48 Hours - Chacey Poynter: Witness to Murder

Episode Date: January 20, 2020

Hear for the first time from the woman at the center of a case prosecutors said was all about ”sex, lies, money and murder.” Correspondent Peter Van Sant reports.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Wondery Plus subscribers can listen to this podcast ad-free right now. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app today. Even if you love the thrill of true crime stories as much as I do, there are times when you want to mix it up. And that's where Audible comes in, with all the genres you love and new ones to discover. Explore thousands of audiobooks, podcasts, and originals, with more added all the time. thousands of audiobooks, podcasts, and originals, with more added all the time. Listening to Audible can lead to positive change in your mood, your habits,

and even your overall well-being. And you can enjoy Audible anytime, while doing household chores, exercising, commuting, you name it. There's more to imagine when you listen. Sign up for a free 30-day Audible trial and your first audiobook is free. Visit audible.ca. In 2014, Laura Heavlin was in her home in Tennessee when she received a call from California. Her daughter, Erin Corwin, was missing. The young wife of a Marine had moved to the California desert

to a remote base near Joshua Tree National Park. They have to alert the military. And when they do, the NCIS gets involved. From CBS Studios and CBS News, this is 48 Hours NCIS. Listen to 48 Hours NCIS ad-free starting October 29th on Amazon Music. The 911 call came in around 10.50 p.m. Hi, Kenny, number one. It's a female hyperventilating.

Okay, calm down. Where are you at? And then the phone goes dead. She's pinging on Kenner at 2595. She's extremely out of breath. She sounds like she's running. We got first responders arriving to an unmaintained county road, 2595. 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. What's going on? My husband, he went to go help me. My Jeep is stuck in the back around the corner, 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 and said, hey, I think they need you out there on scene. I want to check her out and make sure she's okay.

You want a little bit of oxygen to help you out? She was just frantic. She had blood on her shoulder area, and it's all over her leg and her shirt. What's your name? Chasey. Chasey? Chasey what? Pointer.

Tell us what happened. I heard a shot, and the jeans started rolling, and I didn't see anything. And I saw a shadow. That's all I saw. No, was it your husband? What's his name? Robert. Robert Pointer.

Robert Pointer? Yeah, he's a firefighter. That's why I have this blood on me. Just breathe for me. That's why I have this blood on me. 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 around the corner. We had a witness, a chasey pointer, and there was somebody loose, you know, at large that had killed her husband. And I could see Robert.

And as soon as that shot, he slumped over into the passenger seat. As soon as that shot, he slumped over into the passenger seat. I just wanted him to be okay. Was he dead or alive? He was dead. This is a case about sex, lies, money, and murder. Субтитры создавал DimaTorzok When I'm awake, I see his face.

And when I'm asleep, I'll see it. It hurts. And he's been shot in the head, please. He's around the corner. The harrowing night of September 9th, 2016 is forever etched in the memory of Chasey Poynter, who is telling her story for the first time. 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 on me. 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. The night of the murder, there was still water in the ruts. They were still muddy. It 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, Ms. Pointer. Calm down and breathe for me, okay? Breathe fast like that. You're not helping yourself, okay? Slow breaths. Chasey says the couple planned to meet at a fast food restaurant for tacos. I was going to meet him up at the Jack in 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 did? Yeah. Okay. No, I, I didn't, I've never, never been down this road. All right. What made you come down this one? I missed my last one. Oh, you did? Yeah. Okay. No, I didn't. I've never been down this road before. She texted her husband. What do you say to

him? Told him that GPS said that I was three miles out. Chasey says while texting, she got stuck. 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 stayed on the phone with him. He drove out there. Why did he park there? He told Chasey 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 then he went to go get my Jeep. He 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 don't 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 park with my right hand and I just was calling his name. I could see his eyes. I could see his eyes. I could just feel the blood. This was a clean assassination.

Robert, unfortunately, didn't have a clue 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 his head? Yes, sir. And the wadding from a shotgun shell was still in his skull. And could you tell if that blast 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 was a tall person. That's all I know. He was taller than me. And what was he wearing? Dark clothes is all I know. Did you see any type of firearm, rifle, or anything like that in his hands? 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 head with a 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. 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, absolutely. You still miss the man. No, 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. No matter 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 you miss 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 Mormon. 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 what I 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've 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. need and be there. We started seeing each other in December of 2007 and I was pregnant by May of 2009. Robert and Chasey were married on December 28th, 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 couple's love faded.

