WEBVTT - Episode 2 - The Millionaire, the Gold Digger and the Obsessive Lover 0:00:02.120 --> 0:00:04.800 Crazy in Love is the true crime podcast that tells 0:00:04.880 --> 0:00:07.480 love stories with a twist. All of a sudden, she 0:00:07.680 --> 0:00:10.720 meets Steve and it's like Prince Charming comes and sweeps 0:00:10.720 --> 0:00:13.200 her off her feet. Sometimes the twist of a knife. 0:00:13.600 --> 0:00:15.680 She was holding the shotgun and she's the one who 0:00:15.720 --> 0:00:18.720 pulled the trigger, and that blows me away. She would 0:00:18.800 --> 0:00:21.639 kill her own daughters to get away with it. Just 0:00:21.760 --> 0:00:25.880 because things start off with Once upon a Time doesn't 0:00:25.920 --> 0:00:30.319 mean everyone lives happily ever after. This is Crazy and Love, 0:00:30.640 --> 0:00:36.400 a production of Katie Studios and I Heart Radio. I'm 0:00:36.440 --> 0:00:40.760 Courtney Armstrong, a crime producer at Katie Studios, joined by 0:00:40.760 --> 0:00:45.560 fellow producers Stephanie Ledaker, Jeff Shane, Beth Greenwald, and Tim 0:00:45.600 --> 0:00:50.320 Hamilton's We're examining the story of the millionaire, the gold digger, 0:00:50.840 --> 0:00:54.880 and the obsessive lover. Steve Beard had been happily married 0:00:54.880 --> 0:00:58.040 to his wife, Alice for forty two years. The pair 0:00:58.120 --> 0:01:01.360 had three adult children, and life was good until sadly, 0:01:01.560 --> 0:01:06.160 Alice passed away from brain cancer. Just two weeks after 0:01:06.240 --> 0:01:10.640 his wife died, Steve met thirty year old Celeste Johnson Martinez. 0:01:11.600 --> 0:01:14.119 The blonde bombshell, worked as a server at the same 0:01:14.200 --> 0:01:16.840 Austin country club where the sixty eight year old millionaire 0:01:16.880 --> 0:01:21.040 played golf. Celeste was a struggling single mom with twin daughters, 0:01:21.120 --> 0:01:26.600 Christina and Jennifer. Initially, Steve hired Celest to be as housekeeper, 0:01:27.520 --> 0:01:30.480 but soon a romance bloomed and Steve was opening up 0:01:30.480 --> 0:01:34.480 a new world to Celeste and her girls. In this world, 0:01:35.080 --> 0:01:39.360 money was no object. Celeste went from waiting tables to 0:01:39.440 --> 0:01:43.280 traveling the world in first class, wearing designer clothes and 0:01:43.360 --> 0:01:47.320 living in Steve's mansion. But the realizing on the cake 0:01:47.600 --> 0:01:53.440 was that Steve truly adored Celeste's daughters. Two years after meeting, 0:01:53.520 --> 0:01:57.880 the couple married on February at the same Austin country 0:01:57.880 --> 0:02:04.800 club where the pair met. Steve was a self made millionaire. 0:02:05.280 --> 0:02:07.360 He was a bit of a media mogul. In fact, 0:02:07.440 --> 0:02:11.120 he had owned Austin's first independent TV station, which he 0:02:11.200 --> 0:02:15.280 eventually sold for millions and millions of dollars, and he 0:02:15.320 --> 0:02:18.000 was married to his first wife for forty two years. 0:02:18.280 --> 0:02:22.799 So he was a very devoted husband and self proclaimed 0:02:22.880 --> 0:02:25.600 family man. When you really think about this whole thing, 0:02:25.880 --> 0:02:28.240 it's kind of like the sound of music, right. She 0:02:28.400 --> 0:02:30.960 came into his house to take care of his house 0:02:31.080 --> 0:02:33.800 and fell in love with the guy who owned it, 0:02:33.880 --> 0:02:36.959 and their family soon moved in. He was by himself 0:02:36.960 --> 0:02:40.120 in this big house. You know, you start to want 0:02:40.160 --> 0:02:44.960 a companionship, right. But here's the interesting thing. Celeste was 0:02:45.080 --> 0:02:49.239 almost forty years his junior. And Celeste had come from 0:02:49.280 --> 0:02:54.359 a really rocky star like She had moved many times, 0:02:54.360 --> 0:02:57.600 she had issues with her parents, she had gotten married 0:02:57.639 --> 0:02:59.960 several times. There was really no stability in this lady's life. 0:03:00.400 --> 0:03:04.959 She had two children. They were twins, and she put 0:03:04.960 --> 0:03:07.079 the twins in and out of foster cares in their 0:03:07.200 --> 0:03:09.960 very