Chris, how is it that you know the defendant in this case? She's my mother. And I want to go into a little bit about the background of your family.
Okay. When did you move to Georgia? 2005. Excuse me, 1995, sorry. Okay. Is it fair to say you're a little nervous?
I'm a little nervous. I mean, this is my first time on this trial. Sure.
And move the microphone in front of you. They'll just talk over it. You don't have to talk into it. Okay. Great.
So is that 1995 you said? Yes, 1995. And where did you move from? Hoover, Alabama, suburb of Birmingham.
Suburb of Birmingham? Correct. How old were you? 15. And did you have, do you have siblings? Yes.
Okay. And how old were your siblings when you moved? My brother would have been 12, my brother Scott, my sister Emily.
I should probably know this, but I would say five or six, and then Amanda would have been, she's the youngest, would have been around, I guess, four or five. Why did you move here from Alabama in 1995? My father came to open the Atlanta office for Byrne Foreman, his law firm.
How long had he been with Byrne Foreman when you moved here in 1995? So about five or six years, I would imagine. So that was, yeah, about that.
Were you around when Gary went to law school? I was. How old were you?
Well, I started kindergarten when he started law school. So, um, five or six. Yeah, correct. So you got to see him work through law school?
I did. And how was that? Um.
It was great. I mean, from what I remember, I mean, he used to take me to the law school and we'd play laser tag. And when he would work security, he had a job working security.
So I had a lot of, you know, for a little kid, a big law school to run around in. It was, you know, it was fun. So in law school, did he also work for Burn Foreman? I think he clerked with them in the summer, from what I remember. Okay, and then in 1995, he came here to open the Atlanta office for Burn Foreman.
Correct. Did Gary like his job? Absolutely, yes. And when you moved here, what city did you move to?
Alpharetta, Georgia. What school did you end up going to at high school? Milton High School. And after high school, what did you do? Went to the University of Georgia.
University of Alabama. For how long? I left there in 2002 so it would have been three and a half four years.
Did you eventually come back to Georgia? I did. Okay what did you do after that? I had like a job at a local restaurant and then I First wife, right around then.
When you were working at the restaurant, did you live at the home in Alpharetta or did you live somewhere else? When I was working at the restaurant, I lived at home. At home.
And so you said then you met your first wife. What was her name? Kendalee.
Okay. And how long were you with Kendalee? Well, we eventually got married and had two children and we separated in 2007. What are your children's names? Ella Grace and Addison Marie. When were they born?
Ella was born September of 2004, Addison August of 2006. Once they were born, did you guys ever leave Georgia? Oh yeah, about... A couple weeks after Ella, the oldest, was born, we moved to Maine.
How long were you in Maine for? So that would have been about three years. I want to go back to your parents and their background a little bit.
We talked about Gary's job. What did your mom do when Gary was in law school? Homemaker, took care of us, took care of the house. Kept her busy, there were four of you? Correct, yes.
And did her, when you were in Alabama, did you guys have family around? Oh, yeah. Who was around?
My both sets of grandparents, my aunt, both aunts, my uncle. They were in Tuscumbia, Muscle Shoals area. And is that where you were before coming to Alpharetta in 1995, Muscle Shoals area? No. was in Hoover.
Muscle Shoals is the northwest corner of Alabama. So we were, you know, from Tuscaloosa, which is where he attended the University of Alabama Law School, then went to work for Burr and Ford. which was in Hoover, or was in Birmingham.
We lived in Hoover and then we moved to Alpharetta in 1995. And all of your family stayed in Alabama, essentially, the family you just mentioned. Yes, correct. Did you learn when you were in Alabama a lot about how your parents grew up? Absolutely, yes.
And who did you learn that information from? I would say both of them. My father would talk all the time about his growing up and things he would do. And, you know, my mother would talk about it as well.
What would your mother share with you about her upbringing? Mentioning how they lived in, you know, Nashville for a time and working in at the hardware store in Muscle Shoals and that's what really comes to mind at first. So you mentioned a hardware store. Uh-huh.
Tell the jury a little bit about that. So my grandfather owned an Ace Hardware store in Muscle Shoals, Alabama and I really enjoyed going there as a child. I mean it was great you know you could run around and play and you know build things with the little tools and the wood and the little woodworking things and I always I always enjoyed getting up with my grandfather and going to Burger King or McDonald's for breakfast. I got a big kick out of that.
It was a great time. I really enjoyed. My grandfather was a huge Alabama football fan.
You know, he loved to talk about football. And so I always would enjoy people coming in to talk to him about the football team. And I think that's kind of where my, you know, love for football in Alabama kind of came from, as well as my father. And when you mention this grandfather, are you talking about Melody's dad? Yes.
And the one who owns the Ace Hardware store? That is correct. Okay. Was he a hunter as well? Carl?
No, not that I ever knew. Did he own guns? Yes.
About how many guns did he own? I have, I don't know how many. I mean, I know he would take us to shoot, you know, 22 rifles at this outside of town. And it was like a rock quarry. So I know of those.
And then I knew of... I remember when we would go do that, he would shoot some pistols, but I would not know how many guns he owned. Sure.
Did Melody grow up shooting guns? I don't know that. And do you know what happened to Carl? Yeah, I know. Yes, I do.
Okay, can you share with the jury? He had a heart attack and was in ICU for a pretty long time. I assume ICU for, I think, a week or two, at least, before he eventually passed away. What year was that? It would be 2007, or excuse me, 2007, 1997. I apologize.
These 2000s and the 90s get me. 1997, he actually suffered a heart attack on my 17th birthday. Okay. You were already here in Georgia.
We were, that is correct. Okay. I want to move along a little bit and jump ahead to your parents'marriage.
Okay. At what point did you learn that your parents had a little bit of a rough marriage? Not until... Until the late 2000s, 2008, 2009, after I had moved back from Atlanta, or moved back from Maine back to Atlanta.
Okay, so you and Kendalee had moved to Maine and you had already moved back. Yeah, I moved back, yes, correct. What caused you to learn about the trouble in their marriage?
My father told me. Okay, when was that? I would say late 2008 to early 2009 is when I first got wind of that from him. Why did he share that with you?
I don't really know why he did. Why he initially started sharing things like that with me, but I mean once he did, he continued to share things like that with me. You said that was in the late 2000s?
