The Secret Life of the Homecoming Queen

26:20A road trip to Alabama where Michelle's kids from the church dance troupe would attend a Christian gathering at a place called The Ramp. Thad had stayed behind at home. The group overnighted at a nearby motel. While most of the parents, including Scotty's wife Paige, stayed in rooms piled high with sleeping bags chaperoning the teens, Scotty, the family pastor, arranged for Michelle to have her own room. I get the picture of you kind of easing your way out of the room after lights out, tiptoeing down the hall. Is that the way it happened? Correct. Yes. Into Michelle's room? Yes. Spend the night with her?

26:56Yes. Make love and then sneak back into your own bed? Pretty much. That night in Michelle's single, the two in pillow talk used an expression for the first time that would become their lover's code. The word ugly. A word that would come to hint at where they were headed. At the end of the weekend, they headed back home to Rome, Georgia. But they'd all be getting together again soon for the big Fourth of July weekend racing up on them. Everything about Michelle was great to me. You loved her? Yeah.

27:29Coming up, Michelle tries one more time to put her marriage back together. He said, y 'all pray for me. I'm not a good husband to Michelle. At the church meeting? Yes, sir. So pick a word for how you feel listening to this. I was disgusted.

27:56The deacon's wife and the family pastor were having a torrid affair. In only a month's time, they'd crossed the line from friends to lovers. Scotty didn't think his wife knew. I think Paige knew that Michelle and I was closer than she wanted us to be. She didn't know you were physical? No. Michelle was sure her husband Thad was in the dark. Not surprising as she says he was oblivious to everything but his job and church. Be not therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord and what he's done in your life. All of which, she says, pushed her into the affair with his best friend. Was this love or lust we're talking about here?

28:35I would say a need, a need that needed to be met, that I wasn't getting at home. But there was a major lover's problem here. Scotty was reasonably sure that Paige would give him a divorce. Michelle was just as certain that for her, divorce wasn't in the cards. By then, Thad had started chatting with friends and family about becoming a full-time minister. Being a two-time loser at marriage wasn't going to do him any good. Scotty says Michelle started joking with him that if you want me as your bride, then you're just going to have to outlive Thad. In the midst of their hot sheets mornings at local motels, the two began to email each other about other ways to get around their problem with their gnats.

29:18That's what they called their partners, gnats. Scotty says he joked with Michelle that, for instance, she could slather extra butter in Thad's food to induce a heart attack. Or maybe they could have a spaghetti dinner for their spouses with two pots bubbling. In one, dinner for Thad and Paige, they would poison the sauce. Maybe it did put some things in my head. You think it did? Yeah, maybe I was already thinking things. I can't really say. Wheels started turning. Scotty began toying around with Internet searches. And the lovers increasingly talked to each other about Portland. I had seen something about Portland, Oregon, and I said I would like to visit there.

29:57and we had said had we gotten married that we could move out there. Portland became their code word they'd drop into a conversation when the Nats were all together at a gathering. Portland's nice this time of year, they'd say with a private smile. Was that a fantasy or did you actually think it would happen? A fantasy. I believe it was a fantasy. But they both realized they were now in deep and the spouses had to be told. It was agreed that Scotty would be the one to tell Thad. Are you insisting that he be the one to tell him? Yes, sir. I was afraid that my husband might hit me, and I was just afraid that he would blow up.

30:35It's late June now, and Michelle starts telling her lover, Scotty, places where her husband, Thad, is going to be, say, in the following day, suggesting to Scotty that those are locations where he can deliver the very unpleasant news that he and Michelle are on and that his best friend, Thad, is odd man out in a lover's triangle. At least that's what Michelle claims those messages were all about. Another code word by then was ugly, meaning how things might get when Scotty finally confronted Thad. It first crept into their pillow talk during that Alabama weekend. How the two men had to talk, and how the talk might get ugly.

31:12I took ugly to mean something. And when ugly meant something, talk all of a sudden took a different meaning as well. Scotty followed Michelle's instructions on her husband's whereabouts and haunted spots where Thad was expected to show up. He couldn't work up the nerve to confront him, though, and since Michelle was growing frustrated. Now, have you been on Scotty? Have you talked to him yet? Have you done the thing you promised you were going to do? I just asked him when he was going to talk to him. On July 1st, a Thursday, Scotty had walked into this Kmart and bought a knife like the one he says Thad had blamed him for losing.

31:46Was it a replacement or what? The next morning, Friday, he sat waiting for Thad to come out of this restaurant. And what'd you do? Nothing. Chicken out? Yeah. That afternoon was a low point in the Scotty and Michelle affair. Michelle wanted him to meet her by the town's levee at lunchtime. But this time, she wanted to talk, not make out. Scotty could feel her pulling back, dousing cold water on their fling. I don't remember exact words, but I felt like she was to the point of, you know, the conversation's not going to happen. You're not man enough to do this thing you said you were going to do?

32:21Basically. And forget about me, bud, because I'm going to be gone. I don't know that I really saw that she was doing that, but I guess I saw that she was willing to do that. Michelle was aloof by the river that day. She says she was starting to have serious second thoughts about the relationship. That was actually when I was trying to cut it off at that point, and he said no. But it kept going. Yes, sir. But to make an even bad rendezvous worse, Michelle told Scotty that she and Thad were going out that night, the date she'd been going on and on about with Thad that she really needed to have. So they went out.

32:59But before dinner, Michelle says Thad's date night began with an unexpected stop at a prayer group. I was a little frustrated with that type of situation, and he said, y 'all pray for me, I'm not a good husband to Michelle. At the church meeting? Yes, sir. In public, out loud, stand up and talk? Yes, sir. He says I'm not being the husband I should be to Michelle. That's exactly what he said. So pick a word for how you feel listening to this. I was disgusted. I was thinking, don't go to these people. Come to me. Let's talk about it. So that probably wasn't a great date. No, sir. The Saturday of 4th of July weekend, the two families and a few other couples were getting together for the usual festivities.

33:42Scott, Paige, Thad, Michelle, and the seven girls. Michelle says she was starting to get edgy about her affair with Scotty. Was it starting to eat at you? Just feeling convicted. Yes, sir. But that night, whatever concerns there may have been, were pushed aside to watch the fireworks. The next day, Sunday, a cookout and volleyball. Michelle says Scotty's wife commented on her wearing attire too skimpy for an afternoon family picnic. We got together with some couples at the park and played some volleyball, and Paige even commented on my clothes there. In kind of a snide way? Yeah, I can't believe you're wearing that tank top, so that was uncomfortable.