young early lives. They don't even call Celeste mom. 0:03:10.000 --> 0:03:14.000 They call her Celeste. And when Steve came into celest life, 0:03:14.320 --> 0:03:18.080 the girls were officially finally adopted by him. This is 0:03:18.600 --> 0:03:21.640 like the first person they considered to be like a 0:03:21.680 --> 0:03:24.960 real dad beyond their natural dad. Forty years it's a 0:03:24.960 --> 0:03:27.880 big age difference. What age is just a number. To 0:03:28.080 --> 0:03:32.360 have such a rough start in life and to end 0:03:32.440 --> 0:03:35.400 up finally meeting this guy, and things really felt like 0:03:35.480 --> 0:03:37.760 for the first time in celeste life that they were 0:03:37.760 --> 0:03:40.800 looking up and they're off to the races with a 0:03:40.840 --> 0:03:44.160 happy young marriage, and you know, she and her daughters 0:03:44.240 --> 0:03:47.080 ended up living this beautiful house with this great guy, 0:03:47.160 --> 0:03:50.520 and they fell in love. Steve's might have obviously had 0:03:50.520 --> 0:03:53.160 a crush on Celeste before he moved around as the housekeeper, 0:03:53.520 --> 0:03:56.880 but pretty quickly became mutual because they started dating and 0:03:56.920 --> 0:04:00.240 got married rather quickly. But Steve was no dumb. He 0:04:00.320 --> 0:04:03.040 had the lest sign of prenup, but it wasn't exactly 0:04:03.840 --> 0:04:06.920 that strict of a prenup. It stated that if they 0:04:06.960 --> 0:04:10.280 got divorced, the less would get up front, no questions asked, 0:04:10.320 --> 0:04:13.960 five thousand dollars, and there was another stipulation that if 0:04:13.960 --> 0:04:15.640 they were married for more than three years, she would 0:04:15.680 --> 0:04:18.599 get an additional five dollars. So if they were married 0:04:18.640 --> 0:04:20.560 for three years and got divorced, she still to make 0:04:20.600 --> 0:04:25.120 a million dollars. That being said, if he died, there 0:04:25.200 --> 0:04:27.240 was the prenup was completely off, so she stood to 0:04:27.279 --> 0:04:30.080 make a ton more money in his passing. Well, since 0:04:30.120 --> 0:04:33.559 Steve's defense, you know, he finally was able to find 0:04:33.640 --> 0:04:36.440 somebody new to love. Now he has an instant family. 0:04:36.839 --> 0:04:40.120 They knew that they're dead, had hired a housekeeper, but 0:04:40.240 --> 0:04:42.960 realized that things had shifted when they were going to 0:04:43.000 --> 0:04:45.800 the super bowls of family and you know who did 0:04:45.880 --> 0:04:49.240 Steve bring along? But now the housekeeper. And so when 0:04:49.240 --> 0:04:52.240 they met her, as the house manager says, oh, I 0:04:52.279 --> 0:04:54.000 know her so much about you. I've heard so many 0:04:54.000 --> 0:04:56.360 great things about you. And his kids turned to her 0:04:56.360 --> 0:04:58.839 and said, that's funny, because we have heard literally nothing 0:04:58.880 --> 0:05:02.599 about you. They were proceeding very cautiously. Do we know 0:05:02.640 --> 0:05:05.120 their frame of mind? They did actually think that it 0:05:05.240 --> 0:05:09.040 looked like a charming lady with sweet kids, because the kids, 0:05:09.480 --> 0:05:15.719 both girls, Christina and Jennifer, were really smart, intelligent, very respectful. 0:05:16.040 --> 0:05:20.760 And there are statistics that show that men lose a 0:05:20.800 --> 0:05:24.320 loved one after many many years, in this case decades, 0:05:25.080 --> 0:05:28.760 that they really can't be alone. It's petrifying. So it's 0:05:28.760 --> 0:05:31.080 sort of the perfect storm or makes him the perfect 0:05:31.120 --> 0:05:36.560 target for somebody likes Celeste. Also, in Celeste's defense, you know, 0:05:36.560 --> 0:05:38.880 she's a waitress, she's trying to make her way, she's 0:05:38.920 --> 0:05:41.640 trying to provide for her children. Obviously she's had a 0:05:41.640 --> 0:05:45.960 couple of pickups along the way, and you know, as 0:05:45.960 --> 0:05:48.960 long as there is air and people's lungs, they can 0:05:49.160 --> 0:05:52.560 start a new and maybe this was finally her chance 0:05:52.600 --> 0:05:56.040 to really feel safe