But not all was well. During a vacation in South Carolina, he accused McKay of taking $2,500 from his pocket while he showered. Another time, his credit card company called about the purchase of $6,000 worth of furniture he knew nothing about.
Something else he didn't know, police say, was that McKay wasn't faithful. She had tried to seduce a male co-worker and had exchanged sex chatter through the mail with a former cellmate.
Then there was Robert Kenneth Brown, the married bus driver from Tennessee whom she had met in 2003 while on the run. They had lost touch for two years, which, unknown to Brown, coincided with her recent imprisonments. Now they were again meeting regularly.
For Christmas, she had also bought him a cell phone.
Armed robbery scrapped
In December 2005, Fertitta scored a $20,000 payday on Keno. McKay wanted to get her hands on that money, but this time, knowing Fertitta's penchant for carrying large amounts of cash, she had in mind a different kind of operation than her normal manipulations of bank accounts and credit cards.
This would be a flat-out armed robbery.
That was the story that William Neal Hart, an acquaintance of Christopher's, would later tell police. Hart said that McKay presented Christopher and him with a simple plan: She would signal Christopher when Fertitta left for work. Christopher and Hart, waiting outside in ski masks, would then rob him with a gun McKay supplied them.
The plot unfolded as planned, Hart told the police, until Matthew unexpectedly pulled up with friends. Christopher and Hart scrapped the robbery.
McKay was enraged, Hart reported. Now, she said, she might just have to marry Fertitta to get at his money.
In the meantime, though, life could go on as usual, which, for McKay, meant continuing to secretly milk Fertitta's credit cards and bank account.
On Feb. 21, she also signed papers to move into a new rental home. The next morning, police discovered Fertitta's burning remains.
Conflicting accounts
In Fertitta's home the next day, detectives found love notes from McKay and an answering machine message from her recorded that morning, hours after Fertitta's body was found.
"I haven't heard from you," she said. "I thought you were coming over. ... Call me. Love you, baby."
Next stop for the police was McKay's home in Old Mill. There, Richard Alban, the lead homicide detective, smelled bleach and followed the scent to a discolored, still wet carpet in the dining room. Under the carpet was a large stain that looked like blood.