34:22Scotty had his own reasons for feeling uncomfortable at the afternoon cookout. How strange is it that the guy you're cooking steaks with is the husband of your lover? Strange like any affair. Later that afternoon, Scotty received an email from Michelle with information about where Thad was going to be the next morning, Monday. After the chilly talk at the levee, Scotty knew full well that he might lose Michelle unless he confronted Thad soon. Even if it turned out to be that lover's shorthand they had. Ugly. Coming up, a bloody pre-dawn discovery. I told you about it and I just fell on the floor crying.

35:05When Dateline continues.

35:17The Fourth of July weekend was over. Thad's mom had babysat her granddaughters when Thad and Michelle had gone out on their date night that Friday. He went and came and picked up the girls and he said, thanks mom, we needed that. And that's really the last conversation I can remember having. Thad's shift at the Frito-Lay warehouse often began before dawn. That's where a co-worker found him. 36-year-old Thad Reynolds had been stabbed to death in a frenzy. 19 wounds. Sheriff Tim Burkhalter could barely believe what he was hearing. A well-liked local man brutally stabbed at his office. We typically have maybe two murders a year.

36:03This kind of gruesome murder was, of course, very eye-opening for our community and very big news. It was a scene right out of the movie Psycho, not one you would normally ever see in the quiet city of Rome, Georgia. No one could make sense of it. It just seemed out of character for what is a nice, quiet place to live. Assistant District Attorney Natalie Statz and her boss Lee Patterson got news of the murder that morning. When the first officer arrived, they called in for detectives to come in. They didn't know at that point who to even focus on. The warehouse wasn't a place to have cash lying around.

36:45The drivers picked up their snack orders there. They wondered if it was a stranger murder where somebody had just walked by and saw the lights on, saw the cars outside and then came in. While detectives gathered evidence at the scene to try to make sense of the crime, the pastor from Hollywood Baptist went to break the news to Michelle that Thad was dead. They came and knocked on the door and had told me about it, and I just fell on the floor crying. Thad's mom, Kitty, found out while at work. I got the call from the pastor at Hollywood, and he said, You need to come home. You need to come home now.

37:24Michelle needs you. And I guess it was just like automatically I knew it was Thad. Kitty raced to Michelle's where she was officially told her son Thad was dead. That's a mother's nightmare. Basically from there it's like all a blur. Thad's sister Beverly had arrived too. Her mom told her. I just kind of lost it right there in the front yard. I remember her going to her knees. Yeah, they helped me get back up and I walked in and went to Michelle. She was sitting on the couch. I hugged her. When she heard the news, Aunt Trish came to the house to comfort her niece. She seemed like she was in shock because...

38:03Obvious grief? Crying? Sobbing? No. She was like, almost like she was in a trance. Because, like I say, almost in shock. Because she said, I keep waiting for him to walk in the door. You know, for Thad to walk in the front door. An emergency prayer request went out to the Hollywood Baptist community, and members of the congregation started arriving to comfort Michelle, the new widow. Were you taking medications? Yes, sir. I was antidepressant and a sleeping pill. And actually, one of the girls that I go to church with was a nurse, and she brought me some Xanax. And some of the people helping you through your grief, there's Paige.

38:47It was only like a five minute that I remember her just hugging me, and that was pretty much it. Paige was joined at Michelle's by her husband, Scotty. The pastor had called him and told him the news at his office at the hospital. He told me that Thad was dead. Scotty showed up at Michelle's house with a bandaged right hand, a weightlifting accident at the gym, he explained. He sat there and played games with Thad's kids and my daughter. I mean, they were all just sitting around, cutting up, playing games. Meanwhile, at the crime scene, the police were recovering what would turn out to be key evidence.

39:26Great stuff. A homicide detective's dream. Whoever the killer was, he had been a bungler. He dropped his prescription glasses on the ground. Nearby, they found a sheath for a knife, the apparent murder weapon. And a witness recalled seeing a burgundy minivan. As a murder, how clumsy is this crime? Incredibly. The killing of a family man and church deacon in Rome was, of course, a big story. There was a man who had heard the news of the murder. He worked on the phone systems at the Floyd Medical Center. Later that night, he was sitting down with homicide detectives, and they were very interested in what he had to say.

40:10Coming up, they would also be interested in certain emails. Things like, I want to taste you. That's a tame part of it. So not Hallmark cards and kittens and clouds. No.

40:29Mint Mobile plans are only$15 per month. Wondering what's the catch? There isn't one. There are no gimmicks and no gotchas. Just unlimited talk, text, and data. Fast, reliable coverage on the nation's largest 5G network. And an award-winning care team. That makes Mint Mobile a catch. You can bring your current phone and your phone number. Choose from three, six, or 12-month plans and say goodbye to a monthly bill. Ditch overpriced wireless with Mint Mobile. It's so easy. Sign up online and get three months of premium wireless service for$15 a month. To get your new wireless plan for just$15 a month, go to mintmobile.com slash dateline.

41:13That's mintmobile.com slash dateline. Cut your wireless bill to$15 a month at mintmobile.com slash dateline. That's it. There's no catch. $45 upfront payment required, equivalent to$15 a month. New customers on first three-month plan only. Speed slower above 40 gigabytes on unlimited plan. Additional taxes, fees, and restrictions apply. See Mint Mobile for details. With no fees or minimums on checking accounts, it's no wonder the Capital One bank guy is so passionate about banking with Capital One. He wouldn't just tell you about no fees or minimums. He'd also talk about how Capital One cafes are open seven days a week to assist with your banking needs.

41:58What's in your wallet? Terms apply. See CapitalOne.com slash bank. Capital One N-A, member FDIC. Traditional old banks charge overdraft and monthly fees. Why pay to get your own money? Chime is banking built for you. That's why they have thousands of fee-free ATMs. Chime members can earn up to$1 ,150 in annual rewards fee-free. And with a Chime card, you get 5 % cash back in a category you choose. Chime is not just smarter banking. It's the most rewarding way to bank. Join the millions who are already banking fee-free today. Head to Chime.com slash Dateline. That's Chime.com slash Dateline. It only takes a few minutes to sign up.

42:47Chime is a fintech, not a bank. Banking services for Chime card provided by Chime's bank partners. Optional products and services may have fees or charges. Stated cash back for Chime Prime only. No minimum balance required.

