Family Secrets | “48 Hours" Full Episodes | Forensic Files

[Music] Murders don't happen every day uh in Cherokee County. The type of murder that happened in this
case doesn't happen a lot. But if it were to happen, it would be in this family.
>> Was the Ferris family a happy family? No. >> This family was not like every other
family. There was a lot of love there, but there was also a lot of family drama. constant infighting, animosity
among siblings for money, for their their father's money. And I think that that's where the drama
always came back to was who was going to get dad's money. The Ferris family is made up of Gary Ferris, the patriarch,
Melody Ferris, the mother, and then there were four children. The oldest being Chris Ferris, then there was Scott
Ferris, and then you have Emily, and then Amanda. Gary Ferris uh was a brilliant
commercial real estate attorney. He was very smart. He loved his kids. >> Melody is a very straightforward person
who for the last 35 years had been a stay-at-home mom. >> I'm the mother who took care of
everything, took care of everybody. I was the one that my children called when they needed help.
I was always there for them. I never told them no. [Music] The Ferrises lived on the east end of
the county. >> Their property was around 10 acres. Very nice piece of property. It was obvious
that these people were likely affluent. >> Had a house, a barn. We had four horses.
We had I don't know how many goats. >> They lived a life though odd to a lot of us. It was normal to them.
>> It has been called the ferris wheel and it was but it was our ferris wheel. It
was our life. On 4th of July of 2018, everything changed for this family. >> It was brought to my attention by my
sister and my mother that my father was missing. He wasn't the healthiest man. He had high blood pressure. He smoked a
lot. We were all thinking he might have had a heart attack. We decided to start searching the
property. I started checking all the pastures. We had been out looking for quite some
time. We had been over every square inch of that property. >> We couldn't find them. Something's
really off here. >> Scott and I were standing there by the burn pile just looking.
>> With this being a working farm, they would pile tree stumps and and rotten firewood just kind of like a trash pile
and every now and again they'd burn it. >> My dad did talk about he was going to
burn that stuff on that pile. I looked down and immediately I could start seeing bones.
I squatted down and I'm like, "Those are human remains. I'm calling 911 right now."
We heard the radio call that some remains had just been found in a fire. The first thing that stuck out to me was
the amount of fire damage done to the body. This guy's been in this fire burning for quite some time. During the
excavation of the bones, there's a bullet found lodged in a ribbone. This is not an accident. It's a murder.
>> They go through the family members and they're going to look at who had the opportunity. And anyone who lived on
that property would have been in that box. >> How did he get on the burn pile? Who
shot him with what gun? Where? We don't have a single clue. I called it a a soap opera because the
old TV show Dallas, you had money. You then you had the who shot Jr. Arr except it was who shot Gary Ferris.
[Music] [Music] [Music] Detective, where are we right now? >> We're here at the Ferris Farm.
>> On July 5th, 2018, Detective Daniel Hayes of the Cherokee County Sheriff's Office north of Atlanta responded to a
most unusual call. a human body in a burn pile. Had you ever received a call like that in your
career? >> I had never personally responded to a call that like that. No. >> The body was later identified as
58-year-old Gary Ferris, the larger than-l life 300B patriarch of the Ferris estate,
now reduced to skeletal remains. Detective Hayes learned Gary Ferris was a wealthy commercial real estate
attorney married to Melody Ferris. They raised four children, Chris, Scott, Emily, and Amanda.
>> They're all in their late 20s, early 30s at this point, um, if not a little bit
older. >> Hayes also learned Gary and Melody were married for 38 years and lived in this
house on their beautifully manicured 10acre farm. Son Scott, who had served in the army, managed the day-to-day
operations at the farm and lived in an apartment above the barn. >> Scott's main function at this point in
his life is to be the farm hand. >> It was a seemingly idyllic life until Gary Ferrris's remains were discovered
on that burn pile. >> I never thought such tragic thing would happen there. [Music]
My world was spinning. I wanted to find out what happened. >> Melody told Hayes the last time she saw
Gary alive was during the evening on Tuesday, July 3rd, 2018. >> He came in and wanted to know if I was
going to prepare dinner. And I said, "Gary, there's enough food in that refrigerator there to feed Cox's army."
I said, "If you don't want it, then go get something to eat." >> And that's it. That was the last time.
>> That was the last words that were spoken to him. >> Melody told Detective Hayes her husband
then went down to his bedroom in the basement. Gary had sleep apnea and slept alone with his CPAP machine.
Scott said he had also last seen his father on July 3rd at lunch. Scott spent the rest of the day out with his
friends. He returned home that night around 11:30 and says he immediately noticed a glow in the distance. When I
pulled in the driveway, you could look off in the direction where the burn pile was and you could see it was burning.
>> A burn pile, typically a dumping spot for yard waste and brush. >> My dad did talk about he was going to
burn that stuff on that on that pile. The next day, July 4th, Scott and Melody told investigators they didn't encounter
Gary. >> It was not unusual not to see Gary. >> It wasn't until the next day, July 5th,
Melody says she realized Gary was missing. Two of the grandchildren who had spent the night asked to ride the
RTV or rough terrain vehicle with Gary, who they called Big Daddy. >> And I told him, I said, "Go ask Big
Daddy to go ride it with you all." and they said they couldn't find him. >> Daughter Amanda was there, too. Son
Chris arrived soon after and all the adults started searching the property until Scott noticed some bones among the
ashes at the burn pile. >> I'll never forget it until the day I die. >> His words were, "Oh, I found him."
What do you mean you found him? When the forensic team arrived, they began documenting the burn pile,
working past dark to sift through the ashes. That's when the bullet was found lodged
in Gary's rib. And what had started as a possible accidental death became a murder investigation. Why would somebody
want to burn a body? cover up a crime, you destroy evidence. >> Elsewhere, investigators searched the
house, the barn, even the pond. They found a shotgun in the house. Several other guns and ammunition were
discovered in the barn. Both Melody and Scott allowed investigators to test their hands for
accelerants. The test came back negative. Scott also told the detectives something intriguing. He had recently
seen a pistol in the basement that was now missing. >> It was just very odd. >> And another thing Scott found odd was
that his mom had his dad's wallet. >> And I said, "Where'd you find that?" And she said, "Well, it's in the console of
his car." And I found that very, very odd cuz my dad never left his wallet in his car. As Hayes investigation
continued, he was learning all about the Ferris family's dysfunctional dynamic, which came to be known as the Ferris
wheel. In a tape recorded conversation with Melody, she told him there had been tension between Gary and Scott.
>> He and Scott would get into it pretty heavily. I mean, you know, I mean, they'd come to blows just over things
because Gary was so anal about everything. I mean, Scott's hot. I mean, he is. He's hottempered.
>> But when detectives asked Scott what he thought happened, he pointed the finger
of suspicion at his mother. >> I've always had this gut feeling if something ever happened to my dad that
somebody needed to check her out. >> With the ferris wheel starting to turn, detectives asked Scott if his father was
having an affair. My father did not do that. He was a onewoman type of man and he married that woman. He was not that
kind of man. >> Hayes then asked Melody if she was having an affair. >> What did she tell you? She said no.
>> Police focused in on what appeared to be drops of blood on the kitchen floor,
the stairs leading to the basement, and on the basement floor itself. When spots in the basement were tested,
they were confirmed to be Gary's blood. Police also found a 38 caliber bullet on
the basement floor. This same type found lodged in Gary's ribbone from the burn pile.
>> And does that suggest in any way some sort of progression of an attack on Gary?
>> That's what we interpreted as as we started looking at it is that possibly something happened upstairs, led down
the stairs and into the basement. Detective Hayes asked Melody point blank if she had anything to do with the death
of her husband. >> So your statement is you didn't do anything to harm Gary? >> No.
>> And you don't know who did? >> No. >> Hayes was skeptical. Investigators had found in Melody's purse birth control
and a credit card with another man's name on it. Roy Barton. >> When someone's lying to you, what does
that suggest? They're guilty of something. When that credit card was found in Melody's purse, investigators did not
recognize the name on it. >> It's Roy Barton. Later find out it's Rusty Barton. Rusty Barton was a farm
equipment salesman who spent time on the road in central Tennessee. In 2014, Melody was helping take care of Rusty's
ill stepmother, who happened to be her cousin. That's when Rusty and Melody became intimate. We learned that Rusty
is Melody's lover that uh she's having an affair with and has had an affair with for quite some time.
>> Did you fall in love with Rusty? I loved him. Still love him. Was I in love with him? No.
>> Investigators wanted to know more about the couple. >> How serious is this relationship between
Melody and Rusty? >> Depends on who you asked. The evidence showed that it appeared to be pretty
serious. They were researching wedding bands. >> You know, if you were planning on
getting married, it sounds like a motive for murder. >> You don't marry the person you were
having an affair with. Scott says Melody and Rusty's love affair was the world's
worstkept secret. >> She thought she was smart enough to hide it from everybody, but we all found out.
We all knew, >> including Gary. And when daughter Emily got married in 2016, Melody scandalized
the wedding by inviting her lover for all to see. your husband is there at the same venue and you're dancing and
drinking and and having a good time with this other man. It was upsetting to Gary. Uh, you know, it was upsetting to
all the family. >> That wasn't a nice move on your part, was it? >> No. In hindsight, no.
>> It seemed the ferris wheel was spinning faster with household drama becoming more frequent.
>> This whole ferris wheel turn, none of us really like it. But if you want to know
who the motor was of turning that Ferris wheel was Melody Ferris. She always stirred up drama. Always.
>> It's a real life soap opera. That's it. >> A soap opera Hayes believed that revolved around what Gary had and others
coveted. Money. >> A lot of bickering, a lot of fights over money, a lot of jealousy.
>> Gary had always been generous toward his children. Even as adults, investigators
learned he helped Emily buy a house and financially assisted son Chris with his business and children.
>> It made me Melody turn against her children because the children were spending money.
>> But Melody claims she was only upset because the children were taking advantage of their father's wealth.
>> Chris, our oldest one, had been stealing money like you cannot believe. Chris
says he and his father did not argue over money. >> Detective Hayes looked into the
agreement Gary had struck with Scott. >> He worked on the farm and Gary gave him
spending money. >> He had gotten where he just would not do anything. He was all the time playing
golf, going to the lake, going out with his friends. >> And who was paying for all of this?
>> He was taking, you know, credit cards from Gary. >> But Scott says that's not true at all.
and that the arrangement he had with his father worked well for both of them. >> I was there to help him with the farm.
There was no mooching. >> Scott says it was actually Melody who'd run into a financial roadblock with
Gary, largely because of her lavish spending on her affair with Rusty. >> She would leave for weeks at a time and
then thousands of dollars would be spent out of the account. We found text messages where he confronted her and
said, "You know, your spending is done. We got to get a handle on this." >> So, what you're saying is that it was
Melody who was facing the potential of having her her money lifeline cut off. >> Pretty much, yes.
>> Was he angry at your spending? >> No. I had a debit card. It had his name on it. I was free to use it however I
wanted to. While Melody and Rusty lived in different states, cell phone records show they live their lives in constant
communication. She's on the phone with him every hour of every day, >> including the early morning hours of
July 4th, 2018, a day and a half before Gary was found. When questioned by investigators, Rusty told them that
Melody had said something alarming. So, probably the last minute of the last conversation, she said, "Gary is in the
burn pile." No, she said, "He is in the burn pile." And I said, "What?" And she said, "He's
in the burn pile." And I said, "Do not say another word and do not tell me anything. I do not need to know."
At that time, only the killer could have known Gary was on the burn pile. Had Melody Ferris confessed to murder.
As the investigation continued, she was now the detective's number one suspect. >> I told them everything I knew.
