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devices and start streaming now. Murders

1:11

don't happen every day in

1:13

Cherokee County. The

1:21

type of murder that happened in this case

1:23

doesn't happen a lot. But

1:28

if it were to happen, it would be in this family.

1:34

Was the Ferris family a

1:36

happy family? No. This

1:40

family was not like every other

1:42

family. There was a lot of love

1:44

there, but there was also a

1:46

lot of family drama. Constant infighting, animosity

1:48

among siblings for money, for their

1:51

father's money. And

1:53

I think that that's where the drama always came

1:55

back to, was who was going

1:57

to get dad's money. The

1:59

Ferris family is made up of Gary Ferris,

2:02

the patriarch, Milady Ferris, the mother, and

2:04

then there were four children. The oldest being

2:06

Chris Ferris, then there was Scott Ferris,

2:08

and then you have Emily and then Amanda.

2:13

Gary Ferris was a brilliant

2:15

commercial real estate attorney. He

2:17

was very smart. He

2:19

loved his kids. Melody

2:22

is a very straightforward person who,

2:24

for the last 35 years, had

2:26

been a stay -at -home mom. I'm

2:30

the mother who took care of everything,

2:32

took care of everybody. I

2:35

was the one that my children called when

2:37

they needed help. I

2:39

was always there for them. I never told them

2:41

no. The

2:44

Pharisees lived on the east end of

2:46

the county Their property was around 10

2:49

acres. Very nice piece of property. It

2:51

was obvious that these people were likely

2:53

affluent. I

2:55

had a house, a barn. We

2:57

had four horses. We had, I don't know,

2:59

how many goats. They lived a life, though,

3:01

odd to a lot of us. It was

3:03

normal to them. It has been called the

3:05

Ferris Wheel. And it

3:07

was, but it was our Ferris Wheel.

3:09

It was our life. On

3:14

4th of July of 2018,

3:16

everything changed for this family. It

3:19

was brought to my attention by my

3:22

sister and my mother that my father

3:24

was missing. He wasn't

3:26

the healthiest man. He had high blood

3:28

pressure. He smoked a lot. We

3:30

were all thinking he might have had a heart

3:32

attack. We

3:34

decided to start searching the property.

3:37

I started checking all the pastures. We

3:41

had been out looking for quite some

3:43

time. We had been over every square inch

3:45

of that property. We couldn't find them.

3:47

Something's really off here. Scott

3:50

and I were standing there by the

3:52

burn pile, just looking. With

3:54

this being a working farm, they would pile tree

3:57

stumps and rotten firewood, just kind of like a

3:59

trash pile. And every now and again, they'd

4:01

burn it. My dad did talk about he

4:03

was going to burn that stuff on that pile. I

4:06

looked down and immediately I could

4:08

start seeing bones. I

4:11

squatted down and I'm like,

4:13

Those are human remains. I'm

4:15

calling 911 right now. We

4:19

heard the radio call that some remains had

4:21

just been found in a fire. The

4:24

first thing that stuck out to me was

4:26

the amount of fire damage done to the body.

4:28

This guy's been in this fire burning for

4:30

quite some time. During the excavation of the bones,

4:32

there's a bullet found lodged in a rib

4:34

bone. This

4:36

is not an accident. It's a murder.

4:40

They go through the family members, and they're

4:42

going to look at who had the

4:44

opportunity, and anyone who lived on that

4:46

property would have been in that box. How

4:49

did he get on the burn pile? Who

4:51

shot him? With what gun?

4:53

Where? We don't have a

4:56

single clue. I

4:58

called it a soap opera because of the

5:00

old TV show Dallas. You

5:02

had money. Then

5:04

you had the Who Shot JR, except it

5:06

was Who Shot Gary Ferris. Peter

5:17

Vansand reports the

5:20

Ferris Wheel. Detective,

5:28

where are we right now?

5:30

We're here at the Ferris Form.

5:34

On July 5th, 2018,

5:37

Detective Daniel Hayes of the Cherokee

5:39

County Sheriff's Office, north of Atlanta, responded

5:42

to a most unusual call.

5:46

A human body in a burn pile. Had you

5:48

ever received a call like that in your career?

5:50

I had never personally responded to a call like

5:52

that, no. The body

5:54

was later identified as

5:57

58 -year -old Gary Ferris, the

5:59

larger -than 300 -pound patriarch

6:01

of the Ferris estate,

6:05

now reduced to skeletal

6:07

remains. Detective

6:09

Hayes learned Gary Ferris was

6:11

a wealthy commercial real estate

6:13

attorney, married to Melody Ferris.