I just want him, but he's been shot in the head, please. And that night in the squad car, Chasey decided to share her frustrations. I was young and stupid when we got married. I didn't want to be married anymore. As a kid growing up in Chicago, there was one horror movie I was too scared to watch. It was called Candyman. The scary cult classic was set in the Chicago housing project. It was about this supernatural killer who would attack his victims if they said his name five times into a bathroom mirror. Now we all know chanting a name won't make a killer magically

appear, but did you know that the movie Candyman was partly inspired by an actual murder? I was struck by both how spooky it was, but also how outrageous it was. We're going to talk to the people who were there, and we're also going to uncover the larger story. My architect was shocked when he saw how this was created. Literally shocked. And we'll look at what the story tells us about injustice in America. If you really believed in tough on crime, then you wouldn't make it easy to crawl into medicine cabinets and kill our women. Listen to Candyman, the true story behind the bathroom mirror murder, wherever you get your podcasts. Have you ever wondered who

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You can listen to The Best Idea Yet early and ad-free right now by joining Wondery+. It's just the best idea yet. We've been having problems. I was coming to be, coming to jack inin-the-box so we could talk. What did you all fight over? My daughter. 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, but of the state of her marriage.

Why would he try to take your daughter away? Like, what reason did he give you? Because 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 a 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 a lot, 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. 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. He did get on treatments. He had normal testosterone. For her to say that he had roid rage and all 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 dad was some kind of beast. Did you ever see him slam Chasey 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 for 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 liked me when I was heavier. Over a two-year span, Chasey transformed her body. The first picture is December, probably about 2013. 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 Chasey's computer that her stepmother was cheating. She had left it 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 four 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 Chasey's cheating ways. I will stand up for what I know and what I believe in, and that to me wasn't right. You said what? I said, I think Chasey's cheating ways. I will stand up for what I know and what I believe in,

and that, to me, wasn't right. You said what? I said, I think Chasey'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 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 a 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. Chasey, do you mind if I take some pictures of you real quick? Although she wasn't under arrest, she was read her rights. All right, look up at me. All right, listen to me. You have the right to remain silent.

Anything you say, Ken, will be used against you in a court of law. I'm out of friends' house. But Chasey kept on talking. A bit of 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? Do you all have a relationship? Yes. Well, then that red flag goes off. Did you all have a date? Was it date night?

No, we just hung out. We had sex, obviously. Watch more of the Police body camera footage on facebook at 48 hours tonight's 48 hours will continue i'm erin moriarty 48 hours and this is my life of crime subscribe Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Okay, what were you saying? I'm sorry. He's contacted an attorney to get a divorce. And I was okay with that. We've been married six years, almost seven years. Investigators say the more Chasey Poynter talked, the more she seemed like a suspect and a

grieving wife. We don't meet up. The hyperventilating's now stopped, and she's gone into the stutter talking. Um, I, I don't know. Which leads me to believe that she does these pauses. And so I told him. 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. Tell me his name character, Michael Garza. Michael Garza, who is he?

He was a place that I would go to to vent, and I loved him for that. Chasey 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, man, 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 were his 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. When did he die? I forgot. Not long after Chasey told Sergeant Meek about the affair with Michael Garza,

I'll be transporting the female to Royce City Police Department. She was driven downtown to be questioned by Detective Michael Burke. Let me get this door. 68. Just have you sit right there. The interrogation started at 2.20 in the morning. Did I love Robert? Yes. He was an ass to me. The interrogation started at 2.20 in the morning. And lasted eight hours. Among those issues, her affair with Garza.

And she gave more detail about Robert's murder. affair with Garza. My uncle and I ended up having sex while I was there. And she gave more detail about Robert's murder. Right in front of my seat, there was someone standing there. Probably six foot, maybe. I could see dark clothes. That's it. I don't know if they're white, black. I don't know anything.

Somebody, from what you're saying, shoots your husband, cold-blooded murder, and just lets you run away. There was someone standing 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 want her to pull the trigger. 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. Who killed your husband? Who shot Robert? Can you say that letter for me, please?

Mikey, as in Michael Garza. Where was Mikey? Now cornered, Chasey changed her entire story. She says she told Garza about Robert's alleged anger issues. I didn't want to do it. I just, I wanted him to know what it's like to be bullied all the time. Chasey told 48 Hours Garza rode with her that night. The plan was to confront Robert outside the jack-in-the-box and demand he leave Chasey alone. Did you see him put a shotgun in your vehicle? No, 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 2595. When I asked him 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 needed 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 made a joke about it and uh 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. At that time, there was a gunshot. Did Garza say anything to you? Nothing.