>> Scott remembered something that happened with his mother the day before Gary vanished. It now seems like
foreshadowing. She comes out of the house with a plate in her hand and she's screaming and cussing and she throws the
plate up against the wall of the house and shatters it all into pieces and she says, "I can't wait till that man's
dead. I can't wait till I don't have to live with him anymore." >> Gary Ferris himself took out his phone
and recorded this video. This is what happens when you leave a plate >> of the plate shards scattered on the
ground. 3 days later, he was dead. [Music] [Music] On June 18th, 2019, after an almost
12-month investigation, detectives say they had gathered enough evidence to charge Melody Ferris with the murder of
her husband, Gary. Why did it take a year to arrest Melody? >> We were waiting on the autopsy results
and the positive identification of Gary Wayne Ferris's body, >> but for Detective Hayes, there were
unanswered questions. How did Melody get Gary's body out the basement door and to the burn pile about
50 yards away? She weighs what, 130 lb? >> Around that, I believe. >> And Gary is 6'4, 6'5, 300 lb. How in the
world could that woman have moved that body >> with the tractor? With RTV, >> two pieces of machinery that were found
on the farm. She admitted that she drives RTV all the time, has operated the tractor.
>> Hay sees the two vehicles as evidence. Peter, >> this is what we're looking at, these two
vehicles. >> He took me to the lot where they are stored. >> How could each of these vehicles have
been used to get Gary's body onto that pile? >> Uh, both are capable of pulling a lot of
weight. This tractor has a bucket on the front that is designed to scoop heavy loads. We found tractor marks, but there
were tractor marks all over the property, but there were none necessarily obviously leading right up
to the burn pile. >> What did you find as your forensic people took a look at these vehicles?
>> Uh, we found blood, evidence of blood on the vehicles. >> Can you show me where?
>> I can. So, on the tractor, we found blood evidence in this area. >> Gary's blood, but nothing was found in
the front bucket. on the RTV. Hay says Melody's blood was found on one of the gear shifters. Nothing was found in the
back. Hayes considered other scenarios. >> There's also a theory that she did it
under her own power, rolling him down to the burn pile. It's downhill all the way
to the burn pile. >> Is there any blood that was discovered going from the house to the burn pile?
>> Not that we found. >> So, this still remains a mystery, doesn't it? >> It does. It was
>> a mystery too for prosecutors Megan Frankish and Jeffrey Fogus. >> We don't know exactly how she got him
into the burn pile. >> She was a farm girl. She was resourceful. We know she killed him. How
she did it doesn't really matter cuz we know she did cuz he was there. >> The case took more than 5 years to bring
to trial. During that time, a deep divide formed in the Ferris family. Three of the children, Chris, Scott, and
Emily, were all convinced their mother murdered their father. Gary and Melody's youngest child, Amanda, believed in
Melody's innocence. What did it mean for you that your daughter, Amanda, stood by you during
all this time and has believed in your innocence? >> She's a good girl. Ladies and gentlemen, the jury.
>> When the trial finally began in October 2024, prosecutors Megan Frankish and Jeffrey Fogus spoke to jurors with
absolute certainty. >> The answer to the question, who did it sits right there, Melody Walker Ferris?
>> The motive, >> money, sex, new life. According to prosecutors, Melody wanted Gary dead so
she could cash in on his multi-million dollar assets and live happily ever after with her lover of the past four
years, Rusty Barton. Why shouldn't people believe you had the greatest motive to murder Gary?
>> I knew nothing about our financial situation. Absolutely nothing. Prosecutors say on the evening of July
3rd, two days before Gary's body was found, Gary and Melody got into a fight in the kitchen and Melody shot him.
>> He goes downstairs trying to get away. She shoots him again. >> There's a blood trail from the kitchen
and they went down the steps. >> Those blood trails never lead out of the house, upstairs or downstairs. In their
opening statement, defense attorneys Michael Ray and John Luke Weaver attacked the prosecution's claims and
told jurors there's a harmless explanation for those blood drops. >> Gary had been bitten by one of Melody's
dogs on the ankle and was bleeding as he walked down the stairs. >> We're talking tiny little droplets of
blood. That would not be consistent with a shooting. You would expect far more blood. and daughter Amanda would testify
she saw that wound on her dad's leg. The defense also argued Melody is innocent.
>> Questions >> and raised those questions about how Gary's body got to the burn pile.
>> Melody Ferris at her size. It is impossible that she moved that body from the location where the state says his
body was to a burn pile. It is absolutely impossible. The defense also raised questions about the murder
weapon. >> Where is the gun? No idea. >> They offered up an alternative suspect,
Melody's own son, and his motive would be >> financial. He wanted the property. >> One big thing you're going to hear, and
you're going to hear it a lot, is Scott Ferris. The defense argues that Scott from the very beginning tried to draw
attention of investigators away from him. >> 13 minutes after law enforcement arrives, Scott Ferris is already blaming
his mother. From the very beginning, Scott is saying, "Melody, Melody, Melody, leading law enforcement down this
trail." Raise your right hand. When the prosecution put Scott Ferris on the stand, they asked him directly,
>> "Did you murder your father?" >> I absolutely did not murder my father. I love my father. He was the backbone.
He was the glue to our family. >> Sitting just feet away, Melody says Scott's testimony was an act. The Scott
that was in that courtroom was not my son. He was well rehearsed. >> Could you stand for the jury, please?
>> Sure. >> On cross-examination, the defense pointed out that Scott, at 6'8, 280 lb,
was the only person on the farm physically capable of moving Gary's 300B body. about
>> because of my size and size of my father. Yes, I was going to be looked at like that, but I had nothing to do with
it. >> Raise your right hand. >> To help establish a motive for murder, prosecutors called Melody's lover, Rusty
Barton, to the stand. >> You're You're from Alabama. Is that right? >> Excuse me. Tennessee. I apologize.
>> I'm from Tennessee. >> Okay. And you are >> a big difference. >> That's true. You're
>> He's charming. He's smart. >> And he says he captured the heart of married Melody Ferris.
>> You were in love with her. Fair to say? >> Yes. >> And she was in love with you. Fair to
say. >> Yes. >> Do you recall searching for wedding bands on the internet? >> I do.
>> What type of wedding bands did y'all have in mind? >> We talked about plain gold bands.
>> Tell the jury what you >> Focus also asked Rusty about that incriminating call. She said that Gary
was on the burn pile. >> Remember, Rusty had told investigators that call had taken place before Gary
was found. But a year later, after Melody was arrested, Rusty changed his story, saying the call happened after
the body was discovered. He said he had the dates wrong. >> What I told you was correct, but when it
happened was not correct. But prosecutor Fogus didn't buy it and claims Rusty was
trying to help Melody. >> Do you believe him? >> No. He was still in a relationship with
her. He didn't know how this was going to turn out. >> At the time of the murder, Rusty was
hours away in Tennessee. He was never charged with anything relating to the death of Gary Ferris.
More witnesses would testify. And later, Melody, who was silent throughout the trial, would address the court in a
dramatic and explosive statement that would leave her family reeling. [Music] testimony about
>> day after day, Melody Ferris faced witnesses determined to see her pay for the alleged murder of her husband.
>> How is it that you know the defendant in this case? >> She's my mother. >> None seemed more dogged than her own
children like Chris. >> I just had my suspicions that she had something to do with this.
>> Her daughter Emily, >> she became more hostile. She was more aggressive with us. Um she was demanding
money. You see your mom sitting in court? >> Yes, sir. >> And Scott, I >> mean, she always, you know, talked bad
about my dad. It's like she always tried to brainwash us like he was, you know, such a horrible person.
>> Can you describe what it was like to watch each of your children take the stand?
>> The most heart-wrenching, gut-wrenching thing I had ever sat through in my entire life.
>> Because >> I knew they were lying. I have to tell you, you seem so stoic during all of it.
>> It was that the time that I'd walk out of that courtroom at night time, I was
ready to scream at the top of my lungs. >> Melody says three of her children are
trying to pin their father's murder on her for one simple reason. >> Money. Absolutely money.
One of the final witnesses called by prosecutors was Lindseay Harris, who leads the intelligence division in the
Cherokee County Sheriff's Office. >> I was asked in 2018, July of 2018, um, to analyze some phone records.
Harris says she was able to track the precise movements of Gary Ferris's cell phone on the family farm because Gary
had an Android phone with its Google location services turned on. >> So, this helps us know when the device
is traveling even within a certain area. Harris discovered that on the morning of
July 4th, when investigators believe Gary's body was already on the burn pile, his cell phone moved from the
house to the burn pile and back to the house. >> 100% the device moves from 758 to 9:05.
Someone must be moving it. >> Prosecutors say that someone could only have been Melody Ferris. We knew that
the only person home was Melody. >> Lindsay Harris says that during that time, Scott's phone was miles away from
the farm. >> Scott leaves the residence around 6:30 a.m. on July 4th. He does not return to
the home until 8 p.m.ish, 8:30 p.m. on July 4th. The defense tries to challenge this seemingly powerful evidence by
questioning the accuracy of Harris's findings. >> You can clearly see that sometimes the
circle's very large, sometimes it's small, and sometimes it says, "You're absolutely nowhere close to where you
are." >> The defense called seven witnesses. One of them was Gary and Melody's youngest
daughter, Amanda. She has told me that she's not guilty and all I can do is believe that until
somebody can prove she is guilty. So I would like to believe that my mother had nothing to do with this.
There's just so much pain. I'm just there's no good outcome. He's never coming back.
He'll never be there again. And that's just the worst part about it all. And knowing that my mother could
potentially spend the rest of her life in prison is terrifying. >> Miss Frankish, you can go ahead.
>> It was now time to wrap this case up with closing arguments. >> She had plenty of motives. She despised
Gary. She hated that he was giving away their money, her money. That was the main motive. Rusty was a bonus.
>> 100. >> In their closing, the defense did some heavy lifting. to demonstrate how
difficult it would be for someone Melody's size to somehow get her 300 lb husband onto that burn pile.
>> This is 320 lb and I am 185 lb and that's all I have. >> I just it it's not realistic. And then
the fact that they they've presented no actual evidence as to how she did that, that means there's doubt.
>> On October 30th, 2024, the jury got the case, but after 3 days of deliberations,
they sent a note to the judge saying they were deadlocked. The judge told them to give it one more try.
>> I was absolutely numb. You don't know what to think. And just a few hours later,
>> all right, I understand y'all reached a verdict. >> We, the jury, find the defendant guilty.
>> Melody Ferris was found guilty on all five counts against her, including malice murder, felony murder, and making
false statements. >> It was horrible. They carried me immediately over to the jail.
I was alone curled up in the fetal position. >> Jurors Sheila Albbright and Chris Hyatt
say the cell phone evidence convinced them of Melody's guilt. >> Once we agreed on the time of death,
then it was okay, well, how was this phone moving after Gary's body is it was in the burn pile? Who was on the
property at that time? >> And who was Melanie? As for the question of how Gary got to the burn pile, Sheila
Albbright had a theory >> happened. But in my mind, I thought that she first shot him inside the house cuz
there was evidence of that. I thought maybe he had run out the door trying to get from away from her and
maybe she took him by gunpoint down to the burn pile. I think that maybe the burn pile is the last place she shot
him. For Scott and some members of the Ferris family, the guilty verdict brought
relief even though their own mother was now a convicted murderer. >> Because we got justice from my father by
>> We fought six years to get answers. My father loved my mother. He fought for my
mother. He was a very loving father. But there would be no love shown by Melody at her sentencing when she was
given the opportunity to express remorse and ask the judge for leniency. >> I have waited for years to make this
statement to everyone. >> But instead of asking the judge for mercy, >> I want the world to know who did this.
>> She named who she said was the real killer. >> I know Scott killed his father.
He took my husband, the father of Chris, Emily, and Amanda. He took Big Daddy from our grandchildren.
>> But Melody was far from done tormenting her son. [Music] Scott, this is unforgivable.
Scott, I have spent entire life of loving and protecting you, but this I refuse to cover for you.
>> When Melody Ferris used her sentencing hearing to accuse her son, Scott of being Gary's true murderer, some of
