Pod Insights Criminology Gary Farris About this episode Gary Farris was a very successful commercial real estate attorney in the metro Atlanta area. By 2018, he had been married to his wife Melody for thirty-eight years, and the couple had four adult children. They seemed like the perfect couple with the perfect family. But when Gary was found dead secrets began to be revealed. Join Mike and Morf as they discuss the death of Gary Farris. Once it was realized that Gary was missing a search of the property began. It didn't take long for one of Gary's sons to find his remains in a burn pit on the property. The investigation quickly turned into looking at who had the motive and opportunity to murder Gary. You can help support the show at patreon.com./criminology An Emash Digital production
Transcript 0:00 Speaker 00 Hello everyone. This is Robin Warder, host of the true crime podcast, The Trail Went Cold. If you grew up watching the classic television show Unsolved Mysteries, then this is the podcast for you. Each week, I profile a new unsolved murder or missing persons case and share all the baffling details. Afterward, I provide my own personal analysis and theories about what might have happened. This is a show for true crime buffs who are fascinated by cold cases and love to discuss them and pick them apart in an attempt to figure out the truth. So be sure to check out our podcast to learn about some truly bizarre unsolved mysteries where the trail went cold.
1:03 Speaker 00 Criminology is a true crime podcast that may contain discussion about violent or disturbing topics. Listener discretion is advised.
1:41 Speaker 01 Hello everyone and welcome to episode 334 of the Criminology Podcast. I'm Mike Ferguson.
1:47 Speaker 02 And this is Mike Morf.
1:49 Speaker 01 Morf, how you doing this week?
1:51 Speaker 02 Doing good. How about you?
1:53 Speaker 01 I'm doing great, man. I'm having a really good week, although we we hit a cold spell and it's raining. So cold rain, not a fan.
2:03 Speaker 02 Yeah, sometimes cold's one thing, but to have cold rain, I don't miss that. That's one part of the Northeast I'm not missing.
2:12 Speaker 01 And you know, I've got a puppy that is now seven months old and pretty, pretty well potty trained. And the cold rain is messing with the bathroom schedule for this puppy. It's like pulling teeth to get her to go out and go to the bathroom.
2:35 Speaker 02 Yeah. And we have a golden retriever puppy. He's seven months and he's same thing. He eats the rain. He comes in, he's, you know, 60 pounds, soaking wet, splashes it all over and makes it messy. So it's always a lot of fun.
2:53 Speaker 01 Oh, but you gotta love them. Gotta love them.
2:56 Speaker 02 Oh, yeah.
2:57 Speaker 01 Let's go ahead and do our Patreon shout outs. We had Jennifer Solu and Victoria Gentry. So some great new support. We really appreciate it.
3:07 Speaker 02 Yeah. Thank you so much for that. That really helps us out. And for anyone else that would like to support the show, you can do so by going to patreon.com/criminology.
3:15 Speaker 01 All right. It's time to jump into this week's case. And the one we're talking about in this episode, just wrapped up in court with a surprise verdict. It's also a case that didn't receive a lot of media attention until after the trial began. Even many locals commenting online expressed surprise that they had never heard of the case. The headlines made it seem like it was a simple case that would have a short trial. There ended up being almost three weeks of testimony. And when the jury got the case, they almost couldn't come to an agreement. This was not the clear cut case of spousal murder that was expected or
3:57 Speaker 01 described in the headlines. The victim in this case, Gary Farris, was wealthy and more than one person would have benefited from his death. But each of the possible suspects had alibis and broke down on the stand when talking about their love for him, except for one person, his widow, Melody Ferris, who chose not to testify in her own defense.
4:22 Speaker 02 By 2018, the last year of his life, Gary and Melody Ferris had been married for 38 years. The couple had four adult children who had or were in the process of starting their own families. Their kids were Emily, Chris, Scott, and Amanda. Gary and Melody were living in a six-bedroom, eight-bathroom home on a 10-acre property worth $2 million in the part of Alfreda, Georgia that is in Cherokee County. Most of the city is within Fulton County. Gary was a very successful commercial real estate attorney there in the metro Atlanta area. From the outside, looking in, the Ferris family had it all. Everything seemed perfect, but things were not at all what they appeared when it came to the Ferris family.
5:06 Speaker 01 The Ferris family home was large, but it wasn't just a status symbol. Their son, Scott, lived in a loft apartment over the barn on the sprawling property and helped out with the animals and the chores. The size of the home was almost a necessity to keep them under the same roof. In fact, Melody and Gary actually lived separately within the same house, each residing on a different floor. Melody slept in the main bedroom upstairs, and Gary, who used a CPAP machine at night, slept in a bedroom on the ground floor, which is often referred to as their basement despite it being above ground.
5:46 Speaker 02 As an outsider, looking at the sleep arrangements, separate bedrooms could suggest that they weren't exactly experiencing marital bliss. But with Gary using a CPAP machine, it could be easily explained away. Gary likely snored before getting the CPAP, and snoring is one of the most common reasons for couples to sleep separately. But other than this possible CPAP machine causing problems, the only real sign of trouble in their relationship was in February 2010, when Gary filed for divorce, seemingly out of the blue. Whether he was never serious about the proceedings, or he decided not to let go of 30 years of marriage and they were able to work things out, he didn't go through with the divorce.