6:16

They raised four children, Chris,

6:18

Scott, Emily, and

6:20

Amanda. They're all in their late

6:22

20s, early 30s at this point. It's not a

6:25

little bit older. Hayes also

6:27

learned Gary and Melody were

6:29

married for 38 years and lived

6:31

in this house on their

6:33

beautifully manicured 10 -acre farm. Son

6:36

Scott, who had served in the

6:38

army, managed the day -to -day operations

6:40

at the farm and lived in

6:42

an apartment above the barn. Scott's

6:45

main function at this point

6:47

in his life is to be

6:49

the foreman. It was a

6:51

seemingly idyllic life until Gary Ferriss's

6:53

remains were discovered on that

6:55

burn pile. I never thought such

6:57

tragic thing would happen there. My

7:03

world was spinning. I

7:06

wanted to find out what happened. Melody

7:09

told Hayes the last time

7:11

she saw Gary alive, was

7:13

during the evening on Tuesday,

7:15

July 3rd, 2018. He

7:18

came in and wanted to know if I

7:20

was going to prepare dinner. And I said,

7:22

Gary, there's enough food in that refrigerator there

7:24

to feed Cox's army. I

7:26

said, if you don't want it, then go get something to

7:28

eat. And that's it. That was

7:30

the last thing. That was the last words

7:32

that were spoken to him. Melody

7:36

told Detective Hayes her husband

7:38

then went down to his bedroom

7:40

in the basement. Gary had

7:42

sleep apnea and slept alone with

7:44

his CPAP machine Scott said

7:46

he had also last seen his

7:48

father on July 3rd at

7:50

lunch Scott spent the rest of

7:52

the day out with his

7:54

friends He returned home that night

7:57

around 11 30 and says

7:59

he immediately noticed a glow in

8:01

the distance when I pulled

8:03

in the driveway you could look

8:05

off in the direction where

8:07

the burn pile was and you

8:09

can see it was burning. A

8:12

burn pile. Typically, a dumping spot

8:14

for yard waste and brush. My

8:16

dad did talk about he was

8:18

going to burn that stuff on

8:20

that pile. The next day, July

8:22

4th, Scott and Melody told investigators

8:24

they didn't encounter Gary. It was

8:27

not unusual not to see Gary.

8:29

It wasn't until the next day,

8:31

July 5th, Melody says, she

8:33

realized Gary was missing. Two

8:36

of the grandchildren who had spent

8:38

the night asked to ride

8:40

the RTV or rough terrain vehicle

8:42

with Gary, who they called

8:44

Big Daddy. And I told

8:46

him I said go ask Big Daddy to

8:48

go ride it with you all. And they

8:50

said they couldn't find him. Daughter

8:52

Amanda was there too. Son

8:54

Chris arrived soon after and all

8:57

the adults started searching the property.

9:00

until Scott noticed some bones

9:02

among the ashes at

9:04

the burn pile. I'll

9:06

never forget it until the day I die. His

9:10

words were, oh,

9:12

I found him. What

9:14

do you mean you found him? When

9:22

the forensic team

9:24

arrived, they began

9:27

documenting the burn

9:29

pile. working

9:31

past dark to sift through

9:33

the ashes. That's

9:35

when the bullet was found lodged

9:37

in Gary's rib, and what

9:39

had started as a possible accidental

9:41

death became a murder investigation.

9:43

Why would somebody want to burn

9:45

a body? Cover up a

9:47

crime. Destroy evidence.

9:51

Elsewhere, investigators searched the

9:53

house, the barn, even

9:55

the pond. They

9:58

found a shotgun in the house.

10:00

Several other guns and ammunition were

10:02

discovered in the barn. Both

10:05

Melody and Scott allowed

10:07

investigators to test their hands

10:09

for accelerants. The

10:11

tests came back negative. Scott

10:13

also told the detectives something

10:15

intriguing. He had recently

10:17

seen a pistol in the basement that

10:20

was now missing. It was just

10:22

very odd. And another thing Scott found

10:24

odd was that his mom had

10:26

his dad's wallet. And I said, where'd

10:28

you find that? And she said,

10:30

it was in the console of his

10:32

car. And I found that

10:34

very, very odd, because my dad never left

10:36

his wallet in his car. As

10:38

Hayes' investigation continued, he

10:41

was learning all about the

10:43

Ferris family's dysfunctional dynamic, which came

10:45

to be known as the

10:47

Ferris Wheel. In a tape

10:49

-recorded conversation with Melody, she told

10:51

him there had been tension between

10:53

Gary and Scott. He and Scott

10:56

would get into it pretty heavily. But

11:09

when detectives asked Scott

11:11

what he thought happened, he

11:13

pointed the finger of

11:15

suspicion at his mother. I've

11:17

always had this gut

11:19

feeling if something ever happened

11:22

to my dad that

11:24

somebody needed to check her

11:26

out. With the ferris

11:28

wheels starting to turn, detectives

11:30

asked Scott if his father was

11:32

having an affair. My

11:35

father did not do that. He

11:37

was a one -woman type of man,

11:39

and he married that woman. He

11:41

was not that kind of man.

11:43

Hayes then asked Melody if she was

11:45

having an affair. What did she

11:48

tell you? She said no. Police

11:50

focused in on what appeared to be

11:52

drops of blood on the kitchen floor.

11:56

The stairs leading to the

11:58

basement and on the basement

12:00

floor itself. When spots

12:02

in the basement were tested, they

12:04

were confirmed to be Gary's blood.

