Robert Keith Myers
A Briceville man has been charged with murder and attempted murder in two separate violent incidents this year, one a fatal shooting at Walmart in Clinton in April and the other a serious alleged beating and shooting in February that left a woman with cuts, broken bones, and a brain injury, authorities said Thursday.
Robert Keith “Robbie” Myers, 32, was indicted during a special grand jury session Tuesday. He was arrested Wednesday night by the Clinton Police Department.
In the first case, Myers has been indicted on a second-degree murder charge in the death of Marshal Pinsly, 23, of Blaine, from a single gunshot wound in the parking lot of the Walmart in Clinton on Friday, April 28. Pinsly was married to the the ex-wife of Myers.
“The two are believed to have been involved in a disagreement over child visitation,” Anderson County District Attorney General Dave Clark said in a Thursday afternoon press release. “Mr. Pinsly approached Mr. Myers’ vehicle in the Walmart parking lot, and Mr. Myers is accused of shooting Mr. Pinsly without legal justification.”
Marshal Pinsly
The shooting death was “diligently investigated” by the Clinton Police Department, Clark said.
“Officers have carefully but quickly interviewed a large number of witnesses and collected digital evidence, including photos, cell phone data, and video surveillance recordings,” Clark said.
Authorities had to be sure they properly handled the very significant case, Clinton Police Chief Rick Scarbrough said.
“I am proud of the men and women in our department who have worked so hard in a short period of time to bring this case to the point of a grand jury indictment and an arrest,” Scarbrough said.
In the second case, which actually occurred earlier, Brandy Moneymaker was found on New River Highway in rural north Anderson County on February 8. She was suffering from cuts, broken bones, and a brain injury, Clark said. She was taken to the University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville, where doctors performed emergency surgery to address her injuries.
Moneymaker alleged she had been beaten by Myers at a home on Airbase Road in Briceville, where Myers lived with Tommy Dearing, Clark said.
“Ms. Moneymaker further alleged that after the beating, she was loaded in a truck and transported at gunpoint to a remote mountain mining area, where she was forced out of the truck by Mr. Myers, shot at, and left for dead on a mountainside,” Clark said.
The Anderson County Sheriff’s Department investigate her abduction and injuries.
“In this case, there were a number of pieces of evidence requiring crime lab analysis,” Clark said. “Sheriff’s deputies also conducted a number of witness interviews while waiting on crime lab results.”
Deputies worked very hard putting in hundreds of hours investigating the case, Anderson County Sheriff Paul White said.
“We are very happy to have the defendant indicted and arrested,” White said. “This was a challenging but important case.”
The press release said Sheriff’s Department investigators and Clinton Police Department detectives realized they had cases involving the same defendant after the fatal shooting of Pinsly on April 28. The officer then worked together to “bring Myers to justice,” the press release said.
In the case involving Moneymaker, Myers has been indicted on charges of attempted first-degree murder, especially aggravated kidnapping by serious bodily injury, especially aggravated kidnapping by deadly weapon, aggravated assault by deadly weapon, and aggravated assault by serious bodily injury, the press release said.
Also, for the alleged abduction and injury of Moneymaker, Dearing, 56, of Anderson County, was indicted on charges of facilitation of the felony of attempted first-degree murder and accessory after the fact, the release said.
Myers is being held in the Anderson County Detention Facility in Clinton. His bond has been set at $600,000.
Dearing, a co-defendant, was arrested Thursday morning by the Anderson County Sheriff’s Department, Clark said. His bond has been set at $75,000.
Both men are scheduled to be arraigned in Anderson County Criminal Court at 9 a.m. May 26.
“I am grateful for the hard, smart, and cooperative work of the Anderson County Sheriff’s Office and the Clinton Police Department,” Clark said in the press release.
More information will be added as it becomes available.