those in the courtroom were floored. I'm back at the prosecution table and we're
all kind of like I cannot believe this is happening. >> I was not prepared for that. It was
shocking that that is the opportunity she believed was hers to take. >> Scott sitting behind his mother with his
family simply stared in disbelief. >> Oh, I was furated as she did her last final jabs. That shows you what she was
like. One last turn of the knife. >> One last turn to make somebody's life a living hell because it didn't go her
way. >> Judge David Cannon had little patience. >> All right, Miss Ferris, I'm going to cut you off.
>> But Melody persisted. >> And I plead with you to throw this verdict out. Help me get justice for the
correct person. As bad as it sounds, I want to be there to watch him chained and shackled and
brought to justice. >> Instead, it was Melody who would be led away in chains. >> And the penalty for murder is life.
>> The 64 year old was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole
after 30 years. She also received an additional 5 years for concealing Gary's death by burning
his remains and making a false statement to police. Melody didn't take the stand in her
trial. Instead, she chose to tell her story exclusively to 48 hours. >> I just watched one of the most
extraordinary moments inside a courtroom that I have ever seen in my career. What
do you want people to know about you and this case? >> I want everyone, but especially my
children, my grandchildren, and at this point, the world. I didn't do this. I know who did.
And it's our son, Scott. Without a shadow of a doubt, I know he did it. >> I absolutely had nothing to do with my
father's death. And it was 100% Melody Ferris who murdered my father. That is the truth.
>> Why do you think she accused you of killing your father? >> Cuz I was an easy target. I lived on the
property. I'm former military. >> Melody claims she hadn't spoken up until now out of maternal loyalty. She says
her own mother, now deceased, suspected Scott all along and asked Melody to take
the blame. But now her time as Scott's shield was over. Melody says she believes Scott set her up from the
beginning. And she says she knows why. >> Scott wanted that property to be his. He
had made that known to countless people. It's the perfect murder. You kill your daddy. You set your mother up. She goes
to prison. You get everything. >> You understand though that to people listening to this, they're thinking,
"Here is a mother willing to sacrifice her son to save her own skin." What would you say to that?
>> This is a mother's worst nightmare. >> Melody stands by her claim that Gary was
getting ready to cut Scott off financially. >> Gary had made it very well known that
Scott needed to get a job. things were fixing to change on that property. >> But Scott says Gary never issued an
ultimatum that he get a job and never accused him of not pulling his weight. >> My dad actually made comments to me
saying, "Hey, leave some work for me." You know, cuz he wasn't there during the week. He's like, "Well, don't cut the
pasture yet. Let me do it." Melody says she told Detective Hayes she'd seen Scott acting suspiciously the day before
Gary's body was found. >> I said I saw Scott come from that burn pile. >> Did she tell you that?
>> No. >> And why would she lie now? >> You have to look at the timing of the statement and she has nothing to lose.
She's going to make all kinds of off-the-wall claims at this point that are just not provable.
Despite a sentence that will likely mean spending the rest of her life in prison,
Melody remains determined to prove her innocence. One day, you believe you will walk a
free woman again. >> I certainly hope so. I do. But I will be sitting there right
behind my son in court. >> And for those who believe you got exactly what you deserved, you say,
>> "I didn't do it. I did not do it. >> She knows she did it. She needs to stop with the lies. Just come clean.
Stop trying to ruin all of our lives because it didn't work out for you. I still haven't been able to figure out
why she would do this. I don't know if I ever will. [Music] I buried my 18-year-old child who was
murdered by this animal. A killer across the street. >> Isn't it likely he's going to get out?
>> Can a family keep him behind bars? >> My dad's last words to me were you fight
to keep Steve in prison? >> 48 Hours is all new CBS next Saturday 10:9 Central and streaming on Paramount
Plus. [Music] How you doing, folks? >> I'm raising my family here. My parents raised their family here and their
parents raised their family here. It's a place that I like to call home and uh hopefully this is where I'll remain.
Cleveland, Tennessee is beautiful, known as the city with spirit. You can't swing a ball bat without
hitting a church. A lot of people know one another and we do have a lot of older homes and a lot of history here.
I'm very proud of our town. >> Hello. Hey. >> I've been a hairdresser for over 30
years. You have certain clients that you kind of click with and you're closer to.
And for me, Marca was one of those clients. >> She was fun. She was outgoing. Marca was one of my favorite cousins.
She did confide in me and I confided in her. She was beautiful. She was always kind.
She loved her husband. She mentioned him every time. When I think of her, my first few words would not be giving,
loving. I didn't see a lot of that from her, even as her stepdaughter. How would
you describe her? >> Loner. >> I believe that she was very depressed. >> A case it sounds like a 48 hours
mystery. Bradley County woman disappears without a trace. >> It struck me. Oh my goodness. She's, you
know, she's not been in. That is odd. And I said, you know, what time do they she's overdue.
>> When Marca disappeared in June of 2009, her husband, Donnie Brantley, did not
report her missing. It's hard seeing my father in this way. It's a scary thing. I know the inside of this man and the
heart of him. He wouldn't hurt anyone. >> He loved her. >> Yes. >> And they had a real marriage.
>> Yes. During the years of your marriage, am I correct that you maintain romantic and
relationships with persons other than your wife? Upon advice of counsel, I plead the
fifth. >> We have a guy who's told numerous lies about where his wife went, and we can
prove otherwise. >> He may be the singularly most dishonest defendant I've ever dealt with.
Authorities have not located Marsha's body, but were able to charge her husband with premeditated first-degree
murder based on evidence. >> I think we have a great circumstantial case. >> There's no blood, no fingerprints, no
DNA, no body, and there's no crime scene. What proof is there that she's in fact dead as opposed to gone missing or
living someplace else? >> I felt compelled to find out what happened to her. I knew that something was very, very
wrong. >> He murdered her. He murdered her. >> That's crazy. >> It's ridiculous.
>> Charging you with firstdegree murder. Do you understand what the charge is? >> It's just not him.
>> He's 100% innocent of these charges. >> If he did do something to her, and if I
just let this go, he'll get away with it. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Music] [Music]
You're ready to go. We're ready for trial. >> We're actually not going to be able to
answer any questions until >> Justice may finally be at hand for Marsha Brantley, a 50-year-old writer
and animal lover who disappeared in 2009. In February 2018, Marsha's husband, Donnie Brantley, has come to
court ready to stand trial for allegedly murdering her. >> This is a very important day for Donnie
Brantley. >> It's very important. It's uh he's had a cloud of suspicion hanging over his head
for 9 years. >> Back in 2014 when 48 Hours first began investigating this case, >> I wanted to have just a a moment with
you all to >> Marsha's aunt Medra and cousin Jenna met with Steve Crump who was about to take
over as district attorney general. >> Ultimately, I believe we will be able to do justice in this case.
>> We're just looking forward to bringing this thing to a close. uh we're going to
create within this district um a cold case working group. >> Crump raised the family's hopes that he
could win a conviction in a case guaranteed to be an uphill battle for the prosecution because Marsha Brantley
had simply vanished. >> We don't have a crime scene. We don't have a dead body. We don't have what you
normally think of in terms of a homicide case. As the years passed, Jana and her
husband Mark became frustrated that there would never be justice. >> It's a tragedy. It's something that no
one should have to experience or no one should have to go through. >> What do you think?
>> What happened to her? Will we find her? >> It's a good question, especially since
the man they believe knows what happened to Marsha has, in their opinion, never offered to help. Not a phone call, not
an email, not a text message? >> No. >> Not a postcard, nothing. >> None of her family.
>> Did he organize any search parties? >> No. >> He profered no help. >> She was the love of your life, right?
>> Yes. >> This civil deposition in 2013 shows that Donnie likely will never have much to
say. >> When did she stop being the love of your life? >> I played the fifth. didn't have anything to do with her
disappearance, did it? No, >> I believe it did. >> This is the home where Marsha and Donnie
lived for 9 years. >> Jana and Medra went into the house in 2012, 3 years after Marsha went missing.
They were upset by the chaos they found. >> Somebody had no respect for her, and we
know who that was. And Donnie Brantley is going to pay for what he's done to her.
There was not a picture of Marsha to be seen anywhere. And there were pictures of Donnie and his daughter, but none of
Marsha. >> Growing up, Jana was especially close to Marsha, her older cousin. >> She would come and pick me up from high
school sometimes, and we would go get ice cream. >> From a young age, Marca had an endearing
passion for pets. >> She had her favorite little dachshun named Barney. She taught him how to pray
before he ate his meals. He would cross his little paws. So, >> as an adult, Marsha volunteered at a
local animal shelter. >> I looked up to her when I was a little girl. She was 5'10".
>> Kim Shank was Marsha's closest friend. >> Even though she seemed to kind of command the room, she was probably one
of the more shy people to be that commanding with her physical presence. >> She was a friendly person, a sweet
person, >> especially to her parents. She grew up in an affluent family, an only child
with no children of her own. >> She took care of her mother a lot because her mother was ill for a very
long time. >> In 1999, Marca met Donnie Brantley on a dating website. He was a divorced father
of a teenage daughter. >> She called me and she said, "Well, I've met someone." And was getting really
serious and she said, "I want you to meet him." >> Marca and Donnie shared a love for the
outdoors. She was an avid hiker while Donnie was a competitive bicycle rider. At 41, this
was Marsha's first serious relationship. >> He was what I always wanted for her,
somebody that she could be into and love and share her life with and live on happily ever after.
>> Marsha even wrote poetry for Donnie. With love so pure and true, I can but only thank my God. I fell in love with
you. >> Marsha and my dad. >> Donniey's daughter Elise was happy her dad had found a soulmate.
>> We would sit and watch movies on weekends and that kind of thing. They would hold hands.
>> They were married in 2000 and moved into the house Marsha's parents had built for
her. But shortly after the newlyweds settled down, tragedy struck. Her mother passed away in November of 2000 and her
father passed away in December. >> Imagine losing both your parents in less than a month.
>> She was devastated. It was a lot of sadness. I mean, it was heartbreaking. >> I saw a different side of her when she
lost her parents. There wasn't a lot of happiness after that. >> But Marca did her best to carry on. A
large inheritance enabled her to help Donnie set up a handyman business franchise. She also quit her job as
housing director at nearby Lee University to pursue her passion. >> She wanted to write young adult novels.
>> She was very talented and definitely had what it took to be successful. >> Reggie Jay and Nancy Grill were members
of a writer group that Marca formed in 2007. What was the name of this writing group? Thunder Rock Writers Group. The
other name was the Big Girl Panties Group. We would critique each other's work and we would say, "Put your Big
Girl Panties on because, you know, you might get your feelings hurt." >> Nancy and Reggie say Marsha was the best
of the bunch. >> Dirty Little Secrets is a story that Marsha wrote. The sun rose above the kudzu covered
trees as I swept the house and chased the dust out of the front door and across the porch with a broom.
Wonderful imagery. >> Mhm. >> She can write this woman. >> Yes. >> But in June 2009, a dark chapter began
in Marcia Brantley's life with a plot twist right out of a novel. She seemed to fall off the face of the earth.
>> I knew that something was very, very wrong. [Music] [Music] in her 30 years as a hairdresser in
Cleveland, Tennessee. >> Yeah. >> Kelly Dude says cuts, perms, and parts >> will you do that the way you do them
>> are only part of the job. As a hair stylist, are you also a therapist? >> We're in their personal space, so people
certainly um share with us probably a lot more than they would the clerk at the grocery store, you know.
>> But of the hundreds of clients Kelly has cut and consoled over the years, there has been only one whose face
haunts her dreams. >> When I would go to sleep at night, I would think of Marca. And when I would
wake up in the morning, I would think of Marca. Marsha Brantley first came in for a cut
in the year 2000 and the two came together like scissors and hair. >> What was it about Marsha that made the
two of you click? >> We just got along. We would just talk the whole time. We would just sort of
