The Last Ride Home | Full Episode | Forensic Files

[Music] I loved you before this ceremony and I love you more because of it. You may
kiss your bride. They were inseparable. Tex absolutely adored Diane and Diane adored Tex.
I feel like the prosecution has tried to make this out to be about someone who is
successful and powerful trying to get away with something like murder. They don't know text and Diane personally
like I do. A woman died after she was shot inside a car on this block. Previously on Breakdown. Welcome back.
Before we plunge back into the story of Tex MacGyver, I want to tell and I'm a reporter with the Atlanta Journal
Constitution and we've been covering the Tex MacGyver case since day one. This was a enormously high-profile case. They
were big time power couple. We're going to have plenty of beverages over here. So, just everybody start walking,
please. Tex owned a ranch out in Putnham County, which is a pretty nice place for a
vacation home. [Music] They woke up that morning, Tex made sausage biscuits and coffee and took
them upstairs to Diane and Danny Joe, her longtime friend. They spend the afternoon playing golf, and they drive
back to Atlanta. They're on their way back to their condo in Buckhead. They stop on
the way at Longhorn to get something to eat. They have some wine at dinner. Danny Joe was driving because she didn't
drink. My name is Bruce Harvey and I represent Tex McCyver. Texas seated right behind his
wife in the back passenger seat. They're going to hit traffic that just stops them
still. So, they're thinking, "We got to get off of the interstate. We got to find a better way to get to
Buckhead." According to texts, he had been asleep, but when they go down this ramp, he wakes up.
and says, "I think this is a bad idea, ladies. It's a dangerous area. Will you hand me my gun,
honey?" And she does. Text told police that the people quote rose the hair on the back of your neck," unquote.
I'd say they drove another 5 to 10 minutes and they are coming close to Pedmont Park. He fell back asleep. I
think he fell into what he said was sort of a between being fully asleep and being fully awake. According to text,
the car comes to a stop. He was jolted awake. I was handling the gun. Did not realize
it was in my lap ready and it went off. [Music] Can a 38 special just accidentally go
off? Never known it to happen. You have to pull the trigger. Jiminy. Ooh. The gun would be right here in his lap
according to what he said. So he was startled. He pulls the trigger and the bullet goes just to the left of the
middle here. If you're trying to kill someone, you know that's going to be devastating to whoever is sitting there.
Especially if you're trying to make it look like an accident. Yes, I would think so. Yes.
I think there are people who absolutely believe that he killed his wife for whatever reason, probably for money.
People get killed over money all the time. That's the dumbest plan on the history of the planet. And anybody that
thinks that that is the way that Tex Mccyver deliberately killed his wife is just living in a fantasy world.
[Music] [Music] 48 hours. The last ride [Music] [Music] home. They drove back to Atlanta on a
Sunday night. They were headed to Tex and Diane's luxury condominium in Buckhead. On the night of September
25th, 2016, Tex Macyver shot and killed his wife Diane. They'd been together for
16 years, married for 11 years. I remember the first time I ever met Diane. She just had such a commanding
presence about her. According to close friend Anne Schwall, Diane was the love of Texas life. She was beautiful and
there was such an energy and electricity about her. The year was 2000. 47year-old
Diane was recently divorced with no children and a thriving career as the executive vice president of a real
estate and advertising company. In search of a fresh start, she moved into this luxurious condominium in Atlanta's
swankying neighborhood, Buckhead. Everyone in the building was talking about her. Linda and Rance Winkler say
their new neighbor was hard to miss. She wore St. John and Chanel on the golf course. She wore hats just about every
day and she had a presence and a way of carrying herself. But says Linda, no one
paid more attention to Diane than another popular divorce in the building, wealthy labor lawyer Tex McCyver. Before
he met Diane, did he have a a love life that you knew of or a dating life? No. He was so consumed with his work. He'd
been through a very um painful, difficult divorce. It wasn't until Diane came along that he was interested in
having a romantic life. Tex was a decade older than Diane, but they soon became inseparable, spending
much of their free time at Texas weekend home, fondly known as the ranch, where the couple was known for
throwing parties for Atlanta's rich and powerful, says friend and Putnham County
Sheriff Howard Sills. They were big entertainers. They were always having somebody there for some kind of party or
some kind of political thing like that. We have had the best yet party. Diane was always the life of the party.
She was always the boss of the party, too. Tex was uh usually very reserved, consumate gentleman. If a lady walked in
a room, he was up like a jack in the box. After 5 years together, Diane agreed to become Mrs. Tex Macyver. He
