Steve Beard was a millionaire who was shot while he slept – but his ability to call police resulted in a shocking murder plot unravelling that led to a double conviction
Steve was 39 years older than his second wife
A millionaire’s chilling emergency call to police claiming his “guts were hanging out” unveiled a shocking tale of betrayal and murder. Steve Beard, from Austin, Texas, was worth £8.93million when he died from his wounds four months after being blasted with a 20-gauge shotgun while he slept.
Beard had lost his first wife, Elise, unexpectedly to cancer in 1993 – some 45 years after their wedding. He soon met a local cocktail waitress, Celeste, who was nearly 40 years younger than him, raising eyebrows about potential fortune-hunting motives. But by October 1994, she and her twin daughters had settled into Steve’s lakeside estate, and the pair later wed.
YouTube content creator Mr Ballen recently recalled the disturbing events that transpired in a video, explaining how the murder led to a horrifying secret coming to light.
“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 caller 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.
Despite this stability, Celeste battled with depression and made an attempt on her own life earlier in the year she met Steve. She survived and was admitted to a psychiatric hospital – a detail that becomes significant 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.”
There were many twists and turns in the murder investigation into Steve Beard
By this point, Steve had been dealing with his own health issues, having been hospitalised after fainting on multiple occasions. Doctors attributed this to a range of conditions including high blood pressure, sleep apnoea, and heart and kidney problems, but couldn’t pinpoint why he was losing consciousness.
Steve put his troubles down to stress and planned a three-week European getaway with Celeste, leaving her twins at his mansion. However, shortly before their trip, he noticed Celeste hadn’t packed her suitcase yet, leading him to worry she didn’t want to accompany him.
After assuring him that wasn’t the case, Steve went to bed at 9pm while his wife stayed up to do the dishes, telling him she would sleep in another room so as not to disturb him.
“Hours later around 3am, Steve woke up and immediately felt a horrible pain in his stomach,” Mr Ballen continued the story. “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.”
Upon switching on the light, Steve quickly realised he was drenched in blood, leading him to cry out for Celeste, which only exacerbated his agony. His calls went unanswered, forcing him to grab the phone and dial for assistance.
Shortly after, Deputy Alan Howard arrived on the scene, accompanied by a fire captain and two other deputies who were desperately banging on the door without success. Howard eventually gained entry and discovered Steve barely conscious with a “gaping hole” in his stomach, his intestines “literally spilling out”.
Howard scoured the area for evidence and found a shotgun shell before searching the house for the shooter, ultimately finding Celeste sound asleep. “She began sobbing hysterically,” Mr Ballen continued, adding that one of Celeste’s daughters then came rushing into the room.
No one else was discovered in the house and by 5.30am Steve was receiving medical attention for his injury. Sergeant Paul Knight, now heading the investigation, soon arrived at the hospital and met with Celeste and her daughter, Christina, in a waiting room.
He promptly tested the pair for gunpowder residue, which appeared to eliminate them both from having recently discharged a firearm. Celeste subsequently provided Knight with her version of events from that evening, which involved visiting her other daughter, Jennifer, at the family’s lakeside property where she was enjoying a sleepover with mates.
When questioned about potential enemies of Steve, Celeste disclosed that her husband had visited the bank the day before to withdraw cash for the teenagers’ European trip – suggesting someone might have discovered his affluence and attempted a burglary.
Identical twin Jennifer then turned up, with Knight proceeding to quiz the girls about anyone who might have wanted to hurt their stepfather. “At this point Knight noticed them give each other a knowing look,” Mr Ballen continued. “They then said there was only one woman they knew who may do something like this – a woman named Tracy Tarlton.”
Tracy was a mate of Celeste’s and the duo had become acquainted during psychiatric treatment. “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.
Celeste pictured with Tracy Tarlton
The following day, Knight visited Tracy’s modest Austin home to interview her and discovered she possessed a licence for a 20-gauge shotgun – identical to the calibre of the cartridge discovered in Steve’s bedroom. When questioned about who had fired the weapon, Tracy responded to Knight with ‘No’, but enquired whether she required legal representation.
The duo carried on talking, with Tracy acknowledging she had previously harboured romantic sentiments for Celeste, though on the evening of the shooting had stayed home where she ordered pizza and enjoyed a few beers.
Following the firearm’s confiscation, Knight headed back to the mansion seeking additional evidence. He swiftly determined that any burglar had obviously shown no interest in the precious belongings, leading him to believe the crime was purely an assassination attempt designed to secure Steve’s fortune.
Steve had three children from his previous marriage, who were set to inherit millions of pounds upon his death, while Celeste would obviously gain financially. While pondering this, Knight spotted a trapdoor within the property, which he opened to uncover another 20-gauge shotgun.
Jennifer confessed to buying the weapon herself as a present for her boyfriend, however, but claimed it had never been discharged. By this point, Steve was in a stable condition and so Knight went back to the hospital only to discover a message on his door stating that no police officers could interview him without the family’s solicitor present.
Having eliminated Steve’s own children from enquiries, focus shifted back to Celeste, the twins, and the “remarkably co-operative Tracy”. At this juncture, a breakthrough through forensic analysis may have solved the case.
“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 went on: “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.”
Regarding the shocking revelation, Mr Ballen confirmed the perpetrator was Tracy Tarlton. Yet that wasn’t the complete picture.
“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 afterwards, Steve died from a blood clot – and a fresh narrative started to unfold. “It turned out Tracy’s love for Celeste was not one-sided,” Mr Ballen revealed. “The two had been having a full blown affair for months.”
And regarding Steve’s fainting spells, it emerged that Celeste had been spiking his vodka with high-proof alcohol to enable her to slip away and meet her lover. “According to Tracy, Celeste had asked her to kill Steve so they could be together,” Mr Ballen concluded. “So, for the first few months after her arrest, she kept her mouth shut on Celeste’s involvement.”
However, there was one final shocking turn of events. Five months after Steve’s death, Celeste remarried – to a man she’d only recently met. This revelation led Tracy to believe she’d been manipulated into eliminating Steve, enabling his wife to inherit his wealth.
As a result, Tracy testified against Celeste, leading to her arrest and subsequent conviction for murder.