43:07Floyd Medical Center in Rome, Georgia, is the largest employer in the county. Keeping its vast phone system up to speed is a big job. There was a tech person who was helping the hospital change over to a new phone system. You might say he was a perfectly legal eavesdrop. So if a department would say, we're having problems with our phones, we're hearing a lot of static, it was his job to go in and find out what the problem was and clear it up. So he was monitoring some phone lines. D.A. Lee Peterson says one day as this tech was working to switch over the phone lines, he heard fellow employee Scotty Harper having an intimate conversation with a woman who wasn't his wife.

43:47Sizzling stuff. I don't know about sizzling. It was obvious that he was having an affair with someone. and they referred to their spouses as gnats, pesky creatures. It bothered him. The technician was discreet. He didn't tell anyone that he'd caught Scotty in an affair, cooing with a woman named Michelle something. Didn't tell until the day of Thad Reynolds' murder when he happened to drive by the crime scene that morning, abuzz with police activity, and later heard this Crimestopper tick. Be on the lookout for a burgundy van. So this phone troubleshooter at the hospital would turn out to be fairly important in the investigation.

44:25He'd have a little role to play. He absolutely did. Now the technician didn't hesitate to share what he knew. He's listened on these phone calls, and he knows that Scott Harper is having an affair with somebody that's not obviously his wife. And he knows that Scott Harper drives a burgundy van, and he immediately calls the police. And so at that point, the police began to focus their investigation on Scott Harper. With that tip, the detectives went to the hospital to get Scotty Harper's computer with all his emails. What the cops find reads like steamy porn. A month's worth of erotic messages between Scotty and Michelle, more than enough to persuade them that Michelle had lit the spark that started the affair.

45:09She put the full court press on him to try to seduce him, and she used everything in her power to do that. But she's very good at it, obviously. But she was taking the lead. I think that absolutely. They even referred to one of the messages as the Wheel of Fortune email. It was Michelle Descotti after she'd confided to him that she was having bad thoughts about it. She sent him an email that details what she wanted to do to him sexually. and it would be a series of phrases like I want to, and then there'd be several words or several blanks that you'd have to fill in the letters to form a word.

45:51Just like on the TV game show? Just like on the game show. And when you bought a vowel and filled it in, what were the kinds of things she was talking about? They were pretty graphic. Things like I want to taste you. That's a tame part of it. I want to make love with you. But they were extremely more graphic. So not Hallmark cards and kittens and clouds? No. He filled in the blanks, And so there's a series of emails that go back and forth between them, and that was when their relationship changed. Put us in his state of mind and who he was at that time. Why do you think he was vulnerable or receptive to this Wheel of Fortune email?

46:25Wow, that seems like a good idea. I hadn't thought of that. Michelle. I think that, I don't know how to put it any nice way, she put it on him. Michelle and Scotty tried to keep their cool with their spouses as though nothing at home had changed. The custom of the two families getting together most weekends continued and was a kind of cover for their infatuation. People who have affairs often, when they think they're being secretive and they're hiding things and they think they're in this little bubble, will think that if you're with a big group of people and the two of you are together and you can talk with the big group of people there, that no one will think there's anything about it.

47:02But now detectives were thinking all about it, and the evidence was threatening to burst Michelle in Scotty's bubble. Coming up, cops confront Scotty with pointed questions. Wear your glasses. Have you had an affair with Michelle Reynolds? He knows they're pinning him in at that point, huh? While Michelle remains calm, too calm for some. I saw no tears. Also surprising, her plan for Thad's remains. I was shocked, but I knew that there was, you know, nothing we could do because she was calling the shots. When Dateline continues.

47:44THAD RENYLDS

48:09initiated this. And he was willing to go along? He absolutely was. But the homicidal math was starting to add up. Thad, the deacon, stabbed to death. The family pastor in a sexual relationship with the murdered man's wife. A dropped pair of prescription glasses spattered with blood. A burgundy van. On Tuesday night, the day after Thad's murder, the detectives told Scotty they wanted him and his wife to come to the police station for an interview. The next morning, he arrived there with his wife, Paige. They ask him, you know, where are your glasses? Have you had an affair with Michelle Reynolds?

48:45He knows they're pinning him in at that point, huh? He can't explain. And he's lying to him flat out when he says he's not having an affair to him. And they already had the emails and they already had knowledge at this point. Does he give it up? Does he say you got me? No. They ask consent to search his van, the burgundy van, and he agrees. The police go to the hospital to get Scotty's van for processing. Hage is with him now, well aware from the police questioning where this is heading. He wants to go back into work, to the hospital, and Hage says, no, we're going to your mom and dad's right now.

49:19Investigators believe Scotty was desperately trying to get back to his office to delete anything on his computer that would link Michelle to the building case. He's trying to get rid of those emails because that's going to hook Michelle, that he loves, into this. Surprising, of course, that a computer professional like himself would have kept the emails on his laptop in the first place. What was he thinking? Why does he let this stuff reside on the computers? Well, of course he would save them so he could go back and reread and be excited all over again about this affair and its progression and all these things that they wrote to each other.

49:53He writes these long, flowery emails to her about how much he loves her and how much he cares for her and how much he wants to be with her. And when she writes back to him, that's catnip to him. He's not going to destroy that. Even an armchair detective would have started following the trail right to Scotty Harper's door. The killer had used a knife like this to stab Thad Reynolds 19 times that Monday morning. The detectives knew that on the morning of the murder, Scotty Harper had gone to the ER of the hospital where he worked to have a cut hand stitched up. Those explicit emails he failed to get rid of told them he was a month into an affair with the murdered man's wife.

50:34Had Scotty Harper murdered his best friend, the husband of his lover? Every mirror I pass, I mouth the words, you just killed that. You killed that. Scotty was confessing to the mirror, but not to anyone else. There was nothing I could say that could take it back, and there was nothing I could do that could fix it. Even prosecutors who'd seen a lot were sickened by the savagery committed on Thad Reynolds. With a gun, you can stand far away from somebody and shoot them, and you don't have to touch them, and you don't have to smell the blood, and you don't have to put your hands on them. But a knife is pretty cold.

51:13And as unimaginable as it was for detectives in the early hours of the investigation, all signs were pointing to Thad's close friend, Scotty Harper, as the killer. And the night before Scotty Harper had gone down to the police station for questioning by detectives, he called Michelle and confessed to her that he was indeed the killer. I told her I did it. And her words, as you recall? She got quiet. I remember her saying, nightmare never ends. She ended up saying she had, she said, I gotta go. I gotta go. After hanging up the phone, Scotty says they talked again. And Michelle pleaded with him that if he was going to confess to the crime, that he not do it until after Thad's funeral, still two days away.