6:27 Speaker 02 Just six months later, he dismissed his petition. As the trial after his murder would reveal, both of them, Gary and Melody, were seeing other people during their marriage. With 38 years together, four kids, and a canceled divorce, it seemed that they had come to some kind of arrangement over the years, and it was one that worked for them, until it didn't.
6:48 Speaker 01 And more if you talked about snoring and Gary using a CPAP machine, it is a reason, I think, for some people to sleep separately. It seems to me as though people tend to do that more as they get older, sleep in separate bedrooms. I think my wife sometimes wishes I would sleep in a different bedroom. Cause I, I do snore and sometimes, you know, it keeps her from going to sleep, staying asleep and she's not happy about it all the time.
7:25 Speaker 02 Yeah, I think some people underestimate snoring and, and that it can cause that much disruption, but yeah, I snore too. My wife snores a little bit, you know, between the two of us for, you know, waking each other up at, at certain times.
7:40 Speaker 01 But these living arrangements were part of the family's everyday life. And it was all going normally, or as normally as could be until July 5th, 2018, around 11:30 AM. On July 5th, the family began to search for Gary. Melody was calling everyone, asking if they had heard from him sometime before noon. Melody called Gary's assistant, Angela, asking if she had information about where Gary could be, but Gary wasn't at work. Melody called all of the children and they each headed to the property. It wasn't like Gary to disappear and not be in touch with his family,
8:22 Speaker 01 even if he had to travel for business, especially overnight. He wouldn't have left everyone wondering where he was. He would have coordinated ahead of time. One clue that indicated Gary most likely didn't willingly disappear is that he had left his CPAP machine that he used at night on his bedside table. For people that use CPAP machines, getting a good night's sleep often depends on having that machine. More telling was that Melody found Gary's wallet in the center console of his Mercedes. Which was also left behind and more to me and a lot of cases that we cover,
9:06 Speaker 01 especially, you know, on the unsolved side. When you're looking into whether someone willingly disappeared or something happened to them. Much of the conversation centers around what was left behind. And here in this case, you know, you have his car, his wallet, his CPAP machine. If Gary Farris was going on a trip, he was, he was going to need to take some of these things. And most people don't really go anywhere, leave the house without their wallet at the very least. And how's he leaving the house when his Mercedes is still there?
9:48 Speaker 02 Yeah, I think there were certainly some unanswered questions here and a little bit of mysterious clues found. The situation definitely seemed worrisome for his family. It wasn't like Gary to, to go missing like this. So I think they were concerned right away. For whatever reason, Scott decided to check on some of the firearms he knew were kept at the home, kind of doing an inventory. If Gary had gone hunting or shooting, he would have taken certain guns with him. The shotgun, which he definitely would have taken, was still there. Scott remembered another gun. In June 2018, he saw a 30 special snub nose revolver that he had never seen before.
10:28 Speaker 02 He had been rifling through the drawers in the basement, living room, looking for a TV remote for the DirecTV technician. When he happened upon it inside its leather holster. On July 5th, while searching for Gary, he just had a feeling that he should check on that gun. And when he did, it wasn't in the drawer anymore. Amanda checked the inside of the home, the kitchen, the downstairs living rooms, Gary's office and bedroom. He wasn't there. Considering the sprawling property, his family began to worry that he had become injured or incapacitated somehow, without ever technically leaving.
11:02 Speaker 01 And you talked about more of the fact that this was a, you know, pretty big house. It was a, a $2 million property on 10 acres. You know, you have a pretty large house. When you're worried that one of your relatives is injured somewhere on the property and you just haven't been able to find them yet.
11:24 Speaker 02 Yeah, this isn't a small area where you can just look out across the yard and look to the road and see if you see him laying out there anywhere. This was an area that sounds like it had a lot of different terrain and a very good distance that they'd need to check out. And on top of that, you've got this big giant house that they've got to go through room by room.
11:46 Speaker 01 Checking the property, Scott noticed that the tractor was not in the usual spot, that it would be stored overnight. Instead, it was near a large manure pile. The tractor was used to turn the compost over. So it was not heard of for it to be out there, but it wasn't usually left there. So Scott headed over to check in case Gary was near the tractor. Scott thought maybe his dad had been in the middle of using the tractor when he had some kind of medical emergency and hadn't been able to park the tractor where it was normally kept, but there was no sign of Gary. Scott also searched the barn, the shed, and around the chicken coop, but he didn't find his dad.