Correct. Did he continue to share those troubles with you up until he died? Oh, yes, 100%. At any point, did you learn about your mother's relationship with Ted Wiley?
Yes. When did you learn about that? Well.
The dates, I'm not quite sure. I want to say, suspicion-wise, probably somewhere around late 2008, 2009. And then when... There was an incident financially when it was really brought to the forefront.
You mentioned suspicion. Yeah. What caused suspicion to you? Well, I think it...
What my dad told me is he was kind of suspicious. My brother, I believe, was the one who kind of initially had those suspicions. But my suspicion, I always thought Ted Wiley was just a little bit too...
I don't know, like, I guess maybe flirtatious with my mother. Who is Ted Wiley? Ted Wiley was actually in a relationship with my Aunt Sherry for years.
Did you know him personally? Oh, yeah. I mean, he'd been around for a long time.
I remember I was a child. I mean, not that old, and maybe. Seven or eight years old, and that's when he, I don't remember the dates, but I was young.
So you knew of Ted Wiley long before any, as you say, suspicions of Ted and your mother? Oh, absolutely, yes. How well did you know him?
Would you hang out with him, have conversations with him? Oh, yeah. He was very friendly.
I remember, you know, Christmases, we would always go to Christmas at my grandparents, Mama and Papa. which is my father's parents. Every year, Ted would be there, and he'd bring a football, and we'd, you know, throw the football around, and he was always very kind, and he was a funny guy.
You know, he was part of the family. Did you see Ted and Melody around each other in the late 2000s? Yes.
Did you see them interact with one another? Yes. And did anything stand out to you at that time? Yes.
Tell the jury about that. I had ridden up to Florence, Alabama with my mother. I was actually picking up a vehicle that was my grandmother's and we stayed at Ted's house and.
He was sitting next to my mother. I was laying on the couch. I can't remember if I was still watching TV or if I was maybe kind of in and out of drifting off to sleep.
I remember Ted and my mother sitting next to me. next to each other and I just kind of thought it was just weird and uneasy. But this was early, this was actually November of 2008. So now that I think about that, yeah it was November 2008. So I think that would probably be when my suspicions really began to arise. And how did you know, how were your suspicions confirmed? I was living in Buckhead.
With my ex-wife Jenna and my father told me, he's like, I need you to come up to Alpharetta tonight and have dinner with me. I said, okay. He said, meet me at Longhorn, or excuse me, Outback Steakhouse, the corner of Jones Bridge, Stage Bridge, and Alpharetta. And he sat me down and he said, Chris, I don't think we're going to be able to have Christmas this year.
And he began to explain that, why we wouldn't. he told me that my mother had withdrawn i believe 50 000 from a home equity line of credit um without his knowing about it or just and he's he told me i don't know if we're gonna be able to have christmas this year because of this who was at that dinner um I think it was, I know I was there, and I think one of my sisters, I think Amanda was there too, but I can't be sure about that. What year was that?
That's a good question. It would have either been Christmas, right before Christmas of 2009. If I had to guess, that would be it. But it's been so long, I don't know the exact year.
And what happened after that, between your father and mother? Well, I know he filed for divorce. How do you know about that?
Well, I got wind of it because I had stopped at the house in Alpharetta to use the restroom because I had a job where I drove around a lot. And I would stop in to use the restroom. or say hello, it's my parents'house.
I come to the door, and the door's open, and my sister's black lab is running around in the front yard, and there's a lady at the front trying to, what I come to find out very soon after that is serving her divorce papers. I called my father, and I said, what's going on? And he said, well, I'm serving your mother with divorce papers, and that's how I found out.
And when was that? What year was that? I would say either 2010 or 2011. If I had to say, I would say probably 2010. And where was your mom at the time? She had locked herself in an upstairs bedroom and refused to come out to avoid getting served. At any point did your mom leave your dad?
Can you clarify what leave means? Leave the house for a significant period of time? Yes.
Can you tell the jury about that? She would leave and be up in Florence, Alabama for months at a time. Weeks, sometimes weeks, sometimes months.
How did you know where she was going? My father would tell me. Was that around the same time as the Ted Wiley? Yes.
Affair, okay. Is that what prompted your dad to file divorce papers? Yes.
Did they end up getting divorced? No. Do you know what happened? She came home? No.
He called me one day and said, she's coming home. I want you to forgive your mother and accept her back. Did you do that?
I told him I would. But I, you know, I mean, I would say I gave it my best try. I want to go back a little bit to when you mentioned you moved to Maine.
Sure. And you have two daughters. And did you have both at the time you moved to Maine? No, that was two weeks after Ella was born.
Ella's my oldest daughter. Okay. And why'd you move to Maine? Well, because we didn't have any money, and my wife, the mother of my children's parents, had a house in Maine on Lake Sebago, this beautiful house, and they said... Hey, come live up here.
And I had visited Maine a couple times, and I was all for it. How did your parents react to that move? They weren't happy about it.
My mother was not happy. Happy and my father, he understood, but if I had to say, I don't think he was happy about it. Prior to moving, well, you ended up having Addison in Maine?
Yes. And did your mom come up and help out with that? Oh yeah, absolutely. She was very supportive.
Oh yeah, she was great. And she's always been supportive with your daughters. Yes, very. As was your dad. Very much so.
They love your daughters. Yes. I want to move forward a little bit. You mentioned this line of credit that your mother took without your dad's knowledge. Yeah.
Did that change, did that affect their relationship moving forward, to your knowledge? It affected it financially, I know, and I think it was, it affected it. At some degree, you know, their trust, his trust for her, you know, I can't speak for him, obviously. But I know for sure it affected it financially, for sure.
How did you know that? Well, he basically told me he wasn't going to let that happen again. So, I assume...
That well, I know he basically took away her ability to be able to do that. What does that mean? I'm not really, I mean, he didn't share details with me at the time.
What was your understanding of your mom's access to their finances? Before this happened with the HELOC, that they just shared everything, you know? When you say HELOC, what is it that you're talking about? Home equity line of credit. Okay, so you're talking about before that?
Yeah. Okay, they shared everything. Yeah, I mean, I don't remember anything other than they had a checking account and...
And then how did it change? It was husband and wife. I'm not sure exactly.
Okay. At any point with your conversations with your dad or just over time, things around the house, did you ever learn about who the beneficiary of your dad's investments was? No. When did you learn all of that information? I learned it about a year after we lost him.