51:51We talked later. She said, I don't want my girls to ever know you did this. This is crazy. I said, well, they're going to. And she said, can you at least give them the funeral? Don't talk to the police until after the funeral. That's your message? I was wanting to talk to her oldest daughter and Thad's mom and her. I was wanting to be able to sit down with all three of them.

52:22And while he'd confessed to his lover, Scotty still hadn't broken the news to his wife. Had you told Paige? No. But the morning of the detective's questioning, Scotty says his wife had started to figure out that he had killed Thad Reynolds. We go to my mom and dad's house, Paige and I. They call my sister over there. They call the pastor over there. You say, I did it? Yes. I was the one that murdered Thad? Yes. In the next 24 hours, Scotty met with a lawyer and then checked himself overnight into a psychiatric hospital. The lawyer suggested it? He said, I think you really need to go there. And I probably did.

53:02I'm not suggesting I was insane when it happened. I remember it happening. Scotty, out of sight overnight in a psych ward, was also buying Michelle the time she wanted to prepare for Thad's funeral without the pall of Scotty's involvement hanging over it. But no one in their circle suspected yet that Scotty Harper could be the killer. Friends were nonetheless privately buzzing about the new widow's demeanor. Why did Michelle seem so calm? And why did she tell the ladies who asked if they could help her shop for a funeral dress that that wouldn't be necessary? She had a new black dress in her closet with the price tag still on it.

53:42What was going on with the newly widowed Michelle? Thad's mother and sister don't remember Michelle shedding any tears at all. There was like no emotion, no, no, you know, I thought maybe she was in shock. I remember Michelle coming outside and hugging me, but I saw no tears. Michelle had also requested that police not give her any details about her husband's murder. The investigators saw it all as odd behavior. Everybody thought that she acted very strange. There weren't really any tears. She wasn't crying. People at the church, again, were just devastated, and she wasn't shedding a tear. In fact, she was making jokes to some of the people that came in and would say inappropriate things.

54:28Friends at the house told investigators, though Michelle would later say she was just joking, that she initially talked about getting a nose ring soon after Thad was killed. Michelle looked over and said, do you like so-and-so's nose ring? And the lady said, no, I don't really like nose rings. And Michelle said, well, now that Thad's dead, I think I'm going to get one. And everybody in the room just kind of went. Something like he, because he won't be able to say anything about it. Yeah, Thad didn't like them. She's cold, ice cold. Michelle, Thad's family says, is also talking about cremating Thad's remains.

55:03If that was his wish, he'd never mentioned it to them. I was shocked. But I knew that there was, you know, nothing we could do because she was calling the shots. And it all started crashing down on Thursday morning when Thad's mother went over to the house and was told that she couldn't go in. One of the ladies from church kind of backed me up against the car and said, you can't go in. They're searching the house, they're seizing the computer. And that's when she told me that Scotty and Michelle had had an affair. When the detectives read through all the emails that Scotty, the computer expert, had failed to delete, when they saw a message from Michelle about when and where Scotty would be able to find Thad the morning he was killed, and when they considered how coolly the new widow took the news of her husband's death, arrest warrants were drawn up not just for Scotty Harper, but surprisingly for Michelle as well.

55:56She would be charged as his co-killer. She is one of the most evil people that I've ever dealt with in all the years I've been a prosecutor. The two lovers, the deacon's wife and the family pastor, were issued jailhouse jumpsuits and charged with murder. They would face the highest count. You announced your intention to go for the death penalty on the both of them. Yes. Her as well. Yes. Even though she was clearly not at the scene. Even though she was clearly not at the scene, she is a party to the crime. She aided, abetted, encouraged, and helped plan this. But could the state prove that Michelle knew all along what Scotty was going to do?

56:33The prosecutor was confident she could. She's the brains and he's the muscle. Coming up. It always amazed me. They were talking about how much they missed each other. I don't believe that I've ever been loved as much by somebody as I have by you. There were several of these conversations and then none of them. Are there denials? of any of it.

57:02My uncontrollable movements called TD, tardive dyskinesia, felt embarrassing. I felt like disconnecting. I asked my doctor about treating my TD and learned about Ingressa, valbenazine capsules, a prescription medicine clinically proven for reducing TD in adults. That's always one capsule, once daily, and number one prescribed. People taking Ingressa can stay on most mental health meds. Ingressa can cause depression, suicidal thoughts, or actions in patients with Huntington's disease. Call your doctor if you become depressed, have sudden behavior or mood changes, or suicidal thoughts. Don't take Ingresa if allergic.

57:35Serious side effects may include allergic reactions like sudden, potentially fatal swelling in hives, sleepiness, the most common side effect, and heart rhythm problems. Know how Ingresa affects you before operating a car or dangerous machinery. Report fever, stiff muscles, or problems thinking, as these might be life-threatening. Shaking, stiffness, drooling, and trouble with moving or balance may occur. Take control by asking your doctor about Ingresa. Learn more at ingrezza.com. That's I-N-G-R-E-Z-Z-A dot com. Need to pay a friend back for festival tickets or a morning coffee run? Apple Cash makes it simple.

58:09Just tap plus in the Messages app to find Apple Cash. No need to jump between apps or search for usernames. It's a private and secure way to send money. Send cash right in the chat with Apple Cash. Apple Cash services are provided by Green Dot Bank. Member FDIC. Terms apply. 向小川向小川向小川 www.academy .io www.academy.io Hello, I'm Ozempic. And I'm other GLP ones, kind of like him. Are you shaking a maraca? Nope, I'm shaking the pill version of Ozempic, which no one should ever do except in ads like this. A nice disclaimer. Hey, thanks. Ask your doctor about which FDA-approved uses of the Ozempic pen or pill may be right for you.

58:48Call 1-833-OZEMPIC or visit Ozempic.com to view the medication guide and learn more about Ozempic semaglutide tablets, 9 mg, and Ozempic semaglutide injection, 2 mg. There's a pill version of Los M. Peck.

59:08Then the king said to all his servants, Do you not know that a prince and a great man, forgive me, has fallen this day in Israel? Thad Reynolds was eulogized as a man of God, sent to his rest by his many friends at Hollywood Baptist Church, where he'd been a beloved deacon. So poignant, those four little girls stair-stepped in size, their father suddenly dead, and their mother charged with killing him. If you could hear them pray, Olivia prays just exactly like her daddy. And the baby, she always says when she prays, she says, you know, the usual stuff, keep our family safe, bless mama, bless papa, bless mama, bless daddy.