catch up with one another. >> She really spoke mostly about her home life with Donnie and her dogs. Her dogs
were like her children. >> Kelly says Marsha couldn't say enough nice things about her marriage and her
husband. As the years went by, the two women grew closer. >> But during what turned out to be
Marsha's final hair appointment in April 2009, Kelly saw a side of Marsha that left her concerned.
>> She seemed troubled. She seemed a bit depressed. She was asking me if the economy had affected the business here
and I said certainly it had, you know, um and she said, "Well, you know, it's really affecting our business."
>> Marca told her Donniey's handyman business was failing and money was tight. Still, she expected Marca to call
about 6 weeks later to set up her next appointment. And she was very regimented in coming to see you.
>> Yeah, she Yeah, she she colored her hair, so most women are. Sure. Yeah. >> But Kelly never got that call. She was
too busy to notice. But as spring turned to summer, Marsha's neighbor stopped into the
salon. >> She said, "Kelly, when was the last time you did Marsha's hair?" And I said, "Let
me look." And I looked at my file and I said, "April. That is unusual. was she okay? And she said she has not been
walking her dogs. They are barking their heads off. And her flowers were dead in
the yard. And when she mentioned that, it struck me. Oh my goodness, she's not been in. That is odd.
>> Odd enough, says Kelly, that she was moved to pick up the phone. >> I called Marca.
>> The call went to voicemail. She left a message but didn't hear back. For days, she called again and again.
No, Marsha. >> One night, I decided, well, I'm going to call Donnie and ask him if he knows
where Marsha is. I actually called Donniey's business. And the phone was disconnected. So, that really concerned
me. >> Marsha's neighbor was concerned, too. So much so that she decided to confront
Donnie in person at his house. She literally went up, knocked on the door, and when he answered, she said,
"Donnie, where's Marsha?" And he told her the most ridiculous story. "She's leaving me. She went out west."
>> Had she ever talked about trouble in the marriage? >> No. Never. For Kelly, it seemed
inconceivable that Marca would suddenly leave the house her parents had built for her, leave behind her beloved dogs,
and most of all, leave the husband she adored. What are you thinking? >> I'm thinking at that point, he has done
something to her. I I knew that something was very, very wrong. I had no peace about it. And so finally
I thought I'm going to call around and in my mind I thought you know I'm crossing a little line here into
meddling. >> You've become a detective at this point. You're gathering information. You're
calling various people. Right. >> Well I was but you know I wasn't trying to be a detective. I was trying to be a
concerned friend. >> Kelly found a member of Marsha's writing club and got more disturbing news.
>> But she told me that Marsha was no longer coming. One of the strangest things about this case is that for
months nobody reported Marsha Brantley missing. Her relatives, they live on the other side of the state. Her best
friend, Kim Shank, she's in Ohio. And the members of her writers group, well, they just didn't hang out socially.
In the end, it would be her hairdresser who tipped authorities to a potential murder. I came into work the next day
and I called the Cleveland Police Department and I said, "I need to report a missing person." And he said, "Excuse
me, are you her mom, her sister?" And I said, "No, actually, I'm her hairdresser." He said, "Well, ma'am, if
he says she's gone and that she left him, she left him." >> Undeterred, Kelly turned to the best
social network she knew, her customers. And you can cut and talk at the same time, right? You're good at that. for 30
years. >> Okay. >> Kelly chose a person who was long on brains under all that short hair. Local
attorney Jerry Hoffer. >> He couldn't get away. So when I was cutting his hair, I said, "You know,
Jerry, I'm going to tell you a story." And when I get finished, I want you to tell me what you think.
>> I'm listening to the stories and I'm just sitting there thinking, "This guy's
he might have killed his wife. [Music] I >> mean, I felt like finally justice is
going to be done. >> Mhm. >> Right after I got my haircut and I walked in the DA's office and I just
kind of in a flippant way, I said, "You've got a dead lady out there. You all need to be looking for her."
Prosecutors agreed and sent their investigator, Walt Hunt, now retired, to Marsha's house to look for her.
>> When I approached him, he told me that they were having some marital issues. >> But it wasn't just what Brentley said,
it was how he said it that really caught Hunt's attention. >> He was pretty cool and maybe a little
cooler than I might expect. He said he was cool, calm, steady as a rock. He said that is not normal.
>> Hunt's instincts convinced him to call the TBI, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation. They would launch what
would become a 9-year coordinated effort between state and local agencies, all dedicated to finding Marshia Brantley.
It was around October 2011 and I jumped at the opportunity to be able to assist with the investigation.
>> When Zack Pike and David Shoemaker of the Bradley County Sheriff's Office got
the case in 2011, they quickly saw why Donnie Brantley was a suspect. He had always denied any role in his wife's
disappearance, but he'd lied when he claimed that Marsha had taken her phone. I think her cell phone in his possession
is easily in my mind the most damning fact. >> The cell phone never left pinging from a
tower that's 2 miles or less from the home. >> In June of 2009, right around the time
investigators think Marsha disappeared. They say Donnie used her phone to make a
highly suspicious call. >> He calls on that cell phone the Chattanooga Singles Line. He calls a
dating Yes. Chattanooga Singles Line. While Donnie was apparently seeking a new love interest, investigators say he
couldn't seem to keep his story straight about his old love, Marsha. >> She took a camper and moved to Townsen,
Tennessee. >> Gone to Florida, gone out west to work as a missionary. >> Every time somebody asked what happened
to Marcia, it's something different. >> They were all lies. >> If Marsha had left, investigators were
struck by what she had left behind. All of her clothes, her shoes, documents important to her, the baby book that her
mother had compiled for her, brushes, toothbrushes, all that still in the house. She left her car.
>> Importantly, she left her house, >> the one her parents had built for her. >> That doesn't make sense.
>> If Donnie Brantley did kill his wife, they say a look at the family finances may provide a motive.
>> Did she keep the money or you? >> I played the fed. He was financially supported by his wife.
>> They say Donniey's failing business franchise was draining Marsha's inheritance.
>> She would have cut him off from the money. >> What was the state of their marriage in
those last months prior to Marsha's disappearance? >> There was a little bit of tension
obviously with the money problems. And investigators soon unearthed phone records that revealed Donnie Brantley
had begun calling an ex-girlfriend within days after Marsha disappeared. >> You know Stephanie Richardson?
>> Yes. >> Okay. And who is Stephanie Richardson? >> I plead the fifth. >> Lee Davis is Donnie Brantley's attorney.
There was no affair with Donnie while Donnie was married to Marsha. There was an intimate relationship that started
after Marsha left. And there was other suspicious behavior. Authorities discovered that just hours after
investigator Hunt had interviewed him, Donnie went to a pawn shop and sold a number of Marsha's possessions,
including >> 14 karat gold cross, a Figuro necklace, a Figuro bracelet, a herring bone
necklace, and a Toshiba laptop. >> And there was something else Marca left behind that friends and family say she
valued more than all the material possessions in the world. Marca loved her dogs. They were her kids.
>> Would she have ever left that house without her dogs? >> No. >> No. >> Never.
>> In March of 2010, authorities ask Donnie Brantley to take a polygraph test. Surprisingly, he accepts.
>> How does he do? Fails it. Fails it. Flying colors. >> Then during that 2013 videotaped
deposition, >> I played the fifth. >> Donnie refused to answer. I played the fifth
>> or said he couldn't recall. >> I don't recall >> more than 100 times. >> I don't recall.
>> Are there other items of hers which you sold when she disappeared? >> I played.
That performance combined with circumstantial evidence helped convince police in August of 2013 to arrest
Donnie Brantley and charge him with the murder of his wife. >> Donnie Brantley is now an inmate at the
Bratley County Jail being held on a half million dollar bond for the first-degree
murder of his wife Marsha. But after seven months behind bars, Donnie is freed when then prosecutor Steve Beb
decides he doesn't have enough evidence yet and drops the charges. >> The family had told law enforcement they
didn't feel good about going forward with it at this time and they wanted to try to get more evidence.
>> We didn't think that it was time yet >> cuz you get one shot at this, >> right?
>> I was interested in from the very beginning. Months later, newly elected prosecutor Steve Crump focuses his legal
sights on Donnie Brantley, but it would take another two years to arrest and recharge him.
>> Four cars pulled up and told him to get on the ground. This was pretty traumatizing.
>> Finally, in February of 2018, nearly 9 years after Marcia Brantley disappeared,
her husband's murder trial is scheduled to begin. You're convinced you've got the right man.
>> No doubt. The things that he did, things he said, all point toward a guilty man.
>> For more of Donnie Brantley's video deposition, go to Facebook at 48 hours. >> How big a case is this among people
here? I think it's pretty big for the simple fact that this doesn't happen here every day. People don't just
disappear and not be seen for nine years. >> Zack Pike and David Shoemaker of the
Bradley County Sheriff's Office say as Cleveland, Tennessee natives, the Brantley case hits them close to home.
>> In some ways, is this personal for you? Absolutely. Um been many nights I haven't slept. I wonder where Marsha is.
We're actually not going to be able to answer any questions. >> There's no proof that Donnie Brantley
murdered his wife, Marsha. >> I've asked them point blank, "If Donnie is responsible, as you suggest, tell me
how he did it." >> Donnie Brantley's lawyers, Lee Davis and Janie Parks Farnell, say their client
should never have been charged with murder once, let alone twice. Law enforcement had tunnel vision and they
had tunnel vision that led directly to Donnie Brantley and the rest of it they just ignored.
>> Who murdered Marsha Brantley? Donnie Brantley. You say the same. >> I say the same. Where? At her house. At
their house. >> No proof of a crime scene. No proof of a body or an autopsy. >> Is there a witness in this case?
>> No, there's no trace evidence. There's no blood. No fingerprints, no DNA, no fiber analysis. What proof is there that
she's in fact dead? >> He'll argue at trial that this case is actually about a 9-year-old marriage
that because of financial problems may have reached a breaking point in June 2009.
>> And she she told Donnie that she needed some time to herself and time to think.
Which is why Davis says it's ridiculous to argue Donniey's failure to report Marsha missing is suspicious.
>> When your wife tells you that she's leaving the marriage, you don't call the police or 911.
>> She would never have left her family. She would never have left her home. She
would never left her friends and just disappeared and contacted no one. >> Remember, her phone never left the
house. He's using her phone after he's told law enforcement that she took it. >> Yes.
>> Davis says that certainly doesn't help Donnie, but it shouldn't hurt him either.
>> He lied about her cell phone, and that is something that has complicated the case. There is a huge world of
difference between somebody who lies about a cell phone and proof of a first-degree murder.
Nor should it hurt the defense that Marsha left many of her belongings behind, even if Donnie pawned some of
them. Davis says he needed cash, but left most of her things alone because he figured she'd one day come back to get
them, including her beloved dogs. Let's talk about the dog issue. If you believe
that Marsha was murdered, you would say she would never leave the dogs behind. If you look at it from the lens of
Marsha was troubled and depressed or not sure what she was going to do, the one thing she wouldn't do is take the dogs
with her. She'd make sure she left the dogs with somebody who would take care of them no matter what. And that's
Donnie. >> They got those dogs together. They were their dogs. They weren't just hers.
>> And there was one thing Marsha definitely didn't leave behind. Davis says >> she took with her a large amount of
money, which was her money. a watt of cash they kept hidden in the attic. And how much money are we talking about?
>> Probably talking between hundred and $110,000. >> Davis says all that money could have
been Marsha's gateway to a new life away from her husband and Cleveland, Tennessee. Donniey's lawyers also claim
that all those stories he told about where his wife may have gone were actually suggestions once he realized
she truly was missing. In the state of Tennessee, there are 283 missing person's cases open right now. Though a
civil court ruled that Marsha is deceased, her name can still be found on the National Missing Person's website.
>> There is one for Marshia Brantley right now that's open listing her as a missing
person. Not a murdered person, not a person who they suspect has been murdered by her husband. She's a smart
woman who um left for reasons of her own. >> She was always self- assured and was a