12:07

Police also found a .38 caliber

12:09

bullet on the basement floor. This

12:12

same type found lodged in Gary's

12:14

rib bone from the burn pile. And

12:17

does that suggest any way some

12:19

sort of progression of an attack on

12:21

Gary? That's what we interpreted as,

12:23

as we started looking at it, as

12:25

that possibly something happened upstairs, led

12:27

down the stairs and into the basement.

12:30

Detective Hayes asked Melody, point blank,

12:32

if she had anything to

12:34

do with the death of her

12:36

husband. So your statement is

12:38

you didn't do anything to harm Gary. And

12:40

you don't know who did. Hayes

12:44

was skeptical. Investigators

12:46

had found in Melody's purse

12:48

birth control, and a credit

12:50

card with another man's name

12:52

on it, Roy Barton.

12:55

When someone's lying to you, what does that

12:57

suggest? They're guilty

12:59

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in place. Try Greenlight Risk -Free

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today at greenlight.com slash Spotify. When

14:16

that credit card was found in

14:18

Melody's purse, investigators did not

14:20

recognize the name on it.

14:22

It's Roy Barton. Later found out

14:24

as Rusty Barton. Rusty Barton

14:26

was a farm equipment salesman who

14:28

spent time on the road

14:30

in Central Tennessee. In

14:32

2014, Melody was helping

14:34

take care of Rusty's ill

14:36

stepmother, who happened to be her

14:38

cousin. That's when

14:41

Rusty and Melody became intimate.

14:43

We learned that Rusty is

14:45

Melody's lover that she's having

14:47

an affair with and has

14:49

had an affair with for

14:51

quite some time. Did you

14:53

fall in love with Rusty? I

14:55

loved him. Still love him. Was

14:59

I in love with him? No. Investigators

15:02

wanted to know more about the

15:04

couple. How serious is

15:06

this relationship between Melody and Rusty?

15:08

Depends on who you asked. The

15:10

evidence showed that it appeared to

15:12

be pretty serious. They were researching wedding

15:14

bands. You know, if you were

15:16

planning on getting married, it sounds like a motive

15:18

for murder. You don't marry the person you're having

15:21

an affair with. Scott says

15:23

Melody and Rusty's love affair

15:25

was the world's worst kept

15:27

secret. She thought she was

15:29

smart enough to hide it from everybody,

15:31

but we all found out. We all

15:33

knew. Including

15:36

Gary. And when daughter

15:38

Emily got married in 2016, Melody

15:40

scandalized the wedding by

15:43

inviting her lover for all

15:45

to see. Your husband

15:47

is there at the same venue and you're

15:49

dancing and drinking and having a good time

15:51

with this other man. It was upsetting to

15:53

Gary, you know, it was upsetting

15:55

to all the family. That wasn't a nice

15:57

move on your part, was it? Yeah,

15:59

in hindsight, no. It

16:02

seemed the ferris wheel was

16:04

spinning faster, with household drama

16:06

becoming more frequent. This

16:09

whole Ferris Wheel term, none of

16:11

us really like it, but if

16:13

you want to know who the

16:15

motor was of turning that Ferris

16:17

Wheel was Melody Ferris. She always

16:19

stirred up drama, always. It's

16:21

a real -life soap opera, that's it. A

16:24

soap opera Hayes believed

16:26

that revolved around what Gary

16:28

had and others coveted,

16:30

money. A lot of bickering, a

16:32

lot of fights over money, a lot of jealousy. Gary

16:35

had always been generous toward

16:37

his children. Even as adults, investigators

16:40

learned he helped Emily buy

16:42

a house and financially assisted

16:44

son Chris with his business

16:47

and children. That made Melody

16:49

turn against her children because the children

16:51

were spending money. But Melody

16:53

claims she was only upset

16:55

because the children were taking advantage

16:57

of their father's wealth. Chris,

16:59

our oldest one, had been stealing

17:01

money like you cannot believe.

17:03

Chris says he and his father

17:06

did not argue over money. Detective

17:09

Hayes looked into the agreement

17:11

Gary had struck with Scott. He

17:14

worked on the farm and Gary gave him spending

17:16

money. He had gotten where he just would not

17:18

do anything. He was all the time playing golf,

17:20

going to the lake, going out with his friends.

17:22

And who was paying for all of this? He

17:25

was taking, you know, credit cards

17:27

from Gary. But Scott says

17:29

that's not true at all. and that

17:31

the arrangement he had with his

17:33

father worked well for both of them.

17:36

I was there to help him with the farm. There

17:38

was no mooching. Scott says it

17:41

was actually Melody who'd run into

17:43

a financial roadblock with Gary, largely

17:45

because of her lavish spending on

17:47

her affair with Rusty. She would

17:49

leave for weeks at a time

17:51

and then thousands of dollars would

17:53

be spent out of the account.

17:55

We found text messages where he

17:58

confronted her and said, you know,

18:00

your spending is done. We got

18:02

to get a handle on this.

