A North Carolina man who was accused of fatally poisoning his wife with eye drops is now suspected of faking his own kidnapping and also poisoning his daughter's drink in an elaborate plot to pin his wife's death on his in-laws.
Joshua Lee Hunsucker, now 39, was booked into jail in Gaston County on Tuesday afternoon, and indicted on witness intimidation and obstruction charges.
Joshua Refused to An Autopsy Being Performed on Stacy, Cremated Her Immediately
In September 2018, Stacy Hunsucker, a mother of two daughters, died at the age of 32 from a cardiac arrest at her Mount Holly home, a death which seemed to be due to natural causes linked to known heart issues as Stacy had a pacemaker. However, the way her husband of eight years started acting in the immediate aftermath of her demise raised suspicions.
Joshua allegedly insisted no autopsy is conducted and had Stacy's remains cremated swiftly. However, since Stacy was an organ donor, a blood sample had to be taken from her, revealing startlingly high levels of tetrahydrozoline, a chemical ingredient in eyedrops.
Joshua Tried to Claim Stacy's $250K Life Insurance
WTVD reported in 2019 that Joshua's co-workers were alarmed that the defendant quickly entered into a relationship with another woman and moved her into the house where Stacy died, and Joshua's mother-in-law Suzie Robinson also reported his attempt to collect on Stacy's $250,000 life insurance policy money.
Charging documents said that the defendant, before his wife's death, had even told "two former co-workers that if he killed someone, he would do so using Visine or other eye-drops."
As a result, Joshua Hunsucker was charged with insurance fraud and first-degree murder in December 2019, more than a year after Stacy's death. He went on post a $1.5 million bond and was let out of jail in time for Christmas.
Joshua Faked His Own Kidnapping, Harassed Robinsons with a Package Telling Them Not to Press Charges, Followed Them Around
Joshua now faces an additional charge of witness intimidation offenses against Stacy's parents John and Suzie Robinson in 2023, allegedly committed out of retaliation and to frame them for Stacy's death.
Prosecutors allege Joshua faked his own kidnapping in February 2023 and identified John Robinson as the perpetrator, harassed the Robinsons with a package telling them not to press charges any longer, followed them to church and lacrosse practices, and caused his daughter to be hospitalized later that month by tainting her drink with eye drops to make it look like her grandparents tried to kill the 10-year-old the same way her mother died.
In early July, prosecutors said, a court found that Joshua had also abused and neglected the daughter he allegedly poisoned, and that he neglected his other daughter.