and feel at home. They all 0:05:56.040 --> 0:05:59.320 look so happy. They do know that I'm looking at Yeah, 0:05:59.360 --> 0:06:05.400 it must be at Celeste's daughter's graduation, and he is smiling, 0:06:06.160 --> 0:06:08.960 you know, Celestue look looking at it kind of makes 0:06:09.000 --> 0:06:12.080 for the perfect family. And also, if Celeste didn't have 0:06:12.440 --> 0:06:16.000 a great background herself, which we know was the case 0:06:16.080 --> 0:06:18.200 that she was in and neet of foster care, and 0:06:18.839 --> 0:06:22.040 she herself was not raised in a stable environment, yeah 0:06:22.040 --> 0:06:24.480 she might have had some daddy issues. And now here 0:06:24.520 --> 0:06:28.520 she is, she finds this man who's very respected and 0:06:28.640 --> 0:06:31.560 has a lot to offer, not only financially, but probably 0:06:31.600 --> 0:06:34.680 emotionally as well. At this point, he's probably at the 0:06:35.200 --> 0:06:37.360 eve of his career, so he probably had a lot 0:06:37.440 --> 0:06:40.800 more time on his hands, could really be invested with 0:06:40.839 --> 0:06:44.599 her children. And you know, that to me makes a 0:06:44.600 --> 0:06:47.400 little bit of sense. Yeah, I'm looking at the picture. 0:06:47.800 --> 0:06:50.240 There's obviously a big age difference on paper, but he 0:06:50.279 --> 0:06:52.760 looks like a pretty young god. So it's not like 0:06:52.960 --> 0:06:54.919 you're picturing a Nicole Smith and her husband and it 0:06:54.960 --> 0:06:58.040 doesn't really look like that. Right. That's a good point, Jeff. 0:06:58.240 --> 0:07:01.520 And think about it now, Celeste daughters who had a 0:07:01.600 --> 0:07:06.360 really tough background and had you know, literally no consistency. 0:07:06.760 --> 0:07:08.720 Now they have a new house, in a new school, 0:07:08.960 --> 0:07:10.800 and frankly, a new life with a lot of love. 0:07:14.320 --> 0:07:17.840 Celeste had a spending problem, and within the first six 0:07:17.880 --> 0:07:22.040 months of their marriage she'd burned through five hundred thousand dollars. 0:07:23.280 --> 0:07:26.600 Three years into the marriage, Celeste grew restless and started 0:07:26.680 --> 0:07:30.880 cheating on Steve. Just a few years later, she had 0:07:30.960 --> 0:07:36.720 squandered another three hundred thousand dollars on designer clothes, sports cars, 0:07:36.760 --> 0:07:41.040 and fancy dinners. At one point, Celeste through a lavish 0:07:41.120 --> 0:07:44.840 eighteenth birthday party for her twin daughters, and she didn't 0:07:44.960 --> 0:07:49.920 even invite Steve. He was frustrated and had had enough. 0:07:51.200 --> 0:07:54.000 He ultimately kicked Celeste out and also told her that 0:07:54.040 --> 0:07:58.920 he wanted a divorce. Panicked, Celess threatened to kill herself. 0:07:59.560 --> 0:08:01.200 She put a gone to her head in front of 0:08:01.200 --> 0:08:04.520 one of her daughters. It was later discovered that the 0:08:04.520 --> 0:08:07.440 gun wasn't even loaded, but in any case, Steve stepped 0:08:07.440 --> 0:08:12.080 in to help his wife, and he checked her into Timberland, 0:08:12.440 --> 0:08:17.280 an expensive psychiatric facility. It was there when Celess met 0:08:17.280 --> 0:08:22.120 Tracy Tarleton, a fellow patient. Tracy came from a dysfunctional 0:08:22.280 --> 0:08:25.240 but wealthy family and was a University of Texas graduate. 0:08:26.280 --> 0:08:29.320 Despite being a manager at one of Austin's top bookstores, 0:08:29.720 --> 0:08:35.720 she suffered from bipolar disorder, substance abuse, and oppression. Celeste 0:08:35.720 --> 0:08:43.400 and Tracy quickly became close friends. It seems like everyone 0:08:43.559 --> 0:08:46.600 around Steve caught onto the fact that Celeste was cheating 0:08:47.480 --> 0:08:49.080 before he did, and he was the last to know. 0:08:49.200 --> 0:08:52.200 I mean, she was hanging out with her second ex 0:08:52.280 --> 0:08:55.840 husband coming in late. She was spending his money like 0:08:55.880 --> 0:08:58.280 it was going out of style. He was just frustrated 0:08:58.320 --> 0:09:01.520 and he was done. Here's what we know about Tracy 0:09:01.600 --> 0:09:06.199 and Celeste. So Tracy and Celeste formed a very tight 0:09:06.360 --> 0:09:10.760 relationship at this rehab center. And that's one of the 0:09:10.840 --> 0:09:12.880 rules when you go to these types of places is 0:09:12.920 --> 0:09:15.760 that you're not supposed to really super bond or overly 0:09:15.880 --> 0:09:19.439 trauma bond. But they were really good friends and we're 0:09:19.520 --> 0:09:22.760 excited to stay in touch after they left the facility. 