I want to talk about the months leading up to your father's death. Okay. And at any time right before he passed, was he in the hospital?
He was. What did you know about that? Can you clarify? What did you know about him being in the hospital? What information did you have about that?
I was called by my... The first initial, I think I got a text message from my brother saying we're taking daddy to the hospital. And then I got some sort of communication from my mother saying, you know, we were taking, that he was in the hospital or we were. taking him to the hospital did you know why my father would have these he would call him called them his spells okay where he would be very lethargic almost How can I put this? Just very, very tired, couldn't stay awake, didn't feel well.
That's really the best way I can describe it. Did you ever witness one of them? I never did actually, never.
How long had he been having those? At least for a few years, on and off. I don't know exactly how long though.
And so that was your understanding of why he was admitted to the hospital? Correct. What?
When was that? That would be April, I think early April of 2018. Did you go visit him in the hospital? I did.
As soon as I found out that he was there, I rushed up there. And how did he appear to you when he was in the hospital? Fine. Was he acting fine, or was he acting differently?
He seemed fine. 100% okay. Like I ran up there as fast as I could because it was described to me that he was in very very bad shape.
Who described it that way? My mother. How did she describe it to you?
Basically that you know it was bad you need to get here. And what is it that you were expecting when you walked in? I was expecting the man to be hooked up to machines and honestly I wasn't even expecting him to be just in a general room, you know, as bad as it seemed, which I was told. I didn't expect to walk in and see my father just sitting up like, and I'm all, I was very panicked. And he looks at me and he's like, what's your problem?
I was like... Well, I was told that you're in really bad shape right now. I want to go back a little bit. Eventually, your parents moved out of the home in Alpharetta, the first house you moved into in 1995, right? Correct.
When did they do that? I could be, you know, the dates and everything, but 2014 is what I thought it was. Because it was...
It was after Halloween, cuz I remember helping them move. And I was trying to get out of there to go watch the Alabama game. So we were playing LSU that night. So yeah, it was right around November.
I thought it was 2014, is what I thought, was what I think. And where did they move to? Purcell Lane, Alpharetta, Georgia.
On the other side of Alpharetta, it's more the western, northern corner of Alpharetta and it's actually in Cherokee County. Did you live with them at the time? No.
Where were you living? In Buckhead, at my apartment. Why did they move out of their Alpharetta home? That's a good question.
I talked to my dad about it some and he said, you know, it's just kind of time. And my mother and I talked about it and she, I went and met her to look at homes while they were looking for houses before they purchased the Purcell Lane house. I would meet her and I would go with her and her real estate agent to look at homes. Were you surprised when they bought a hobby farm? Yeah, I was a little bit.
Why? Because my father always told me, he's like, well, after this house, I just want to get a townhouse in Buckhead. So I'm close to the office and don't have anything really to take care of.
Where was his office? It's in Midtown. I guess you would say Midtown.
It's off 17th Street. It's the Wells Fargo building. So that was around, do you think 2014, the fall?
I believe so. I mean, I guess it could be 2013, but I'm just, I think it's 2014. Because I, never mind. So you saw your father in the hospital in April, and he was fine?
Yes. He appeared fine. And how long was he in hospital for? A few days, they were, I talked to the doctors and they were just trying to figure out kind of what was, what was wrong with him to cause him to have the spell that brought him, that caused him to have to be brought to the hospital.
So they ran some tests. I know they had a stress test and all that kind of stuff. While you were talking to your dad in the hospital, did he enlighten you on what he thought was wrong with him?
He did. What was that? He said, Chris, I think your mother is trying to... Poisoned me. And what was your reaction?
I said, excuse me. He said, well, she spent the day screaming at me and I was watching TV in the theater room and all of a sudden she brings me down some cookies. And I ate the cookies and my throat started burning and then I started feeling bad. And I told him, are you, are you, like what? He said, I'm just probably.
Paranoid or something, some paraphrasing, I don't remember exactly what he said, but he kind of shrugged it off. Sure. And that's what he said. At that time, did you know the state of your parents'relationship?
I know they didn't like each other very much. Why did you think that? Well, there had been different episodes, you know, with, he had told me about a gentleman named Rusty Barton. He had told me numerous things. I mean, there was a lot of things why I thought that.
He confided in you about their relationship? Somewhat, yes. I think he might have confided in some of the other children more than me. Like who?
Emily, Scott, maybe Amanda, I don't know about Amanda. Did you know how they lived physically in the home, in the farm? Of course, yes.
And how did they live? My father... My father slept downstairs in a bedroom in the basement.
My mother slept in the master bedroom. They still shared a bathroom. My father still showered in the master bathroom. He still had his main closet there, but they slept on different floors. Did your dad sleep with a CPAP machine?
Oh, yeah. Did he sleep with it every night, to your knowledge? Yes.
I'd like to talk about your dad's birthday weekend before he was murdered, okay? Okay. When is your dad's birthday?
June 27th, 1960 was when he was born, so June 27th. Okay. And was that essentially the week before his remains were found?
Absolutely, yes. What did the family do for his birthday? Well, we had a family gathering at the farm. Everybody was there. It was a cookout.
We cooked barbecue, and Emily brought her daughter, the new baby, and it was a celebration of his birthday. Were your daughters there? No, they were not there. So when you say everybody here, I have a family tree over here.
Both your parents were there, right? Correct. Okay, and then that's you and your wife at times, or not? Correct.
Scott was there. Emily, was Emily's husband Chris there too? Yes. And they had just had Olivia?
Yes. And then Amanda was there? Yes. Was Chad with her? Yes.
Was Cameron there? I don't remember that. What did you all do that day, that evening? We ate. I remember Jenna and I took the RTV through the woods, and I actually ran out of gas, so I had to walk back up and get.
Gas with RTV because when you took it off road, you know, it would get kind of sideways. Well, if it was on empty, you know, it wouldn't be able to suck the fuel into the engine. So I had to walk all the way through. She wasn't very happy with me at the time, but we...
We walked from RTV back up to the barn to get fuel to put in it so I could drive it back up to the house. Did you have anyone help you with that? I don't remember. I think maybe my brother did, but I don't remember.
Were you well-versed with what to do on the farm and how to work anything on the farm or work at all on the farm? No. Okay.
Did you like going to the farm? No. Why not?