cared about her, which was probably the very first time she had that experience in a lot of years. He didn't need that.
That somebody cared about her for her. Just for her. Just for her, not for her money. He had as much as she. In fact,
in terms of liquid assets, he was further along than she. So, having both suffered through painful and expensive
divorces, the couple decided to keep their finances separate. I don't know anyone actually who's combined their
assets having married at the age that that they married. And you have to remember that Tex had this terrible,
painful, expensive divorce and he was never going to put himself in a situation like that. Was there an issue
of money between them? Not in the conventional sense, but when they started building this place, you can see
this place. You see what it's like. Show place. Yes. Linda is talking about this
guest house on Texas property. Before the wedding, they say Diane insisted on building the massive party house that
she named the saloon. Tex really didn't want all this. Diane wanted it. The scale of it and he told her that if she
wanted it, she would pay for it and she said fine. But money and who paid for what in that relationship would come
back to haunt texts becoming a possible motive for murder. Is there any scenario
where you can think that Tex would have shot Diane intentionally? Never. Never once. Anne Schwall says she
admired Diane and Tex so much that she asked them to be godparents to her youngest son, Austin. They just adored
him and they just poured so much love into him. Tex was all the family Diane had. And after his divorce, he was
estranged from two of his children. Too old for children of their own, Anne says
they focused all their attention on Austin. I just wanted so much to show him all the great things that he could
do and how he could grow up and be such a responsible young man. Teaching them how to ride horses and how to fish and
how to be a good steward of the land and of animals. And how did um Austin feel about them? Oh, he adored them. The
ranch was their special place. And every year it's where Tex and Diane insisted on hosting extravagant birthday parties
for Austin. Happy birthday, Austin. Happy birthday. I hope you have a great birthday. The birthday parties were
legendary. A sign of how much they loved him. tell me when you heard about what happened. So he called me. It was in the
middle of the night and as soon as I heard his voice and he said we lost Diane and my immediate reaction
was how am I going to tell Austin? Anne says Austin never once blamed texts for Diane's death. He actually was just
really worried about, you know, how Tex was doing. He's never said I didn't shoot her. He's never said I didn't kill
my wife. He is profoundly regretful. He talked to me a couple of weeks ago and he said I I it's like I smell her and I
break down. I cry. It was all a tragic accident according to Texas defenders. But here's the biggest problem. No one,
including texts, can explain how his gun went off and killed his wife. We just asked him that day before yesterday. He
still cannot give an answer to exactly what happened. Who do you remember after the gun?
Peter got shot. 2 days after Diane's death, text and his then lawyer met with Atlanta Police
Department homicide detectives. I immediately called out. I said, "Is everybody all right?" And Danny Joe
said, "Yes." And Diane head was kind of slanted and she said, "Uh, I've been shot." As detectives set out to
investigate the shooting of Diane McCyver, they focused on their best witness. You ever taken any like safety
glasses or anything like that? No. Nothing. I don't worry about it very long. and they focused on their best
piece of [Music] evidence. Here we are in a almost new SUV with two women in the front seat.
And I said, "Yeah, I'd like if you don't mind, please hand me my gun." There is no doubt that Tex McCyver
pulled the trigger on the gun that killed his wife Diane. The question is why? Was he asleep as he said he was and
he was jolted awake and pulled the trigger or did he want to kill his wife? Previously on Breakdown, reporter Bill
Rankin's Breakdown podcast takes a deep dive into the Shakespearean drama surrounding Tex McCyver. He's a 48 hours
consultant on the case. Holding a loaded handgun, pointing it at your wife, falling asleep seems pretty reckless.
Using a similar car, Ranken showed us how the bullet that killed Diane McCyver traveled through the passenger seat of
Texas SUV. It hits there and it goes from right to left through the seat and exits out here, right? and goes down
slightly downward path through his wife's body. The bullet went through Diane's left rib
cage and diaphragm, severed a vein and artery in her spleen, and then hit several organs, including her left
kidney and stomach. And she started breathing funny and and she, you know, kind of passed out. That night,
detectives were anxious to hear Danny Joe Carter, the car's driver, explain what Tex did after he shot his wife. All
I could think of was PE hospital, and I thought, I don't know how to I don't know how to get there. And he says, no,
Emry is closer. Tex decided to go to Emery University Hospital. There were four hospitals, all
approximately less than 5 miles from where the shooting is believed to have taken place. Emory was the farthest at