12:30 Speaker 02 The burn pile Gary had been preparing was on a section of property that was separated from the house by acres of land and a pond or a dam that you had to cross. We're talking about a property that you would need to use a golf cart to easily get around on. It was still smoldering when Amanda was in that area. She even threw a stick onto the pile. Scott walked around, but there was no sign of Gary. Finally, Melody asked Scott if he had thrown a goat onto the burn pile. This confused Scott because they had goats, but they had never burned any of them. He headed straight back to the area to take a closer look. This is when he discovered his father Gary's body, or at least what was left of it. He had essentially been cremated by a prolonged time in the fire. His body would
13:13 Speaker 02 have to be identified using his dental records to confirm that the remains were his.
13:17 Speaker 01 So we were talking about this search for Gary, you know, inside the home on the, the 10 acres of land, but it all wrapped up, you know, rather quickly with Scott finding his dad. And you have to feel very sorry for Scott in the way that, you know, he found his dad. Scott later testified that he noticed what he later in hindsight described as the inside of a skull, which didn't look like a rock and had visible blood vessels attached to it. He said he actually grabbed a small corner of it and lifted it up.
13:58 Speaker 01 This is when he saw teeth in an eye socket, which caused him to drop the skull. Melody was standing just behind him when all this happened. Scott then immediately called 911, what they had feared all along, that Gary suffered some kind of medical emergency while on an isolated part of the property, is what appeared to have happened. Even detectives first thought this was an unfortunate accident, but just in case, the property was called a crime scene and was made off limits. So Melody moved in with her youngest daughter, Amanda. And I talked about how, you know, you have to feel sorry for Scott.
14:41 Speaker 01 Feel sorry for anyone finding their relative dead, but this is a different type of scene. Gary is found dead in a burn pit, essentially almost cremated, but I can see why the family initially, and even detectives would think, well, this, you know, was probably some type of unfortunate accident. Gary was 59 years old. Was it possible that he had some type of medical issue? Fell into the burn pit and I, and I would say, yeah, at first thought that could be a possibility. I don't think most people more automatically would go to, well, this is
15:26 Speaker 01 obviously a murder.
15:27 Speaker 02 Yeah, I think the thinking was that most likely Gary had suffered some kind of issue, but the results from his autopsy were surprising. While everyone assumed that Gary died as the result of a medical emergency or a fire related issue, the ME found that a 38 caliber bullet was embedded in one of his ribs. There was a bullet found on the floor between a chair and an automat in the basement living room. Ballistics testing indicated that this bullet had been fired by the same gun as the bullet that was found in one of Gary Farris's rib bones. More damning, a blood trail led from the basement stairs through the kitchen where there were signs of a cleanup. A potential drop of blood in the front hallway of the
16:09 Speaker 02 home was never collected or tested with Blue Star. It was clear that Gary had been murdered, possibly in the home, and most of Melody's family turned against her, believing she was the killer.
16:19 Speaker 01 The Ferris sons, Scott and Chris, would both later say that they started to suspect their mother was responsible as soon as they learned about the bullet found in their father's rib. Scott may have been suspicious even before this, as during the search for Gary, he also took the time to look for a specific gun, that 38 special in the leather holster. He also mentioned to investigators who were responding to the scene, well before the autopsy about the missing gun, investigators knew who the best suspect was, Melody Ferris, but they still had to gather enough evidence to arrest and charge her. When she was first
17:01 Speaker 01 questioned by investigators, Melody denied having any extramarital affairs. This would prove to be false. She was having an affair and it had been going on for quite some time. You know, there's probably a goal weight in your head and getting there on your own is the hard part. Weight loss by hers offers access to a range of FDA or GLP-1 medications, including the Wegovy pill and the Wegovy pen, plus support along the way. With Wegovy, you can lose up to 20% of your body weight. People lost an average of 14% body weight in 64 weeks in a clinical trial of Wegovy, alongside diet and exercise.
17:41 Speaker 01 To get started with Wegovy, just go to forhers.com and complete an online consultation with a licensed provider who will determine if a prescription is appropriate. And Hers doesn't stop there. Nutrition and lifestyle guidance are part of the plan, along with access to 24/7 messaging with your care team. So, support is always in reach. Ready to reach your goals? Visit forhers.com/criminology to access personalized, affordable care for weight loss, hair, menopause, and more. Individual results may vary, and stopping treatment may result in weight regain. Weight loss by Hers is not available in all 50 states. Wegovy is the registered trademark of Novo Nordisk AS. To get started and learn more, including important safety information, Wegovy clinical
18:26 Speaker 01 study information, and restrictions, visit forhers.com.
18:31 Speaker 02 In 2008, Melody began the affair with Ted Wiley, a man from Alabama who had actually been in a relationship with her sister-in-law, Sherry, for two decades. Their affair lasted for almost four years and remained a secret to everyone but the authorities working to solve Gary's murder. And at trial, it would become known to everyone. Ted always wondered whether Gary knew what was going on, probably because that divorce petition during their affair, but he wasn't positive. It turns out, the affair with Ted Wiley wasn't Melody's only affair. At least one of her children told investigators about an affair Melody had with a man named Roy Barton, who goes by Rusty. He lived in Tennessee. So while they collected more evidence to build their case against her, Melody was arrested
19:15 Speaker 02 for lying to investigators about the affairs and impeding their investigation. Ironically, Melody was actually with Rusty in Toluomo, Tennessee, when she was arrested on June 18, 2019. So I think, in cases, murder cases especially where there's suspicion on a spouse, an affair probably becomes a big red flag to investigators. And in this case, Melody lied about the affair. So I think that made them extra suspicious of her in that affair.