leader type personality. >> But a couple of months before Marsha disappeared, Reggie J says the writer
group was stunned by a bitter email exchange with her. >> She says, "Ladies, I just wanted to let
you all know that I'd be missing for some time without explaining." >> When you read that, what'd you think?
>> I was mad. I thought, "How dare you do that to us?" She writes, "No one in the
group is responsible for my MIA, missing an action status. I merely said I'd be missing."
>> At that point, I truly did think to myself immediately, "Did Marcia write that?"
>> Well, who do you think wrote it? >> Donnie, >> but neither side in the legal case
agrees with her. The defense says Marsha wrote the email because she was about to
leave town. She was separating herself from those relationships that was closest to her.
>> The prosecution says she only sent it because she planned to quit her writing
group. And the email itself proves she wasn't actually going anywhere. >> Later in that email, she says, "But you
all will see me around. Cleveland is a small town. We'll certainly run into one another."
>> Reggie and Nancy were bewildered and concerned. They remembered around the time of the emails, Marca, who had
suddenly lost a lot of weight, said something that now seemed ominous. >> And she just made the comment, "I've
been so depressed that I could hardly get off the couch." And I remember doing sort of a double take, looking like,
"Marca, are you okay?" >> I think that there was a whole lot going on with Marca that she didn't tell
anyone, even the people in her writing group. If Marcia Brantley had a secret, 48
Hours contacted one of the only people she might have told. Robin Terrero is a former pharmacist who worked with
doctors to treat patients. She specialized in hormone replacement therapy. >> She first came in 2004 in the June of
2004. >> Terrarero says Marca was going through menopause and was having a tough time
including night sweats and mood swings. It can be very very severe >> and in the worst cases what can it lead
to? >> Well, I mean there have been cases known where women did commit suicide um during this time.
>> Terrarero worked with Marsha's doctor who prescribed medications for her right
up to the time she disappeared. >> What concerned me more with Marsha was not what she shared, but what she didn't
share. that there was a lot more underneath there than she was willing to share with me.
>> Terrarero's chart notes show Marsha repeatedly reported feeling depressed, including this passage one month before
she disappeared. >> On May 1st, 2009, patient has been off of hormones since April the 12th.
Was having severe depression. >> So Marca said to you she was experiencing severe depression. Yes, it
was underlined severe. >> And what are the last notes that you have written >> on 518 she was having mood swings,
sleepless, she was just like this up and down. >> You have a woman describes herself as
being severely depressed. Those things were disclosed in 2010 to law enforcement and from all I can tell
they've never been investigated. There was no significant mental illness. I never thought that that was the real
answer. >> State investigators have closed a Cleveland pharmacy. In 2015, the Tennessee Board of Pharmacy revoked
Robin Terrarero's license for unprofessional conduct unrelated to Marsha's treatment. She was never
charged with a crime. >> Oh, the Places You'll Go by Dr. Seuss. >> What do you think happened to Marsha
Brantley? >> I wish I knew. I really have no idea. >> Did you ever just look him in the eye,
daughter to father, and say, "Dad, did you do this? Did you kill her?" >> I did not. I knew he didn't.
>> She's gone. She's dead. Well, he's disposed of her body very well. I know that.
>> Now, after nine long years, a jury will hear both sides of Marcia Brantley's mysterious disappearance.
This has got to be done exactly right. We don't have any room for error. [Music]
A Bradley County cold case from nearly a decade ago heads to trial next week. But just 2 days before Donnie Brantley's
murder trial is set to begin, >> I've heard you have an announcement to make, >> prosecutor Steve Crump, the man who four
years earlier promised Marshia Brantley's family justice, gives 48 hours some shocking news.
>> We just met with the family and we told them that we're probably going to be dismissing this case on Monday.
>> Whoa, whoa, whoa. You're going to dismiss this murder case? >> Yes. >> Why? This is an unusual case.
We're afraid that the judge will enter a judgment of a quiddle because we can't prove that Marshia Brantley was
murdered. You only get one shot. Crump fears the jury would never get a chance to decide
on guilt or innocence. That the judge would rule there just isn't enough evidence to go on and throw the case
out. to be charged with murder, dropped, charged with murder, and dropped again.
I'm sorry. I I just feel like there's some incompetence here. >> Sure. Well, and and I I can appreciate
that. And my view of what Donnie Brantley did to Marshia Brantley hasn't changed. I don't believe we have the
wrong guy. I don't believe we have the wrong set of facts. This is a legal decision, one that is
made as a matter of trial strategy. Trump stands by what he's done. >> Maybe I should have done it earlier.
Maybe I should have seen this sooner. Maybe you're right. Maybe it was incompetence.
I I'll never stop self-evaluating. But no matter what the outcome is, I better always do the right thing.
>> Hey, Kelly. >> Hello. >> I have some rather startling news to tell you. There will not be a trial.
>> Are you serious? >> That's terrible. That's terrible. [Music] February 5th, 2018, court convenes to
make it official. >> Hey, Zach. >> Morning. >> It's kind of a sad day for you. >> Absolutely.
>> That's him. That's Brantley. Donnie, can I just ask one thing? What's going through your mind after all you've gone
through? This is such a a day of victory for you. Uh this is State of Tennessee versus uh
Mr. Brantley. Uh General, uh would you like to approach and do you have a motion to make?
>> Yes, your honor. >> I made the decision on Saturday that we would not go forward with this case.
>> Nearly 10 years after Marsha's disappearance, it takes a judge just 10 minutes to dismiss the case against
Donnie Brantley. Yet again, >> at this time, Mr. Brantley is free to go. >> For Donnie, a second victory.
>> I'd like to thank the judge for dismissing the charges. I'd also like to thank my family for all their support
during this extremely stressful period. And I look forward to putting this difficult time behind me.
[Music] For Marsha's family, a second devastating blow in court. >> I felt like life had been squeezed out
of me. >> My family is crushed, but tomorrow's a new day. This isn't the end. >> Later that month, the judge orders
Donniey's record of criminal charges in Bradley County to be erased. And Steve Crump does something we found
remarkable. >> So this is from the case file. It is. And this is an extraordinary thing
because generally you don't get to see this pre-trial. That's right. >> With Detective Pike guarding the
evidence, Crump showed 48 hours what a jury never got to see. He hopes that by showing the evidence, a viewer may
remember something important and call in a tip. >> What are you holding in your hand? This
is a receipt for a torch kit uh for a welder. >> Receipts for items Donnie bought around
the time Marsha disappeared, including duct tape and plastic sheeting. >> The man runs a home repair business.
>> We believe that all of these receipts represent preparations for disposing of
Marcia Brantley. >> Disposing of her body. >> Yes, correct. What do we have here? A
greeting card. >> A greeting card. He says Donnie handd delivered to that ex-girlfriend he'd
been calling. >> This was delivered, we believe, the day after Marshia Brantley disappeared. And
what did Donnie write on the inside of this card? >> Hi girl, with two exclamation points,
things are better for me now. Call me if you can with his number. >> You know how a card got in Stephanie
Richardson's mailbox on the morning of June the 3, 2009? in your handwriting. >> I played the fifth.
>> It provides at least in part a motive. There's another woman. >> We wanted to meet that other woman.
>> We've decided to drive out to her neighborhood to try to speak to her. Now I'm going to go up to the door and knock
and see if Stephanie is home. Stephanie Richardson is now married. >> Hey Stephanie.
>> Hi. How are you? >> I'm Peter Vansent with CBS News 48 hours. It's really nice to meet you.
>> She disagrees with the prosecutor's interpretation of the card. >> I'm sorry. They're stretching things.
>> Stephanie says she did date Donnie, but not while Marsha was in his life. >> The prosecutor's claiming
that there was an affair. >> That's not true. >> I would love to ask you just a few
questions about that. Would you be >> No. >> You have to understand this is this my
life for 10 years. I don't want to deal with this anymore. Donnie Brantley has gone back home to
Georgia where he's spending time with a new love interest and his grandchildren,
too. >> Getting to see that grandfather side of him is just a whole other very special
side. What I want people to know is how loving, kind, thoughtful, and how hardworking he is.
Despite the prosecution's repeated failure to prove Donnie Brantley committed a murder or even that a murder
was committed, they pledged to work harder to one day bring the Brantley case back to court.
>> I've been very plain that we're not going to stop. And so, uh, whatever he feels relief or whatever he may feel, I
wouldn't get accustomed to it. >> We hope it helps. Back in Cleveland, former writing group member Nancy Grill
believes Marsha's story may have one last dramatic chapter. >> I'm probably the only person in the
world that doesn't really truly believe that Marsha is dead. >> What >> do you believe that one day Marsha
Brantley may reemerge? I think it's a possibility. >> But sadly, Marsha's family thinks NY's
hope is pure fiction. >> Oh, yeah. I think about her every day. Can we get her back?
Can we lay her to rest beside her mother and father? Our family has a hole there that can't
be replaced, and we will do everything we can to find her. [Music] And we won't give up.
[Music] >> CBS Next. A millionaire entrepreneur goes missing without a trace. >> Andrew is not the person to go take off
somewhere no one knows where she is. >> Until disturbing clues begin to surface.
I remember like a panic setting. >> When success becomes a curse. 48 hours prime time double feature continues next
on CBS. [Music] My mom was calling the cops almost on a regular basis. >> Nothing nothing was done and she was
terrified. >> He's calling her every vile name you can think of. >> Sitting outside of her house,
>> stalking her. >> She had found something in her jeep, a tracking device. She had found cameras
inside the house. >> He has no idea what I go through every single day with him. No idea. I remember
her saying, "I don't know what else to do. I don't know where else to turn. >> It's been getting worse, and it's been
getting worse. I don't want him anywhere near me." >> You're describing a life lived in fear.
>> Yeah. >> Every time she was out of my sight, I was so scared for her. >> I know this is going to be difficult for
you. Take me back to October 8th. When did you realize something wasn't right? >> She left the house that day at 20 after
7. An was working at the kennels. I texted an a quick note. I didn't get a response.
Then the sirens went off in town. >> Law 721. >> 21. >> I'm approaching the kennel now. I do see
one vehicle out front. one vehicle. >> And living in a small town, you're always kind of nosy and want to know
what's going on. >> How far out is my assistance? >> I got on my phone. >> I don't like this.
>> And I looked and it said Mississippi Ridge boarding kennels. Shots fired. [Music]
>> Hello. And I immediately was hysterical. >> Angie >> because Angela Pritchard was my sister.
>> Angie, what do we got? >> I don't know what we got here. They said possible shots fired.
>> We actually got behind an ambulance on the way up there. >> Law center 21. We are going to enter the
building. >> 21. Lost center 21. We got We got lady down. Lady down. >> And I got out of the car.
>> Scene clear. Scene clear. >> I went running >> down the hill. There was police officers there and I
remember walking up to him and I said, "Um, is she alive?" And they said, "No." I immediately fell to the ground and I
remember saying something like I knew something like this was going to happen. Um
I knew it was I knew it was >> law to make sure you get it now. Points out for a suspect.
>> You leave no rock unturned. >> You leave no building unchecked. >> Obviously we're going to throw every
resource that we have at our disposal to apprehending him. There was a knock on the door. I said,
"I'm not answering the door. He has a gun. [Music] [Music] On the morning of October 8th, 20122,
the serene Mississippi River town of Belleview, Iowa, population about 2500, woke up to a calamity.
News of an apparent homicide, the first in nearly a decade. >> Why don't you secure that out building?
Dozens of investigators from six different law enforcement agencies were combing the crime scene at the
Mississippi Ridge boarding kennels with body cameras rolling. The woman who ran the kennels, Angela Pritchard, 55, had
been gunned down. >> He knew how to get in the front door. >> Her sister, Wendy Buddy, believed she
knew who was responsible. Angela's husband, Chris Pritchard. In that moment, did you know it was Chris?
>> 100%. 100%. I knew it was him. >> Wendy says Angela had been trying to leave him for months and lived in fear
he would kill her. >> This appeared to be an asalant that knew her very well. >> Ryan Kedley and Dustin Hennington are
special agents with Iowa's DCI, the Department of Criminal Investigation. Belle's small police force with just
several officers. Invited the state police to lead the investigation. While Angela's family was