about 4.3 miles, but one of the best trauma centers in all of Georgia. Grady was only about 3.2 mi away. Anybody who
lives in Atlanta knows about Grady Hospital and it's a level one trauma center. There were people who have said
that he went to Emery Hospital because it was going to take her longer and maybe let her bleed out.
Family friend Sheriff Howard Sills, who is not involved in the case, says, "No way." And explains that Grady just was
not on Texas radar. If you're rich and you're affluent, then you don't want to go to Grady Hospital because Grady
Hospital is where indigent people go. The people in that car that night, they would have thought Emmery.
This dramatic surveillance footage shows the SUV arriving at Emory's emergency room and texts helping Diane into a
wheelchair. Then before surgery, Diane made a critical statement to her doctors. Her husband did not mean to
shoot her. She said it was an accident. But 2 hours later, Diane Macyver died on
the operating table at 12:49 a.m. You want to have the worst feeling in your life is to be sitting in one of
the waiting rooms, two surgeons and scrubs in a chaplain come around the corner and start walking toward him.
Now, it was up to detectives to determine, was it truly an accident or was it coldblooded murder?
This Smith and Wesson 38 caliber revolver that killed Diane was in the car's center console inside a plastic
bag when it was handed to text by Diane. We've had some breakins in our office. In response to that, I had wrapped my
gun in the Publix grocery. The gun was still in the bag when it went off. The gun was still in the bag. Yeah. I mean,
he might have had his finger on the trigger. The first rule of firing a gun is don't put your finger on the trigger
until you're ready to pull and you have your target in sight. Law enforcement analyst and former police officer
Vincent Hill says a guy like Tex should have known better. So to wake up out of this sleep, you're
startled. Your finger's automatically on the trigger. You pull this trigger and you do one shot, a kill shot. In my
mind, it's not likely. Lean into it. the weapon. And Hill is not alone in his opinion. That's why I asked former
Georgia Bureau of Investigation agent Bert Davis to take me out to a gun range not far from Texas
Ranch. I wanted to understand the gun. See how well you're doing? You know, the revolver can be fired two ways. The
handgun, which only shoots one bullet at a time, can be fired in two very different ways. Single action or double
action. Either way, it does not look good for texts. Because experts say this gun only goes off if the trigger is
pulled. In single action, the shooter pulls back the hammer like this. With the gun already cocked in
this position, it hardly takes any effort at all to pull the trigger. It only takes about two pounds
of pressure to actually pull the trigger, which is why experienced gun owners say you only this gun if you
know you are about to use it. No one that I know of would just sit with your gun with a gun in single action. A
double action is a different story. This gun is not loaded, but I want to show you what happens in double action. You
pull the trigger, and the gun automatically pulls the hammer back, rotates the cylinder, and fires. But
it's not easy because it takes about 12 lbs of pressure to actually pull the trigger, making it much harder to fire
it accidentally. It would be difficult, but not impossible. But not impossible. But somehow that gun was fired. And to
this day, text cannot answer this question. Was the gun in single action or double action? Good question. Do you
have an answer? Do I have an answer? Why do I have to answer these? Why does Tex
McCyver have to answer anything? Texas lawyer Bruce Harvey is one of Atlanta's most successful and sought-after defense
attorneys. What is your challenge with this gun? Clearly, a trigger was pulled, right? The question is, was that a
voluntary knowing and intentional action or an involuntary action based upon an accident?
But Tex was clearly no stranger to guns. Out at the ranch, he had what many would
consider an arsenal of weapons. After Diane's death, Tex asked his buddy, Sheriff Sills, to go out to his ranch
and collect his guns for safekeeping. So, you cleared out how many guns? As I recall, it was about 35 guns, including
rifles, handguns, and AR-15s. Would you describe him as a as a gun guy? Yes and no. Here in the
South. Everybody's got a lot of guns. We're getting ready to put on a rodeo demonstration with real cows. But the
idea that Tex MacGyver should have known better was about to become a central and
recurring theme for the 75year-old lawyer. It gets really crazy. I think we've called it a textbook example of
what not to do after you kill your wife. [Music] Bruce Harvey is one of the most
distinctive members of the Atlanta Defense Bar. He has worn a braided ponytail down his back for decades.
Bruce Harvey was not Tex McCyver's first attorney. How did you first hear about it? It was all over the media. It all
started September 25th. Startling new information in the shooting death of Diane Macgyver. Harvey, who knew text
through mutual friends, says he watched the news coverage for almost a year, while Nick Iver made a mess of the case
