Identified! GA - Cherokee Co, Remains in Woods Behind Home on Purcell Ln, July 2018 - Gary Farris *wife arrested

[rescuemom]

I too just happened on to this case and am trying to catch up watching videos from Law&Crime on youtube. So, the only thing that gets my hinky meter going is that this woman is so small. How did she move the body?? We have a tractor and side-by-side similar to those shown on their farm. Even if she knew how to operate them, the noise from either would be noticeable at any time of the day or night. Also, why was the burn pile started earlier in the days before the murder?? We also have burn piles going at times but we do not leave them unattended or going on for days. This wealthy family is not unusual in that well in to their adulthood, the parents supplement the income of their kids. At this point , I'm suspecting one or both sons.

 

[Snoopster]

I don't like this judge. He isn't as professional as most. First thing this morning he started the court session by jabbering on about the issues they are having with technical equipment (they had problems late yesterday when interviewing a witness via video call). While, of course the court should be able to have resources to deal with tech equipment the judge is complaining that he had to stay until 6pm last night trying to work on it with his staff and he's saying that the court system should do better than that. He then went on to complain that not only did he have to stay until 6pm yesterday but he's been working on jury trials since September 23.
So, he's complaining about how much work HE has to do. He even went to far as to speak to the camera asking "if anyone out in TV-land wants to reach out to the court commissioners and tell them to get me an AV person...." He shouldn't be sharing his personal opinions about his employment let alone performing for the TV audience.

I've also seen him jump in to ask clarifying questions of some of the technical witnesses. While this can definitely be healthy in some circumstances, he does it a lot and he does it in a casual I'm-just-a-dumb-guy style that it comes across as non-professional.

It's a good thing that neither the prosecution or defense are objecting very often and the trial hasn't been contentious so far. Otherwise I wonder how good a job he would do at keeping things calm and professional.

ETA: typo

 

[arielilane]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1846535356675502528

 

[arielilane]

DAILY TRIAL HIGHLIGHTS​

DAY 7 – 10/15/24​

• Jurors hear testimony from Melody Farris’ paramour, Ted Wiley. Wiley says he was unaware that anyone knew about their relationship until after the incident.
• Gary Farris kept a log whenever he had one of his “spells.” According to his legal Assistant, Angela Phillips, the doctors could never find anything wrong with Farris.
  • Gary Farris’ legal assistant told the jury that she and Farris had a personal relationship.

GA v. Melody Walker Farris: Burn Pile Murder Trial

Melody Walker Farris accused her son of murdering his father at her sentencing after a jury found she killed her husband, Gary Farris.

www.courttv.com

Posted at 6:39 AM, October 16, 2024

 

[nodamselindistress]

I too just happened on to this case and am trying to catch up watching videos from Law&Crime on youtube. So, the only thing that gets my hinky meter going is that this woman is so small. How did she move the body?? We have a tractor and side-by-side similar to those shown on their farm. Even if she knew how to operate them, the noise from either would be noticeable at any time of the day or night. Also, why was the burn pile started earlier in the days before the murder?? We also have burn piles going at times but we do not leave them unattended or going on for days. This wealthy family is not unusual in that well in to their adulthood, the parents supplement the income of their kids. At this point , I'm suspecting one or both sons.

That gets me, too - that she is such a tiny woman and do not see how she could have moved a 300 lb dead man from the basement to the burn pile. If she did it, I do not believe she killed him in the basement like the prosecution says. She had to kill him outside where she could just drag him to the burn pile.

 

[Snoopster]

Melody's friend, Sharon Cooper, was on the stand today.
Some key points:

- they were friends since 2016, generally walking most days, shopping together, etc. They became in less frequent contact with each other when SC began spending more time in Minnesota.
- Melody had two phones.
- When SC first became friends with Melody, Melody was already in an established relationship with Rusty. Melody and Rusty would connect via one of Melody's phones.
- Melody told SC that the state of her marriage was poor. That she only stayed in the marriage for access to funds.
- As far as SC knew (based on what Melody told her) Melody didn't have a credit card. She had a debit card, but Gary would get alerts when she used it. Gary didn't restrict what Melody spent, but he tracked it.
- One time Melody sent her debit card to SC in Minnesota and asked SC to use it locally. Melody told her she was in the Bahamas at that time with Rusty. [Note: on cross-exam, defense clarified that she was actually in Jamaica.]
- on cross, SC said she met Gary only a couple of times and he was not friendly and would not make eye contact with her. She met Scott a few times, and he was not particularly friendly either and behaved similar to his father.