0:09:22.840 --> 0:09:26.600 When they did leave the facility, however, they remained friends 0:09:27.320 --> 0:09:32.040 and they became lovers. So Tracy specifically, it said, really 0:09:32.080 --> 0:09:35.880 fell hard for Celeste. And yes, the pair continued to 0:09:35.920 --> 0:09:38.120 see one another on a pretty regular basis, but they 0:09:38.200 --> 0:09:40.480 talked to one another on the phone all the time, 0:09:41.040 --> 0:09:44.040 and they did like family things together, in things out 0:09:44.080 --> 0:09:46.880 in public together. One example we heard about was that 0:09:46.960 --> 0:09:52.319 Tracy attended Celeste's daughter's graduation, which again is a very 0:09:52.440 --> 0:09:58.560 intimate family affair, and then Celeste also, through Tracy's bookstore employees, 0:09:58.679 --> 0:10:02.240 a party, and at that point Steve was sort of 0:10:02.280 --> 0:10:06.760 being very accepting of Celeste's a new friend, but everyone else, 0:10:06.920 --> 0:10:10.640 including her daughters, did not buy it, and everybody around 0:10:10.679 --> 0:10:13.000 Steve seemed to know that she was, in fact having 0:10:13.040 --> 0:10:18.000 an affair with Tracy. We're going to take a quick break. 0:10:18.320 --> 0:10:34.360 We'll be back in just a moment. Yes, So obviously 0:10:34.360 --> 0:10:36.960 they're trying to work on their relationship, or Steve thinks 0:10:36.960 --> 0:10:39.840 they're working on the relationship, but Celeste want to know 0:10:40.000 --> 0:10:42.720 part of that. She told her friend, her new friend, Tracy, 0:10:42.800 --> 0:10:45.960 that she was doing things like filling his nightly vodka 0:10:46.040 --> 0:10:48.880 drink with ever clear, which is a grain alcohol and 0:10:48.960 --> 0:10:51.560 much stronger than vodka, so he would actually get much 0:10:51.600 --> 0:10:54.760 drunker than he thought and pass out, and she could 0:10:54.760 --> 0:10:57.160 again hit the town. What was she spending all this 0:10:57.320 --> 0:11:02.120 money on closed jewelry? She was going to the casinos, 0:11:02.160 --> 0:11:05.160 something that happens also after she gets out of the 0:11:05.160 --> 0:11:09.160 psychiatric ward. Is that Celeste ultimately confides in Tracy that 0:11:09.320 --> 0:11:11.920 she doesn't love Steve, She's never loved Steve, that he's 0:11:11.920 --> 0:11:15.080 nothing but a daddy warbuck ser, that he's a ridiculous, 0:11:15.120 --> 0:11:18.200 fat old man, that he is not to be trusted. 0:11:18.480 --> 0:11:22.760 She's painting this picture of the narrative she wants people 0:11:22.800 --> 0:11:29.400 to hear, including her new girl there emotionally bonding over 0:11:29.480 --> 0:11:32.240 what she's explaining to be the abuse she's suffering at home. 0:11:32.520 --> 0:11:36.240 This is like something that Tracy and Celestue start to 0:11:36.360 --> 0:11:40.320 really develop their their relationship and sink their teeth into 0:11:40.679 --> 0:11:43.199 as they're growing stronger. In time is going by here, 0:11:43.280 --> 0:11:46.440 Celesque finally has a stable home for her daughters. Yet 0:11:46.720 --> 0:11:50.440 she's out and about gallivanting at night, kind of repeating 0:11:50.480 --> 0:11:53.800 the exact same patterns that she came into the relationship with. No, 0:11:53.920 --> 0:11:57.440 it's the exact same pattern. You finally have this everything 0:11:57.480 --> 0:12:00.480 you wish you could have, and yet just flushed it 0:12:00.559 --> 0:12:04.000 away as if it didn't matter to her. She saw 0:12:04.080 --> 0:12:08.800 one thing dollar signs. I'll also say that when Tracy 0:12:08.840 --> 0:12:11.160 asked the list, why don't you just get divorced? She 0:12:11.400 --> 0:12:13.760 