and his reputation. A complete ongoing disaster, mismanaged from day one, I think, resulting in the reason that
we're sitting here to start with. It started right after the shooting. Atlanta's media immediately began
clamoring for an answer to why on earth Tex had been sitting right behind his wife in his SUV with his finger on the
trigger of a loaded gun. 4 days after the shooting, Tex had an explanation in a statement made
through a spokesman. He said that text told him that he asked for the gun because there were either homeless
people, carjackers, or black lives matter protesters. What do we want? That gave Tex an air of being rich,
white, and oblivious, igniting a real life bonfire of the vanities. Why would you equate Black Lives Matter protesters
with carjackers? Why would you inject race into this? That put the story into a whole another realm. and it went
national because of that. You have this very rich, very powerful white guy in a city that's predominantly
black. I think that's why this case is so appealing to the public. Texas attorney at the time publicly
denied that his client ever said he was afraid of black protesters, but the damage was done and things were about to
get even worse. CBS 46 has an exclusive look tonight at the diamonds, the furs, and the designer bags about to go on
auction. This was pretty stunning. Just two months after shooting his wife, Tex started selling off Dian's extensive
collection of valuable belongings, her most expensive jewelry, fur coats, and handbags would go to the highest biders
at an auction. I understand it was advertised as her stuff, right, to bring in more
buyers. And it wasn't just one auction. It looked like a Nordstrom department store, if not better.
The district attorney's office filed motions to block the sales, but a judge denied their requests. And as the
executive of Dian's estate, Tex said he had no choice. Why? According to text, he said that in her will, Diane had left
a lot of money to some of her employees and some of her friends. So, he needed that money to pay them. Now, all that
money went into the estate and not to him. But timing in this case was everything. Tax has come
under fire for holding the two sales while still at the center of the homicide. Should it have gone forward at
that time? Could it have waited? The answer clearly is yes. And it's something we just have to deal with. At
least Tech still had Danny Joe Carter. And that's it. Danny Joe was his best witness, the only other person in the
car when the gun went off. The night of the shooting, Danny Joe told detectives in no uncertain terms she believed
Diane's death was an accident. There is not a doubt in my mind that it was completely a horrible accident. But on
February 2nd, 2017, a little over 4 months after the shooting, Danny Joe changed her story.
He's not been nice to me and tried to manipulate me. In a third interview with investigators conducted inside of Texas
SUV, Danny Joe alleged that on the night of the shooting, Tex told her to lie. He tried to get me to lie supposedly to
protect me from getting all wrapped up in this. Danny Joe said to walked up to her and said, "Why don't you just tell
police you weren't in the car? There's no question she was in the car. There's no question she was driving.
There's videotape at Emory Hospital. Bruce Harvey concedes that it is possible text was just trying to protect
his friend. Danny Joe at that particular time was beingounded by the media. And I
think a lot of this effort was to try to allow her to avoid the media crunch. not
designed for her not to talk to the police or not to give a particular statement, but there was no media yet at
the hospital. There there was going to be. Are you saying that text may have told her to tell the cops she wasn't in
the car so that people would stopounding her? Yes. So Tex may have told her that
if he did, but there is no denying this. Days after the shooting, Tex orchestrated a meeting with his lawyers
and two reporters where Danny Joe was to make a legal and public statement that the shooting was an accident. When she
was a no-show and stopped taking his calls, text left this frantic voicemail for her husband. Let me just be plain.
Danny is about to send me to prison. Please erase this this voicemail message, but call me right away. Y'all
have no idea the problem this is causing. It's innocent, but it's absolutely nuclear for me. It doesn't
sound good when he says, "Please erase this voicemail message, but call me right away." So, what does he mean? When
we examine what Well, we don't have to explain what he he means. They have to explain why it is a crime for him to do
that or how it relates. Bruce Harvey was still watching from the sidelines when on December 20th, 2016, Tex got some
good news. The Atlanta Police Department concluded the shooting was not an intentional act. Based on their
findings, the Fulton County District Attorney charged Tex with involuntary manslaughter and reckless conduct. After
spending his birthday behind bars, Tex McGyver bonds out of jail just before Christmas weekend.
But with the case now in the hands of the district attorney's office, they decided to launch their own
investigation into the shooting. There was a bond hearing where the lead prosecutor, Clint Rucker, strongly