Well, I did sometimes, but for the majority of the time I did not. When they first bought the farm, I didn't really like going because my father would, you know, put me to work, you know, cutting trees down with them and things like that. And then the other reasons down the road kind of led to why I didn't like going there, which was the turmoil of their relationship, unfortunately.
Of what? Of their relationship? Yeah.
Did you have turmoil with anyone? With my mother. Okay, when did that start?
I don't know. I mean, it's a mother-son relationship. I mean, we, you know, had issues from time to time.
But in summer of 2000... At 17, it got to its highest point of turmoil. What happened? Well, her and I got into a little bit of a confrontation because she was... Withholding giving my children back to me.
My children love spending time with their grandmother. But my kids were being purposely held from being returned to me. Do you know what caused that?
Well, she said it was because of my drinking. So. I don't really know why, but I know what she said. Okay. And how did you receive that information from her?
Not very well. I was very upset. And my kids are only here for a short period of time.
I mean, they had gotten to the point where... You know, before, when they were younger, they'd come for a couple months during the summer, and it was to the point where they'd come for a couple weeks, and then they were just spending all the time with her. So, I don't know if we've really talked about this. You moved back to Georgia and did...
Did the girls stay in Maine with their mom? Yes. When did that happen? 2007. 2007? Excuse me.
Yeah, 2007. Okay. And so, when you talk about the girls coming, they would come to see you. Right.
They would be on summer break and they would come for a couple weeks, three weeks, somewhere around then and spend time with me and my family. And they would hang out with your mom a lot? Oh yeah. What would they do with her?
A lot. They would spend the night. They would go shopping.
They would go... Do lots of things that a grandmother and grandchildren would do. When it came to your daughters, did your mom and dad, they never said no? Everything was fun. Oh, they never said no.
They love Big Daddy and Grandma. That's what they called them? Yes.
Big Daddy and Grandma? Correct. Big Daddy was Gary. Grandma was Melody.
So I want to go back to this incident with your mom. Describe what happened. How she, you described her withholding your children. Describe what that means. I had Braves tickets for this particular night, and I had gone to pick them up, and she basically said, I'm not going to let them go with you.
And. That's what happened. She wouldn't let them go with me and there was an argument. And what did you end up saying to her that night? I.
I ended up saying basically, I like we got into an argument and then I actually left. Because I was trying to call my father. He was he was either at the farm or there.
I was trying to get him to come up there to like, help with the situation. And his phone was going straight to voicemail. So I just left like it was getting very heated.
Like she was very, very What's the word? Like, very angry and just screaming at me. And I was screaming, and I was yelling back.
And I just got out of there, because I didn't want to. Any part of it and I on the way back to Buckhead, my father called me and we kind of he's like come on back and then I went back and I got my kids. And what sort of words were exchanged when you were there between you and your mom?
I don't remember what kind of words. I mean, I know that I said to her the next time, I was very angry, and I said, the next time I see you... You will be in a pine box by saying, I'm not going to talk to you ever again while you're alive, okay? Basically saying, you know, I'll come to your funeral, but that's it, we're done.
So that was pretty harsh of me to say. And you were reacting? Well, she tried to attack me.
She tried to hit me. And she didn't hit me, but she went like that to hit me. I, you know, what, 37 years old at the time, I was caught off guard by that. And I told her, I was like, if you hit me, I will defend myself.
And we just were going back and forth. And I ended up recording, taking out my camera and recording this exchange. Later on, deleting that recording. But it was, it was.
It was hard, it was very hard. What ended up happening when you went back, when your dad told you to come back? What ended up happening?
I came back, my kids were waiting on the porch with their suitcases, with their clothes in it, and we went home. Who was out there with them? My mom was out there, my dad was out there, and my girls were out there. And I was out there. And so then the girls left with you.
Yep. They got in the back of the truck, in the back seat of the truck, and we went home. I want to jump forward and go back to your dad's birthday weekend.
That weekend, did you hang out with your dad? Yeah. You talked about driving the RTV. What all did the family do when you had gatherings? Well.
we would eat you know all of our gatherings were focused around food um which is that's very you know that's just how our family was very southern you know we would eat together we would talk that particular day we had a new baby um so i remember you know playing with olivia and recording videos it was um i mean i had met her before but you know this was they lived in nashville So, you know, I didn't get to see her that often. So, you know, we were celebrating my father, but we were also celebrating Olivia. At that point, was your mom at the house?
Yes. So had you guys made up, rekindled? How did that happen?
Before Olivia was born, my sister had a baby shower. This was beginning of October of 2017, so about three months after my last interaction with my mother. I did not speak with her for three months. I was out.
I had gotten a hotel in downtown Nashville for that weekend of the baby shower. And I was out in Nashville with my wife and my mother, Chad, Chad Bruce and Amanda, Amanda Bruce, Amanda Ferris, came walking into Legends, which is a bar on Broadway in Nashville. So I went up to them and greeted them and I actually hugged my mother. And was there ever a discussion about what happened between the two of you?
No. So after that it was kind of brushed under the rug and you moved forward? Yes. Is that fair to say? At your dad's birthday celebration, did you and your dad plan any trips or talk about taking any vacations?
Tell the jury about that. So my daughter had come to visit. In May, so this was about a month before, and we were at Longhorn and Ella said, Big Daddy, I want to go to the beach this summer. He said, okay, we'll go to the beach. So leading up to that birthday party, my father and I had discussed going to Orange Beach, Alabama for A trip right after the 4th of July.
We would be going on the trip right after the 4th of July, but that party, we definitely discussed the upcoming trip. And so when you say the weekend after the 4th of July, so the Friday, Saturday, the 6th and the 7th? Yeah, I think we were supposed to leave for Orange Beach on, I think it was Friday, we were supposed to leave to go there.
Okay. So after Ella had expressed this to your dad, were there further conversations between you and your dad about the beach? Yeah, he told me to pick out a couple places where I thought we could go. He had given some recommendations.
Had been to Orange Beach before, but not, I wasn't that familiar with it. I usually went to Destin. But I ended up picking a couple places, and he said, oh, yeah, that place is good. And he booked it and paid for it. I would like to talk about, you mentioned your dad booked for it and paid for it.
Yes. Did your dad pay for a lot of things? Yes.
And did he pay for a lot of things for you? Yes. Like what?