59:54Mama, Michelle Reynolds, was not at the funeral, but in the county jail, charged with planning Thad's murder with her lover, Scotty Harper. Both were denied bond as flight risks. If convicted, both could face the death penalty. But the two were still apparently so desperately in love that they convinced a recently released fellow inmate to set up three-way calling for them. An inmate at the Floyd County Jail. If you wish to accept this call... The inmate turned out to be a jailhouse snitch. Hey. Hey. He's on the other line, okay? And while Michelle and Scotty talked, their conversations were being recorded.

1:00:31It's not exciting. Listen for yourself. Scotty and Michelle from behind bars still hinting at ending up in Portland, their fantasy city where they'd start a new life together. I wonder how Portland is. Oh, I know. It's how you're... Even though they faced the possibility of death row, Scotty and Michelle's conversations remained light, flirtatious, even racy. Wait, wait.

1:00:56And they kept speaking of their devotion to each other as investigators listened in. It always amazed me. They were talking about how much they missed each other. I don't believe that I've ever been loved as much by somebody as I have by you. And I mean that. I'm with you. They're stopping in the middle of the conversation and saying things like, oh, wait a minute, I love you. Did you know that I love you? And they'll say it over and over and over. Thank you. It's not me. It's not me. And it's what they weren't hearing from Michelle, a lack of outrage that reinforced the prosecutor's conviction that Michelle knew all along that murder was afoot and was actively planning it with Scotty.

1:01:45If you were arrested for the murder of your spouse and you got to have communication with the person who actually committed the murder, Don't you think you would say something like, what have you done? What did you get me into? Why did you do this? There were several of these conversations, and then none of them. Are there denials of any of it? There were prison letters exchanged, too. In one, from Michelle to Scotty two weeks after the murder, she uses some verses from the Bible to pass on an only slightly encoded message to him. The letter page is headed, Freedom for Me and My Children. She quotes a verse from Genesis, and you see that she's underlined the word, all.

1:02:23The next bit of scripture is from Psalms. Who have I in heaven but you? The I is underlined. In all, Michelle writes out 17 verses with certain words underlined. And when you read all those underlines together, it forms the thought, all I knew was that you were going to speak to him about us. Help me if a man would give for love. And that's her message to him. She still, she knows that he loves her and she wants him to save her and take her away from this, take her out of it. So that's her campaign at this point. Yes. She's setting up her defense, which is, I had no idea. Right. You were so much in love with me, I had no idea that you would go to that lane.

1:03:03Yes. And in the days following the arrest, the detectives continued to build their case. They took note of an insurance policy on Thad that would have paid Michelle more than$250 ,000. Was money part of the motive? But what the detectives initially didn't have was the murder weapon, the knife Scott Harper had used. But that changed when one of his co-workers at the hospital had an inkling of where a good hiding place would be. He and another guy who worked at the IT department started looking. And they went into the server room and they took the suction cup device and they started pulling up the tiles one at a time.

1:03:39And I think he told us he got to the third one and he pulled it up and there was the J.C. Penney's bag. Inside this bag was Scotty's bloody clothing, his shoes, the knife, and even this receipt for the knife from Kmart. It was virtually a murder conviction in a bag. I've never had a case where somebody gave me not only the receipt from buying the murder weapon, but packaged it all up along with what they were wearing at the time they did it. Later, they'd recover the security camera tape from Kmart. Scotty, seen here, goes into the store to buy the four-inch hunting knife. So is he among the world's stupidest guys?

1:04:18Yeah. You've got everything but a movie of him doing it. That's true. Hers is definitely the harder case. Not in any of the recovered emails had Michelle written words to the effect, We need to kill Thad. So instead, the prosecutors focused on that 4th of July weekend that began with that frosty rendezvous at the levy on Friday. By that day, Scotty had already failed on two occasions to confront Thad after he says Michelle had given him instructions as to where he would be. To Scotty, she seemed upset that afternoon that he hadn't been manly enough to tell Thad. He thought he'd lost her. Sunday, she emails Scotty, letting him know where Thad will be early the next morning.

1:04:57And the best nugget the prosecution had was this. An email exchange late Sunday evening. He writes, Stop me if you have any hesitations. She replies, I'm ready. Please be observant of your surroundings and be careful. I can't wait to be your bride. Was it enough? Would a jury buy that as her knowing, deliberately giving her head-over-heels lover a green light for murder? Michelle had hired seasoned criminal defense lawyers, Jimmy Berry and Vic Reynolds. They were very worried about trying a case in a town they believe was ready to convict their client with biblical fury. In this case, there was absolutely a moral backlash against Michelle.

1:05:38I think there was a perception by the community that she had initiated this affair, had taken this man of God with her womanly ways, sexual ways, had gotten him to do this heinous act. And I think the community was convinced that that's what Michelle had done. But despite the defense attorney's fear a local jury would be willing to brand their client with a scarlet letter, They didn't believe those emails between the lovers gave the prosecutors the smoking gun they needed to send Michelle to death row. There's a lot of ways to interpret what some of these emails may have indicated. The defense attorney's version of events would be that Scotty acted entirely on his own, just crazy in love with their client.

1:06:20Talk to Thad, he suggests, means that and only that. No coded language. She basically indicates to me that she never indicated to Scotty that she wanted him to kill her husband. So, which was it? Two lovers who'd carried out a murder in order to get to their fantasy land of Portland together? Or was she totally in the dark? Was it really about one crazed man killing the husband who stood in the way? And would the prosecutors be forced to cut Michelle loose from their case altogether? Was it time for prosecutors to play their least favorite game, Let's Make a Deal? Coming up, and how about, let's piece together the evidence?

1:07:04Some wondered why Michelle seemed to have a brand new funeral outfit ready to go. Every woman needs a black dress. When Dateline continues.

1:07:25Michelle would write in an email later that she could relate to the words of that old song, Torn Between Two Lovers. I love my husband and I didn't want him to be hurt. But the prosecutors had come to look at Michelle Reynolds in the worst possible light, a seducer who used her sexual powers to dupe a sap of a lover into killing her husband for her. She's been referred to as a puppet master. She was absolutely pulling his strings and pushing him and hinting and saying, we're never going to be together unless. Unless, they argued, Scotty killed her husband. Did you ever have a conversation, Michelle, where you said, we've got to think about the worst possible thing.

1:08:06The only way we're going to be together is to get rid of that. No, sir. Michelle denied that she sent her lover to kill her husband as she talked about her extramarital affair with Dateline. At one point, we were both talking about it. You know, we need to stop. And then he came back and he says, I can't. I can't stop. Guilty of adultery, she says, but not murder. And as you hear her tell her story, you'll realize that for Michelle, it was never endless love. She talks of Scotty indifferently, as though he's an inconsequential old boyfriend, she has to squint to remember. We met in the parking deck at his job, and we just kissed.

