More allegations against man accused of poisoning wife with Visine

Gaston Gazette (Gastonia, NC)

The man who is accused of using eye drops to poison his wife was not allowed to use the $250,000 he received from two life insurance policies shortly after her death in September 2018 to post his $1.5 million bail on Christmas Eve.

And, if his former mother-in-law gets her wish, Joshua Lee Hunsucker will also be required to forfeit the money which they claim he's used to pay off his home, buy a $100,000 boat and take vacations with a girlfriend, who they believe he was having an affair with prior to his wife's death.

Hunsucker, 35, had been in the Gaston County Jail since he was charged Dec. 19 with first-degree murder in the Sept. 23, 2018, death of his wife of eight years, Stacy Robinson Hunsucker.

However, Hunsucker was released from the jail at 5:29 p.m. on Dec. 24 after posting the $1.5 million bail that had been set five days earlier by District Court Judge James Jackson. Jail records show the bail was posted by the U.S. Bonding Co.

A temporary restraining order was granted by Gaston County Superior Court Judge Jesse B. Caldwell Jr. on Dec. 23, a day before Hunsucker posted his bail.

The order is part of a wrongful death lawsuit filed Dec. 23 against Joshua Hunsucker by his former mother-in-law, Suzanne C. Robinson, administrator of the Stacy Robinson Hunsucker estate. The plaintiff is represented by Thomas Van Camp, an attorney with the Van Camp, Meacham and Newman law firm in Pinehurst.

At 10 a.m. Monday in Gaston Superior Court, Caldwell is scheduled to hear the plaintiff's plea for a preliminary injunction.

The plaintiff is asking that Caldwell grant the injunction to prevent Hunsucker from using any of the $250,000 he received from his deceased wife's life insurance policies and to also give an accounting of his current financial assets, including bank accounts, CDs and investment accounts, as well as a listing of all real and personal property he owns.

The wrongful death lawsuit is also seeking compensatory and punitive damages exceeding $25,000 as the plaintiff claims Stacy Hunsucker's death was "caused by the willful, intentional and malicious conduct of the defendant."

According to documents included in the lawsuit, Joshua and Stacy Robinson Hunsucker were married May 1, 2010, in Myrtle Beach, S.C. During the marriage, the couple had two girls, who are now 6 and 4 years of age.

Currently, the two girls are staying in Gaston County with Hunsucker's sister, Jessica Darlene Hunsucker, who was granted a permanent custody order by District Court Judge Michael Lands on Dec. 20, the day that Hunsucker made his first court appearance.

The order, which was agreed to by Joshua Hunsucker, allows him to have visitation with his two girls every other weekend from 5 p.m. Friday until 5 p.m. Sunday. He's also allowed visitation on Christmas, Easter and Thanksgiving from 11 a.m. until 4 p.m.

Prior to his wife's death, Hunsucker had obtained the two life insurance policies on his wife and, according to the plaintiff, was involved in an extramarital relationship with a woman.

"Motivated by his desire to obtain financial gain through the insurance policies and his desire to be with his paramour, defendant intentionally, willfully and with malice devised a plan and scheme to murder the decedent," reads the lawsuit.

Hunsucker got the idea from seeing news coverage of a York County (S.C.) woman, who was charged with murdering her husband by poisoning him with over-the-counter eye drops. The chemical tetrahydrozoline is found in such products as Visine, which reduces redness by restricting blood vessels. However, when swallowed, tetrahydrozoline acts as a neurotoxin and attacks the nervous system.

The lawsuit claims that Hunsucker placed eye drops in his wife's beverages for a period of days, exposing her to a high level of tetrahydrozoline.

According to information found in a search warrant affidavit, the amount of tetrahydrozoline found in Stacy Hunsucker's blood was 30 to 40 times higher than the therapeutic level. That amount would have had a "dramatic effect on her heart, which would cause heart stoppage in a short amount of time," said Jordan Green, an attorney for the fraud investigations unit of the North Carolina Department of Insurance

Stacy Hunsuker, who was 32 at the time of her death, had suffered from heart problems in the past and had a pacemaker implanted soon after the birth of their second daughter.

After his wife's death, Hunsucker would then, according to the lawsuit, hide the poisoning by arranging for a friend and outside medical examiner to issue Stacy Hunsucker's death certificate. The plaintiff claims he then prevented his in-laws from obtaining an autopsy and had his wife's body cremated.

Following his wife's death, Hunsucker obtained the life insurance money which, the plaintiff claims, he used to buy a $100,000 Supra boat in January 2019, bought another piece of property and paid off his house.

The 1,516-square-foot, three-bedroom, two-bath home sits on a half-acre of property located at 304 Eastwood Drive in the Catawba Heights neighborhood in Mount Holly. The 28-year-old home, which the couple acquired on Feb. 25, 2013, has a market value of $215,380, according to Gaston County property records.

Hunsucker was arrested Dec. 19 after meeting with investigators from the criminal division of the North Carolina Department of Insurance. The lawsuit claims that just prior to his arrest Hunsucker "made statements and gestures which implicated him" in the murder of his wife.

Hunsucker's next court appearance, a probable cause hearing, is scheduled for Jan. 9 in Gaston County.

Attorney David Teddy, who represented Hunsucker at his Dec. 19 court appearance, said the allegations would be "strenuously opposed."

"He has not run from it (the murder allegation). He meets it head-on," Teddy said.

It is the plaintiff's contention that Hunsucker should have never received the $250,000 nor be allowed to spend the money on items for himself or his girlfriend.

The lawsuit also claims that Hunsucker hasn't allowed his former in-laws, John and Suzanne Robinson, to see their two young granddaughters because they expressed concern about their daughter's death and his involvement in her death.

You can reach Michael Banks at 704-869-1842, email [email protected] and follow on Twitter @MichaelBanksNC.

___

Visit Gaston Gazette, Gastonia, N.C. at www.gastongazette.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.