19:47 Speaker 01 Well, and it wasn't just one, right? It was multiple affairs. And it seems like even her children, or at least one of her children, knew about one of the affairs and were able to tell police. Melody's own children painted a very clear picture of her guilt. The oldest, fair son, Chris, testified that just months before he was killed, his father had told him that each day with Melody was the worst day of his life versus the day before. None of the fairest children had much in the way of support of Melody. Only one of her children, Amanda, testified for the defense. On the stand, she said of her mom, she has told me that she's not guilty.
20:32 Speaker 01 And all I can do is believe that until somebody can prove she is guilty. I would like to believe that my mother had nothing to do with this. Some may call it denial, but I call it honoring my mother. She also said, I would do the exact same thing for my dad. So there does appear as though there was a little bit of a split. At least, you know, Amanda was standing up for her mom. But it sounds like it was more that she just couldn't believe that her mom would do this. And let's face it, most, you know, children wouldn't believe that one of their parents was capable of something like this. But it sounds like she was the only one.
21:17 Speaker 01 The rest of the children were not in their mom's camp.
21:22 Speaker 02 It's got to be a very strange situation to find yourself in having to sort out in your mind, you know, what happened is your father's dead. And here your mom's accused of it and you love her. You think you know her. Where would you land on something like that? Would you support her or would you want to see her held accountable for your dad's murder? And in this case, three of the four kids went against her.
21:51 Speaker 01 And my thought is, you know, when the, all the children are not in agreement, it's going to make for a very tough family dynamic.
22:02 Speaker 02 Melody's cousin Martha was watching coverage of the trial and heard details about the murder weapon being a 38 caliber. She suddenly felt she needed to make a call to the Cherokee County Sheriff's Office to report that she believed her gun was the murder weapon. In 1979, Martha received a 38 special snub nose revolver as a Christmas gift from her husband. Because Martha trusted Melody, she eventually told her where she kept that gun as well as her 357 Magnum. These guns were kept in a chest in a guest bedroom that had a TV on top of it. The 38 caliber was also kept in a leather holster. She believes this gun is the one Scott had seen in the drawer while he was looking for the DirecTV remote.
22:45 Speaker 02 When Martha checked the chest, the 357 Magnum was still there, but not her 38 special. In the end, police never found any gun that could be conclusively proven to be the murder weapon.
22:57 Speaker 01 The jury deliberated for around 13 hours, spread over four days with a weekend break in between. First, they told the judge that they couldn't come to a unanimous verdict. They were given an instruction to go back in and try to come to a verdict, knowing that there's no reason to believe that any other jury in the future could do a better job. Later that day, they returned with their verdict. Melody Ferris was guilty of malice murder, felony murder, aggravated assault, concealing the death of another, and making a false statement. According to one juror who has spoken out, the first thing they had to do was rule out
23:39 Speaker 01 everyone else in the Ferris family and everyone connected to the family, one by one. The juror admitted that Scott was the last person to be ruled out. It took them longer to be certain that he wasn't involved. And we talked about it earlier. There was evidence that showed that it was likely that Gary was killed in his home and then his body had made it across the property to the burn pit. The jury wondered if Melody could accomplish this on her own, if she was the killer, or if the killer could be a man who was strong enough to move a body that far.
24:18 Speaker 02 It was reasonable to assume that several people had motives to kill Gary. We'll start with Rusty, Melody's lover, or Paramore, as he's been referred to in the headlines. Rusty couldn't have killed Gary. Footed from a surveillance video at a store in Tennessee where he lived, proved that he wasn't even in the state during the right window of time to be a suspect. On top of that, Rusty was under the impression that Gary had esophageal cancer and was in poor health because of it. This was false information he had received from Melody. If Rusty thought Gary was dying of cancer, he didn't really have to come up with a way to take Gary out. Rusty was actually Melody's date to her daughter Emily's wedding. There are photos of him standing right next to Gary. Rusty was also dating
25:00 Speaker 02 other women at the time that he was having an affair with Melody. It didn't seem super important for him to get Gary out of the picture. Whether Melody knew he was seeing other people is unknown, but it seems unlikely since he was hiding Melody from the other women. The Farris children thought the relationship between their mom and Rusty was odd, but at the time, they had no idea about the affair. Melody and Rusty have known each other since they were teenagers. Rusty's father's second wife, Martha, was the first cousin of Melody's mother. In September 2017, Rusty and Melody took a vacation to Jamaica for just over a week. The trip was for Rusty's birthday and he fully funded it. Melody lied to her kids about where she had gone.
