The murder investigation and story into the death of Steve Beard in 1999 took several shocking twists before two people were finally convicted almost six months later
The murder investigation and story into the death of Steve Beard in 1999 took several shocking twists before two people were finally convicted almost six months laterA millionaire's haunting phone call to police saying his "guts were hanging out" led to a horrifying story of deceit and murder.
Steve Beard, from Austin, Texas, was worth £8.93million when he succumbed to his injuries four months after being shot by a 20-gauge shotgun while he slept. Beard lost his first wife, Elise, suddenly to cancer in 1993 - some 45 years after they wed. He would soon go on to meet a local cocktail bar waitress, Celeste, however, who was almost 40 years his junior, which aroused suspicions of gold-digging.
By October 1994 though, along with her two twin daughters, she had moved into Steve's lakeside mansionYouTube creator, Mr Ballen recently documented the shocking events that unfolded - and like many murder mystery cases - not everything was as it seemed.
"A 911 operator was nearing the end of a long night shift when a strange call came in," he began in a video. "The caller was a man who just said his guts had been blown out of his stomach and he was now holding them in his hand and he needed an ambulance right now. " Of course, that man was television executive Steve.
"He took great care of Celeste and her two teenage daughters... he really gave them the stability they desperately needed," Mr Ballen continued. However, despite that stability, Celeste always struggled with depression and attempted to take her own life earlier in the year she met Steve. She survived and was admitted to a psychiatric hospital - which holds great significance later in the story.
"Celeste was put on medication and made some good friends while she was in the hospital," Mr Ballen said. "And to Steve it just seemed that maybe now, things were starting to turn around for Celeste. "By now, Steve had in fact been experiencing his own health problems having been hospitalised after passing out on more than one occasion.
Doctors put this down to a series of ailments including high blood pressure, sleep apnoea and heart and kidney issues, but couldn't figure out why he was fainting. Steve put it down to stress and planned a three-week trip to Europe with Celeste, leaving her twins in his mansion.
However, shortly before their trip, he noticed Celeste still hadn't packed her suitcase, prompting him to worry she didn't want to join him. After convincing him that wasn't the case, Steve headed to bed at 9pm while his wife stayed up to wash the dishes and told him she would sleep in another room to avoid disturbing him.
"Hours later around 3am, Steve woke up and immediately felt a horrible pain in his stomach," Mr Ballen continued the tale. "Even though it was dark in his room, he looked down over the mask on his face and he could tell there was something on his stomach.
He reached down and felt something wet on his hands so he ripped off his mask and sat up to look down at his abdomen - but as he did the pain intensified so much that he fell back down.
"After reaching for the light, Steve soon realised his body was covered in blood and so he screamed for Celeste, which only made the pain worse. She failed to respond, leaving him to reach for the phone to call for help. Minutes later Deputy Alan Howard arrived along with a fire captain and two other deputies who were frantically knocking at the door to no avail.
Howard eventually found a way in and found Steve barely conscious with a "gaping hole" in his stomach with his intestines "literally spilling out". Howard looked around for clues and found a shotgun shell before looking around the house for the shooter and eventually he found Celeste fast asleep.
"She began sobbing hysterically," Mr Ballen continued, adding that one of Celeste's daughters then came running into the room. Nobody else was found in the house and by 5.30am Steve was receiving treatment for his wound. Sergeant Paul Knight, who was now leading the investigation soon arrived at hospital and met Celeste and her daughter, Christina in a waiting room. He swiftly swabbed the pair for gunpowder, which seemingly ruled them both out of recently firing a gun.
Celeste then told Knight her account of the night, which included checking on her other daughter, Jennifer at the family's lake house where she was having a sleepover with friends. Asked if she knew of anyone who may have wished to harm Steve, Celeste revealed that her husband had been to the bank the previous day to cash a cheque to provide money for the teens while they went to Europe - and perhaps someone had learned of his wealth and broke in.
Identical twin Jennifer then arrived, with Knight proceeding to ask the girls if they knew of anyone that could have harmed their step-father.
"At this point Knight noticed them give each other a knowing look," Mr Ballen went on. "They then said there was only one woman they knew who may do something like this - a woman named Tracy Tarlton. " Tracy was a friend of Celeste and the pair had met in psychiatric care. "Christina got the feeling that Tracy was in love with her mum and Jennifer clearly agreed as did their friends who had also arrived," Mr Ballen added.
The next day, Knight went to question Tracy at her working class Austin abode and found she had a licence for a 20-gauge shotgun - the same calibre as the shell found in Steve's room. Asked if she knew who had pulled the trigger, Tracy told Knight, 'No', but asked if she needed a lawyer.
The pair continued to chat, with Tracy admitting she previously had romantic feelings towards Celeste, but on the night of the incident had remained at home where she ordered pizza and drank beer. After the gun was seized, Knight returned to the mansion to look for more clues.
He quickly ascertained that any intruder had clearly not been interested in the valuable items, prompting him to consider the crime was solely an attempted murder in a bid to get Steve's inheritance. Steve had three children from his first marriage, who stood to inherit millions of dollars when he died, while Celeste would clearly benefit financially. As he was mulling this over, Knight noticed a trapdoor in the house, which he opened to discover another 20-gauge shotgun.
Jennifer admitted to purchasing the gun herself as a gift for her boyfriend, however, but said it had never been fired. By now, Steve was stable and so Knight returned to hospital only to find a note on his door advising that no law enforcement personnel could speak to him without the family's attorney being present. After ruling out Steve's own children, attention returned to Celeste, the twins, and the "remarkably co-operative Tracy".
At this point a breakthrough via a forensics report may have cracked the case though.
"Based on forensic evidence, confessions and interviews, police believe the suspect arrived via car and although they felt sick and didn't want to go through with it - but they had made a promise," Mr Ballen said. "They had to do it. "He continued: "They got to Steve's bed, raised the shotgun in their shaking hands and pulled the trigger. The blast was deafening and blood began pouring out of Steve's abdomen immediately.
Fearful Steve would react with his own weapon, the shooter fled, leaving the shotgun shell on the floor. From there they drove to a safe location, washed their hands and very thoroughly cleaned their shotgun.
" As for the grand reveal, Mr Ballen confirmed the killer was indeed, Tracy Tarlton. But that didn't tell the whole story.
"The shell came back from ballistics as an exact match for Tracy's shotgun," he said. "She was arrested, confessed to the killing and said that ultimately she killed Steve because she was in love with Celeste and wanted her all to herself. "Two months later, Steve passed away due to a blood clot - and a new story began to emerge. "It turned out Tracy's love for Celeste was not one-sided," Mr Ballen explained.
"The two had been having a full blown affair for months. " And as for Steve's fainting episodes, it turned out Celeste had been adding high-proof alcohol to his vodka in order to slip away and spend time with her lover. "According to Tracy, Celeste had asked her to kill Steve so they could be together," Mr Ballen closed. "So, for the first few months after her arrest, she kept her mouth shut on Celeste's involvement.
" There was to be one final twist, however. Five months after Steve died, Celeste would marry again - but to a man she had only just met. That made Tracy realise she had been used to get rid of Steve, so that his wife could inherit his fortune.
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