Georgia investigators say the wife of a renowned lawyer took great measures to cover up his death, but what they found during an autopsy confirmed the man’s death wasn’t an accident.

AJC reports that the body of commercial real estate attorney, 58-year-old Gary Farris, was found by his adult son earlier this month, in a wooded area on the family’s 10-acre Cherokee County property off of Purcell Lane. It took investigators weeks to positively identify Gary, as his body had been badly burned.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation announced that they found a bullet in Gary’s body and ruled the death as a homicide.

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“The body was severely burned, and when someone burns a body, it’s going to remove evidence that might have been in the body, and so it does pose challenges, and there are other evidence that needs to be collected,” Cherokee County Sheriff’s Capt. Jay Baker said. “I will say that a .38-caliber bullet was removed from the remains, that’s one of the ways we knew he had been shot.”

Investigators reportedly uncovered evidence inside the family home that pointed to Gary’s wife, 59-year-old Melody Farris, as the alleged killer. Authorities stated that Farris is accused of killing her husband inside the home, then taking his body to a secluded area behind their home, where she set him on fire.

“Detectives recovered evidence indicating Ms. Farris shot and killed her husband inside their home and then tried to dispose of his body and evidence by burning it on their Purcell Lane property,” Baker added.

The motive behind the killing remains unclear, although Baker told Channel 2 Action News that the couple had marital issues in the past. A neighbor told the station that he didn’t see the wife much and she tended to keep to herself.

“I don’t think anyone knew his wife. Apparently, his wife did not get out much. No one really seemed to know her,” neighbor Ben Kushner said.

Melody Farris was arrested in Texas. She’s expected to be extradited back to Georgia to face murder charges.

Check back with CrimeOnline as additional details become available.

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[Feature Photo: Melody Farris and Gary Farris/Police Handout; Handout]