CANTON, Ga. (Court TV) — A Georgia woman will stand trial next week on charges she killed her husband and burned his remains on their property.
Melody Walker Farris listens to opening arguments in her murder trial. Farris is accused of killing her husband before disposing of his remains on her property. (Court TV)
Melody Walker Farris is charged with malice murder, felony murder, aggravated assault, concealing the death of another and making a false statement in the death of her husband, Gary Farris, who was a prominent Atlanta-area attorney.
The couple, who were married for 38 years, lived on a working farm in Alpharetta that spanned approximately 10 acres. They lived in the main house together, while one of their four adult children lived in an apartment above the barn. On July 5, 2018, deputies with the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office were called to the property for a report of human remains in a fire.
Detectives initially believed Gary could have suffered a medical issue and fallen into the fire, but quickly began investigating the case as a homicide after a bullet was found lodged in one of Gary’s rib bones. The bullet, a .38, did not match any weapon found during searches of the property.
Investigators say the Farris marriage was rocky, and Court TV reviewed documents showing that Gary filed for divorce in February 2010. The petition was dismissed that August.
Melody initially denied having any extramarital affairs when asked by investigators, and then later claimed her affair with Roy ‘Rusty’ Barton ended a year before her husband’s death. But investigators determined that was a lie, and later arrested her in Tullahoma, Tennessee, where she had been spending time with Barton.
Prosecutors say at the time of the murder, the couple had been arguing about finances, specifically Gary’s refusal to give Melody money but instead giving it to their adult children.
DAILY TRIAL HIGHLIGHTS
DAY 1 – 10/7/24
- Prosecutor Geoffrey Fogus opened for the state by urging jurors to ‘shrink their worlds’ and find that the only person who had the means, motive and opportunity to kill Gary Farris was his wife, the defendant Melody Walker Farris.
- Fogus noted that Melody liked being married to a rich lawyer, they lived in a mansion worthy of being featured in Southern Living. The two lived in the same house but had separate living quarters. Melody lived upstairs and Gary lived downstairs, and they cheated on each other over the course of their marriage.
- There was constant tension in the relationship because Melody did not like the way Gary used his money. Gary spent lavishly to support his grown children who appeared to rely on his generosity.
- Fogus said Gary was shot and killed, his body placed on a burn pile, for his son Scott to find. The prosecutor states that this did not occur because of a break-in, or robbery, the only person in the house at the time was Melody.
- Defense Attorney Michael Ray opened by suggesting to jurors that too many still unanswered questions should prevent them from finding client guilty of murder. Ray notes police don’t know where Gary was shot in the house, how Melody could have moved her husband (6’3 and over 300 lbs.) onto the burn pile and no murder weapon was recovered from the property.
- Ray notes that Scott is the only one who possesses .38 caliber ammunition– the same kind of ammunition that investigators say killed Gary.