18:04

So what you're saying is that

18:06

it was Melody who was facing

18:08

the potential of having her money

18:10

lifeline cut off. Pretty much, yes.

18:13

Was he angry at your spending?

18:15

No. I had a debit card.

18:17

It had his name on it. I

18:20

was free to use it however I wanted to.

18:23

While Melody and Rusty lived in

18:25

different states, Cell phone records

18:27

show they live their lives in

18:29

constant communication. She's on the

18:31

phone with him every hour of

18:33

every day. Including the

18:36

early morning hours of

18:38

July 4th, 2018, a

18:40

day and a half before Gary was

18:42

found. When questioned

18:44

by investigators, Rusty told them

18:46

that Melody had said something

18:48

alarming. So probably the

18:50

last minute of the last

18:52

conversation she said, Gary

18:55

is in the burn pile. No,

18:57

she said he is in the burn

18:59

pile. And I said,

19:01

what? And she said, he's

19:03

in the burn pile. And I

19:05

said, do not say

19:08

another word and do not

19:10

tell me anything. I do

19:12

not need to know. At

19:16

that time, only the killer could

19:18

have known Gary was on the burn

19:20

pile. Had Melody

19:22

Ferris confessed to murder? As

19:27

the investigation continued, she

19:29

was now the detective's number

19:31

one suspect. I've told

19:33

them everything I knew. Scott

19:35

remembered something that happened with his

19:37

mother the day before Gary

19:39

vanished. It now seems like

19:42

foreshadowing. She comes out of the house

19:44

with a plate in her hand.

19:46

And she's screaming and cussing. She throws

19:48

the plate up against the wall

19:50

of the house and shatters it all

19:52

on the pieces. And she

19:54

says, I can't wait till that

19:57

man's dead. I can't wait till

19:59

I don't have to live with him anymore. Gary

20:02

Ferris himself took out

20:04

his phone and recorded this

20:06

video. This is what

20:08

happens when you leave a plate. Of

20:10

the plate shards scattered on the

20:12

ground. Three days

20:14

later, He was dead. On

20:31

June 18,

20:33

2019, after

20:35

an almost 12 -month investigation,

20:38

detectives say they had gathered enough

20:40

evidence to charge Melody Ferris

20:42

with the murder of her husband,

20:44

Gary. Why did

20:46

it take a year to arrest Melody?

20:48

We were waiting on the autopsy results

20:50

and the positive identification of Gary Wayne

20:52

Ferris' body. But for

20:55

Detective Hayes, there were unanswered

20:57

questions. How

20:59

did Melody get Gary's body out

21:01

the basement door and to

21:03

the burn pile about 50 yards

21:05

away? She

21:07

weighs, what, 130 pounds? Around that,

21:09

I believe. And Gary is

21:11

six foot four, six foot five,

21:13

300 pounds. How in the

21:16

world could that woman have moved that body? With

21:19

the tractor, with the RTV. Two pieces

21:21

of machinery that were found on the

21:23

farm. She admitted that she drives RTV

21:25

all the time, has operated the tractor.

21:27

Hay sees the two vehicles as evidence.

21:29

This is what we're looking at, these

21:31

two vehicles. He took me to the

21:33

lot where they are stored. How could

21:36

each of these vehicles have been used

21:38

to get Gary's body onto that pile?

21:40

Both are capable of pulling a lot

21:43

of weight. This tractor has a bucket

21:45

on the front that is designed to

21:47

scoop heavy loads. We found tractor marks,

21:49

but there were tractor marks all over

21:51

the property, but there were none necessarily

21:53

obviously leading right up to the burn

21:55

pile. What did you find as your

21:57

forensic people took a look at these

21:59

vehicles? We found blood, evidence of

22:01

blood on the vehicles. Can you show me where?

22:03

I can. So on

22:05

the tractor, we found blood evidence

22:07

in this area. Gary's blood,

22:10

but nothing was found in the front bucket. On

22:13

the RTV, Hayes says Melody's

22:15

blood was found on one of

22:17

the gear shifters. Nothing was found

22:19

in the back. Hayes

22:21

considered other scenarios. There's

22:24

also a theory that she did it

22:26

under her own power, rolling him down

22:28

to the burn pile. It's downhill all

22:30

the way to the burn pile. Is

22:32

there any blood that was discovered going

22:34

from the house to the burn pile?

22:37

Not that we feel. So this still

22:39

remains a mystery, doesn't it? It does.

22:41

It was a mystery, too, for prosecutors

22:43

Megan Frankish and Jeffrey Fogus. We don't

22:45

know exactly how she got him into

22:47

the burn pile. She was a farm

22:49

girl. She was resourceful.