convinced Chris Pritchard was the killer, the special agents had to connect all the dots. We had received
word that there was a 911 call on the morning. Tell me about that 911 call. >> 911, where's your emergency?
>> It's essentially the that you're listening to the end of her life on the 911 call. Please get out of here.
Just I have customers coming in. Please 911. >> Please get out of here. >> Okay. Where are you at?
>> Those were the last words spoken by Angela and the first clue investigators had to identify her killer.
>> She says the name Chris on this call. Who is Chris? Chris Pritchard, her estranged husband.
>> Ma'am, where are you at? >> As the dispatcher continues to ask, "What's your emergency?" You can faintly
hear somebody say when you listen to this 911 call, how do you process what you were hearing?
>> On a personal level, it's a very difficult thing to listen to someone's end of life moments. On an investigative
level, that was a pivotal piece of evidence in the opening stages of the investigation.
>> You guys turn ahead. >> It was a very violent scene. >> Passing by the kennel door on the right,
and this is the area where we uh initially get a firstirhand glimpse of of Angela's deceased uh body here on the
floor. Pools of morning light illuminated pools of blood surrounding her body. Angela
was lying face down in the kennel's washroom where she bathed the dogs. >> By photograph as I
>> Ryan Keedley photographed the scene. >> She has a very large significant gunshot
wound to the chest >> at close range. >> At I would say very close range. >> There has to have been some very very
high emotions involved in that. You have Angela Pritchard, deceased here. You have Chris Pritchard, a person of
interest, nowhere to be found. How do you track him down? >> The special agents spotted a barely
visible blood trail >> leading out of this room and then into the dog kennel area through this door.
We believe our asalent traveled from that area through here, left some blood evidence, and then likely went out this
door uh directly in front of us. >> We're certainly trying to keep an open mind and determine that, okay, if Chris
didn't do this, well, then who did? >> Digging into Chris Pritchard's life, the special agents soon learned about his
volatile history with Angela, which included violence and violations of a restraining order. But at this point,
all of the information seems to be consistent with Chris being the guy that we need to locate.
>> As uh we continue to work the investigation, we began to establish our timeline.
>> Some of the first video that places him on this property comes from this home
over here. >> That's correct. >> Investigators reviewed the footage starting at midnight the day of the
shooting. For hours, there was nothing to see. But just after 4:00 a.m., there was
something to hear. >> You can hear dogs start to bark. We had determined that was most likely the
point at when he arrived uh at the kennels. >> Pennington believes Chris Pritchard
entered the kennels and lay in wait for nearly 4 hours. >> The first video that they really got was
Angela coming down to work in the morning. And right up here, you're going to see Angela start to pull down to the
uh entrance at the Mississippi Bridge boarding kennels. Pulling up to the kennel at 7:34. Um you
can see her get out of her vehicle and she's gathering her belongings and then walking into the kennel itself.
>> Angela Pritchard had less than 6 minutes to live. >> At 7:39 and 43 seconds, we hear a
gunshot go off in the video. At any point, do you clearly see Chris on any of these surveillance cameras?
>> Yes, we believe we see him leaving. >> About 2 minutes after the gunshot at 7:41, the man they now suspected to be
her killer, Chris Pritchard, appeared >> and actually walking from the kennel area down to the fence area here behind
me. That makes us believe that this is the first area that we need to check. >> Outside the kennels, miles of thick
woods stretched to the horizon, an area the northeastern Iowa locals call the wilderness. It was rugged terrain. Chris
Pritchard knew well, says Wendy. >> He knows the outdoors. I knew that he could probably survive out there for
quite a while in hiding. We have every resource at our disposal to try and do this manhunt.
We have canines. We have airplanes. We have drones. >> This is your worst nightmare.
>> Yeah. Yeah. >> Everything you've been trying to prevent come true. >> Everything I've been trying so hard to
protect her and to keep her safe. And he got her. He got to her. [Music] You've got a fugitive out there on the
run, potentially armed. >> The manhunt for Chris Pritchard was widening. >> There's hundreds of acres here of
farmland and woods, and we have the Mississippi River not far away. So knowing that he could have went any
direction really makes the search difficult. >> Fanning out from the kennels, heavily
armed officers search nearby neighborhoods, house to house. >> You guys know Chris Pritchard, don't
you? >> Barn to barn. >> Is that the guy they're looking for? >> Right there. Chris Pritchard.
>> Is he been known to come out here every once in a while? >> Yeah. I haven't seen him though today.
[Music] Angela was a mother and a grandmother. >> She was >> What kind of mother and grandmother was
she? >> I don't know that you would find somebody better than her. You hear a lot of people say people put
their kids in front of themselves. That was truly her. Angela Pritchard's world revolved around family, especially her
two sons and six grandchildren. >> They were the loves of her life, her kids and her grandkids. Look
>> at how we are. >> And with almost equal billing, Angela's five huskys. >> She always was an animal lover.
>> Angela's sons, Josh Close and CJ Hancock. >> She was beautiful inside and out. She
liked to make everybody happy, especially her family. >> She loved you so much. Yeah.
>> She loved to spoil the grandkids rotten. They could do no wrong in her eyes. >> She loved doing arts and crafts. She
still decorated our tree with the ones we made when we were kids. >> And making memories with their mom later
in life was Chris Pritchard, the very man investigators were now chasing. Wendy Buddy and her husband Jim had
known Pritchard for years. >> I would have trusted him with our children. He was nice, friendly,
sincere, a hard worker, fun to be around. >> Pritchard, a longtime Bellev resident,
was an established electrician in town. Soon, Angela found her calling >> to be a kennel owner, to do something
with animals. I was thrilled for her. It really seemed like everything was falling into place.
>> After dating for nearly 2 years, they moved into this Belleview home and even
got married here in March 2019. The newlyweds were over the moon for about 8 months. When did things change?
>> I truly think that things started to change when um he lost his job. He got fired. fired and charged with
firstdegree theft, a felony, after he allegedly stole $36,000 worth of supplies from the electric company where
he worked. >> She was just beside herself. What are we going to do now? We need that income.
>> Awaiting trial, Pritchard was out on bail and out of work, says Wendy. >> He wasn't looking for work. He was
definitely um drinking more. As the months went on, it just was like, "Wow, he's really kind of changing."
>> Pritchard finally took some odd jobs and helped Angela at the kennels. But in the
summer of 2021, Wendy says Angela discovered her husband was using methamphetamine.
>> And then I knew that things are are really getting bad. The simmering tension reached a boiling
point on April 18th, 2022. >> She said, "Chris hit me." >> She said, "He's drunk. He's on drugs."
So, I told her, "We're going to call the cops." >> Belleview police responded, the call
recorded on police body cam. >> He hit me and then I just I came in the house. >> She was crying. She was visibly shaking.
She had a mark on her face and she said, "I'm so scared." >> Police didn't have to go far to find
Pritchard. He was in the garage. >> State of Iowa law requires that somebody go to jail on physical domestic.
>> I can't believe I'm going to jail. >> Well, she's got a mark on her face. >> Chris Pritchard was arrested and charged
with domestic assault. >> He's very, very, very messed up. We've seen him change right in front of
our eyes, haven't we? >> Chris spent the night in jail and was released awaiting trial, staying with
family. Angela sought and received a temporary no contact order. >> So, he can't come back here?
>> Nope. >> The no contact order now exists, protecting your sister. But a few weeks
later, it's lifted. >> Even after it happened, she said, "I I don't want this. I want our marriage to
work." Each had been married before, but had hoped this would be their last marriage, says Wendy. Angela withdrew
the no contact order. >> I believe he said everything that needed to be said for her to drop that order.
The drinking will stop. He will be home more. >> Promises he failed to keep, says Wendy.
>> She said, "I'm scared of him, especially if he's been drinking." Wendy says Angelo was furious when she
found a tracking device in her car and two hidden cameras in the house. I told her, "You need to get a divorce. You
need to be done with this." An ang >> Chris Pritchard seemed to have vanished in the vast wilderness. Even the police
dogs had lost his scent, says Dustin Henning. >> How do you find somebody that doesn't
want to be caught? This is where our local resources really help us. >> Right from the start, Hennington had
coraled state and local law enforcement agencies, even farmers and hunters, to help determine where he might be.
>> I'll let you know if I see anything or hear anything. >> If we thought that Chris was going to
make his way, say, back to Belleview, what's the most likely path? Where are his friends at?
>> It's a small town. Everybody talks. Cattle farmer Jeff Junk and girlfriend Kim Klene were once close friends with
Chris Pritchard. Neighbors called them about the rumor racing through town. Pritchard had shot his wife Angela.
>> Get out of here. I I didn't believe it. >> A Jackson County Chief Deputy stopped by
Junk's house to warn them. Pritchard was on the run and might be looking for help
from his friends. Then there was a knock on the door. [Music] The knock on the front door, the one
they'll always remember, came around 8:15 that October night. Kim Klein says she and boyfriend Jeff Junk were not
expecting company. >> When the second knock happened, I says, "I believe it's Chris and you need to
answer the door." >> So, you open the door and what is it that you see on the other side?
>> I see Chris. >> Chris Pritchard, their old friend, now a hunted fugitive suspected of murder, was
standing in the dim light holding a shotgun. Jeff goes, "You need to hand that gun to me." And he did. No problem.
>> Jeff and Kim knew they had to call the police, but until they could do that safely, Kim says they were playing
along. >> Chris told them he'd been running all day from the cops and their dogs.
>> Jeff said, "Hey, dude. You, you know, you shot your wife." "Oh, yeah. How's she doing?"
>> The couple told him Angela was dead. Did he express any remorse? >> No. >> Nothing.
>> Nothing. He was sitting here laughing and drinking and they were talking about
old times. >> The moment felt so surreal. Kim says she snapped a photo >> just to show that no, he wasn't having
any remorse. He never talked about her the rest of the night. And then I took the one when he was passed out. And the
time was finally right, says Jeff, to text the chief deputy who had stopped by earlier.
>> I said, "He's up here and he has passed out. Come, come get him." >> When police arrived around midnight,
Chris was still in the lazy boy chair, out cold. >> He didn't know what was coming. What the
is wrong with you guys? >> He says, "Christ, I was sleeping." >> He's verbally belligerent to officers
that have arrested him. Looks like he's got a cut to his left thumb. >> Special agent Hennington collected the
evidence Chris Pritchard had left behind. A 20 gauge shotgun and his torn clothes.
>> He took Angela's possessions, money, a cell phone with him. >> I think we're good to go in.
>> Special Agent Kedley escorted Pritchard to the Jackson County Jail. >> Do you want your seatelt, Chris?
>> I want a bull in my head. Shortly after 1:00 a.m. on October 9th, a despondent Chris Pritchard was booked
into the county jail, eventually charged with firstdegree murder and robbery. >> After hours on the run through Iowa's
wilderness, >> I'm going to have you look right at me. Okay. Pritchard found himself surrounded by
concrete and steel, largely put there by the weight of a single word. Please get out of here.
>> Wendy says the day Pritchard ended her sister's life followed months of increasingly erratic behavior and
escalating rage, which Angela had documented. Tell me about this journal and her words that lived on.
>> She was the sticky note queen. >> Dozens of Angela's brightly colored sticky notes told a dark story. The
scribbled entries became Angela's diary of domestic abuse. >> August 23rd text message calling me
names saying it's going to get real ugly. He's been stalking me and watching me. Very scared of him. I think Chris is
capable of anything. Booze and drugs every day. >> Said he doesn't give a if he goes to
jail. Always looking over my shoulder to see if he's around. >> Her words to me are, "I'm done. This is
it. We're not living in the same house." >> Wendy invited her sister to move in with
her. Angela gratefully agreed. >> I was like, "You have a shadow now because I'm not leaving.
You're stuck with me. >> The next day, Angela requested a second temporary no contact order granted
September 1st, 2022. A no contact order means just that, no contact of any kind with the protected
person. In the state of Iowa, a single violation requires a mandatory arrest. >> But that doesn't stop Chris. No. Once
that second no contact order got put in place, I would say that's when things went really downhill.
