When the carbonized remains of a prominent commercial real estate lawyer Gary Farris They were discovered in a burn pile with a bullet housed in a rib, the detectives knew they faced a homicide investigation. The crime scene was on an extensive property of 10 acres in Cherokee County, Georgia, where Gary Farris lived with his wife Melody and his son Scott.
It was July 2018 when the detectives found the blood of Gary Farris and a second bullet in the basement of the house and questioned how his body could have arisen in the burns battery, about 50 meters away. Shortly after their arrival at the scene, the researchers were entangled in a family drama with mother and son pointing to each other.
“This is the worst nightmare of a mother … Farris’s wheel has been called, and it was, it was our Farris wheel,” Melody Farris tells the correspondent of “48 hours” Peter van Sant in an exclusive interview.
Van Sant and “48 hours” investigate the murder of Gary Farris in “The Farris Wheel” that is broadcast on Saturday, April 26 at 10/9C in CBS and the transmission in Paramount+.
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The researchers learned that Scott Farris was responsible for the daily operations on the farm and that his father and personal expenses were covered by his father. According to Melody Farris, around the time of the death of Gary Farris, there was tension between Heen and Scott Farris, mainly about Scott that needed to get another job. Scott Farris, however, says that is not true and that the tension in the home was caused by the Farris melody disappearing during the week at the same time and spending the money of Gary Farris.
Gary Farris was the only winner of the PAN and allowed Melody and Scott Farris to access accounts in his name. Scott Farris said his mother was out for prolonged periods because he was having an adventure with his lover who lived in Tennessee.
In June 2019, after an investigation of almost 12 months, Melody Farris was arrested for the murder of Gary Farris.
When his judgment begged in October 2024, his defense team said he was innocent and pointed to Scott Farris. They said that at size, approximately 6 feet 8 inches, 280 pounds, was more capable of moving the body of 6 feet 4 inches and 300 pounds than their mother much narrower.
But the police and prosecutors believed that Melody Farris was the murderer. Prosecutors argued, among other things, that Melody Farris was the only house at the time they believe Gary Farris was killed. And at the trial they called a witness of the intelligence division of the Sheriff’s office of Cherokee County that analyzed the telephone records and discovered that Gary Farris’s cell phone moved from the house to the burns and returning to the house after the mockery. Melody Farris was the only house at that time too.
On November 4, 2024, Melody Farris was convicted of killing her husband. She had not spoken publicly until her feeling a month later when she surprised the courtroom, saying: “Not only did I not do this, I know who did it. I know Scott killed his father.”
Immediately after Melody Farris was sentenced to life imprisonment, with the possibility of probation after 30 years, he entered an exclusive interview with Sant, where he continued to profess his innocence.
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Melody Farris told Sant that he saw Scott Farris near the burns battery morning before Gary Farris’s body was discovered. She said she thinks Scott Farris used her truck to wear Gary Farris’s body to the burns battery. And he gets used to saying that Scott Farris planted the bullet found in the basement to frame it. Melody Farris says she thinks Scott Farris killed her father because she wanted the farm to be her and would refer to her as her property in the conversation.
Melody Farris told Van Sant: “… It’s the perfect murder. You kill your dad. You put your mother. She goes to prison. You get everything.”
Scott Farris also sat down and said: “It had nothing to do with my father’s death. And it was 100% Farris melody who murdered my father. That is the truth.”
Scott Farris says that Melody Farris is the only one who wanted Gary Farris to die, and that he never drove his truck near the burns battery. As for the bullet that was planted, Scott Farris said: “I didn’t even know that a bullet was found in the basement until it was arrested.”
Scott Farris says it was an easy target because he lived on property with his parents and was former military. The researchers were able to rule out it as a suspect and was not accused of any relationship with the death of their father.
When asked if he was willing to sacrifice one of his children’s lives to save himself, Melody Farris said: “Absolutely not.” But Scott Farris says Melody Farris needs to stop with lies and simply be clean: “She knows what she did.”