ORANGE : Suspect Arrested in ATM Robbery, Killing

A paroled bank robber has been identified as a suspect in the slaying of an ATM repairman, who was shot in the head and set on fire in April, authorities said Thursday.

Bill Charles Poynor, 50, was arrested Wednesday and is being held on a no-bail warrant for a series of armed robberies while the homicide investigation continues.

Poynor matches the description of the gunman being sought for the death of Robert T. Walsh, 59, an automated-teller machine technician, said Orange Police Detective Dave Jenson.

“We believe there is a possibility that we can link him with the ATM killing on the basis of his appearane,” Jenson said.

Walsh’s charred body was discovered April 16 inside his car. About $11,000 to $18,000 from his ATM rounds was missing, authorities said.

“To be honest, I didn’t think they would ever catch the guy,” Walsh’s wife, Janice, said Thursday. “Most of the evidence was destroyed in the car fire, at least to my knowledge,” she said.

“What this person did to my husband was evil. I hope we’ve got the right person so this won’t happen to someone else.”

Poynor is being held on warrants that accuse him of grand theft, forgery and a federal parole violation. He is a suspect in about 100 robberies in Southern California, including more than a dozen in Orange County, Jenson said.

The suspect also is wanted in connection with about 20 other robberies at women’s homes, department stores and hotels from May, 1994, to January, 1995, Phoenix Police Detective Alistair McLeod said.

“He’s quite an interesting character,” McLeod said. “He’s a psychopath, but brilliant.”

Poynor often met single women by running classified ads in newspapers, McLeod said. The detective alleged that Poynor courted his victims, cooked for them and then robbed them.

He was convicted of robbery in Phoenix in 1981 and was later arrested by Orange police in 1983 and charged with a dozen robberies between late 1979 and early 1982. He pleaded guilty to the Orange robbery charges and to using a handgun and received an eight-year sentence in state prison, according to court records.