1:08:50Did anything else happen that day? No, sir. And when did you go past kissing into actual having sex? We actually didn't have sex. You never had sex? No, sir. He couldn't get an erection. Scotty, Michelle was saying, was impotent. A startling revelation, if true, given all the horror that had spilled out of the affair. She says the trists at the motels, all heavy petting and making out without consummation. And ditto for him sneaking into her room during that weekend in Alabama. Again, he can get an erection. Kissing and hugging. Yes, sir. And then at dawn he'd leave. Yes, sir. When Scotty was in the county jail months after the murder, authorities confiscated in his cell a 58-page letter he'd written Michelle, but she'd never received.

1:09:43Over and over he writes lines like these. I want to love you, spend the rest of my life devoted to you, and making you the happiest woman alive. But the letter is more than just another avowal of his endless love for her. It's also a bullet point outline for how they need to keep their stories together for their upcoming trials. In this phone book of a letter, Scotty also outlines for her how he plans to defend himself. He's going to argue that he took a pill for erectile dysfunction, something which triggered a psychotic episode during which he killed Thad, not guilty by reason of temporary insanity.

1:10:19So this idea of impotency is floating around the case. But the prosecutor isn't buying the argument. She says she has, on the record, Michelle boasting about her sexual dexterity. She bragged about that she had shown him positions that he'd never seen before. And he loved it. Those were exactly her words, and he loved it. Whatever the truth, Michelle and Scotty were only a few weeks into their romantic relationship when they met at the levee, the day she didn't want to cuddle. She wanted to talk about the dead end they were facing, unless Scotty had a man-to-man confrontation with Thad as he promised.

1:10:55Were you on him saying, have you talked to him yet? Has this happened? We had discussed it, because there at that time he said, oh my gosh, I'm losing you, because Thad had said what's going on on a date, And so that even increased his wanting to move forward even more so. That was the Friday of Fourth of July weekend when a dejected Scotty felt he was losing Michelle. That weekend there was barbecue, volleyball, fireworks. And on Sunday, Michelle remembers Scotty telling her he was finally going to talk to her husband. He said, send me your husband's schedule so I'll know where he's at and I'll hook up with him.

1:11:36And that's what I did. What did that mean to you, Michelle? That he was going to go and confront him about us. Did you get the feeling he was talking about a violent resolution of this thing? No, sir. I really, Scotty was a nice, outgoing guy. I would never imagine him hurting anyone. But what about those troubling emails the lovers exchanged on Sunday, the day before the murder? Scotty sends you an email that says, I'm ready for tomorrow. Stop me if you have any hesitation. Do you remember that? Yes, sir. What did you think that meant? If I wanted him to go and tell that about us or not. And you reply, no hesitation.

1:12:17I'm ready. Please be observant of your surroundings and be careful. I do want to spend time with you. I want to be your wife. Yes, sir. Is there any way to read that, Michelle, other than to say, be careful in what we both know is going to happen and look over your shoulder and do pull this thing off? I know that there's people there because they come in and out Being careful is like don't get in a fight. Remember, during that church trip in Alabama, Michelle and Scotty started using the words talk and ugly as a lover's code for Scotty's upcoming confrontation with that. You used as shorthand the word ugly between you?

1:12:53Yes, sir. What did the word ugly mean to you? Them getting in a fight. So when you say in this email, be careful, you're thinking about don't do something dumb, don't get in a fight. Right. Michelle says she never told or even hinted to Scotty that he needed to kill Thad. There were no special looks, no nods, nothing. Had you told Scotty explicitly or given him some sort of body language that we've got to kill Thad? No, sir. This is how we're going to be together? No, sir. And when Scotty called her that morning, she says she still didn't suspect that he had killed Thad. He had said that he met with him and told him, but he didn't bring up the fact that what happened.

1:13:34So what did you think had happened? I mean, you're a bright woman. Here was the morning of the confrontation. He says they did have the confrontation, and then Thad is found stabbed to death. I didn't want to believe that it was him. Did you suspect it? No, because that's just not his character. It's not part of him. He's just an all-time sweet guy, and no. So at the very moment he's supposed to have this confrontation, which is going to be unpleasant in the best of all worlds, it happens and then out of the blue somebody else comes into the place of business and stabs your husband 19 times at dawn in a botched robbery?

1:14:10I mean, that doesn't add up. Yes, sir. Michelle also says there was no dark humor between her and Scotty about killing Thad. You don't remember joking with him about, well, we'll make a poison batch of spaghetti and that'll take care of it? No, sir. We'll annihilate them. Yes, sir. As for the perception that she seemed unreasonably cool at the house in the days after the murder, Michelle says she was simply in shock. In all honesty, I was blacked out for the most part because those people that said they came to my house and that they saw me, and I don't ever recall. And the fact that she had what seemed to some a pre-need black funeral dress already hanging in the closet, Michelle says this has been taken entirely out of context.

1:14:55Every woman needs a black dress, and along with that black dress, they didn't mention the fact that I had, like, two other dresses, a top and skirt, still with the tags on them. To Michelle's lawyers, none of it may have looked good, but it was still all very thin evidence for the prosecutors to build a capital murder case against their client. They were all just bad innuendos. And even the prosecutor knew if they were going to get a conviction on Michelle, Well, they'd need Scotty to testify against her. And four years after the murder, as the two lovers sat in separate cells in the county jail, prosecutors finally got just that.

1:15:36Do you fully understand what's going on here today? A sworn taped confession from Scotty Harper. Are you freely, cooperatively giving us this statement? All right. Scotty cut a deal with the district attorney. He taped this confession and would testify for the prosecution in Michelle's upcoming trial, provided the state dropped the death penalty on not just him, but also on her. I had to hold my nose in a major way. You don't offer a get-out-of-death-row free card casually. No. He is going to have to give us her and her part in it and her complicity in it. Not, you know, I love her and she had nothing to do with this.

1:16:14He's got to come off that line. Yeah, he's got to tell the truth. But would they ever get the complete truth from a man who would do anything for the woman he loved? Coming up. I sense relief. You're talking about relief on Michelle's part. Scotty recounts what happened when he called Michelle to tell her he'd finally confronted that. Did she say words to the effect, Scott? Is he dead? Did you kill him?