 

[Snoopster]

That gets me, too - that she is such a tiny woman and do not see how she could have moved a 300 lb dead man from the basement to the burn pile. If she did it, I do not believe she killed him in the basement like the prosecution says. She had to kill him outside where she could just drag him to the burn pile.

I think she lured him to the burn pile and shot him there. She may have carried something that had blood on it (e.g. a jacket or gun) into the basement from outside. Just my theory at this time.

 

[Luna20]

This guy is a great witness in my opinion. He’s a no-pretense man. I would think that the jury is enjoying it.

It’s been very entertaining. If he isn’t married or waiting for Farris, he may have more choices after the trial.

 

[nodamselindistress]

This guy is a great witness in my opinion. He’s a no-pretense man. I would think that the jury is enjoying it.

It’s been very entertaining. If he isn’t married or waiting for Farris, he may have more choices after the trial.

Agree, I find him to be a very good witness. I liked how he looked at Melody and smiled when he described her as a "neat freak". I think she liked that too!

 

[Snoopster]

Finally we get Rusty on the stand today! He is a reluctant witness. He said he does not want to be there. (understandably).

At first I thought he was generally trying hard to not lie and I liked him and believed him but over time he became more and more evasive on many questions, such as when and how often he saw or spoke to Melody. When asked if he still loves Melody he said he's not sure. He said he definitely used to love her a lot.

R& M began their affair in 2014. Melody would regularly come up to Tennessee from Georgia to help Rusty's stepmother and father. Melody is second cousin to Rusty's stepmother. That's how Rusty and Melody got to be close.

Prosecution asked him if he had firearms. Answer: too many to count. All but two (which were in his truck) were stored at his stepmother's house at the time of the murder. He was living with his daughter at the time and his daughter's husband was "bad" so they didn't want any firearms in the house. Rusty turned over the firearms in his truck to the TBI for forensic examination.

One interesting line of questioning was about how familiar Rusty was with farm equipment. He said he had inherited his mother's farm and had used a small tractor. He has a 4x4, which he sometimes uses for hunting. The prosecution asked if he ever used the 4x4 to haul hunting stuff. He said yes. He had hauled deer on a trailer attached to the 4x4. The prosecution asked if that was difficult. He said no. (I think they were planting the possibility of the equipment at the Farris farm being used to move Gary's body in the minds of the jury.)

Apparently Rusty had a girlfriend named Christina in 2017. He was hiding his affair with Melody from her. Christina found out and she sent an email to Gary in October 2017 telling him that Rusty and Melody were having an affair.

Rusty drove Melody to the police station the day she was arrested in June 2019.
Shortly after, LE asked Rusty to record calls with Melody. His lawyer convinced him it would be in his best interest to do that so he agreed. But then he told Melody that he was supposed to record their calls and he lied to LE, telling them he hadn't told Melody that. On the stand he admitted that he had done that. He also went and bought burner phones for him and Melody so they could talk without being recorded.

So this guy was having an affair with a married woman (not uncommon, I know) but he also got a girlfriend and kept seeing Melody on the side. And he lied to police. I have no doubt he is still keeping some secrets.

ETA: now I'm off to listen to the rest of his testimony. The prosecution is starting to take the gloves off.

 

[nodamselindistress]

The whole affair thing doesn't bother me much as far as MF goes. He had an affair with his legal assistant and for all we know she vowed to make him pay for that so began to have affairs of her own. I just don't understand why they did not divorce...must have been the money, he did not want to give her half and she wasn't settling for less. Who knows what really went on in the Farris relationship.

 

[alexwood]

Rusty drove Melody to the police station the day she was arrested in June 2019.