25:42 Speaker 01 So the jury knew Rusty. Melody's lover wasn't the killer. Next, they had to ask themselves, what about the Farris children? They realized that Emily didn't even live in the same state and Amanda didn't benefit financially at all. Until Melody was arrested, Amanda took her mother in and helped her pay for utility bills, car insurance and home insurance. Scott and Chris Ferris are both pretty big guys. Scott was two inches taller than his father and had been in the military. He lived on the property and tended to it. So, anything he did around the burn pile would look normal and any footprints on the property or DNA on tools and equipment would be expected
26:27 Speaker 01 and could easily be explained away if he was suspected.
26:31 Speaker 02 According to Amanda's testimony, her brother Scott often flaunted the fact that it was his property, referring to the property owned by his parents. It made her want to razz him for living vicariously through their dad. Scott had 38 caliber ammo, the same caliber as the bullet found in Gary's rib, for a .357 he says was stolen from him. Scott would often borrow a debit card from Gary for his expenses. He didn't get a paycheck for the work on the farm and would also use the card to pay for things needed for the property and the animals. Gary didn't mind when Scott used it for food, bills, or playing golf. He would only ask for the card back when he needed to use it and that would go right back to Scott.
27:12 Speaker 01 On October 20th, 2017, Gary texted his son Scott the following message, "Things will change dramatically. You need to pursue a job soon." The defense painted this text as proof that Gary was upset about his children spending all his money and he was starting to cut them off. But Scott says that this text was referring to his parents' marital situation. According to Scott, his dad knew about the affair with Rusty and he wasn't happy. He wanted to file for divorce again and this would likely mean selling the property and significantly cutting back on expenses. Gary didn't want Scott to be blindsided, so
27:55 Speaker 01 he was warning him to prepare and not giving him some type of... Ultimatum. It turns out Gary did know about the affair. Rusty's girlfriend Christina sent Gary an email in 2017 and informed him that Rusty and Melody were having an affair. She was upset that he had been hiding their relationship from her. So she decided to tell Gary. Melody told Rusty that Gary confronted her after receiving this email. The date that Gary texted Scott about things changing dramatically, he also texted him about the email.
28:34 Speaker 01 So more if you know that the jury had to look at all of these different individuals to figure out whether or not, you know, they could have killed Gary. You know, when it comes to Scott, they had some things that they had to wade through. You know, there are these texts. The defense said they meant one thing. Scott said they meant something completely different. He had the, the 38 caliber ammo. And I'm sure the defense painted Scott as a person who would have greatly benefited financially from the death of his father.
29:16 Speaker 02 I think another reason some people might suspect Scott was that he lived in the house. So you have Melody and him as the only two people that would have been on the property for sure on the night or the morning that Gary died.
29:34 Speaker 01 Yeah. So tougher to rule him out, right? Because of that fact, some of the kids didn't even live in the same state. Melody's boyfriend Rusty, you know, obviously couldn't have done it. He had a pretty airtight alibi in the way of video surveillance, but you can't say the same for Scott.
29:55 Speaker 02 Chris Ferris also would have potentially been cut off. In fact, he had been stealing money while Scott was at least being given permission to use credit card. Amanda said it was well known that Chris was stealing money from Gary. He would steal checks and cash him and write down credit card numbers so that he could use them. Just weeks before Gary was killed, he sent Chris some stern text messages, including one that read, "Your stealing money is out of control." There had also been tension between Chris and the rest of the family, but there was no evidence linking Chris to the murder. And attention from the jury once again shifted to Melody.
30:32 Speaker 01 So I, I think just like we said about Scott, the jury would be looking at Chris having a potential motive. You have his sister Amanda saying that Chris was stealing from Gary. Gary's own text to Chris seems to back that up. But it seems as though the jury was able to kind of rule both of them out. So you have Melody's lover being ruled out in the minds of the jury and, and her kids as well. They started to search for a motive that Melody would have to kill Gary. Gary gave his children money freely.
31:14 Speaker 01 Evidence indicates that Melody was angry that he kept wasting what she saw as her money on them. There was proof that Gary was tracking Melody's spending and withholding money from her. Melody even had one of Rusty's credit cards that she had been using for herself. Melody told Rusty that Gary would cut her off from using the cards and took control of their finances. And according to Rusty, he didn't want her to be stranded and wanted her to be able to get something to eat if she needed to. So that's why he let her use his card. Also telling was that Melody didn't even want to spend any money to pay for Gary's funeral.
31:59 Speaker 01 This deeply upset her children. 38 years of marriage and she was trying not to pay for her husband's funeral. And I can see why that would be upsetting to the children. And it also doesn't make Melody look good, right? It wouldn't make her look good in the eyes of the jury. You've been married to a guy for 38 years and you don't want to pay for his funeral. But what I really want to talk about is this idea or this thought that Gary was free with his money, with his children, but controlling when it came to Melody.
32:39 Speaker 01 I just wonder how much of that had to do with the fact that he knew she was having an affair.