1:16:48My uncontrollable movements called TD, tardive dyskinesia, felt embarrassing. I felt like disconnecting. I asked my doctor about treating my TD and learned about Ingreza, valbenazine capsules, a prescription medicine clinically proven for reducing TD in adults. That's always one capsule, once daily, and number one prescribed. People taking Ingreza can stay on most mental health meds. Ingreza can cause depression, suicidal thoughts, or actions in patients with Huntington's disease. Call your doctor if you become depressed, have sudden behavior or mood changes, or suicidal thoughts. Don't take Ingressa if allergic.

1:17:20Serious side effects may include allergic reactions like sudden, potentially fatal swelling in hives, sleepiness, the most common side effect, and heart rhythm problems. Know how Ingressa affects you before operating a car or dangerous machinery. Report fevers, stiff muscles, or problems thinking, as these might be life-threatening. Shaking, stiffness, drooling, and trouble with moving or balance may occur. Take control by asking your doctor about Ingressa. Learn more at Ingressa.com. That's I-N-G-R-E-Z-Z-A dot com. Need to pay a friend back for festival tickets or a morning coffee run? Apple Cash makes it simple.

1:17:54Just tap plus in the Messages app to find Apple Cash. No need to jump between apps or search for usernames. It's a private and secure way to send money. Send cash right in the chat with Apple Cash. Apple Cash services are provided by Green Dot Bank. Member FDIC. Terms apply.

1:18:18There's only one Ozempic. Hello, I'm Ozempic. And I'm other GLP-1s, kind of like him. Ozempic, you redid your jingle? Ah, thanks for noticing. Catchy, right? No. Okay, then. Well, ask your doctor about which FDA-approved uses of me. The Ozempic pen may be right for you. Call 1-833-OZEMPIC or visit Ozempic.com to view the medication guide and learn more about Ozempic semaglutide injection, 2 milligrams. Only Novo Nordisk makes FDA-approved Ozempic. There's only one Ozempic! I told you it was catchy.

1:18:54Scotty Harper had fallen hard for the former homecoming queen at his high school. The enormously tangled dilemma was that Michelle Reynolds was also his best friend's wife, the mother of four little girls. For him, what had started out as email flirtations turned into irresistible hot sex. Was it exciting? Was it risky? Was it good? Exciting, risky. It was something I wanted. I think I hear you saying this is like a narcotic. That Michelle has become your drug and you cannot get enough of it. I guess that's fair to say. She was. Everything, yeah, everything I needed. She said you're probably just going to have to live on her own if you ever want to be with her.

1:19:42As part of a plea deal with the state, Scotty Harper had agreed to testify for the prosecution in exchange for taking the death penalty off the table for both of them. She said if we're going to continue, we're going to get called. That's not a good plan. In this sworn confession that was taped before Michelle's pending trial, Scotty described the path he says they traveled down that ultimately led to murder. It all started in earnest, he says, at the weekend church trip in Alabama when he sneaked away to the private room he'd arranged for her. She asked me, she said,

1:20:21When you talk with Dad, what if it's ugly? And I asked her, I said, well, why do you? And I asked you, your perspective, what if it's ugly? And she told me, she said, she said, I love you. She said, as long as I end up with you, I can do just about anything. You believe in Michelle's mind. Talking meant a lot more than just saying words to somebody. It meant taking some action. Eliminating Thad. Scotty also said he heard relief in Michelle's voice when he spoke to her the morning of Thad's death. I sense relief. And you're talking about relief on Michelle's part. But when Dateline talked to Scotty Harper, he backed away from that position he'd given the prosecution as part of his plea deal.

1:21:13That Michelle was relieved the morning Thad is found dead. And that she even knew what talk and ugly were really all about. He seemed to once again want to protect her from any involvement in the murder. So what's the truth? There's nothing to cover for. There's nothing to protect her from. The truth is, I did this. I see no guilt on her part. I really don't. Scotty said he acted alone, and that when he went to sleep that Sunday night, even he didn't know how the confrontation with Thad was going to play out. He said he got up before 5 that Monday morning. But instead of his usual trip to the gym, he made the decision to drive to the Frito-Lay warehouse.

1:22:00It's hard to believe things got to where it was. Pull in, I'm looking at myself in the rearview mirror for a minute before I go in. Was that always going to be the outcome from that moment on, as you're looking at yourself in the rearview? It's like I was sitting outside looking in. And I'm not removing myself from the responsibility because that was me. But it's hard to imagine myself or the thoughts that I was having. You see yourself walking in? Yeah. Hear him saying, hey, Scotty Harper, what are you doing here? Yeah. What do you say to him? I want what you got. Michelle. Correct. Scotty says he then pulled the knife out of the sheath.

1:22:51That, he says, thought he'd simply come to return the hunting knife he'd lost on that family camping trip. It's in my right hand. He sees it. He looks down. He holds out his left hand. As though you're going to what? Hand the knife to him? I guess so. You know, me saying I want what you got, he had a little confused look on him. So he didn't know what I was talking about. But he didn't have much time to reflect because you're on him with a knife right away, huh? Correct. The worst minute of your life in a lot of other people's lives. Yeah. Thad tried to fight back. Do you remember anything about it?

1:23:31Pretty much. They would say later in the autopsy report that you stabbed him 19 times. I don't remember 19 stabs, but I remember enough. He went down and stayed down. Did you say, I want what you have again? I said it more than once, yes. Did you think now I've got her? No. I couldn't believe what I'd done. I couldn't believe what I'd done. Scotty left Thad, his best friend, bleeding to death on his office floor. He knew he needed to get away quickly. I had to wrap my fingers. I'd cut myself. And there go your eyeglasses. You lost them. It's dark and they're gone. And you've lost the sheathed in the knife.

1:24:24No plan. This is no plan, Scott. No plan. What's going on? No idea how it got there. Not a thing to do to take it back. What are you going to do next? That's what 6 a.m. is about. What's 7 a.m.? What's 8 a.m.? What are the next years of your life going to be about coming off of this moment? The after effects wasn't planned. Not thinking about running, escaping, doing anything. But also not going to the police. And also not going to the police. He drove to the hospital where he worked and entered through a side door. I had blood all over me. I changed clothes. There's other people going to be coming in, and I'm going to just leave bloody clothes and a knife sitting out.

1:25:06I just put them under the floor. And it's a raised floor, a data center, where we had our servers. that you could pull the tiles up. So did you think, wow, this is going pretty good now? No, at no point during that time I felt like this was going pretty good. He then headed to the ER to get stitches for the knife wound on his hand. Later, he drove to his gym to shower up. Every mirror I passed, I mouthed the words, you just killed that. You killed that. It just seemed surreal. It was like it didn't happen. but I knew it did. Your blood's on him, his blood's on you. You're a good friend. Yeah. Scotty then calls Michelle.