He would always pay for my children to fly down. He would pay for Ella's horseback riding lessons. He would pay for the girls'dance lessons, recitals, costumes.
He would help me out with bills. He would, my dad paid for my... My dad helped me and paid for a lot. Did you have a job at this time?
Yes. What was your job? At the time, I had my own painting company.
So was your dad that helpful with everyone in the family? I believe so. To your knowledge? To my knowledge.
Okay. How was your dad and Scott's relationship? They had a great relationship. Would he take care of Scott?
Yes. Financially? Yes, Scott worked at the farm.
So they kinda had a- Scott worked at the farm and it was a lot of work. And my brother did not have another job and my brother had to have money to live. So I didn't know the details of it.
I didn't know if they had like a agreement of how much or I don't know what that looked like. But yeah, I mean, I know the money my brother would have would be from my father. Would you and your dad ever get in arguments about money? I wouldn't really consider it an argument. I mean, he'd get mad at me for spending money or asking him for money.
Or there were even times, I mean, when I had his credit card number, I mean, then I would use it without his permission, without asking at first. And he'd get upset with me, but it wasn't an argument. It was more he was just upset with me.
So when it came to the beach, he was okay paying for that? Yeah, he was going with us. And was there an agreement between the two of you with what that would look like?
I was going to pay for everything there. The dinners. What are things you pay for at the beach?
And he was gonna pay for the condo. Did you eventually pick out a condo? We did. And who booked that condo? My father.
Did he tell you when he booked it? Yes. do you remember when he booked it i don't remember but i remember he texted me he said it's both was it prior to well it's obviously prior to the vacation itself how was it prior to july let's say first yes so it was the end of june yeah did you discuss it at his birthday um he told me I had stopped and bought a raft to take to the beach because I was actually buying his birthday gift at Academy. And he, I called him, I said, hey, I got a raft to take to the beach.
And he's like, yeah. He's like, don't talk about that while you're here. Okay.
While you're where? At the house. Okay. Was your mom going to the beach? No.
How do you know that? Because my father told me he was. Trying to get her to go to the beach and she refused.
Okay, did you talk to her about the beach? I did. And what was her reaction to you? She told me she had too much going on and she couldn't go.
Okay, so who would have, if the trip came up, who would have gone? It would have been me, my wife Jenna, both of my daughters, Ellen Addy and my father. Let's talk about Jenna for a second. When did you and Jenna get married?
July of 2015. And did your dad help you out with your engagement or wedding to Jenna? Yes. How so?
He helped me with the engagement ring and he also paid for the rehearsal dinner at our wedding. I'm pregnant. And you said it was in 2015? The wedding. The wedding was in 2015?
Okay. So you had been married to Jenna for three years. Yes. At this point.
And when the girls came to visit you, would they stay with you and Jenna? They would stay with me and Jenna, and then they would stay at the farm a lot. The conversations about the beach with your mom, was that over the phone, in person? How did you guys discuss the beach? Most of the conversations with my mother, we spoke.
But I don't remember exactly how that, if it was text messages or if it was a phone call, I don't remember. But at that point, to your knowledge, she was not going. Correct.
Now, after your father's birthday, I want to talk about that next week. Okay? July, the first week in July of 2018. Were your girls scheduled to come down and stay with you?
Yes. When did they come down? They arrived at between 8 and 9 AM, the morning of July the 3rd. The morning of July 3rd, and that's Tuesday?
Yes. So the Tuesday morning. Mm-hm. Did you work on Monday, July 2nd?
I don't remember, but probably. I would think so, but I don't remember. I mean, it was a holiday week, you know, so probably. I don't remember.
Let's talk about the morning of July 3rd, that Tuesday. What did that morning look like to you? What did you do? Woke up, drove to the airport, Hartsville Jackson, picked my kids up. They always wanted to go to Waffle House.
They don't have that in Maine. So we went to Waffle House. Who was it that went? Ella, Addie, and myself.
Jenna was not with you? No. Okay. So how long did you eat at Waffle House for?
You know, 30 minutes. What did you do next? We went back to my condo and hung out. 55 Far Road in Buckhead.
Buckhead, okay. And what did you do then? Just hung out.
I had a dog at the time. They were very fond of Oliver. He was, that's my dog's name, or was my dog's name. We hung out.
They were itching to do what they had kind of what they thought planned, you know, for their trip, which is... And what were their plans? Well, Addie had already arranged with Cameron, which is Amanda's, which is Chad Bruce's daughter. My sister Amanda at the time, well, really no... What eventually become, I guess when they got married, her stepdaughter, they had planned, because they, you know, both had phones, they would text each other and, you know, say, oh, I'm coming down to stay with me, you know, visit my dad, and we're going to have a sleepover at the farm.
So that was Addie's plans. Okay. Ella's plans, where she had this friend, Emma, who was the daughter of I think this guy named Terry who lives, I think he lived on Birmingham Highway and had somehow they became, my mother had become friends with him and Emma.
had become friends with Ella and Ella and Emma had talked and Emma's mom actually trained horses at this facility up and coming I believe it was coming it was up near the farm but it was I know she lived in Cumming because I dropped her off there that afternoon. So they were itching to go. You know, they had plans. Okay.
And none of them with you, it sounds like. No. I mean, we had. They were how old? Yeah, they were pre-teens at the time.
They were 12 and 14 years old. And they were very social. They were busy.
They were busy. So did you execute these plans for them? I, well, you know, Addie's plans did not come to fruition the night of the 3rd.
She had asked to do that, and I said, well, you've got to ask your grandmother, and it just didn't work out. And, but I did take Addie, Ella, to Emma's mom's house and dropped her off. She went to have a sleepover. They were actually going to sleep over at this horse training facility.
And they. I think they had like a pool or a pond they swam in, and she was all excited about it. So we actually stopped at Target on the way up there so she could buy a new bathing suit. Okay.
And I dropped her off at Emma's mom's house. I think her name was Beth, maybe? Maybe.
But, yeah, I dropped her off there. What time was that? I'd say if I had to put a number on it, between 4 and 4.30 p.m. On the 3rd?
Correct. Okay. After you dropped Ella off at Emma's on the 3rd, where did you go next?
Well, I called my father, and I said, hey, do you want to meet us for dinner? Because I hadn't talked to him that day. And he said, I'm working. I said, oh, cool. I was like, well, let's meet up.