Snipped by me, for focus.
"Rusty drove Melody to the police station the day she was arrested in June 2019."

What the heck? I thought when people were arrested, the cops gave them a ride to the police station?

 

[alexwood]

I think she lured him to the burn pile and shot him there. She may have carried something that had blood on it (e.g. a jacket or gun) into the basement from outside. Just my theory at this time.

I agree with you. There was not enough blood evidence for her to have shot him inside.

 

[Snoopster]

The whole affair thing doesn't bother me much as far as MF goes. He had an affair with his legal assistant and for all we know she vowed to make him pay for that so began to have affairs of her own. I just don't understand why they did not divorce...must have been the money, he did not want to give her half and she wasn't settling for less. Who knows what really went on in the Farris relationship.

It doesn't affect me as far as life goes ...but what I am looking for is how truthful the information around Melody is in this murder case.
What did Melody say to Rusty during the early days of July 2018? He is showing during testimony that he is willing to lie generally and definitely lie for her. He knows info that would be helpful to solve the murder but he refuses to offer up that info. Some of that info might actually be in Melody's favor, but he is afraid to say anything.

 

[Snoopster]

Here's why I don't like Rusty and don't trust what he says (despite liking him initially during his testimony)...

He said he appreciates law enforcement and the tough job that it is since his grandfather (or was it his father? Sorry forgot) was a sheriff.
And then during testimony, once prosecution questioning got closer to the matter at hand, he proceeded to obfuscate. He admittedly lied to LE multiple times during LE's interview with him. And, he would flippantly say to the prosecution that "I don't recall. But you would know better than me. So what was it?" He would say that rather than answer the question. So when WAS the last time you saw Melody before/around Gary's murder? No response. (Even though he told LE it had possibly been a year before. A completely laughable response.)

So much for your family heritage of law enforcement Rusty! You just bulldozed it underground.
JMO.

 

[Luna20]

I agree with you. There was not enough blood evidence for her to have shot him inside.

It seems that she got him to the burn pile and shot him from behind. He was found face down. She may have said she saw something and wanted him to take a look at it.

Rusty did well for being questioned for most of the day. I like him and find him credible. I’m pretty convinced that she is guilty.

What stands out to me is in the calls between them she doesn’t sound incensed about her innocence. If I were blameless I would be saying loudly that they need to leave no stone unturned for who it may have been. ‘I can’t believe they think I killed him, that’s crazy’ sorta thing.

Instead she is talking about what to say and how to say it. “Don’t say anything more because they might hang me” I’m not convinced that he was aware of it beforehand. He is very straightforward, and he isn’t insecure as a man. He paid for everything.

The surprise of the day was that she has 2 tattoos. The lady with the pearls has tattoos!

 

[Snoopster]

OK...I've listened to more of Rusty's testimony.
The prosecutor asked him about what Rusty said to LE about who bought the second burner phone. Rusty said he didn't recall what he said. Prosecution showed him the text from the interview with LE on the topic. And Rusty said he still didn't recall. If you look at your own words and still deny it...well, that's not helpful.
He's a clear liar. JMO.

And then prosecution asks Rusty about Gary's bank account and how much would be in it on any day. Gary said that it could be anywhere from a few hundred to a few thousand. Prosecution asked if there were days when an amount like $40,000 would be transferred in and the shortly after be transferred out. Gary said that that was true.
HOW did Rusty know the day to day details of Gary's bank account?

It seems that she got him to the burn pile and shot him from behind. He was found face down. She may have said she saw something and wanted him to take a look at it.

Rusty did well for being questioned for most of the day. I like him and find him credible. I’m pretty convinced that she is guilty.

What stands out to me is in the calls between them she doesn’t sound incensed about her innocence. If I were blameless I would be saying loudly that they need to leave no stone unturned for who it may have been. ‘I can’t believe they think I killed him, that’s crazy’ sorta thing.

Instead she is talking about what to say and how to say it. “Don’t say anything more because they might hang me” I’m not convinced that he was aware of it beforehand. He is very straightforward, and he isn’t insecure as a man. He paid for everything.