would make up these stories and say like she'd be 0:12:13.840 --> 0:12:16.000 hunted down and that she felt like a prisoner in 0:12:16.000 --> 0:12:20.360 her own home and that they would find her. So 0:12:21.000 --> 0:12:23.840 she was building up this world that didn't really exist 0:12:23.960 --> 0:12:26.920 to make everybody feel sympathetic for her because she felt 0:12:26.920 --> 0:12:29.640 as though Steve was going to actually come find her, 0:12:29.679 --> 0:12:32.839 and that because he was very successful, that he would 0:12:32.880 --> 0:12:35.280 somehow put a hit on her. Like what was he 0:12:35.280 --> 0:12:38.480 gonna do? That's what she was kind of saying without saying. 0:12:38.720 --> 0:12:41.120 But the truth was a man who was high on 0:12:41.240 --> 0:12:43.920 fifteen ambience because you baked it into his matched potatoes, 0:12:44.200 --> 0:12:46.320 is not coming after you're looking for you at night 0:12:46.360 --> 0:12:51.680 while you're out with other men and other women. But 0:12:51.720 --> 0:12:53.920 also he was going to divorce her. I mean, let's 0:12:53.960 --> 0:12:56.600 remember he was fed up with all the antics and 0:12:56.679 --> 0:12:58.880 was divorcing her. So there was a lot of holes 0:12:58.880 --> 0:13:02.000 in this story. And he was divorcing her because he 0:13:02.200 --> 0:13:04.960 realized what was happening, he did the right thing and 0:13:04.960 --> 0:13:08.120 tried to help her with putting her into the psychiatric 0:13:08.200 --> 0:13:11.000 facility and trying to get her back on the right path. 0:13:11.520 --> 0:13:13.480 And so that just goes to show his character and 0:13:13.559 --> 0:13:16.960 his kindness that even as he's being screwed over. He's 0:13:16.960 --> 0:13:20.240 still wanting to do this good for somebody who's doing 0:13:20.320 --> 0:13:23.040 bad to him, and do good for the mother of 0:13:23.080 --> 0:13:26.080 the two children that he just adopted. But the daughters 0:13:26.080 --> 0:13:28.680 are smarter than you think, and the daughters really start 0:13:28.920 --> 0:13:32.480 to see what's happening here. And I'll also say with Celeste, 0:13:32.960 --> 0:13:35.719 even though they were getting divorced, she was able to 0:13:35.800 --> 0:13:39.240 convince him back to it was a psychiatric problem and 0:13:39.360 --> 0:13:42.040 he was putting the divorce on hold. Not only did 0:13:42.120 --> 0:13:45.600 he believe that he helped her, but then he believed 0:13:45.600 --> 0:13:48.040 that she was helping herself. So now she's like getting 0:13:48.040 --> 0:13:50.720 back in his good graces again. He really wanted to 0:13:50.720 --> 0:13:54.240 believe her and believe that this next time would be 0:13:54.280 --> 0:13:57.080 the right time and that she would finally change again, 0:13:57.360 --> 0:14:00.840 and that might have sailed his fate. It really is. Yeah, 0:14:00.920 --> 0:14:03.120 speaks to steps point about like when you're in love 0:14:03.200 --> 0:14:05.720 with someone, you give them a pass in a way 0:14:05.760 --> 0:14:08.280 that you wouldn't with anyone else. Because when you heard 0:14:08.280 --> 0:14:10.520 that that she throws a party for her kid and 0:14:10.559 --> 0:14:13.600 doesn't invite her husband, like that is very weird behavior 0:14:14.160 --> 0:14:16.960 from an outsider, you're like major red flag. But if 0:14:17.000 --> 0:14:18.880 you're in that relationship, you can figure out why to 0:14:18.920 --> 0:14:22.480 justify anything, even something like that. He didn't know these 0:14:22.520 --> 0:14:27.240 things were happening until it happened. That's when the divorce 0:14:27.880 --> 0:14:32.520 conversation started. But because she got help, and because she 0:14:32.640 --> 0:14:36.120 came out of there understanding what she did wrong and 0:14:36.120 --> 0:14:38.920 that she's proclaimed she didn't really want to hurt him 0:14:39.120 --> 0:14:41.120 and she didn't realize what she was doing, she won 0:14:41.200 --> 0:14:44.520 him back. But while she's talking out of one face, 0:14:44.960 --> 0:14:49.360 the other face is also exiting this psychiatric word with 0:14:49.400 --> 0:14:51.920 a new girlfriend, Intel. She had a pretty sweet gig. 0:14:51.960 --> 0:14:54.160 It sounds like like she can spend his money. He's 0:14:54.160 --> 0:14:55.880 not going to leave her. So when did it all 0:14:56.520 --> 0:15:03.880 turn or hit ahead? I guess. At three thirteen on 0:15:03.920 --> 0:15:10.080 October two, Steve Beard was home sleeping. Someone entered the 0:15:10.120 --> 0:15:12.640 home through a side door and quietly made their way 0:15:12.760 --> 0:15:17.680 to Steve's bedroom. The intruder shot him with a shotgun. 