32:47 Speaker 02 Yeah, from everything we see here, it doesn't seem like Melody was coming across to the jury as a grieving wife that missed her husband. You know, the fact she didn't want to pay for his funeral, although that's not evidence. She could just be cheap. I mean, it certainly wouldn't sit right with them. Prosecutors referred to Gary as the gravy train for Scott, but that was true to some extent for the other children as well. Once Gary was dead, Melody began to demand repayment of loans from the kids that Gary had made to them. Gary was very relaxed about collecting payments from them. As a commercial real estate attorney, Gary could make around $600,000 a year. The amounts his children needed were nothing to him.
33:32 Speaker 01 In the end, Melody was the best suspect. Rusty gave the most damning pieces of evidence against her, though he later recanted his story. Rusty told detectives that around 2:00 AM on July 4th, Melody called him and said, he's on the burn pile. He immediately told her not to tell him anything else and hung up on her. This was over a full 24 hours before Gary's body was found. This points to Melody knowing that Gary was dead and knowing exactly where he was the whole time. She was calling people and letting her children search. After speaking with Melody, who was in jail at the time, his story changed up.
34:16 Speaker 01 He now believed he had reported the date wrong.
34:20 Speaker 02 During a recorded jail phone call, Melody told Rusty that he was going to single-handedly hang her if he didn't stop talking. Yet she also told him something that suggests she had a plan, which tells us she is responsible for this murder. She said to him, "I can tell you, there should not have been as much damage as there was done." Rusty, who was a bit surprised by this statement, asked her what she meant. She clarified, "That body should not have been burned up."
34:49 Speaker 01 Gary had at least one affair that has been revealed. His longtime assistant Angela Phillips admitted to having a brief romantic relationship with Gary back in 1995. It lasted less than two years, and they stayed friends after they ended their physical relationship. Angela's conscience got to her when she met Melody and the two Ferris girls. Angela, who was Gary's assistant for 28 years, became one of his closest confidants. He once told her that he thought Melody was poisoning him, but he refused to go to the doctor because he was embarrassed.
35:29 Speaker 02 Chris Ferris told the jury about a time that his dad shared the same suspicion with him. After a day of Melody screaming at Gary, she suddenly brought him freshly baked cookies while he was watching TV. After eating them, his throat began to burn. Gary had episodes of overwhelming fatigue that have been referred to as spells. He would need to lay down wherever he was. Sometimes he would nap in the office. Sometimes he wouldn't even make it in to the office. His habits weren't great. He was almost 60. He was on blood pressure medication, smoked cigarettes, and he was pretty much always drinking Mountain Dew. These so-called spells were attributed to these poor health habits. In April 2018, Gary was hospitalized, but nothing was found to be wrong with him.
36:14 Speaker 02 So this does show that Gary did have some health issues or some poor health habits. And it may have played into the family's original thinking that maybe something did happen to him out on the farm. Maybe he had some kind of attack or something along those lines and fell into the fire. It wasn't until that bullet was found that they knew something else had happened.
36:40 Speaker 01 Yeah, I mean, obviously he had high blood pressure. He was smoking and he was drinking a lot of Mountain Dew.
36:50 Speaker 01 Those, neither of those two things are good for you. Obviously smoking even worse than Mountain Dew. But I think it's safe to say he wasn't leading a very healthy lifestyle. So there are questions about exactly where Gary was shot. If he was shot in the house, that may have been a backup plan. The primary plan might have been Melody trying to get Gary somewhere closer to the burn pit and shooting him there. You know, one of the, the burn piles he was fond of. And apparently she hated, then the obvious conclusion might have been that, you know, he had one of these spells and fell into the fire.
37:35 Speaker 01 Maybe the plan was to refuse an autopsy because everything was so obvious, so tragic. Or maybe she thought that the fire would destroy any evidence of a bullet. The fire was still at 200 degrees Fahrenheit when a measurement was taken. Officer Christopher Michael Shaw recalled smelling citronella around the burn pile. There were also large pieces of wood around Gary's body. On the edge of the burn pile, they could have been citronella firewood, which could have been used to make sure Gary's body burned. It's very hard to cremate a body outdoors. But like Melody said in her phone call to Rusty, he wasn't supposed to have been that burned.
38:21 Speaker 01 But what does that mean, Morf? That the fire did more damage to the body than she thought it would have?
38:30 Speaker 02 Yeah, it's definitely an odd statement and maybe one she didn't know, didn't realize the jail was recording call, but it definitely jumps out and stands out.
38:42 Speaker 01 Well, it's confusing because we don't know exactly, you know, why she's saying that, but it's also very damning in that it points the finger at her, knowing the body was going to be burned, but not thinking that it was going to be burned to the extent that it was.
39:03 Speaker 02 And if Melody wanted Gary in that fire to hide evidence or whatever you want to call it, it's odd that she didn't want the body to burn that bad because that seems like it would go against what she was trying to do in hiding evidence. If that body had not burned badly, things may have been found easier.
39:26 Speaker 01 Yeah, I think it just adds to the strangeness of the statement.
