It was a shocking killing, with an unlikely victim: an Atlanta commercial real estate attorney who lived with his wife and adult son on a rural 10-acre spread in Cherokee County.
The alleged perpetrator, arrested Tuesday in Tennessee, is an even bigger surprise. Investigators say Melody Farris, 59, shot and killed her husband, then tried to conceal the crime by burning his body and hiding the remains on their property in the 2000 block of Purcell Lane.
It took weeks for authorities to determine the extensively burned remains were that of 58-year-old Gary Farris, an attorney for the regional law firm Burr and Forman and the founder of its Atlanta office. Even after the GBI confirmed his identity, sheriff's investigators were not ready to identify a suspect in his death.
They said they were “confident that this is not a stranger-on-stranger crime and Mr. Farris knew the suspect(s).”
But an investigation continued in the following months, Cherokee County sheriff’s spokesman Capt. Jay Baker said.
“Detectives recovered evidence indicating Ms. Farris shot and killed her husband inside their home and then tried to dispose of his body and evidence by burning it on their Purcell Lane property,” Baker said.
Baker said the condition of Farris’ body made it especially difficult for the investigators and crime scene technicians who worked the case.
On the morning of July 5, Farris’ son discovered the remains on their sprawling 10-acre property. Deputies spent the next two days combing for evidence at the family’s home, in a pond, a creek, several pastures, and an extensive wooded area on the property.
Det. Daniel Hayes testified investigators found ash and blood on some of her clothes.
However, it was a late-night phone call to her alleged lover, Rusty Barton, that led to her arrest. Barton told investigators he spoke with Farris the night before Gary's remains were found; he said she told him, "He's on the burn pile," Hayes testified.
"Rusty said, 'What?' 'He's on the burn pile,'" Hayes said, describing Barton's conversations.
Gary and Melody Farris were married for 38 years, but investigators said their relationship was strained for years. The married couple lived on separate floors in their home and hadn't slept in the same bedroom for years.
Melody allegedly began an affair with Barton several years ago. The pair often met several times a week.
"They would meet at a hotel in Dalton, spend the day together, and then both drive home," Hayes said.
Hayes testified that Melody used multiple "burner" phones to communicate secretly with her lover.
Investigators discovered a bullet lodged in Gary Farris' ribs. A spent bullet was found in the basement. Gary's blood was all over the house. To this day, the gun has never been found.
"There are a lot of things that are not in," said Melody Farris's attorney, Michael Ray, referring to the evidence in the case, "a lot of things are missing. And there are many things, frankly, they didn't find."
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24 окт 2024
