Searching For Answers: The Murder of Robert Joyal, Part One

June 16, 2021 Kristen Seavey

Marc and Robert Joyal

This is the first in a two part series on Robert Joyal. Click here for Part Two

Robert Joyal was an awesome big brother

Despite their 7 year age difference, Robert Joyal was a hell of an older brother, and to Marc, Robert was his hero. He protected him, believed in him, and comforted him.

Today, in his 30’s, more than 20 years later, Marc’s memories of Robert’s larger-than-life personality and charm remain vivid, and he fondly recalled memories when Robert made him feel like a rockstar playing basketball under the stars of the Texas night.

Where most teenagers wanted nothing to do with their younger siblings, Rob adored his brother and made sure he felt included, boosting his confidence along the way.

Football is where Rob belonged

Growing up as a pre-teen in Texas, football was Rob’s life. After playing JV, he was moved up to varsity as a sophomore, playing running back for the Clear Lake Falcons. He fit in amongst the rugged teenage athletes in a world where football was king, and its star players, celebrities. In the south, the world runs around football.

Marc told me of the time when they saw Rob score three touchdowns in one game, and the first thing he did when it ended was run to the sidelines to give his mother a hug.

Rob had a place in the school ecosystem where he belonged. A place he felt seen. But when trouble hit junior year, he was kicked off the team and demoted to JV as a consequence. Shortly after that, Rob quit football.

But quitting the football team wasn’t answer to fixing Rob’s grades or problems. In fact, it was the opposite. His entire demeanor changed, and his grades only got worse. Suddenly Rob didn’t have a place anymore in the school’s eco-system, and the once popular athlete no longer fit in where he best belonged.

Moving to Maine

After Rob was kicked off varsity, Rob’s behavior and grades continued to decline. Life was getting more difficult for Rob: He was getting into trouble more frequently, and fearing he was going to take a turn for the worse, the Joyal-Meyers family knew they needed to make a change.

The Joyal side had family in Cape Cod, so they settled on New England and dropped the pin in Gorham, Maine, a much different place than the city of Houston, Texas.

But Maine was safe, and the crime rate was much lower than Houston. The family wanted safe, and their heart settled on a 250-year-old farmhouse in Gorham. The father figure, Robert Myers, pictured his family turning back time and living like The Waltons: Simple. Safe. Connected.

This was a new chapter in Robert’s life. Moving 2,000 miles away left a lot of the bad influences that surrounded him behind, and created a lot of space for new things. Would Rob fill this void with strong new habits and have a fresh start, or would his past problems manifest again in Maine?

But Rob was still the new kid in town. And he was different: a façade of tough, city kid covering up a heart of gold who just wanted to find his place. Kids didn’t make it easy for him to fit in, and when he couldn’t find his place in system, 18-year-old Rob fell back into old habits, becoming rebellious, and acting out and getting into fights at school.

When his behavior came to a head in the spring of 1998, the family agreed it was best to let Rob move out of the house and in with a friend in and apartment in Portland, Maine.

A hopeful new chapter, and a devastating end

On April 3rd, 1998 Rob packed his stuff up in the new-to-him Ford Bronco his Dad got him earlier that day and said his goodbyes to Gorham. Though he was only moving a short drive away, Marc remembered this day as bittersweet.

Despite the move coming from a place of frustration, there was a sense of hope... and maybe a dash of fear—but mostly confidence that the family was ultimately moving towards growing closer, despite physically moving farther apart. When Marc went to sleep that night, he knew he was going to wake up the next day and go see Rob’s apartment and help him move in.

But Rob never unpacked the car… Rob didn’t even get to sleep in his apartment. Because by the early morning hours of April 4th, 1998, the same night he’d moved out of his family’s home—his very first night of freedom, Robert Joyal was stabbed to death in front of 50 people in the Denny’s parking lot in Portland. And to this day, his case remains unsolved.

Tune in to Murder, She Told and hear Marc tell his brother’s story in part one of the two-part story of Robert Joyal wherever you get podcasts.

Robert Joyal’s murder is unsolved

If you’re holding onto any information or think you might know something about the 1998 murder of Robert Joyal, I urge you to submit a tip to the Maine State cold case unit.

If you have a printer, live in the greater Portland area and have some spare time, help Marc by putting up these flyers made by the family.

Connect with the family’s Facebook page and group for updates.

Connect with the Maine Cold Case Alliance

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Click here to support Murder, She Told.

Faith, Rob, and Marc Joyal

Robert Joyal (right), Cape Cod, MA

Robert and Faith

Faith and Robert Joyal

Joyal home in Houston, TX

Joyal home, (Gorham, ME) ice storm of ‘98

Sources For This Episode

Newspaper Articles

Various articles, predominantly from the Bangor Daily News and the Portland Press Herald as well as Kennebec Journal, Morning Sentinel, and The Boston Globe. Authors include Alan Clendenning, Ann Kim, Bill Nemitz, David Connerty-Marin, David Hench, Elbert Aull, Eric Blom, Gillian Graham, Gregory Kesich, Jason Wolfe, John Richardson, Joshua Weinstein, Josie Huang, Matt Byrne and Gillian Graham, Peter Pochna, Susan Rayfield, Suzanne Delcamp, and Tess Nacelewicz.

Full listing here.

Online Articles

'We will always miss Robert…' (News Center Maine), 4/3/2018, by Chris Rose

'Police search for new evidence…' (AP News), 4/4/2018, by AP

'Police seek information…' (WGME), 4/4/2018, no author credited

'20 years ago, a Maine teen…' (Bangor Daily News), 4/4/2018, by user 'CBS 13'

'Portland police ask for help…' (Portland Press Herald), 4/4/2018, by John Richardson

'Portland Police Seeking Information…' (Portland Maine Police Department), 4/4/2018, by user 'Portland Maine Police Department'

'Portland Police asking for help…' (WABI 5), 4/5/2018, by user 'WMTW'

'Two decades later, the sting…' (Central Maine), 4/8/2018, by Gillian Graham

'Portland Police Reinvestigate…' (Gorham Times), 4/19/2018, by Sheri Faber

'Robert Joyal was killed 20 yrs ago…' (Reddit), 8/8/2018, by user 'marcjm1'