hinted that they didn't believe it was accidental. That made everyone think, "Wo, okay, this is getting even more
serious now." [Music] A little over a week after Tex Macyver was charged with involuntary
manslaughter, there was more breaking news in this case. Startling new information in the shooting death of
Diane Macgyver. Our Atlanta affiliate CBS46 uncovered evidence that at the time of Dian's death, tax owed his wife
$350,000. He was supposed to pay her back with interest by December of 2014. That never
happened. Tech said that the money was Dian's contribution to the construction of that saloon on his ranch and that for
tax purposes, Diane wanted it to look like a loan. There was $350,000, but it wasn't ever actually
going to be paid back by him. The $350,000 was a function of nothing more than taxes.
But on paper, it does look like a loan and one that Tex was expected to pay back. That could be argued that he
didn't want to have to pay that off. Meanwhile, the Fulton County DA's office was looking for a possible motive for
murder. When they heard that Diane may have had a second will, subpoenas were obtained to search the couple's
financial records. And that's when this happened. During a search of their condo, Tex was found to be violating the
terms of his bond with, of all things, possession of a gun. They found a gun in his sock drawer that he probably went to
all the time when he was getting dressed, and they found ammunition in the drawer right above it. Tex insisted
that the condo had already been searched for and cleared of any weapons. So, the
Glock pistol, which he claimed had once belonged to Diane, must have been planted. The judge didn't buy it. Mr.
MacGyver possessed the gun. I am going to revoke Mr. MacGyver's bond. After 4 months out on bond, tax was back
behind bars when the very next day there was yet another stunning announcement by
the DA's office. A grand jury that had been hearing testimony for weeks concluded there was
enough evidence to charge Tex Macyver with the murder of his wife. It was surprising that it leapt so far
from an accident to cold, cruel, intentional killing. Tex would spend the next 8 months in
jail, seeing loved ones only through video screen visitations. Here he is. Hello, Austin. Mommy, how are y'all? And
desperately trying to get out on bond again. Well, I love y'all and I hope to see everybody on Wednesday if things
work out. I love you, Austin. Then Bruce Harvey took over the case. I don't believe I don't believe in my
heart of hearts. I don't believe as we're sitting here that Tex Mccyver had any deliberate intent to do any harm to
his wife. We're going home. Harvey got text released and put on house arrest. Then he set about preparing for trial on
a case where there had been one public blunder after another. Are you concerned about being able to seat an impartial
jury? Yes, I am. I think Texas has been unfairly vilified in the court of public opinion.
Jury selection in the trial of Tex MacGyver began on March 5th and took a whole week. Well, today jury selection
got underway in a Fulton County courtroom and a pool of more than 140 potential jurors. Good morning,
everyone. Good morning. When the trial began, Chief Senior Assistant District Attorney Celita Griffin delivered the
state's opening argument. The day that the defendant shot his wife in the back, his life was spinning out of control.
And what became fairly clear is that the prosecution believes Tex McCyver's motive for murder was money. The easiest
way for him to gain control was to kill Diane. Is money a motive here? No. Very simple answer. He is much worse off
without her. I think that is a huge red herring. You know why? because they've got nothing else. Now, this is a case
about maintaining an image of wealth and power that the defendant created for himself and the links that he went
through to keep it. What if Tex didn't mean to do it? Or what if Tex did mean to do it, but the
prosecution fails to prove it? All rise for the jury. Testimony in the murder trial of Tex Macyver began on March 13th
and lasted 20 [Music] days. By closing arguments, the jury had heard two very different theories of why
Tex McCyver shot his wife. I'm going to talk to you about the facts. Prosecutor Clint Rucker and his team
painted an ugly picture of a man who they say was broke and so desperate for money that he murdered his wife. He was
taking her money and he was regaining control. Evidence showed that Macyver's salary at his law firm had been cut by
more than half while the state says he was living way beyond his means. And remember, the Macyver kept their
finances separate. Remember this email? This a couple of months before the murder. This is what the defendant says
to his wife. I am seriously trying to reduce my monthly expenses. Why? Cuz his monthly expenses
at the ranch alone were 20 to $25,000 a month. What does he say? I plan on hitting the
lotto sometime this week. Diane joked that Tex might want to think about becoming their new ranch hand. Read his
job description. because that is your next life chapter. This what he said in response. Oh well, back to
Jigalo. The state believes that Tex was using Diane for her money. But what drove him to murder is this. Before they