22:51

We know she killed him. How

22:53

she did it doesn't really matter

22:55

because we know she did because

22:58

he was there. The

23:01

case took more than five years

23:03

to bring to trial. During

23:05

that time, a deep divide formed

23:07

in the Ferris family. Three

23:10

of the children, Chris, Scott,

23:13

and Emily, were all convinced

23:15

their mother murdered their father. Gary

23:18

and Melody's youngest child,

23:20

Amanda, believed in Melody's

23:22

innocence. What did

23:24

it mean for you that your

23:26

daughter, Amanda, stood by you during

23:28

all this time and has believed

23:30

in your innocence. She's a good

23:32

girl. Ladies

23:37

and gentlemen, the jury. When

23:39

the trial finally began in

23:41

October 2024, prosecutors Megan

23:44

Frankish and Jeffrey

23:46

Fogus spoke to jurors

23:48

with absolute certainty. The

23:50

answer to the question, who did it,

23:52

sits right there. Melody

23:55

Walker -Farrison. The motive? Money,

23:58

sex, new life. According

24:00

to prosecutors, Melody wanted Gary

24:02

dead so she could cash in

24:04

on his multi -million dollar assets

24:06

and live happily ever after

24:08

with her lover of the past

24:11

four years, Rusty Barton.

24:13

Why shouldn't people believe you

24:15

had the greatest motive

24:17

to murder Gary? I

24:20

knew nothing about our financial situation. Absolutely

24:22

nothing. Prosecutors

24:25

say on the evening of

24:27

July 3rd, two days before Gary's

24:29

body was found, Gary

24:31

and Melody got into a fight

24:34

in the kitchen and Melody shot him.

24:37

He goes downstairs trying to get away

24:39

to shoot him again. There

24:41

was a blood trail from the

24:43

kitchen and then went down the steps.

24:46

Those blood trails never leave

24:48

out of the house. Upstairs

24:50

or downstairs. In

24:53

their opening statement, defense

24:55

attorneys Michael Ray and John

24:57

Luke Weaver attacked the

24:59

prosecution's claims and told jurors

25:01

there's a harmless explanation

25:03

for those blood drops. Gary

25:06

had been bitten by one of

25:08

Melody's dogs on the ankle and

25:10

was bleeding as he walked down

25:12

the stairs. We're talking tiny little

25:15

droplets of blood. That would not

25:17

be consistent with a shooting. You

25:19

would expect far more blood. And

25:21

daughter Amanda would testify she saw

25:23

that wound on her dad's leg.

25:26

The defense also argued Melody

25:28

is innocent and raised

25:31

those questions about how Gary's

25:33

body got to the

25:35

burn pile. Melody Ferris,

25:37

at her size, it is

25:39

impossible that she moved that

25:41

body from the location where

25:43

the state says his body

25:45

was to a burn pile.

25:47

It is absolutely impossible. The

25:49

defense also raised questions about

25:51

the murder weapon. Where is

25:54

the gun? No idea. They

25:57

offered up an alternative

26:00

suspect. Melody's

26:02

own son. And his

26:04

motive would be? Financial. He

26:06

wanted the property. One big

26:08

thing you're gonna hear, and

26:10

you're gonna hear it

26:12

a lot, is Scott Ferris.

26:14

The defense argues that Scott,

26:17

from the very beginning,

26:19

tried to draw attention of

26:21

investigators away from him. 13

26:23

minutes after law enforcement arrives

26:25

Scott Ferris is already blaming

26:27

his mother. From the

26:29

very beginning Scott is saying melody

26:31

melody melody leading law enforcement down

26:34

this trail. When the

26:36

prosecution puts Scott Ferris

26:38

on the stand they

26:40

asked him directly. Did

26:43

you murder your father? I

26:45

absolutely did not murder my father. I

26:48

love my father. He was

26:50

the backbone. He

26:56

was the glue to our family. Sitting

26:59

just feet away, Melody says

27:01

Scott's testimony was an act. The

27:03

Scott that was in that

27:06

courtroom was not my son. He

27:08

was well rehearsed. Could you stand for

27:10

the jury please? Sure. On

27:13

cross -examination, the defense pointed

27:15

out that Scott, at

27:17

six foot eight, 280 pounds

27:20

was the only person

27:22

on the farm physically capable

27:24

of moving Gary's 300

27:26

pound body. Because of my

27:28

size and size of my father, yes, I

27:31

was going to be looked at like that,

27:33

but I had nothing to do with it. I

27:36

raise your right hand. To

27:38

help establish a motive

27:40

for murder, prosecutors called Melody's

27:42

lover Rusty Barton to

27:44

the stand. You're from Alabama,

27:46

is that right? Excuse

27:49

me, Tennessee. I apologize. I'm

27:51

from Tennessee. And you

27:53

are... There's a big difference. That's

27:55

true. He's charming. He's smart. And

27:58

he says he captured the heart

28:00

of married Melody Ferris. You were

28:02

in love with her, Ferrisite? Yes.

