 2022
  • The Fatal Trap
    Chacey lures Bob into a deadly situation with a deceitful text.
    “She knew that this damsel in distress tactic would cause some distress in him.”
    @ 22m 15s
    October 27, 2022
  • The Shocking Betrayal
    Chacey walks Bob to his death, revealing her true nature.
    “It was obviously a terrible, terrible thing that she walked him to his death.”
    @ 23m 00s
    October 27, 2022
  • Chacey's Deceptive Act
    Chacey pretends to be a grieving widow while police investigate her husband's murder.
    “As the cops arrive, Chacey continues her drama show.”
    @ 24m 41s
    October 27, 2022
  • The Shocking Confession
    Chacey admits to knowing the shooter, revealing her affair and involvement in the murder.
    “Now she finally admits she knows who the shooter was.”
    @ 32m 01s
    October 27, 2022
  • Trial and Sentencing
    Chacey is found guilty of murder and sentenced to life without parole.
    “After being found guilty of Bob Poynter's murder, Chacey was sentenced to life.”
    @ 35m 49s
    October 27, 2022

Episode Quotes

  • That's who he was.
    Fireman’s Marriage Went Up In Flames (Meet Marry Murder with Michelle Trachtenberg)
  • She was always about her first.
    Fireman’s Marriage Went Up In Flames (Meet Marry Murder with Michelle Trachtenberg)
  • I keep seeing his face.
    Fireman’s Marriage Went Up In Flames (Meet Marry Murder with Michelle Trachtenberg)
  • She killed him, didn't she?
    Fireman’s Marriage Went Up In Flames (Meet Marry Murder with Michelle Trachtenberg)
  • It was the worst day in my time there, 20 years.
    Fireman’s Marriage Went Up In Flames (Meet Marry Murder with Michelle Trachtenberg)
  • She was the biggest liar that I have ever seen.
    Fireman’s Marriage Went Up In Flames (Meet Marry Murder with Michelle Trachtenberg)

Key Moments

  • 911 Call00:11
  • Heroic Father00:46
  • Marriage in Crisis04:23
  • Murder Plot18:30
  • Damsel in Distress22:08
  • Emergency Call23:37
  • Confession32:01
  • Life Sentence35:49

Tension Over Time

Words per Minute Over Time

Vibes Breakdown