CONVERSE, Texas - Police say a few weeks ago they got a call from a panicked husband telling them his wife had killed herself. But during their investigation things weren't adding up. And now that panicked husband has been named the main suspect in his wife's murder.
The Joiner couple had a rocky marriage. And converse police tell us they believe that marriage ended on May 13th when Robert Joiner shot his wife Elizabeth in the back of the head, then tried to cover it up.
"It originally came out as a suicide,” Assistant Chief Rex Reiner explained. “But after our investigation we determined that he did pull the trigger. We then got our search warrants and proceeded with our investigation. And then booked him in jail for murder."
But police don't believe Robert just killed his wife; they believe he tried to cover up her murder by delaying his call to 9-1-1, giving himself enough time to clean the scene.
"During questioning he came out with some statements that didn't match our evidence,” Reiner added. “So we went and gathered more evidence to prove our case and that's where we're at today.”
News 4 WOAI Trouble Shooter Mireya Villarreal found out police were called to the Joiner home at least 24 times since 2007. At least two calls last summer were serious ones dealing with sexual assault.
"She has filed charges in the past and dropped them. We continued to file those with the DA's office anyhow,” Reiner noted.
Most people living near the Joiners tell us, they still can’t believe something so bad could happen to someone so nice.
"Very caring. Like I said, she’d help anybody. She just seemed like a really nice lady,” Lesley Hellen said.
Elizabeth Joiner had filed for divorce and had just gotten a restraining order against her husband Robert on May 9th. That was just four days before her death. Robert Joiner is set for his first court hearing on June 20th.