were married, Tex borrowed $750,000 from Diane. As payment, the state says he deeded her half of his
ranch. What that meant was that now the property was no longer owned solely by the defendant. In 2011, Diane loaned Tex
another $350,000, but this time she made Tex sign a promisary note that gave her the
right to foreclose on the ranch if Tex didn't pay up. So, when the loan didn't get paid, she said, I'm going to put
another clause in here that says, you know what, it's not that I don't have to uh
wait until you don't pay me. I can foreclose at any time. And as we sit here today, the loan is in default. By
killing Diane, the defendant will regain sole ownership of the ranch. The jury heard Danny Joe's claim that Tex asked
her to lie. They also heard about the Black Lives Matter statement and the auction. But there was more. They heard
what happened to Diane's ashes after she was cremated. Took him 42 days pick up his wife's
remains. That's what I found. Tucked back in a closet in a cardboard box. It's just not
right. But the defense team told a very different story. A love story. They were
him. Nobody ever saw them arguing. Nobody ever heard her say, "I'm going to foreclose if you don't pay me my money."
This is the big one. Bruce Harvey and the defense team tried to show that Tex did not need Dian's money. Texas was not
broke, nor was he in dire financial straits. The state's calculation put Texas net worth at 1.7 million before
Diane died. But what the defense tried hardest to hammer home was that the shooting was
nothing but an accident. And remember, that's what Diane said before she died. The three people that were in the
vehicle all said it was an accident. And as for the gun, you remember the expert with the
firearm? Harvey used the state's own gun expert to show that anyone can fire the
gun accidentally. It was remember him demonstrating um the weapon in pulling the trigger
when he testified right here. You notice the trigger? [Music] Oops. He's demonstrating it for you on the
witness stand. He accidentally pulls the trigger. He says, "Oops." The shooting could not have been
premeditated, says the defense, because it was Diane who told Danny Joe to take that exit when they hit traffic. And
after Tex was handed his gun, he fell back asleep. The defense also presented an expert who
said Tex suffered from a long documented sleep disorder, which might explain why
he unintentionally pulled the trigger and can't remember how. Often times when people arouse from these, they don't
arouse quickly. They frequently have amnesia for this. As the case was about to go to the jury,
the defense suggested that the state had not proven its case. beyond a reasonable
doubt. We do not convict people in fogs of speculation, but on the bedrock of fact. Dan tried to
stand up for herself. And on behalf of the state, Clint Rucker pleaded with the jury to punish Diane Macyver's killer.
Who will stand for Diane Maggava? a great woman she tried to be. Will you stand for Diana MacGyver as she
cries out, "Who will stand for [Music] me?" The jury deliberated for about 29 hours. At one point, each sat in the
back passenger seat of Macyver's SUV holding the gun that killed Diane. Some of the jurors were actually clicking the
trigger. So, I think it could have made a huge difference in the outcome of this
trial. On their fourth full day of deliberations, the jury sent a note to the judge saying they were deadlocked.
We don't see a gap to overcome our differences, but the judge told them to try again. Then just two hours later,
they reached a verdict. Was it malice murder? Meaning Tex intended to kill Diane. Felony murder. Tex shot Diane
with the intention of causing her bodily harm, but had not intended to kill her.
Felony involuntary manslaughter. He acted recklessly or not guilty. On count one, murder, we find the defendant not
guilty. Well, when the jury came back and the foreman read not guilty on malice murder, I was like, "Oh my
goodness." But then they said this. We find the defendant guilty of felony murder.
Guilty of felony murder. Tex was clearly stunned. The jury felt that he shot Diane without malice of forethought, but
intending to do bodily harm. It might have been a compromise for the jury. It's no compromise for a Tex MacGyver
because uh malice murder and felony murder both carry a life sentence. A mandatory life sentence. It's a a
complete tragedy. I mean, that closes the circle. Everybody loses. Tax handed over his belt and was
handcuffed. Fulton County DA Paul Howard brought it back to the victim, Diane. We
would like to say to Diane, we hope that you are watching and we hope that you felt that we stood for you and we stood
for the things that you represented. Given these shackles, if you don't mind, I would like to serve. At his sentencing
hearing, Tech spoke directly to Diane. I know she's here. I feel her presence. I speak to you.
Donald Jagger brought me more joy and fulfillment that few men on this earth have ever known. But it's what he didn't
say that stood out. I didn't ever hear you say you're sorry for what you did to me. That silence speaks volumes.
Prosecutors say this is justice for Diane. Text Macyver supporters disagree. She didn't need justice when it's a
terrible accident. She's in heaven right now. I'm just heartbroken. [Music]