0:15:19.360 --> 0:15:22.400 He woke up, bleeding and in agony, and called one. 0:15:24.360 --> 0:15:27.240 When the police and paramedics arrived at his mansion, Steve 0:15:27.320 --> 0:15:30.200 was found lying in his bed, holding his intestines from 0:15:30.200 --> 0:15:35.000 a hole in his abdomen. Paramedics thought Steve had ruptured 0:15:35.000 --> 0:15:39.000 a surgical incision. As more police arrived, celest In her 0:15:39.040 --> 0:15:41.920 daughter Christina appeared from a separate wing of the house. 0:15:43.480 --> 0:15:46.360 Apparently the women had been in the house the entire time, 0:15:46.920 --> 0:15:51.480 but didn't hear a thing. After airlifting Steve to a hospital, 0:15:51.880 --> 0:15:54.600 the police searched his bedroom and found a shell casing 0:15:54.760 --> 0:15:59.640 from a shotgun. This was no ruptured incision. This was 0:15:59.680 --> 0:16:06.880 a did murder. Here's Steve's nine one one call. I 0:16:08.480 --> 0:16:18.400 got out of my stomach. Oh my god. Crazy that 0:16:18.520 --> 0:16:22.400 he was able to make that call. As that happens. 0:16:22.440 --> 0:16:24.000 I mean, you think when someone gets shot in the 0:16:24.080 --> 0:16:26.960 stomach or either guts fly out for whatever reason, they're 0:16:27.000 --> 0:16:30.480 probably not able to do that. He didn't think he 0:16:30.520 --> 0:16:33.240 was shot. Nobody thought he was shot. He thought he 0:16:33.280 --> 0:16:37.360 had like an appendix explosion and it protruded through his stomach. 0:16:37.520 --> 0:16:41.200 He was so fast asleep. Imagine how loud a shotgun 0:16:41.320 --> 0:16:43.920 is and for nobody in the whole house to hear it, 0:16:44.080 --> 0:16:48.440 including the guy who was shot by the shotgun. Right, 0:16:48.480 --> 0:16:50.240 how big is this house? That's the last and her 0:16:50.280 --> 0:16:52.920 kids can be somewhere else. And like you said to him, 0:16:53.000 --> 0:16:54.600 she gives him all these sleeping pills. So he was 0:16:54.600 --> 0:16:57.880 probably really zonked out whenever he was shot. He really 0:16:57.880 --> 0:17:00.600 didn't hear anything at all. I mean, is a wonder 0:17:00.640 --> 0:17:02.600 he even woke up to call nine one one, like 0:17:02.640 --> 0:17:06.560 you said. But he survived, so obviously he was alive 0:17:06.880 --> 0:17:10.879 and has enough strength to call nine one one. So 0:17:10.960 --> 0:17:13.480 why is Celeste in the house though? So she couldn't 0:17:13.520 --> 0:17:15.760 have arranged it because she was there with her daughter. Well, 0:17:15.800 --> 0:17:18.200 here's what we know that as paramedics carried Steve away, 0:17:18.240 --> 0:17:21.479 Celeste burst into tears and started screaming, don't let him die, 0:17:21.520 --> 0:17:24.919 don't let him die. Later at the hospital, the police 0:17:24.920 --> 0:17:28.240 tested Selest and her daughters both for gunpowder residue on 0:17:28.280 --> 0:17:30.240 their hands, because I remember they found the shotgun shell. 0:17:30.760 --> 0:17:33.160 They also asked them if they knew anyone who would 0:17:33.160 --> 0:17:34.960 be angry enough at Steve or who would want to 0:17:35.000 --> 0:17:38.920 cause him harm. We also do know in interviewing other 0:17:38.920 --> 0:17:43.320 people in Steve's circle and at the hospital, Tracy's name 0:17:43.720 --> 0:17:48.639 comes up all the time. Celeste daughters actually went to 0:17:48.680 --> 0:17:51.439 the police and said, we have a really bad feeling 0:17:51.440 --> 0:17:54.360 about this Tracy character. So now here they are, they 0:17:54.359 --> 0:17:57.040 finally have the life they always dreamed of, and they 0:17:57.080 --> 0:18:00.000 feel really safe with Steve and safe in the life 0:18:00.119 --> 0:18:04.600 they've now moved into. Tracy is going to really ruin 0:18:04.680 --> 0:18:07.359 this for them. So they were really helpful to the 0:18:07.400 --> 0:18:10.440 police because a they didn't want to lose their stepfather. 