And he's like, no, no, no. I'm at the farm. I'm just working. I said, oh, okay. Well, I was like, I just dropped Ella off.
we're going to come by and come see you. He hadn't seen, he had recently seen Ella because she was down in May, but he hadn't seen Addison since Christmas time. So, you know, we were up there. Might as well.
stopped by. So you ended up stopping by the farm? I did. And about what time did you get there?
About five o'clock. How long did you stay? Between 20 to 30 minutes. What did you do when you were there? We pulled in, my father was in the driveway, sitting on the RTV.
I parked my truck, went up to him, and Addie went to gas, never forget it. You know, this is the last time I saw my father. He said, oh, just let me give you a kiss because I'm too sweaty right now for you to hug me.
And then at some point my mother walked out. And we went up to the barn because I think they had some baby ducks that had been born recently or something like that. Maybe a baby goat.
I think there might have been a baby goat. I just remember the baby ducks as being the real draw that day. But I think there was a baby goat too, maybe.
There was always babies of some sort. There were a lot of animals. Baby animals.
So you and Addie walked the property, went to the barn. Who was with you? Was your dad and mom with you?
Yes. We actually went from the main house up to the barn. And then we walked down to the pond to see the baby ducks.
And my mother walked down there with us. Who all went to the barn? To the barn?
Yeah. All four of us went to the barn. How did you get to the barn?
I drove my truck up there. Okay. How did your dad get to the barn? He rode the RTV.
How did your mom get to the barn? I think she walked, but I don't remember. And was Addison with you or with your dad or with your mom?
Addison was with me, I think. She might have walked with my mom. I haven't thought about that in a long time. So your dad was on the RTV? Yeah.
Was he on the RTV often when you were at the farm? All the time. Where would, do you know where he would keep the RTV?
Different places. Sometimes it would be at the barn. Sometimes it would be parked in the driveway.
Sometimes it would be parked in the garage at the house. But he had it often. Very much so.
Do you remember if there was anything on the RTV this day? Yeah. I remember seeing like dead boxwoods, I think what they were.
that he had pulled up and put them in the back because we had a conversation about it. What was he planning to do with those boxwoods? He told me he was getting ready to burn the burn pile. day on July 4th.
He told you he would burn it on the 4th? Told me he was gonna burn it on July 4th. Did you see the burn pile? I saw the burn pile the weekend before at the birthday party when I was driving the RTB through the woods.
How large was it? It was big. I remember...
What does big mean? Big means probably as tall as I am and I'm 6'4". I was on a... I remember Jenna saying like, wow, like this thing is huge. And that's, yeah, that's what I remember. Did your dad burn often, do you know? I don't know how often. I mean, I didn't spend a lot of time out there. The only time I saw him burn anything was after... It was like a Christmas Eve and we had the family there and he had taken a bunch of pallets and some wood and things and we actually had like a bonfire like on Christmas Eve. It was actually a very very nice evening but that is that's all I really I know he would burn things but um But as far as me knowing or seeing him do it, that was the only time. Would he burn at your old house in Alpharetta? Did you have the property? Yeah, he would. You laughed a little bit there, so is there? Well, so I laugh because of my grandfather, my father's dad. Every year on Christmas, there'd be all this wrapping paper, okay? And every year, my grandfather would take all that wrapping paper out there and burn it in his little leaf burning pile. And I always thought it was funny. I just, I don't know. I always think about that. And then, like my father almost would talk about, oh, yeah, I'm going to burn this burn pile. He was actually, I think, burning leaves at that house behind the fence. And so you're talking about a suburb house. I mean, this is like living in a neighborhood, not a farm. And he had actually started burning some leaves back behind the fence. And. I guess didn't put it out all the way and I woke up I was staying with them that night. I might have been living there at the time I don't really remember and I wake up and there's a back the woods is on fire behind their house and what happened the fire department came and um the fire department your parents reaction to that oh i don't remember I remember I think I was out there and I think the firefighter asked me he was like how this happened I was like well in my desk you know I think so I don't remember what their reactions were at that time So the burn pile on the third was large. Very. Or at least when you saw it the weekend before. Yes. Okay, you didn't see it on the third? No. Okay. It wasn't burning when you were out there though? No, not at all. He was still building it? Yes. So after you saw all the baby animals, what did you do next? We walked back to my truck. I remember telling my father, there's gonna be fireworks on the 4th of July. Maybe we can get together and go see fireworks. And then I got my-That would have been the next day. Which would have been, the 4th was the next day. And then I got in the car in my truck with Addison and we went back cuz she wanted to go get dinner. Did you drive back to Buckhead at that point? I did. What did you do after that? We went and got poke bowls, which is like sushi in a bowl. Addie loves poke bowls. We went and got that, and then we went to this new ice cream place, and Jenna went with us to that. To both places? I know she went to the poke place. I don't remember if she went to the ice cream place. I think she did. I just don't remember. So after you got poke and ice cream, what did you do? We went home. And did what? Hung out. You know, I think we went to the pool. We had a pool at our condo. And just hung out at home. You out to eat with Jenna? At any point the night of the 3rd, did you go back to the farm? No. Okay. What did you do the next morning on the 4th? Addie and I got up very early and went up. I lived a block off of Peachtree Street, so we went up and we watched the Peachtree Road Race and come through Buckhead. Who's we? Addison and I. Jenna came up eventually, but... I don't think Jenna was trying to get up that early on the 4th of July. So Addison and I went up there. We took our chairs and set up, and it was nice. How long were you out there watching the Peachtree Road Race? I had to put a number on it, maybe an hour. So what time would that put you at? That's hard to say, around 7 or 8 o'clock in the morning. So you were done watching it at 8 or 9, or you started, or you were done at 7 or 8 in the morning? I think we went up there, I mean we didn't watch the first people come through. I don't remember what time, but I know it was early. Early morning. Early morning, yes. And you were out there for about an hour. Yeah. What did you do after that? We went to Cracker Barrel in Norcross. Why Norcross? Because I had my own painting company, and I would have... my guys that I would have to pay. And I had this one guy, and he was like, oh, man, I really need my check. So I was like, okay, fine. And he lived in Norcross. So I went to Norcross to give him his check. And Addie and I, there's a Cracker Barrel there. And so we went to Cracker Barrel for breakfast. And after Cracker Barrel, what were your plans for the day? We were having a pool party. Our apartment complex, condo complex, whatever you want to call it, we always set up a pool party every year for the Fourth of July. So did you go to