A wealthy labor lawyer shoots his high profile wife from the backseat of a car -- was it an accident or just plain murder? "48 Hours" correspondent Maureen Maher reports. Watch more full episodes of "48 Hours" on Pluto TV.

CASE UPDATE: Tex McIver won his appeal for a new trial in 2022, the Georgia Supreme Court ruling that jurors should have been able to consider the lesser charge of misdemeanor involuntary manslaughter. On Jan. 26, 2024, he pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter in exchange for a prison sentence of eight years. With credit for time served, McIver was released in January 2025.

Our earlier story is below.

True crime. Real justice. "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.

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Brief Summary

The episode details the Tex McGyver case, focusing on the shooting of his wife Diane and the ensuing trial.

Key points

A Love Story Turned Tragic. Tex and Diane's love story takes a dark turn when tragedy strikes.
The Night of the Shooting. On September 25, 2016, Tex shot and killed his wife Diane, leading to a high-profile case.
The Question of Intent. Was it an accident or murder? The investigation into Diane's death raises critical questions.
The Auction Controversy. Just months after Diane's death, Tex begins auctioning her belongings, raising eyebrows.
Witness Testimony Changes. Danny Joe, the only other person in the car, changes her story about the shooting.
Tex McGyver Charged with Murder. Tex Macyver is charged with the murder of his wife, Diane, after a grand jury investigation.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

A woman died after she was shot inside a car on this block.

The gravity of the situation is highlighted.

0:36WatchMay 6, 2025

Tension

75/ 100High tension

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