1986: Wade Matthews worried about his sister, Robin McCall, when she did not come home from work. He arrived at Pine Valley Bank only to see two robbers ransacking the place. Wade put down the robbers, and found his sister and Tad Martin hiding in the bank vault.
Wade encouraged Robin to pursue Tad. He had his own plans in mind to get rich quick. Tad was married to Phoebe Wallingford’s step-daughter, Hillary Wilson. Phoebe was on the outs with her husband, Langley Wallingford. She had turned to the bottle, making her susceptible to his charms. He manipulated her into divorcing Langley and marrying him.
Wade knew Phoebe’s only worth was if she was dead. He plotted with his girlfriend Shelley to poison Phoebe. But this was not fast enough for Wade. The night he was going to kill Phoebe, Langley arrived on the scene and stopped him. Robin had tipped off Tad, who in turn tipped off Langley. Wade was taken into custody and charged with attempted murder.