39:31 Speaker 02 There were still multiple issues that the jury had to work through to come to their verdict. If the marriage between Melody and Gary worked for 38 years, it does seem unlikely that Melody would do something so drastic to be rid of Gary, like kill him and toss him into a fire. But the more the jury thought about it, the marriage wasn't working. From texts Gary sent to Scott, he was upset about the affair and planning to leave Melody. She could get half of his assets and some alimony if she was lucky, since she had been a stay at home mom. But with proof of adultery, which is actually on the books as a misdemeanor offense in Georgia, she may not get anything from Gary and she could have ended up facing a charge. Of course, if Gary died before he filed for divorce, Melody would get everything.
40:15 Speaker 01 There are also text messages from Melody to friends further showing that the marriage wasn't working. While these texts are old from October 2016, this only shows you how long Melody had to try and come up with a plan, stewing and holding in her anger the whole time. She actually admitted that she said to Gary, I hope you die alone. And a gruesome death. Her friend responded with support, saying, there you go. He's gonna push you over the edge. And Melody didn't deny this. Instead, she agreed, saying, I know. And that scares me.
40:55 Speaker 01 She also added that she told Gary, it would be in his best interest for him to go where she could not even see or hear him. Now, no one could actually place Melody behind the trigger of the gun that killed Gary. Not for sure, anyway. Some of them may have doubted that Melody would be able to move Gary's body onto the burn pile. Gary was six foot three and weighed more than 300 pounds.
41:22 Speaker 02 There was plenty of equipment and many supplies that Melody could have used to aid her in moving the body. She knew how to use it all. Scott saw Melody use the tractor just days before he last saw his father. But the juror that spoke out does not believe that Melody actually needed to use the tractor in order to move Gary's body. There was a drop of Melody's blood found on the shifter of the RTV that they used to get around the property. There was a small drop of Gary's blood on the step of the tractor, but none on any of the parts that would have been used to move his body. There were also no visible drag marks or tire tracks near the home.
41:56 Speaker 01 And more, I could see why the jury would, you know, really have to wrestle with some of this. Six foot three, 300 pounds. And Gary was a big guy. Pretty tough for anyone to move that type of body on their own. I imagine they spoke a lot about, you know, how could this woman Melody have done it? How could she have pulled it off?
42:28 Speaker 02 It does seem like a tall task for Melody to be able to get Gary out of the house by herself. And I think that's maybe why there was some thought that maybe she had an accomplice to accomplish this. That raises the possibility that maybe he wasn't shot in the house.
42:45 Speaker 01 The location of Gary's murder is still unknown, although inside the home seems more likely. Based on the evidence, there were drops of blood found on the stairs. There was DNA from Gary Farris on the bullet found near the ottoman, but there was no blood found nearby or on it. If he wasn't killed inside the house, the small amount of blood spatter could be from Melody. Using the stairs on her way to clean up or stage the scene, many people believe that he was shot in the basement, while another common theory is that he was already in the yard when he was shot. If Gary had been shot while he was standing at the burn pile,
43:28 Speaker 01 he could have fallen down and ended up on the pile. It's possible that he was shot more than once and that only one of the bullets lodged in a bone. There wasn't a lot left of his body by the time he was found. So any bullets that grazed him or only went through organs and tissue might not have been detected at his autopsy. It's possible he ran out of the sliding glass door in the living room, just behind that chair in ottoman after being shot once. And more if I keep going back to, you know, how big of a guy Gary was, 6'3", 300 pounds, it does make more sense to me that he was still alive when he made it to the burn pile.
44:12 Speaker 01 Now, whether he was shot and was running towards it, or whether he was standing at the burn pile, doing something with it, tending it, and was shot there, that just seems to make a lot more sense than Melody dragging his body through the house, out to this and onto this burn pile.
44:37 Speaker 02 Jurors went back to the timeline. The last day Gary was seen alive was July 3rd. Gary's CPAP machine was last used at 7:48 a.m. that morning. For lunch on the 3rd, Melody and Scott went to Cherokee Ranch Restaurant. When they arrived, Gary was already eating there. They didn't sit together and didn't even acknowledge each other. Gary just finished his meal and left. At around 1:45 p.m., Addison, one of Melody's grandkids, texted her to ask if she could sleep over that night. But Melody replied, "Not tonight." This was sort of unusual. Melody would normally jump at the chance to spend time with her grandchildren, who called her "glamour." This is yet another thing that stood out, that Melody may have had a plan,
45:22 Speaker 02 and her granddaughter coming over would interrupt it. Instead, Addison went to visit Gary and Melody with her father, Chris. During their visit, Gary was preparing the burn pile on the property. When they left, Gary was still alive. At 10:52 p.m., Melody called Scott and asked him when he would be home, because she needed help with the horses. According to her, they had gotten loose. So Scott headed back home to help and arrived at 11:30. By this time, a fire was going in the burn pile. Other than the call about the horses, everything seemed normal. It was between 2 a.m. and 4 a.m. that Rusty Claimed Melody called him, saying that Gary was on the burn pile.
