This is a news item that dates back to July 2018. Scott Faris went to his family farm in Alpharetta, Georgia, when he discovered something was wrong. A fire was consuming the property so he immediately moved closer to try to figure out what was happening.
“I get closer, I look and I start to see bones”he said. But what happened? He quickly called the possible who established, after several analyses, that they were human bones.
His remains belonged to Gary Farris, Scott's father, who was a prominent lawyer. But what happened to him? Upon hearing this tragic news, Scott Farris said he remembered seeing his mother in tears, adding however that “it seemed fake”. He was not mistaken since Gary Farris was in fact the victim of a homicide. In fact, he was shot in the ribs before his body was deliberately burned. Was the goal to remove any trace that could go back to the attacker?
An increasingly disturbing murder
Suspicion fell on Melody Farris, Gary's wife and Scott's mother. His trial began this Monday, November 4 in the town of Cherokee, Arkansas. She initially pleaded not guilty, giving no specific reason for this action. For their part, the couple's children, however, indicated that there were many tensions shortly before the murder. According to them, money was the main problem. Melody Farris allegedly had several extramarital affairs during their thirty years of marriage and their relationship was “extremely strained”.
Was money the motive for this murder? Indeed, according to information from the court, the mother was the sole beneficiary of a $2 million life insurance policy taken out by the victim. Thus, following the death of her husband, she would have benefited from this sum. An investigation was quickly opened and the police managed to demonstrate that the murder took place inside the family home. Blood belonging to Gary Farris was found in the kitchen, stairs and basement of the building. The lawyer was killed with a .38 caliber ammunition and only his son Scott has one.
A culprit who initially denied the facts
Was Scott Farris the cause of his father's death? The defense immediately asserted that he had reason to want to kill Gary Farris. “He thought you were a profiteer,” said one of the lawyers. For his part, the principal concerned declared the opposite: “I love my father, he was my pillar and no, I was not a profiteer”. Another defense argument: Gary Farris' body weight. According to them, it would have been more likely that the latter would have moved the 136 kilo body to the place where it was burned, rather than his mother weighing only around sixty.
In the end, a completely different verdict was rendered. Indeed, Melody Farris was found solely guilty of all the charges against her. Although his son was initially considered the main suspect, his innocence was ultimately proven. Prosecutors cited the “premeditated malice” of Melody Farris, adding that her sentence will be decided next December.