it? We did, yeah. Who was we? Me, Addison, and Jenna. Okay, where was Ella during all this time? She was still with Emma. Okay. In coming? In coming, yes, at the Horse Park Farm, you know. Were you checking in on her? Very much so, yes. And so throughout that day on the 4th at the pool, what was your intention for that evening with Addison? I thought we were just going to hang out. stay at the pool and just hang out at home. Ella had called me and asked if she could stay over again. I said yes, and that was my intention of the day, but that changed. Okay, how? My mother called me and said, hey, I'm on my way back from Lake Lanier Islands with Cameron. And does Addie want to come spend the night? So I walked over to Addie was swimming in the pool. I said, hey, do you want to go have this sleepover? Hoping she would say no. Why? Because I didn't want to go. I didn't want to drive up there. But she said yes. So we went. What time did your mom call you? I don't remember exactly what time, but I would have to say it was later in the day. Maybe, I would say, I don't want to misspeak. I don't know exactly what time. Was it evening time, after lunch time? Late afternoon. Late afternoon? So you drove up there. Uh-huh. Did you make any stops? I did. Where'd you stop? I stopped at Wendy's to get Addison dinner. And then went to the farm? I did. What did you do when you got to the farm? We pulled up and my mom and Cameron had already arrived. And we went inside the house. That was pretty much it. Did you stay for very long? No. About how long did you stay? Maybe five to ten minutes. Did you see your dad? No. Did you ask your mom where he was? I don't remember. When you would stop by the farm in the past, would your dad sometimes not be there? Of course, yes. Was that normal? Yeah, it was normal. I mean, I was in a hurry to get back, you know. I had no reason. I mean, all my friends are at the pool. Addie was where she wanted to be. So I was ready to go back and enjoy my evening. Did you and your mom speak to one another? Yes. Anything out of the ordinary? No, the only thing out of the ordinary was on the way up there. Cuz I had asked for her to meet me so I didn't have to drive all the way to the farm. You had asked who to meet you? My mother. Okay. To meet me somewhere cuz she was coming back from Lake Lanier. So I was like, well, why don't instead of me driving all the way to the farm and you're coming that way anyway, why don't we meet? She said, no, no, no, just meet me there. I was like, okay. And then I actually said, well, I'm going to stop and get Addison dinner. And she's like, oh, no, no, no, we'll just make something here. And I was like, okay. But I stopped anyway because Addison was, it was before. we had eaten we were cooking at the pool but it we left before the food was done so she was when she was hungry she would let you know she was hungry um okay so what did you do when you left the farm i went to the gas station And then I stopped by Kroger in Buckhead, boarded our Buckhead Sandy Springs and I bought fireworks, because we always shot off fireworks on the 4th of July at our apartment complex. And where did you go after that? I went home to the pool. Did you talk to Addison again that evening? On the way back from the farm, Addison called me, and she's like, she's like, we can't find Big Daddy. And I was like, well, he's got to be there somewhere. I've got to look for him. And I called him, and his phone went straight to voicemail. And I didn't really think anything of it because his phone went to voicemail a lot. And I just said, well, he's there somewhere, you know, go find him. You know, and we had that phone call. And I think. Of course, I texted her that night or called her that night to check on make sure she was okay, that kind of thing. But she was, from what I remember, was fine. Nothing alarming from her at the time. Did you ever communicate with your mom that evening? No. Is that typical? Yes, very typical. Even when your kids are over there? You mainly communicate with your kids? Directly, yes. So the night of the 4th, did you stay in Buckhead? Yes. Did you ever go back to the farm the night of the 4th? No, not at all. When was the next time you went to the farm? July 5th, I think I left my apartment around 1130 in the morning to go pick up Addison. Did you talk to Addison before you left? I don't remember. Did you try to call your dad that morning? Yes. And what happened? Went straight to voicemail. Did you talk to your mom? No. You just decided to go up there? I talked to my sister. Which sister? Amanda. Okay, and what was that conversation? She said, Daddy's missing. That was before you left? I don't remember. I think it was actually after I left. I mean, I... I don't remember there being a phone call or a text message or anything like that to say, okay, come get, that I'm coming to get you now or anything like that. I knew where she was. I was going to go get her. And I can't remember if the conversation with Amanda was. at my apartment or it was on the way i remember i was talking a lot on the way who's us talking amanda and you talking yes okay about what trying to figure out where my dad was i told her i said you know you need to call the local hospitals and you need to see if his wallet and his car keys are there at this point knowing that his phone was going to voicemail and addison couldn't find him the night before what was you Your thought process when Amanda said he's missing. I was pretty panicked. This was two months after this whole scenario of him being in the hospital. Two months, three months, April, May, so three months. So. I had not been able to talk to my father. Did you get in touch with him the night before when I called him to see where he was so Addison and then could find him and hang out with him. And then the next day, my sister calls me and says, Daddy's missing. So, yeah, I was excited in the point of panic. You know, I was very, my heart, my blood pressure was probably pretty high. So even though his phone would go to voicemail pretty often, this was not normal? No, not for that long. Yeah. How long did you know that nobody had gotten in touch with him? Well, I know that I had tried to call him the night before, you know, on the way back from the farm to Buckhead. So for me, I mean, we're talking... You know, over 12, you know, I mean, about that time we're talking, you know, 20 hours, excuse me, 15 hours later, you know, so. And you didn't see him on the 4th at all? No. Okay. Did the family have any group messages happening? Like text message groups? I don't remember there being a group message. So you and Amanda were talking on the phone about and you had said to her to call the hospitals. Call hospitals. I also told her because she said his car was there. I was like, well, he never. anywhere without his car. So I was like, well, find his car keys and find his wallet, you know, and why his wallet? Because his wallet, my dad never left anywhere to go anywhere without his wallet. You know, he would not leave the house without his wallet. My dad only left the house to go to the store or go eat. You know, that was basically it. What about to the office? Oh, of course, in the office. I'm talking about things other than work. Okay. Who did you talk to anybody else? I talked to my sister Emily on the way there and told her what was going on. And what was her reaction? She was kind of had the same reaction as me panics. Had she heard from him to your knowledge? No. So you arrive at the farm. And what's the first thing that you do when you get there? When I arrived at the farm, Amanda. Cameron, my mother, and Addison are actually sitting on the steps out front. I just remember going in thinking, I need to figure out what's going on. And I went out and I asked my mother, I said, hey, have you seen his wallet? She said no. I