>> And it was in place when Angela went back to the home she once shared with Chris Pritchard to pick up a few things,
says Wendy. >> I was with her. >> You were with her along with police. >> The Belleview police were there just in
case Pritchard showed up. The court had ordered him to move out temporarily. >> We walked in the front door. The house
was destroyed. There was ink and paint thrown everywhere. >> Picture frames broken.
>> Furniture was destroyed. He had actually taken the mattress off her bed and rubbed it in dog feces.
>> Guns and he placed them all over the house to intimidate her. >> I mean, we both just started crying.
[Music] This is in clear violation of the restraining order. What did the police
do? >> The police said there's nothing we can do. This is his house. >> Nothing we can do is what they say to
you. >> This is his house as well. >> Under Iowa law with a no contact order in place. Belleview police should have
taken Pritchard's guns, but for reasons unknown, he was allowed to keep them. Wendy and Angela's sons say throughout
September the frightening violations continued. Not physical assault, but psychological terror.
>> Sitting outside of her house, following her, texting her, stalking her, going
and cutting the grass at the kennels while she wasn't there. >> Belleview police arrested Pritchard just
once on September 15th for sending Angela a text message. another violation of the no contact order. He spent one
night behind bars before posting bail. The next day, says Wendy, he resumed his flurry of offenses.
>> He had been driving by her house multiple times. >> One night, says Wendy, Pritchard drove
by six times in 1 hour. >> I don't feel safe anymore anywhere. my sisters, my house, my son's stores in
town. >> You have a ticking time bomb on your hands. >> Yeah, that pretty much. And that's what
it felt like. >> But instead of making arrests, the Belleview police were making excuses.
St. Angela Sons for not enforcing the law. >> They said that they'd tell him to knock
it off or have a talk with him. Nothing nothing was done. And she was terrified.
>> You're reaching out to police. They're not doing anything. Are you running out
of hope here? >> Yes. What do you do when nobody's willing to help you? >> I fear for my safety. Fear for my life.
He has guns. The fear. It consumed our life. It was 5:00 a.m. at the Jackson County
Jail. 21 hours after Angela was found dead, Chris Pritchard waved his Miranda rights and talked about the encounter at
the dog kennels with special agents Dustin Hennington and Ryan Keedley. >> She said, "You got to leave. You got to
leave now or I'm going to call the police." Well, I said, "I just want to talk." And she shoved me and I hit the
cabinet. The gun, I don't know what the gun hit, but it went off. >> So, in so many words, he says, "I shot
Angela. It was an accident." >> Essentially, yes. >> Are you believing any of this?
>> No. I'm only believing the fact that he shot Angela. >> Pritchard pleaded not guilty to
first-degree murder and robbery charges. His trial began February 7th, 2024. >> We believed that Mr. Pritchard planned
this all out and very meticulously for that matter. >> To prove premeditated murder,
prosecutors Nicole Leonard and John Keys told jurors Pritchard put his plan in motion on October 7th, 2022,
the day before he shot his wife. The same day, Angela's temporary restraining order became permanent.
>> We believe that that was sort of the snapping point for the defendant, he became more and more obsessed with the
situation and not letting her go. >> She wanted to drag me through the mud and make me a monster.
Before taking Angela's life, Chris Pritchard took steps to cover his tracks, say the prosecutors. He borrowed
this white pickup truck to avoid using his own vehicle. >> So, what we think was he was setting up
an alibi. >> Prosecutors say Pritchard secretly parked the borrowed truck inside a barn
belonging to Lorie and Mike Blazer just a few miles from the Mississippi Ridge boarding kennels.
>> We walk in, you know, notice this white pickup truck >> with a note from Chris Pritchard saying
he had gone hunting. Keys are on the truck if you need to move it. I'll be back. Chris,
>> we knew Chris. He would tell us how much he loved Angela, how devastated he was
that there was a restraining order. >> The Blazers would soon become crucial witnesses for the prosecution. Shortly
after finding the truck and note, they heard the news about a shooting at the dog kennels.
>> We knew the minute that there was a shooting at the kennel, something had happened with Chris. We were concerned
that this was a getaway vehicle for him in here because it was just so odd. It had no reason to be here. I called 911
immediately. >> Um, I see you guys are looking for Chris Pritchard. >> Yes. >> His truck is in our garage.
>> Let's just get this cleared first. >> It was very intense because at that point he was still missing
and we were scared to death. >> Clear in here, Jim. Prosecutors later viewed home surveillance footage from a
camera on the Blazers's property showing Chris Pritchard entering the barn where
the Blazers kept their horse trailer. >> The minute we came in the door, I knew that Chris Pritchard had spent some time
in here. He certainly made himself at home here. >> Pritchard left the horse trailer in the
middle of the night, hiking through the dense woods to the kennels, says prosecutor Leonard. We believe his next
appearance is around 4:00 a.m. on October 8th at the dog kennels in which the dogs start to go crazy.
>> And you believe from that point forward, he's inside the kennel. >> Correct. >> I think he always had the plan to murder
her. >> To prove it, the prosecutors played audio clips from Pritchard's police interviews for the jury. You show up at
a place where you know she's going to be. You've got a gun with her. You know, you've got a a no contact order.
An argument breaks out. She calls 911. She winds up dead. This wasn't just some accident.
>> If this was an accident, why are you taking her cell phone, which is her only
means of survival? Why aren't you calling for help yourself? Why aren't you rendering any type of aid for your
wife? And Pritchard kept adding details to the story of the accidental shooting,
say the special agents. >> The gun was leaning up against the cupboards. He went to retrieve a
backpack and it fell and then that went off and shot her. >> But at trial, an Iowa State medical
examiner testified the gunshot had a downward trajectory, meaning Pritchard had the weapon in his hands and was
standing when he fired, say prosecutors. >> It looked like it could hit her in the
arm. How would you die from that? >> Angela was shot dead center in the chest, testified the medical examiner,
and died in seconds. >> I would love to have stuck around, but in her temper, I thought maybe it didn't
even really hit her that bad cuz she was yelling at me like she wasn't even hurt.
the fact that he's saying that after the gun went off and it struck her that she's yelling profanities back at him.
Well, we have a 911 recording of that conversation that did not take place. Prosecutors say Chris Pritchard's last
words on the 911 call prove his actions were premeditated. A final explosion of violence.
when you hear his statement standing over her dying body on that 911 call using profanity.
>> You definitely don't say what you said at the end of the the phone call after
you accidentally shoot someone. Pritchard's defense attorneys, who declined our request for an interview,
maintained the shooting was accidental, and the case against Pritchard was a rush to judgment.
After 4 days of testimony, the case went to the jury. >> We were outside the courthouse just kind
of stretching and you know, the jury's back. This man was also waiting for the verdict and already preparing for
another trial, a federal lawsuit against the Belleview Police Department. It failed Angela, he says time and time
again. >> If police took action, would Angela be alive today? Absolutely. In February 2024,
16 months after Angela's death, her family's wait for a measure of justice was over.
>> That's got to be a good sign that they're back in less than an hour. [Music] >> The jury found Chris Pritchard guilty of
first-degree murder and robbery. When they said it, it was just a big sigh of relief.
>> In March, Pritchard was sentenced to life in prison without parole. >> It will never bring her back, but he's
going to spend the rest of his life behind bars. I also gave a victim impact statement
and I said to him, "I hope while you're behind bars, you always have to look over your shoulder and be scared for
everything you do." How she felt, I hope you just feel a tiny bit of that, the way you tortured her.
>> Civil rights attorney Dave O'Brien represents Angela Pritchard's family. She would be alive today, he says, if
the Belleview Police Department had enforced a judge's order of protection. >> You filed a federal lawsuit against the
city of Belleview and three officers. Why? >> Uh because they didn't do their job. And
it's uh it's that simple. >> That lawsuit lists multiple failures to arrest Chris Pritchard. O'Brien says
this led to what's called a state created danger, meaning the officer's alleged inaction and indifference
actually increased the threat to Angela Pritchard. Can a police officer decide should I arrest him or not? Is it up to
their discretion? >> Absolutely not. Here in Iowa, only a judge can show discretion not to enforce
this restraining order. Starting September 1st, 2022, when Angela's second no contact order was
issued until her murder 37 days later, Chris Pritchard violated the restraining order repeatedly, says O'Brien.
>> A dozen times during this relevant time period, Angela Pritchard called the Belleview Police Department and they
failed to follow that law, that judge's order. That's because O'Brien says the Belleview police officers showed
Pritchard favoritism. >> We have reason to believe that he was friendly with law enforcement officers.
>> To prove this case, you must prove that the police officer's failure to enforce
the protection order was intentional and reckless. How can you do that? >> Well, just by the sheer number of times
that it was not enforced. In October 2024, Chief Federal Judge CJ Williams dismissed the lawsuit in its
entirety. The Belleview Police Department, he ruled, did not put Angela in a more dangerous situation, and the
three officers simply did not commit outrageous conduct. The judge added there was no evidence of police
favoritism. The alleged facts, even taken as true, are a far cry from establishing that any of the defendants
were friends with Christopher. Dave O'Brien was granted a hearing in December 2024 after learning he says the
three Belleview officers had withheld evidence and made false statements, allegedly concealing their friendships
with Chris Pritchard. Accusations they denied. O'Brien argued the officers were well
aware Chris Pritchard was a serious threat to his wife. 9 days before her murder, the Jackson
County Attorney warned the Belleview Police Department in an email. Chris Pritchard had 24 hours to turn
himself in. If he does not report, I will be requesting a warrant. I wanted all of you to be aware as I'm afraid he
might try to do something tonight. The next day, when Pritchard failed to appear at the county jail, the arrest
warrant was issued. 7 days before her murder, O'Brien says this body cam footage of a Belleview
police officer speaking with Wendy and Angela. >> Cuz right now, I can guarantee he's not
thinking straight. >> No, not at all. >> Confirms police knew >> Angela was in danger.
>> That's my biggest fear. That's my department's biggest fear is he's going to try to hurt you and then hurt
himself. >> During the final week of Angela's life, >> my job is to protect you.
>> Exactly. >> At all costs. >> O'Brien says Belleview police could have protected her by finding and arresting
Chris Pritchard, but they never did. >> Is it hard to find Chris? >> Shouldn't be. Everybody knew his Jeep
had a customized tag that said zero dark 30 on it. So, you can't miss it. >> We have not been provided with any
record showing there was any effort made to enforce the arrest warrant once it was issued on the 30th of September.
>> Had that arrest warrant been executed, would Angela be here today? >> Absolutely. He should have been in jail.
At the December hearing, defense attorneys insisted the new information presented by O'Brien was improper,
should be stricken, and not considered by the court. >> Our ideal outcome would be just complete
reversal of the judge's decision. >> In January 2025, Judge Williams refused to reverse his dismissal. Belleview
Police Chief Dennis Schroeder issued this statement to a local newspaper which read in part, "We are pleased with
the decision. We continue to strengthen our services and response efforts to prevent domestic violence and provide
support to those in need." [Music] I've heard people say that no contact orders aren't worth the paper they're
written on. And in this case that was true. But I firmly believe that they are worth
something but they have to be enforced. I still to this day have a lot of I guess it's guilt because I think in my
mind what if I would have went with her that day? Maybe I could have saved her. But part of me was so proud of her for
like being as strong as she was in that time. She she named her killer being so and she
helped him bring him to justice. >> Chris Pritchard's life sentence also helped bring her family some comfort and
the courage to move forward. They believe Angela would want them to make this public plea.
>> Maybe other police departments that maybe are a little lenient on stuff won't be so lenient
next time. [Music] [Music] Don't miss true crime anytime you want, anywhere you go with the 48 hours
podcast. Real crimes, real lives. >> Like a John Gisham novel come to life. >> Real justice.
>> There's some questions that have to be asked and need to be answered. Listen to
48 hours on Apple Podcasts.