28:04

And she was in love with

28:07

you, Ferrisite? Yes. Do you recall

28:09

searching for wedding bands on the

28:11

internet? I do. What

28:14

type of weighted bands did y 'all have

28:16

in mind? We talked about playing gold bands. Tell

28:19

the jury what you... Focus

28:21

also asked Rusty about that incriminating

28:23

call. She said that Gary

28:25

was on the burn pile. Remember,

28:29

Rusty had told investigators

28:32

that call had taken place

28:34

before Gary was found. But

28:36

a year later, after Melody was

28:38

arrested, Rusty changed his

28:41

story. saying the call happened after

28:43

the body was discovered. He

28:45

said he had the dates wrong. What

28:49

I told you was correct, but when

28:51

it happened was not correct. But

28:53

prosecutor Fogus didn't buy it

28:55

and claims Rusty was trying to

28:57

help Melody. Do you believe

28:59

him? No. He was still in

29:01

a relationship with her. He didn't know how this

29:03

was going to turn out. At the

29:05

time of the murder, Rusty was

29:08

hours away in Tennessee. He was

29:10

never charged with anything relating to

29:12

the death of Gary Ferris. More

29:16

witnesses would testify. And

29:18

later, Melody, who was silent

29:20

throughout the trial, would address the

29:23

court in a dramatic and

29:25

explosive statement that would leave her

29:27

family reeling. When

29:34

everything's on the line, real heroes rise to

29:36

the occasion. TV's hottest show is Fire Country.

29:38

We're firefighters. We're gonna find a way to

29:40

get you out of here. We

29:43

take the hits together. We're

29:45

on the same team. I'm right

29:47

here with you, no matter what. I

29:50

would never leave you hanging in the deep end. This

29:54

place is a way of giving you new family. Fire

29:57

Country. All episodes now

29:59

streaming on Paramount+. Hey,

30:07

I'm Kelly Corrigan. You probably haven't heard

30:09

of me, although maybe I did write a

30:11

few New York Times bestsellers. I gave

30:13

a TED talk. But the reason I'm in

30:15

your ear today is to invite you

30:17

to listen to my podcast, Kelly Corrigan Wonders.

30:20

We talk about purpose and creativity

30:22

and well -being and really what makes

30:24

life worth living with people like

30:26

Bono and Amy Schumer, Spike Lee

30:28

and Wilson, Krista Tippett

30:30

and Brian Stevenson. Kelly

30:33

Corrigan Wonders will leave you optimistic, informed,

30:35

and maybe a little bit more ready

30:37

for the next big day in your

30:39

life. So follow and listen

30:41

to Kelly Corrigan Wonders, an original

30:43

podcast available now for free on

30:45

the Odyssey app and wherever you

30:47

get your podcasts. Day

31:00

after day, Melody Ferris faced witnesses

31:02

determined to see her pay for

31:04

the alleged murder of her husband.

31:06

How is it that you know

31:08

the defendant in this case? She's

31:10

my mother. None seemed more dogged

31:12

than her own children, like Chris.

31:14

I just had my suspicions that

31:16

she had something to do with

31:18

this. Her

31:20

daughter Emily. She became more

31:22

hostile. She was more aggressive with

31:24

us. She was demanding

31:26

money. You see

31:28

your mom sitting in court? Yes,

31:30

sir. And Scott. I mean, she always,

31:32

you know, talked bad about my

31:34

dad. It's like she always tried to

31:37

brainwash us. Like, he was, you

31:39

know, such a horrible person.

31:42

Can you describe what it was like to

31:44

watch each of your children take the

31:46

stand? The most

31:48

heart -wrenching, gut -wrenching thing I had ever

31:50

sat there in my entire life. Because

31:53

I need to rely. I

31:56

have to tell you, You seem

31:58

so stoic during all of it.

32:01

It was at the time that I'd walk out

32:03

of that courtroom at nighttime, I was ready

32:05

to scream at the top of my lungs. Melody

32:08

says three of her children

32:10

are trying to pin their

32:12

father's murder on her for

32:14

one simple reason. Money.

32:17

Absolutely money. One

32:19

of the final witnesses called

32:22

by prosecutors was Lindsay Harris,

32:24

who leads the Intelligence Division

32:26

in the Cherokee County Sheriff's

32:28

Office. I was asked in

32:30

July of 2018 to analyze

32:32

some phone records. Harris says

32:35

she was able to track

32:37

the precise movements of Gary

32:39

Ferris' cell phone on the

32:41

family farm because Gary had

32:43

an Android phone with its

32:46

Google location services turned on.

32:48

This helps us know when

32:50

the device is traveling even

32:52

within a certain area. Harris

32:54

discovered that on the morning

32:56

of July 4th, when investigators

32:59

believe Gary's body was already

33:01

on the burn pile, his

33:03

cell phone moved from the

33:05

house to the burn pile

33:07

and back to the house.

33:10

100 % the device moves from

33:12

758 to 905. Someone

33:14

must be moving it. Prosecutors

33:17

say that someone could

33:19

only have been Melody Ferris.

33:21

We knew that the

33:23

only person home was Melody.

