Man sentenced for arson/murder

TYLER – A man was sentenced to 45 years in prison on Monday, more than a year after he was arrested for allegedly dousing his girlfriend in gasoline and setting a Tyler house on fire. Following a report of a burning home, the Tyler Fire and Police Departments arrived at the 3300 block of Shady Trail on November 18, 2024, at approximately 3:37 a.m.

Our news partners at KETK report that Gregory Bargaineer, 67, entered the Smith County Jail twenty minutes later “to turn himself in for throwing gasoline on his girlfriend,” according to arrest records.

The body of Bargaineer’s alleged girlfriend, Marilyn Mceachin, was discovered on the floor close to the remains of a bed after the fire department extinguished the flames. Investigators were informed by Bargaineer that the victim had served him with an eviction notice the previous week.

After following Bargaineer around the city, Mceachin filed an eviction report with the Tyler Police Department and informed an officer that she was evicting her. The position and location of Mceachin’s body “was not indicative of someone who had been alive when the fire started,” according to fire investigators. Bargaineer was given a 45-year prison sentence after entering a guilty plea to murder on Monday.