0:18:10.960 --> 0:18:13.920 He had given them so much, and also they didn't 0:18:13.920 --> 0:18:17.040 want this whole great life to get screwed up. Police. 0:18:17.119 --> 0:18:20.120 You know, it hurt Tracy's name from other sources as well. 0:18:20.200 --> 0:18:22.679 So the police go to Tracy's house to speak to 0:18:22.680 --> 0:18:26.919 her about steves murder, and well, Tracy just spills. Tracy 0:18:26.960 --> 0:18:30.240 admits having an affair with Celeste Um, that they lovers, 0:18:30.280 --> 0:18:32.199 that this has been going on for a while, you know, 0:18:32.320 --> 0:18:36.200 everything that's Celestie told her about Steve. And and then 0:18:36.280 --> 0:18:39.800 the police ask a question. They asked Tracy if she 0:18:40.000 --> 0:18:43.600 owns a shotgun and what we think happened. She hands 0:18:43.680 --> 0:18:47.760 over her twenty gage shotgun, which by the way, had 0:18:47.760 --> 0:18:51.399 her name in boss Lama, and the police are able 0:18:51.440 --> 0:18:54.760 to trace the shell casing left at the scene to 0:18:54.960 --> 0:18:59.680 Tracy and her embossed twenty gage shotgun. So just six 0:18:59.800 --> 0:19:03.800 day years later after the shooting, Tracy Charlton was arrested 0:19:04.119 --> 0:19:06.880 for shooting Steve with a shotgun and he's still alive. 0:19:07.200 --> 0:19:10.119 He's totally still alive. He's not only still alive, he 0:19:10.200 --> 0:19:13.120 doesn't believe his wife at the time, Celess has anything 0:19:13.160 --> 0:19:20.919 to do with this. Steve was in the hospital for 0:19:20.960 --> 0:19:24.240 four months and during this time Celess would visit him constantly. 0:19:25.280 --> 0:19:27.360 She sat at his bedside and made sure he got 0:19:27.400 --> 0:19:32.240 the best care. So, despite their rocky past, Steve has 0:19:32.240 --> 0:19:35.480 a change of heart about divorcing his wife. To show 0:19:35.560 --> 0:19:39.399 just how much he had forgiven her, he changed his 0:19:39.440 --> 0:19:41.439 will to give her up. So what he does is 0:19:41.480 --> 0:19:44.480 he goes to his lawyers and has them start adjusting 0:19:44.480 --> 0:19:47.520 and updating all of his will and testament to give 0:19:47.560 --> 0:19:51.400 her even more money because no, I'm not kidding, and 0:19:51.560 --> 0:19:53.680 make sure that she's even more well take care of 0:19:53.760 --> 0:19:57.120 for her and her daughter's in case something happens to him. 0:19:57.160 --> 0:20:00.600 All the while this is happening while he's in the hospital. 0:20:01.440 --> 0:20:04.320 Do we know if Steve was told about Tracy getting 0:20:04.359 --> 0:20:06.080 arrested and all this, like what the police talking to 0:20:06.200 --> 0:20:10.160 him and presenting that what happened, and that didn't change 0:20:10.160 --> 0:20:13.359 his mind about his wife. Yeah, good question. Because Steve 0:20:13.400 --> 0:20:16.080 has a lot of resources, He's a wealthy man. I'm 0:20:16.119 --> 0:20:18.919 sure thankfully he's getting the best possible care at the 0:20:18.960 --> 0:20:22.080 hospital because he has enough money to pay for it. 0:20:22.119 --> 0:20:25.159 But he also probably has enough money to get a 0:20:25.320 --> 0:20:29.400 really serious investigation going, if you know, to even help 0:20:29.440 --> 0:20:31.720 with the police to figure out who did this. She 0:20:31.880 --> 0:20:35.119 was always able when he was kind of walking away 0:20:35.119 --> 0:20:38.240 from her. She always had an uncanny way of pulling 0:20:38.320 --> 0:20:41.479 him back in and even stronger than they were before. 0:20:42.359 --> 0:20:45.480 So I think, you know, he has this traumatic thing happened, 0:20:45.920 --> 0:20:49.280 and I think she's playing to the hilt and don't 0:20:49.359 --> 0:20:51.520 let him die. And I love him, and he's you know, 0:20:51.800 --> 0:20:54.639 she's she's sitting with him, and also he's very sick. 0:20:54.680 --> 0:20:57.840 He's on medication, So you know, where is his concern? 