knew where he kept his wallet. He kept his wallet either in the Mercedes, or downstairs in the basement, or in the master bathroom. So I went to look. I needed to know if he had left or not. And that was going to be an indication to me if he had left or not. I went to the Mercedes, I looked in the glove compartment, I looked in the center console, I looked in the back seat, I looked everywhere in that car. I did not find his wallet. Did you find his car keys or cell phone or anything like that? No, I didn't find anything. I left the garage and I went down to the basement to keep searching. And then I came upstairs and eventually started moving. took my search out of the house and you know up to the barn did you at any point check for his CPAP machine or did that cross your mind no I'd never crossed my mind so you were in the basement did you see anything out of the ordinary no so when you took your search outside what was the first thing that you did and who was anybody with you yeah actually because the kids were they loved them ride that rtv and that rtv was up at the house so i jumped on it and they were like can we ride with you and i'm like oh like i didn't know what was really going on here but i let them and they're Very persistent and they jumped on the RTV with me and I drove up to the barn to see if I could find him or a sign of him. When you got on the RTV, you said it was at the house. What part of the house was it parked on? I think it was in the driveway, I think. I don't remember exactly. So the girls jumped on with you? Yep. And where'd you go? To the barn. Okay. Anything at the barn stand out to you? No. Everything. I mean, I looked. I mean, there's even like a because I thought at this point it was, you know, maybe he was having a spell or maybe he was, God forbid, something that, you know, medical issue had happened. And I went up to the barn. I even climbed. There's like a ladder thing. There's like a loft up there. Not my brother's apartment, but a loft where you store things in. I even went up there. looking around just trying anywhere. He was not there, so we got in the RTV and started back towards the house. At any point did Scott come down and start searching? Yes. When was that? I don't remember exactly. After you arrived or before you arrived? I think it was right after I arrived, but I can't be sure. You didn't see him when you pulled up? When I first pulled up to the house that morning? No. Or not around noon. My first initial time when I got to the house, no, I did not see my brother. I just saw the four of them. So you're on the RTV with Cameron and Addison? Correct. And you're driving back from the barn back to the house? Yep. Okay. Where did you look next? So I'm coming from the barn and I look out across and I see my brother and my mother walking between the barn and kind of the pond but kind of back. Towards the wood, the tree line, and that's when it clicked in my head about that. Because he told me he was going to burn that burn pile on July 4th, and it clicked in my head, I need to go back there, because he told me he was going to be burning that burn pile on July 4th. So, I won't. Whipped around, I saw them walking back there, so I'm like, I'm gonna follow them back there. I went back around the backside of the house and went down and they were already at the burn pile. Who's they? Scott and my mother. Okay. And I drove and parked about, I don't know, 20... 10 to 20 yards away between the house and the burn pile. And I told them to stay back. And... Who's that? Addie and Cameron. At that time, it was just more of I was just walking down there to see what was going on. And I walked down there. And then... My brother had a stick in his hand. And I walked up there and I looked at the burn pile just, you know, at the time, what was about to happen. I mean, I had no inkling that this was even possible. And my brother, this is really hard for me to talk about. My brother looked up at me and he said, you need to get those kids the F out of here. I'm calling 911 right now. And I did. I took the kids out of the house and I put them in the room, in their bedroom. They had slept in the night before and I said, y'all need to go up here. I mean, I didn't say anything to them, you know. My daughter had just lost her uncle like two months before that. And... I knew kind of what, I mean, I'm not stupid, you know, like when he's looking at something, you know, like. So my instinct was get my children, get my child back up and away from whatever is going on right here. And that's what I did. I put them in the bedroom. I said, I'll be back. And I went downstairs. After I went downstairs, it's like I was... Just the adrenaline was going like crazy. My brother said something to me like, I think there's human remains in the burn pile. And so I got in the RTV. I had to go back down there. I went back down to the burn pile, and I took a close look at the burn pile. And I looked, and I was like, wow. And then I saw what looked to me to be like a hand, like bones of a hand like that. And that's when I just, I think I went in shock. And I went back up to the house and waited for the authorities to arrive. The paramedics, I guess, is who arrived first. But I sat on the back of my truck, really couldn't even talk. Did you touch anything in the burn? No. When Scott had a stick and moved something, did you see what it was that he saw or was looking at? I thought it was a rock. I saw, it's, he told me. After I put the girls back up to the room, I came back downstairs and he told me I think it was human remains. And, you know, of course, my brother and I had conversations after, like, while this situation is unfolding. And he told me, yeah. Was that before or after he called 911? After. Did you see him call 911? I did not. He said he was going to call 911. He said to get the kids out of here, I'm going to call 911. I didn't stick around long enough to hear him. Was your mom nearby when you... She was standing right there. Did she say anything? No. Was Amanda near the burn pile at that time? I don't remember. I don't think so. The only thing I remember about Amanda is her walking up when I was sitting on the back of my truck waiting for whoever was responding to this 911 call to come. And my sister walked out and we spoke then. My sister was out there when the, I guess, I think it was the paramedics showed up. What did you guys speak about? Well, the paramedics walked by and they were actually holding a gurney. And I'm thinking, like, it was just confusing what was happening. And I was sitting there and it wasn't long after that that the paramedics actually Walked back around and said to me, I'm sorry for your loss. And that's when it really kicked in. And that's what Amanda and I just basically started this conversation about. Oh, my God. I mean, it doesn't take. I mean, it's common sense. Your father's missing. My brother's saying he thinks there's human remains. He's paramedics are showing up. So I mean, and then they're saying I'm sorry for your loss. And that's when it really just kinda I was just overwhelmed. Like it was awful. I don't really remember what my sister and I talked about. I remember her kind of saying things like, we put him through so much and we weren't the best kids and this, that and other. And I remember thinking like, what are you talking about? It was very strange to me at the time, but people, I guess people say things when they're put in that situation. I didn't really think anything of it, I just thought that was kind of weird, but. That's things just everything really a lot of things after that are a blur to me. You know I've done a lot of PTSD therapy because of this that day and what I've discussed and a lot of that therapy is they think that I pretty much went into shock. I think we're going to take a short break. Alright.