“48 Hours" reports on family matters that turned deadly. Watch the YouTube mini-marathon, which includes "The Farris Wheel," "Missing Marsha" and "Could Angela Prichard Have Been Saved?"

00:00 The Farris Wheel 41:50 Missing Marsha 1:24;32 Could Angela Prichard Have Been Saved?

Crime. Social justice. Impact. "48 Hours" investigates the most intriguing crime and justice cases that touch on all areas of the human experience including greed and passion. "48 Hours," which premiered in 1988, has developed a rich history of original reporting and impact journalism that has helped exonerate wrongly convicted people, caused cold cases to be reopened and solved, and along the way changed lives.

For video licensing inquiries, contact: licensing@veritone.com

Brief Summary

The episode details the murder of Gary Ferris, focusing on family conflict, Melody Ferris's arrest, and the trial's shocking revelations.

Key points

Murder Investigation Begins. The discovery of Gary Ferris's remains turned a possible accident into a murder investigation.
Melody's Alarming Confession. Melody told her lover Rusty that Gary was in the burn pile, raising suspicions.
Trial and Motive. Prosecutors claimed Melody wanted Gary dead for money and a new life with her lover.
Melody's Dramatic Statement. In a shocking turn, Melody accuses her son Scott of murder during sentencing.
Marsha's Disappearance. Marsha Brantley seemingly vanished in June 2009, leaving friends and family concerned.
The Hairdresser's Concern. Kelly, Marsha's hairdresser, noticed her absence and took action to find her.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

It's a real life soap opera.

Describing the dramatic events surrounding the Ferris family.

14:52WatchJul 19, 2025

Tension

85/ 100High tension

More from 48 Hours

Solve the Crime

Read a real case one clue at a time, then see how your call held up against the investigators.