33:27

Lindsay Harris says that during

33:29

that time, Scott's phone was

33:31

miles away from the farm. Scott

33:34

leaves the residence around

33:36

6 .30 AM on July

33:39

4th. He does not return

33:41

to the home until

33:43

8 PM -ish, 8 .30 PM

33:45

on July 4th. The

33:48

defense tries to challenge this

33:50

seemingly powerful evidence by

33:52

questioning the accuracy of Harris'

33:54

findings. You can clearly

33:57

see that sometimes the circle is very

33:59

large, sometimes it's small, and sometimes it

34:01

says you're absolutely nowhere close to where

34:03

you are. The

34:05

defense called seven witnesses. One

34:07

of them was Gary and

34:10

Melody's youngest daughter, Amanda. She

34:12

has told me that she's not guilty,

34:14

and all I can do is believe

34:16

that until somebody can prove she is

34:18

guilty. So I would like to believe

34:20

that my mother had nothing to do

34:22

with this. There's

34:24

just so much pain. There's

34:27

no good outcome. He's

34:29

never coming back. He'll

34:32

never be there again. That's

34:35

just the worst part about it

34:37

all, and knowing that my mother can...

34:41

Potentially, the rest of her

34:43

life in prison is terrifying. Ms.

34:45

Franklin, she can go ahead. It

34:48

was now time to wrap this case

34:50

up with closing arguments. She had

34:52

plenty of motives. She despised Gary. She

34:55

hated that he was giving away

34:57

their money, her money. That

34:59

was the main motive. Resty was a bonus. In

35:03

their closing, the defense did

35:05

some heavy lifting. to

35:07

demonstrate how difficult it would

35:09

be for someone melody size

35:11

to somehow get her 300

35:13

pound husband onto that burn

35:16

pile. This

35:18

is 320 pounds.

35:22

I am 185 pounds.

35:27

And that's all I

35:29

have. It's

35:31

not realistic. And then the

35:33

fact that they've presented no

35:35

actual evidence as to how

35:37

she did that. That means

35:39

there's doubt. On

35:41

October 30th, 2024, the

35:44

jury got the case. But after

35:46

three days of deliberations, they sent

35:48

a note to the judge saying they

35:50

were deadlocked. The judge told them

35:52

to give it one more try. I

35:55

was absolutely numb. You

35:57

don't know what to think. And just a

35:59

few hours later... All right, I understand

36:02

y 'all reached a verdict. We,

36:04

the jury, found the defendant

36:06

guilty. Melody

36:08

Ferris was found guilty on

36:10

all five counts against

36:12

her, including malice murder, felony

36:14

murder, and making false

36:16

statements. It

36:19

was horrible. They

36:22

carried me immediately over to the jail.

36:26

I was alone. Curled up

36:28

in a fetal position. Juror

36:30

Sheila Albright and Chris Hyatt

36:32

say the cell phone evidence

36:35

convinced them of Melody's guilt.

36:37

Once we agreed on the time of

36:40

death, then it was, OK, well, how

36:42

was this phone moving after Gary's body? It

36:44

was in the burn pile. Who was

36:46

on the property at that time? And who

36:49

was? Melanie. As for the question

36:51

of how Gary got to the burn pile,

36:53

Sheila Albright had a theory. But

36:55

in my mind, I thought that

36:57

she first shot him inside the

36:59

house, because there was evidence of

37:01

that. I thought maybe he had

37:03

run out the door trying to

37:05

get away from her. And

37:08

maybe she took him by

37:10

gunpoint down to the burn

37:12

pile. I think that

37:14

maybe the burn pile is the last

37:16

place she shot him. For

37:20

Scott and some members of

37:22

the Ferris family, the guilty verdict

37:24

brought relief, even though their

37:27

own mother was now a

37:29

convicted murderer. because we got

37:31

justice from my father. We

37:34

fought six years

37:36

to get answers. My

37:39

father loved my mother. He

37:41

fought for my mother. He

37:44

was a very loving father. But

37:46

there would be no love

37:48

shown by Melody at her sentencing

37:50

when she was given the

37:52

opportunity to express remorse and ask

37:54

the judge for leniency. I've

37:57

waited for years to

37:59

make this statement to everyone. But

38:01

instead of asking the judge for

38:03

mercy, I want the world to

38:05

know who did this. She named

38:07

who she said was the real

38:09

killer. I know Scott

38:11

killed his father. He

38:13

took my husband, the

38:15

father of Chris, Emily, and

38:18

Amanda. He

38:20

took big daddy from

38:22

our grandchildren. But

38:25

Melody was far from done.