0:20:57.960 --> 0:21:00.359 Probably that his wife is there and his dogs are 0:21:00.480 --> 0:21:03.000 taking care of him. I don't think he's looking outside 0:21:03.000 --> 0:21:06.200 of that, not at all. Tim Please tell me that 0:21:06.359 --> 0:21:09.720 she's not in on this, because if she would allow 0:21:10.040 --> 0:21:13.280 one of her daughters to be in the home when 0:21:13.600 --> 0:21:19.360 that daughter's beloved stepfather is murdered, that's a real sicko defense. 0:21:19.560 --> 0:21:22.640 Like that's her alibi, right, that's her alibi. But you've 0:21:22.680 --> 0:21:27.920 got to remember, all along she's been doing these very 0:21:27.960 --> 0:21:32.600 illegal criminal things by poisoning his food, giving him alcohol 0:21:32.640 --> 0:21:35.840 that's gonna knock him out. But in front of the girls, 0:21:36.119 --> 0:21:39.040 they are the ones who are conflicted of we say something, 0:21:39.080 --> 0:21:42.359 what she's our mother, this is our the man who's 0:21:42.440 --> 0:21:47.040 who's providing for us. They're really not understanding, like they're young, 0:21:47.119 --> 0:21:51.040 I mean eighteen. Yeah, this is crazy. And not only 0:21:51.080 --> 0:21:54.040 did she go spending his money, but she decided to 0:21:54.080 --> 0:21:56.520 go out while her husband's in the hospital and buy 0:21:56.560 --> 0:22:00.240 an eighty thousand dollar watch. Either she knows her time 0:22:00.359 --> 0:22:04.600 is running out or she truly is in love with 0:22:04.640 --> 0:22:18.359 herself and nobody else matters. On January two thousand and ailing, 0:22:18.440 --> 0:22:21.399 Steve died from an infection in his lungs. It had 0:22:21.440 --> 0:22:25.560 been brought on by complications from the shooting. At the 0:22:25.600 --> 0:22:29.280 time of his passing, Steve was worth ten million dollars 0:22:29.280 --> 0:22:33.439 and that money goes to her part of it. The 0:22:33.480 --> 0:22:37.080 other part goes to his five surviving children. Yes, celest 0:22:37.160 --> 0:22:40.520 to receive assets and property totaling six point five million dollars, 0:22:40.560 --> 0:22:42.320 and like Tim said, the rest would be divided up 0:22:42.320 --> 0:22:45.959 between steves five children, his three adult biological kids, and 0:22:46.000 --> 0:22:48.879 then Celestue twins who he adopted. As we know, this 0:22:49.000 --> 0:22:51.879 is like a three month October is when he gets shot. 0:22:51.920 --> 0:22:54.960 In January is when he dies. What's happening with Tracy? 0:22:55.119 --> 0:22:57.520 She was arrested pretty quickly, But is she in jail 0:22:58.560 --> 0:23:01.960 or what she old? Shimately is able to pay bail 0:23:02.440 --> 0:23:06.320 and continues to see celesce but with you know, within 0:23:06.359 --> 0:23:09.160 months of that, Tracy say said that they mutually agreed 0:23:09.200 --> 0:23:11.960 to end that relationship. So after all this, Tracy and 0:23:12.040 --> 0:23:18.200 Celeste part ways and is Celeste also brought into authorities 0:23:18.280 --> 0:23:22.160 because she was commiserating. So what happened was Celesque got 0:23:22.200 --> 0:23:24.600 what she needed from Tracy. She got her to get 0:23:24.680 --> 0:23:27.280 rid of this person who was the only roadblock between 0:23:27.320 --> 0:23:31.400 her and the money. However, once Steve died, the bank 0:23:31.440 --> 0:23:34.760 refused to pay out. They wanted a criminal investigation, which 0:23:34.840 --> 0:23:39.120 is very rare. However, they were extenuating circumstances. The bank 0:23:39.160 --> 0:23:43.480 put a hold until an investigation was complete, and right 0:23:43.560 --> 0:23:49.280 before the completion of the investigation, where Tracy was arrested 0:23:49.320 --> 0:23:53.919 and detained moments before given her sentence, she made a 0:23:53.960 --> 0:23:57.239 plea deal with the state and turned state's evidence and 0:23:57.280 --> 0:24:00.159 testified against lest Why what drove her to do that? Uh? 0:24:01.040 --> 0:24:02.520 What would drive her to do that? Would be that 0:24:02.560 --> 0:24:07.560