The surprise of the day was that she has 2 tattoos. The lady with the pearls has tattoos!

I can't understand how you find Rusty credible. (JMO, naturally!) He admittedly lied to LE during his interviews. He bought her burner phones after she was arrested. He lied to police about telling her that he was recording their conversations. He told prosecution he didn't remember his comments even after they showed him his comment to LE. He doesn't care about a murdered man.

"He paid for everything." Of course he did since Gary was monitoring every expenditure that Melody made. And this is not surprising since she had spent many dollars in the past on her previous amour, Ted. I don't find this a strong point for Rusty. It was a cloaking strategy.

And, yes, she has tattoos. Rusty was with her when she got them. One was "XO" which was the short form for his whiskey. It was also her contact name for him on her burner phone. And yet again he denied knowledge of this.

I'm still listening to the testimony for the day and can't wait to hear what Melody says to Rusty on the call(s).

ETA: typo.

 

[Snoopster]

OK, I've finally caught up with the end of Rusty's testimony.
At the July 24/18 interview with LE Rusty, after discussion with his lawyer, came back in the room and said that during a conversation between 2 - 2:30 am on July 4 Melody told him that "Gary was on the burn pile". He told her "don't say anything more."

Case closed.
No one in the family considered him missing or was even looking for him at that time.
I'll give a final reprieve to Rusty for finally offering up something of relevance.

P.S. Melody was not looking happy at this point in the courtroom.

 

[Luna20]

OK...I've listened to more of Rusty's testimony.
The prosecutor asked him about what Rusty said to LE about who bought the second burner phone. Rusty said he didn't recall what he said. Prosecution showed him the text from the interview with LE on the topic. And Rusty said he still didn't recall. If you look at your own words and still deny it...well, that's not helpful.
He's a clear liar. JMO.

And then prosecution asks Rusty about Gary's bank account and how much would be in it on any day. Gary said that it could be anywhere from a few hundred to a few thousand. Prosecution asked if there were days when an amount like $40,000 would be transferred in and the shortly after be transferred out. Gary said that that was true.
HOW did Rusty know the day to day details of Gary's bank account?

I can't understand how you find Rusty credible. (JMO, naturally!) He admittedly lied to LE during his interviews. He bought her burner phones after she was arrested. He lied to police about telling her that he was recording their conversations. He told prosecution he didn't remember his comments even after they showed him his comment to LE. He doesn't care about a murdered man.

"He paid for everything." Of course he did since Gary was monitoring every expenditure that Melody made. And this is not surprising since she had spent many dollars in the past on her previous amour, Ted. I don't find this a strong point for Rusty. It was a cloaking strategy.

And, yes, she has tattoos. Rusty was with her when she got them. One was "XO" which was the short form for his whiskey. It was also her contact name for him on her burner phone. And yet again he denied knowledge of this.

I'm still listening to the testimony for the day and can't wait to hear what Melody says to Rusty on the call(s).

ETA: typo.

Good points Snoop. I didn’t watch the entirety.

He did lie. I found that he was trying to get them to back off a bit and to avoid the intimate details. I didn’t think he was lying to cover up a murder though.

I will give it another look, it could have been that I had too much coffee! Ha!

 

[Snoopster]

Good points Snoop. I didn’t watch the entirety.

He did lie. I found that he was trying to get them to back off a bit and to avoid the intimate details. I didn’t think he was lying to cover up a murder though.

I will give it another look, it could have been that I had too much coffee! Ha!

Hey, I liked him at the beginning of his testimony as well. I thought he was trying to be honest and forthcoming. And then I saw why the prosecution 'warned' the court that this witness was not a cooperative witness.

He tried to wiggle his way through certain topics. And now I wonder why. In the end his statement to police on July 24 2018 pretty much sunk Melody (where she told him on July 4 that Gary was on the burn pile). So why wasn't he more cooperative with the prosecution during the trial? Why did he make himself look like the liar that he is? My take...is that Melody was in the room and he wanted to show to her that he was 'defending her'.

He still cares for her. Even now that he "knows in his head, if not his heart" that she killed Gary.