Not until after I called 911. 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? Hurt him? Scare him? Or just have a talking to? None of them are credible. Investigators believe that you were luring your husband to this remote area so he could be murdered. There was no plan to bring him out and murder him. There was no talk of that. On September 10th, the morning after her husband's murder, chasey pointer was arrested for conspiracy to commit murder the couple's daughter would stay with chasey'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 ro Poynter. But Michael Garza, the truck driver, had hit the road. Tonight's 48 Hours will continue. Tonight's 48 Hours will continue. dangerous secret was her own. She's going to all the major groups within Melbourne's underworld, and she's informing on them all. I'm Marsha Clark, host of the new podcast, Informants Lawyer X. In my long career in criminal justice as a prosecutor and defense attorney, I've seen some crazy cases, and this one belongs right at the top of the list. She was addicted to the game she had created. She just didn't know how to stop.

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The funeral was absolutely beautiful. It was very ceremonial. On September 15th, 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. Firefighters from all over Texas honored him. Did the fireman's prayer. When duty calls me, O 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 Poynter. 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 underlined feeling that even if he had to walk through fire, somehow that man would make it through. Amy says in the last days of his life, Robert was finally ready to walk away from Chasey. He 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. 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 $685,000 life insurance policy. Instead of the girls getting the money, Chasey was made the primary beneficiary. We believe that was the motive. She saw him as an ATM machine and she 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 texts, more than 10,000, 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 and ask somebody, hey, will you kill my husband for me?

Chasey Pointer plays the victim, and then she uses that to manipulate people. And so she told all of these men that she's this 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 at what she did. This is Brad Golden. She would be at my house every day, every day, around 4 to 5 o'clock. He's the lover caught on the security camera video. He says Chasey manipulated him. I never even suspected, suspected, boy, that she had 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 that Robert was abusive to her. Brad says Chasey told him horror stories about Robert. Were you ever able to corroborate 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. Moving back to July 11th, I need him gone. Gone, G-O-N-E, all capitalized.

Denny 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? Chasey 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 to Garza. 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. Coming up empty.

But the next day, Garza turned himself in, and he was charged with Robert Pointer'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. What's with your emergency? 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. And there's two more in the magazine. And they're all man-killing slugs, consistent with what the medical examiner said was used to kill Robert Poynter. We did a search on the firearm. Mossberg 835 Ultimag. 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 Chasey's life at the right time. All it really took for Chasey was to basically just dangle the bait.

Do you think Chasey is to basically just dangle the bait. Do you think Chasey intended to scare her husband or kill him? Chat now with the 48 Hours team on Facebook and Twitter. And then when I looked up, there was nobody there. Okay.

You probably think I'm crazy. From her bizarre performance the night her husband was murdered to her confession about her lover, Michael Garza. Michael was going to shoot Robert? He was going to 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. Look at me. They're right, aren't they? No, sir. On July 10th,

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's shotgun because he thought that she was abused. He implied that she did it. shotgun 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. It was a huge step forward, but it also felt like the real battle had just begun. The Poynter family now focused on Chasey. 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 Poynter out on that road alone. Only Chasey could do that, and she played her part well. Using Chasey's texts, prosecutors demonstrated that her alleged love for Michael Garza was really a sinister ploy.

He is a pawn. He's the dumb idiot she got to do this. In fact, Garza didn't know that after he shot Robert, Chasey planned on spending the night with another lover. She was texting Brad Golden while she was out there committing this murder. She had sex with Brad Golden that morning. They still plan 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 Chasey's affairs tainted the jury. Chasey having affairs has nothing to do with murder. It just demonizes her. Chasey Poynter 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 911 is probably the strongest point that we have in her defense. No one who planned to kill someone would shoot him and call 911. He went to go help me, my jeep is stuck in the back. But the prosecutors argued at the sight of her dead husband,

Chasey had a moment of sheer panic. 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. An hour, two hours, three hours went by. After the fourth hour... Hey. Okay, 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 got relieved. They got it, that they saw who she really was. 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. 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 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 painful in another.

How do you want your father to be remembered? As he was, as he really was. He was gentle and he was smart and he was kind. He was rare and we were lucky to have him. This is injustice. True redemption and remorse comes from telling the truth. Isn't it time you did that?

He wasn't supposed to die. Jurors sentenced Chasey Poynter 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? It's both. Robert Pointer's life insurance benefits were split among his three daughters. insurance benefits were split among his three daughters. Chasey's mother and stepfather share custody of the couple's daughter with Robert Pointer'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. Thirteen 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.

Your CBS News original reporting. If you like this podcast, you can listen ad-free right now by joining Wondery Plus in the Wondery app. Before you go, tell us about yourself by filling out a quick survey at wondery.com slash survey.