More Charges For Man Accused Of Poisoning Wife For Life Insurance
The man accused of murdering his wife by poisoning her with Visine will face two additional charges.
In addition to first-degree murder, Joshua Lee Hunsucker was indicted Monday by a Gaston County grand jury of additional felony charges of insurance fraud and obtaining property over $100,000 by false pretense.
The indictment reads that Hunsucker failed to note that the death of his wife, Stacy Robinson Hunsucker, was due to homicide by poisoning. It also claims that he deceived the insurance company by stating that his wife's death had been caused by myocardial infection when, in fact, it was due to homicide poisoning.
Jordan Green, an attorney for the fraud investigations unit of the North Carolina Department of Insurance, said in a previous court appearance that Hunsucker's death on Sept. 23, 2018, was caused by her husband poisoning her with 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
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.
The indictment reads that Hunsucker received a death benefit payout of $200,688.32 from his insurance company, The Independent Order of Foresters, doing business as Foresters Financial.
Earlier this week, Gaston County Superior Court Judge Jesse B. Caldwell Jr. continued a temporary restraining order, that was first granted on Dec. 23, 2019, ordering that Hunsucker not use the life insurance money to post his $1.5 million bail related to his first-degree murder charge.
Hunsucker, 35, was in Gaston County Jail from Dec. 19 until he posted bail on Dec. 24, 2019. Court documents show the bail was posted by bondsman James D. Camp, of the U.S. Bonding Co. in Charlotte. Those documents also show that Camp received $150,000 for his services.
Hunsucker remains free as he has a court-mandated daily curfew of 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. Prior to being released from jail, he was also fitted with a GPS device that is being monitored by Gaston County Pretrial Services.
The temporary restraining order is part of a wrongful death lawsuit filed against Hunsucker on Dec. 23, 2019, by his former mother-in-law, Suzanne C. Robinson, administrator of the Stacy Robinson Hunsucker estate.
If the plaintiff prevails, Hunsucker will 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. The lawsuit is also seeking compensatory and punitive damages exceeding $25,000.
Joshua and Stacy Robinson Hunsucker were married May 1, 2010, in Myrtle Beach, S.C. During the eight-year marriage, the couple had two girls.
Hunsucker has visitation with his two girls every other weekend from 5 p.m. Friday until 5 p.m. Sunday and on Christmas, Easter and Thanksgiving from 11 a.m. until 4 p.m.
The girls now live with Hunsucker's sister, Jessica Darlene Hunsucker. She was granted a permanent custody order by District Court Judge Michael Lands on Dec. 20, the day that Hunsucker made his first court appearance.
You can reach Michael Banks at 704-869-1842, email [email protected] and follow on Twitter @MichaelBanksNC.
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