46:02 Speaker 01 At 6:15 a.m., Scott borrowed a debit card from Melody. This was Gary's debit card. He had plans to go play golf that day, and needed to withdraw some cash from an ATM. Before heading to the club, he dropped the debit card back off. This same morning, Emily, their other daughter, texted a photo of her daughter to members of her family. Gary didn't reply. Melody replied later, around 8 that night. By lunchtime the next day, everyone was searching for Gary at Melody's urging, and she seemed to lead everyone right to the burn pile, even asking odd questions when his remains had been overlooked.
46:44 Speaker 02 After considering all the details and all the people involved, the jury concluded unanimously that Melody Ferris killed her husband Gary, and they found her guilty. Melody Ferris will be sentenced in December 2024. She faces life in prison. Thirty-eight years of marriage down the drain. The Ferris's four children and grandchildren, all with their lives turned upside down. The jury has spoken. We know Melody is guilty, but we don't know all of the whys. Why would she do this to her husband and family? Had she been confronted about her affairs by Gary? Was she afraid Gary would divorce her and leave her broke? We'll have to stay tuned to see what answers may still come and what sentence Melody receives.
47:26 Speaker 01 So Morph, as we wrap this one up, yeah, there are questions. But to me, the most likely motive is greed. You go back to this text that Gary sent to one of his sons. It does make it seem as though Gary, knowing about the affair, was ready to end it once and for all. And I think you talked about, you know, what proof of adultery would mean in their divorce proceeding. Melody was most likely afraid that she was going to be left with nothing if the divorce was finalized.
48:11 Speaker 01 But if she could kill Gary before that happened and make it look like an accident, then she would get everything and still be able to be with Rusty, which is the person that she seemed to want to be with.
48:30 Speaker 02 Yeah, and it does seem like there was some premeditation to this based on the evidence. It doesn't seem like it was a case of them getting into an argument and Gary suddenly saying, it's over, I want a divorce in her, in a moment of rage, shooting him. So this makes it more premeditated in my mind.
48:50 Speaker 01 Yeah, I agree with you. I think there, this was a premeditated act. And, and most of the time, these types of murders are, right? There's plotting and planning about how to ensure that someone gets their hands on this money. They're not left, you know, with nothing.
49:14 Speaker 01 I go back to, we don't know that it was the murder weapon, but the 38 snub notes that her cousin said came up missing. Okay. If that really was the murder weapon, then again, that goes back to premeditation. Did Melody take that knowing that later on she was going to use that to murder Gary?
49:42 Speaker 02 And even if this was premeditated, it seems that Melody didn't think everything through. You know, the, the biggest thing was the bullet being found in Gary's rib. It's almost as if she didn't think they would do an autopsy or find that bullet for whatever reason. Of course, once they found that they knew he was murdered. So what was her thought process behind that? Was she just hoping one of the kids would take the fall and get blamed? Or did she just not think that part through?
50:13 Speaker 01 Yeah, I, I truly believe that, um, she thought based on that comment to Rusty, that the body should not have burned up as much as it did, that this was going to be ruled an accident, right? Gary had a lot of health issues. He had something happen while he was tending to this burn pile and he died, or then burned to death, either, either way. If it was ruled an accident and they don't do the autopsy, maybe they don't discover the bullet. But you said, you know, she didn't think it all the way through.
50:55 Speaker 01 I, I think this happens a lot, you know, we're not talking about a mastermind criminal, a hitman, somebody who has a lot of experience with this type of thing. Yeah, maybe she's watched some movies. She's seen CSI a bunch, but is that enough to plan a murder and get away with it? And for most people, the answer is no. Thankfully.
51:24 Speaker 02 And the one thing I still wonder about is what happened to the gun. They never found it. So, you know, it could be in a creek someplace, but I also wonder if she planned on maybe slipping it back into her cousin's chest where the gun was kept, if that was the murder weapon and nobody would be the wiser, or if she was going to use it to plant someplace to frame somebody else, but she never had a chance. Those are all things that are racing through my mind as to where was, where is that gun?
51:57 Speaker 01 Yeah, I think most likely she disposed of it somewhere where it will probably never be found. But in like a lot of cases, you know, you, you, you get some finality in that the, the jury found her guilty, but there still are a lot of unanswered questions in this one. Maybe we'll get some answers to some of those questions in the future, maybe not. But that's it for our episode on Gary Farris. If you love the show, but haven't done so yet, you know, take a minute, go out, leave us a rating, a review. Also keep telling your friends. The word of mouth about the podcast really helps us out.
52:37 Speaker 02 If you want to find us on social media, Ron acts with the handle at Criminology Pod. You can also find us on Facebook by going to Facebook.com slash Criminology Podcast. And you can join our Facebook discussion group, Criminology Podcast, Discussion and Fans.
52:52 Speaker 01 So that's it for another episode of Criminology, but Morph and I will be back with all of you next Saturday night with a brand new episode. So until then, for Mike
53:02 Speaker 02 And Morph.
53:03 Speaker 01 We'll talk to you next week.
53:05 Speaker 02 Take care, everyone.
Previous Stephanie Coyle Next Suzanne Simpson Page updated November 13, 2026 · transcript and summary are machine-generated