James Addy

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When police show up at James Addy's door to tell him that Molly, his fiancée, is dead, his wife is as surprised to see them as they are to see her.

not really watching your husband loaded into a police car has to be hard for melanie when you think about the snapshots of her life before tell me about meeting james addy i was working at a convenience store and he was a customer he came in a lot and finally asked me out and once you two hit it off did he pop the question pretty soon very quickly maybe six months That's the wedding photo.

You look so young, both of you.

A few years later, Emma comes along. So your family's growing.

As the years go on, their lives seem so normal. James clashes with his teen son, but Melanie says she felt her husband was dedicated to his family and very loyal. She never suspected that he was being unfaithful. Did you get any sense of whether he was contented and happy in the marriage? He seemed the same all the time.

At one point, he takes a trip to Florida on his own. What was that trip about?

As I talk to Melanie, knowing where this is going, it's hard not to be a little incredulous. But no matter what I ask, she's consistent. She did not know the truth about what was going on.

Any suspicions? Not about an affair, no. So let's go back then to April 27, 2018. Any strange behavior on his part? No, not at all.

Did it strike you as unusual or odd?

Do you remember when he came home?

the police tell you yes that your husband has a dead fiance yes and he's engaged to the one and you're learning all of this in one immediately yeah and you've been married for 20 23 years what did you think i can't even tell you it was it was just mind-boggling it made no sense at all none were you Were you angry? Were you hurt? What were you feeling?

That night, he says, he saw headlights.

Did you think that your husband was capable of murder?

Were you asking yourself, how could I have missed this?

So he's under arrest. He's in jail.

Do you go visit him?

Both in tears. What is he saying to you?

Did you look at him suddenly as a stranger, as somebody you didn't know? I looked at him as someone I didn't want back. Now investigators have got to untangle this mess. They have to have evidence. They have a t-shirt, the ammunition box, and now there's one other item they find near that dirt road. A cell phone. Molly's cell phone.

That phone now means that prosecutors can take the case to the courtroom. There's another voice that will be heard.

James Addy, the former prison guard, now under guard himself. At trial, lead investigator Bradley Ream takes the stand to testify about that jaw-dropping moment in the Addy home.

Glenn McSparran testifies about finding Molly.

Glenn McSparran testifies about seeing that man at the crime scene, but in a blow to the prosecution, he can't identify James Addy as the man he saw.

But McSparran's description of the car that man was driving, that old grandma car, police say matches Addie's car. And then they take a good look at the tires. Prosecutors say one of the tires on Addie's car, a Goodyear, is just the kind that could leave a double O impression like the one found near Molly Watson's body.

A state crime lab expert testifies that he compared the right rear tire on Addie's car to a cast that was made at the scene of the crime next to Molly's body.

A prosecution witness testifies that bullets found in the .22 caliber rifle found in James Addy's home are consistent with the Thunderbolt ammunition, the kind that came in that empty ammo box they found. Even so, that doesn't prove that it's the murder weapon.

A cell phone, Molly's cell phone.

And investigators say there's a reference to that story about Addy's wife Melanie dying after a car crash. Prosecutors say Addy texted Molly that his ex-wife's funeral was happening the day before their wedding.

I'm sorry, sweetness. I love you so, so much.

why would james addy lie why tell molly that his ex-wife melanie was dead some speculate that maybe he hoped the story about the car crash would cause his fiance to postpone the wedding and the collision of his two lives but instead it may have sped up his day of reckoning molly at a certain point did try to look into this and question this according to some of the things brought up in court

Prosecutors point out that Molly's online search happens the day before her murder and argue this theory. Molly figures out that James's wife isn't dead and confronts him. And they say that's what led him to kill her.

This is safe. We take you back to a core trauma. Breathe in.

Emma's most damaging testimony may be about that bloody T-shirt. Remember the one that was found in the road near the crime scene?

On his way back just 30 minutes later, a horrific scene, a body in his headlights.

Addy's defense says that's not proof that maybe Addy had just given the t-shirt to Molly.

You were called to testify. How hard was that?

Did you feel that your husband should have been found guilty of murder? Absolutely. Yeah. Is he a killer?

Anyone expecting regrets or remorse is in for quite a surprise.

Not James Addy. He is scheduled to spend the rest of his life in prison. But he's got plenty to say, beginning by reading a love letter to the woman he's convicted of killing.

The idea that it never happens here, in this country corner of Missouri, is pretty much right. Police go into full investigative mode, and there's evidence to be found. In the muddy crime scene, they find tire tracks remarkably well preserved.

On a road leading away from the scene, they find an empty box.

Police wake up the family in the middle of the night with some pretty bad news.

Police want to know what brought Molly to this dark, desolate place, and even more puzzling, who'd have a reason to kill her?

Two dresses she could not make up her mind.

Molly Watson is 35. Her friends describe her as sweet, creative, bubbly.

Lots of artwork, costuming. She was really good at that. She has a YouTube channel. She plays with makeup and shows off her sewing.

Molly was married in her early 20s. The relationship didn't last more than a few years. During the breakup, she's pregnant and has a son.

Later, she dates a woman she'd known since they were in kindergarten together. But that relationship falls apart when Molly meets somebody new at the prison where she works as a corrections officer, a lieutenant named James Addy. He's 16 years older than she is, and Molly's brother says the couple doesn't spend much time with her family.

But Addie's brother looked up to him.

At this point, James and Molly seem to be a couple, and he's quite the romantic. He writes, After seven years of having this relationship with James, well, she surprises her family.

You were booked for her makeup and hair three years ago.

What did you know about Molly and the wedding and her fiance?

And then, according to Molly's brother, in the middle of planning the wedding, James gives Molly some terrible news about Melanie, the mother of his children.

There are some last-minute changes. James and Molly cut their guest list in half, and it turns out his daughter, Emma, won't need the hair and makeup team.

Molly worries that her fiancé may be getting cold feet.

Not at all.

It worries me that you were changing yours.

Good. Two days to go till the wedding. The couple are meeting at the county recorder's office to get their marriage license. He remembers Molly well.

You can see James there in his uniform, running late, hurrying inside.

He watches as they leave the office, hand in hand.

Just hours later, that marriage certificate is found at the crime scene.

Now, in the middle of the night, there's something they've got to do right away. They head to her fiancé's house.

Hours away from becoming a bride, Molly Watson's story takes a tragic turn when a stranger makes a discovery on a country road.

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This episode is sponsored by the podcast Death County PA from Wondery. When Lamont Jones learns that his young cousin died in custody just weeks after entering prison, his world shatters. The official report said natural causes— But how do bruises and missing teeth fit that explanation?

Grief turns to frustration as Lamont faces an impossible choice, accept the story being told or risk everything to uncover the truth about what happened. From Wondery comes Death County, PA, a chilling true story of corruption, cover-ups, and one man's pursuit of justice. Lamont's cousin's death is just one of many in Dauphin County Prison, and powerful forces are working to keep the truth buried.