38:27

tormenting her son. Scott,

38:39

this is

38:41

unforgivable. Scott

38:46

has spent an entire

38:48

life of loving and

38:50

protecting you, but

38:52

this I refuse to cover for you. When

38:55

Melody Ferris used her sentencing

38:57

hearing to accuse her son

39:00

Scott of being Gary's true

39:02

murderer, some of those

39:04

in the courtroom were floored. I'm

39:06

back at the prosecution table and we're all

39:08

kind of like, I cannot believe this is

39:10

happening. So I was not

39:12

prepared for that. It was

39:14

shocking that that is

39:16

the opportunity she believed was

39:19

hers to take. Scott,

39:21

sitting behind his mother

39:23

with his family, simply stared

39:25

in disbelief. I was

39:28

furious. She did her

39:30

last final jabs. That shows you

39:32

what she was like. One

39:34

last turn of the knife. One last

39:36

turn to make somebody's life a living hell

39:38

because it didn't go her way. Judge

39:41

David Cannon had little

39:43

patience. Ms. Ferris,

39:45

I'm going to cut you

39:47

off. But Melody persisted. And

39:49

I plead with you to

39:52

rule this verdict out. Help

39:54

me get justice for the

39:56

correct person. As

39:59

bad as it sounds, I want

40:01

to be there to watch him chained

40:03

and shackled and brought to justice. Instead,

40:06

it was Melody who would be

40:08

led away in chains. In

40:10

the penalty for murder is life. The

40:13

64 -year -old was sentenced to

40:15

life in prison with the possibility

40:17

of parole after 30 years. She

40:21

also received an additional five

40:23

years for concealing Gary's death

40:25

by burning his remains and

40:27

making a false statement to

40:30

police. Melanie

40:32

didn't take the stand

40:34

in her trial. Instead, she

40:36

chose to tell her

40:38

story exclusively to 48 hours.

40:41

I just watched one of the

40:43

most extraordinary moments inside a courtroom

40:45

that I have ever seen in

40:47

my career. What do you

40:49

want people to know about you

40:52

and this case? I

40:54

want everyone, but especially my

40:56

children, my grandchildren. And

40:58

at this point in the world, I

41:00

didn't do this. I

41:02

know who did. And

41:04

it's our son Scott. Without

41:07

a shadow of a doubt, I know he

41:09

did it. I absolutely

41:11

had nothing to do with my father's

41:13

death. And it was

41:15

a 100 % Melody Ferris who murdered

41:17

my father. That is the truth. Why

41:20

do you think she accused

41:22

you of killing your father?

41:24

Because I was an easy

41:26

target. I lived on the property.

41:29

I'm a former military. Melody

41:31

claims she hadn't spoken up

41:34

until now out of maternal loyalty.

41:37

She says her own mother, now

41:39

deceased, suspected Scott all along

41:41

and asked Melody to take

41:43

the blame. But now,

41:45

her time as Scott's shield

41:47

was over. Melody says

41:49

she believes Scott set her up

41:51

from the beginning. And

41:53

she says she knows why. Scott

41:56

wanted that property to be his. He

41:59

had made that known to

42:01

countless people. It's the perfect

42:03

murder. You kill your

42:05

daddy. You set your mother up. She

42:07

goes to prison. You get everything. You

42:10

understand, though, that to people listening

42:12

to this, they're thinking, Here is

42:14

a mother willing to sacrifice her son

42:16

to save her own skin. What would you

42:18

say to that? This is a

42:20

mother's worst nightmare. Melody stands

42:22

by her claim that Gary was

42:24

getting ready to cut Scott off

42:26

financially. Gary, he

42:28

made it very well known that Scott needed

42:30

to get a job. Things were fixing to change

42:32

on that property. But

42:35

Scott says Gary never issued

42:37

an ultimatum that he'd get a

42:39

job and never accused him

42:41

of not pulling his weight. My

42:43

dad actually made comments to

42:45

me saying, hey, leave some work

42:47

for me, you know, because

42:49

he wasn't there during the week.

42:51

He's like, well, don't cut

42:53

the pasture yet. Let me do

42:55

it. Melody says she told

42:57

Detective Hayes she'd seen Scott acting

42:59

suspiciously the day before Gary's

43:01

body was found. I said,

43:03

I saw Scott come from that burn ball. Did

43:06

she tell you that? No. And

43:08

why would she lie now? You

43:10

have to look at the timing of the statement. She has

43:12

nothing to lose. She's going to make all kinds of

43:14

off the wall claims at this point that are just not

43:16

provable. Despite a sentence

43:18

that will likely mean spending the rest

43:20

of her life in prison, Melody

43:23

remains determined to prove

43:25

her innocence. One

43:27

day you believe you will walk a free

43:29

woman again. I certainly hope so. I

43:33

do. But I will be sitting

43:35

there right behind my son in court. And

43:37

for those who believe, You

43:39

got exactly what you deserved, you

43:42

say? I didn't do it. I

43:45

did not do it. She

43:48

knows she did it. She

43:50

needs to stop with the lies. Just

43:52

come clean. Stop

43:55

trying to ruin all of our lives

43:57

because it didn't work out for you. I

44:00

still haven't been able to figure out why

44:02

she would do this. I don't

44:04

know if I ever will. Melody

44:08

Ferris will be eligible for

44:10

parole in 2054. She

44:12

will be 94 years old. Join

44:18

me Tuesday for

44:20

Postmortem from 48 Hours,

44:22

where we'll dive

44:24

even deeper into today's

44:26

episode and answer

44:29

your questions about the

44:31

case. All

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45:12

to find a way to get you out of here. We

45:15

take the hits together. We're

45:17

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45:19

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45:22

would never leave you hanging in the deep end. This

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place is a way of giving you new family. Fire

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Country. All episodes now

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streaming on Paramount+.