Cheating wife threw husband into a fire pit then blamed her son

Scheming Melody Farris knew that she was in line for $2 million, so she turned her husband into ash

- WORDS: GAIL SHORTLAND

hey’d been married for 38 years, but Gary Wayne and Melody Farris were not living as man and wife, and the strain was starting to show. Gary had filed for divorce after discovering his wife had been having an affair, but he changed his mind and decided to try and make their marriage work.

It was 2018, and Gary, 58, was a prominent and respected lawyer. He lived with his wife on a 10-acre working farm in Alpharetta, Georgia. They had three children — two had left home, while son Scott lived in an apartment above a barn.

In 2009, Melody had an affair. Gary found out and filed for divorce in February 2010 but by August that year, he had dismissed the petition as they’d decided to give their marriage another try.

Melody had been removed from the joint accounts after her infidelity, but she still had financial control and influenced all the family decisions.

She lived separately from her husband on the farm and continued to be unfaithful with at least two other men — one of whom she told she wanted to marry. The relationship between Gary and Melody never truly recovered. Then tragedy struck.

On 5 July 2018, Scott called 911 saying he suspected his dad had fallen into a burn pit at the property. First responders raced to the scene in the belief that Gary might still be alive, but when they arrived they discovered a body burned beyond recognition. It was impossible to tell if it was Gary and it took weeks to identify his remains through dental records.

At first, investigators thought Gary had suffered a medical incident and had accidentally fallen into the flames. But then medical examiners found a .38 calibre bullet lodged in one of his ribs.