1:25:50She asked me, she said, did you talk with him? I said yes. Did you say it got ugly? Yes. Did she say words to the effect, Scott, is he dead, did you kill him, is it over? No. No. You're saying that her understanding was that you've had to talk with him and it was nasty and it was ugly and what? I'll talk to you later? Yeah, I mean, she says she's sure she'd hear all about it a little bit later. Soon after speaking to Michelle, Scotty got the official word from their pastor that Thad was dead. He headed over to Michelle's, where he was immediately surrounded by Thad's family, and these pictures were snapped of him holding the dead man's youngest daughter.

1:26:38I see his daughters. The children who don't have a father. Yeah. I see his sister. I see his mom. The mom of the man you've just murdered? Yes. How are you holding it together? Why don't you just come undone at that point and say, I throw myself at your mercy, this thing happened. There's nothing I could say that could take it back, and there's nothing I could do that could fix it. So you're just going to muddle forward and see what happens? I didn't know what to do. Scotty says he and Michelle had barely any time alone that day. Too many friends were arriving to express their condolences. But when he called her late that night, he says it still hadn't occurred to her that he was the killer.

1:27:20Before we hung up, she said, do you think this was a sign? A what? A sign. A sign from where, of what? A sign from God. And I asked her, what are you talking about? And she said, of all days, for you to go talk to her. I saw then she didn't know. She didn't know that you were going to go kill him? No. No, she didn't. When I went to bed that night, I can't say I knew that I was going to kill him. I know she couldn't have. And she always had no idea. Scotty Harper's story. From friendship to homicide. all for a one-time homecoming queen who now says their fling was just a big mistake. Was he still the 15-year-old boy in high school fixated on the homecoming queen?

1:28:10I believe so, yes, sir. Coming up... She taught him how to walk on the wild side, and he didn't want to ever give that up. And now, after everything... What would you say to Scotty? when Dateline continues.

1:28:35One woman, two men, seven children among them being raised in good, solid, middle-class homes. I don't know how you explain it. If you try to wrap your mind around it, you can't. Because we always come back to the question, why not just get a divorce? But they didn't. And the prosecutor believes it was Scotty Harper's sexual obsession with Michelle that led him to murder. She taught him how to walk on the wild side. And he didn't want to ever give that up. Even apparently if it meant going to prison for the rest of his life for it. There would be no trial. Scotty Harper pleaded guilty to stabbing to death his good friend Thad Reynolds.

1:29:14Mr. Tarpy, you have previously entered a plea of guilty in the charges of murder of Mr. Thad Reynolds. He was given life in prison without the possibility of parole. Michelle Reynolds also ended up taking a deal from the prosecutor. You understand that you're presumed innocent until proven guilty? I'm for it. You understand that if I entered a guilty plea, you're giving up these rights? I'm for it. Knowing that Scotty was planning to testify for the prosecution, Michelle agreed to a sentence of 10 years for voluntary manslaughter and 10 years for party to the crime of burglary, a charge related to Scotty entering the Frito-Lay warehouse.

1:30:00It's always hard to roll the dice when you're talking about a death penalty. Michelle's lawyers were prepared to go to trial and argued that she had no idea that Scotty was going to kill her husband. But when they hadn't managed to get a change of venue out of Rome, Georgia, and when the prosecution was offering to swap the death penalty for a much lesser charge, they advised Michelle to take the deal. It's the Bible Belt. Nobody likes folks in the Bible Belt having affairs. Everybody pretty much had made up their mind that she was guilty, that she forced this boy and never been in any trouble, good boy.

1:30:34She forced him into killing her husband so that they could be together. Michelle accepted the 20-year prison term without a trial because a part of her does feel responsible for Thad's death. Morally, because I had the affair, I feel responsible because had I not had the affair, this wouldn't have happened. And I'm deeply sorry that so many people were hurt, that I've hurt a lot of people. So you agreed to do 20 years for an affair? Yes, sir. Is that what it comes down to? Yes, sir. But you didn't ask your lover to kill your husband? No, sir. Scotty, though, says he wished Michelle had fought the charges.

1:31:13I don't understand why she pled. Because if she lost her bet, she might have ended up on death row. You're innocent. Why would you plea? I mean, I just don't understand. Scotty told us he took the plea deal because he didn't want his family to go through a death penalty trial, and he didn't want Michelle to face that either. Was that as important as your deal, that they take death off the table for her? Correct. So you're still trying to do her some good? For what good it is, I mean, I can't say that I've done good for anybody, but yeah. As part of her sentence, Michelle could not have contact with her four children until each turned 18.

1:31:49And what would you say to Scotty? At this time, I don't have anything to say to him. He's just a memory and not good ones? Yes, sir. I was definitely crazy about it. But now? Some things you have to suppress. Suppress. It's there, but you don't want to touch it? You can't, so you don't. The other thing that Michelle said, which just really surprised me, when you think of everything that you guys gambled, she said that you never really completed a sexual relationship. I've heard that from people. I don't know. She said that basically you were impotent with her and never consummated the act. I'm not sure why she said it, but I'll just leave it at that.

1:32:33You loved her. Yeah. Michelle's four girls went to live with Thad's family. His life insurance went to their care. Scotty's wife, mother of his three, divorced him. He was left with only regrets. I'm sorry it doesn't cut it. That's all I have now.

1:32:55There's nothing I can say to undo what I've done. The prosecutor is not surprised by any of it, that Scotty said he still loved Michelle from behind bars and that Michelle seemed not to care. When last heard from him, he was still hanging the moon and the stars for her. Yes. And probably will for the rest of his life. As giddy as a teenager. He still loves her. She's still all he has. But what about her? She never loved him. She used him. She uses people as objects. If you're useful to her, she'll use you for a while, and then she's going to cast you aside. Sweetheart, wasn't the service great today?

1:33:32It sure was, Wayhart. In the church play Michelle and Thad were featured in, they go to a cotton candy heaven as their reward. This is heaven! This is what we've lived for! Isn't it wonderful? A Sunday school dream. Nothing in that script about sexual obsession and a hunting knife. A man who wanted what the other had. That's all for now. I'm Lester Holt. Thanks for joining us.

1:34:07There's a special magic to Illinois, and it all starts with the people. Hi, I'm Katie Sheehan, host of Enjoy Illinois Let's Go, a brand new podcast that brings you the stories, places, and personalities that define the land of Lincoln. Join me this season as I sit down with comedian Andy Richter, chef Gail Gand, and tastemakers from around the state. Find us on your favorite podcast platforms. Are you ready to enjoy Illinois? Let's go.