Peter Van Sant

Then in October 2017, a woman named Christina Grant emailed Gary.

She claimed to be, if you're ready for this, Rusty's girlfriend.

In Christina's first email to Gary, she wrote, just FYI, your wife and Rusty Barton have been lovers for three years.

Gary responded, do I know you?

Christina then said, you want to talk?

He replied, not right now.

But according to Melody, Gary wouldn't have minded it because Melody told me that Gary was the first to cheat.

Gary had an affair.

He was the first to cheat.

Absolutely.

In 2018, Detective Daniel Hayes with the Cherokee County Sheriff's Office heard that Melody and Gary had an unusual marital arrangement, one where they each slept in separate beds and at times with separate lovers.

Both had affairs.

Yes.

Both are living on different floors of a house under the same roof, but not really living as a married couple.

Correct.

They're roommates.

Melody told me that it wasn't always this way.

Things changed in the late 80s.

That's when Melody was pregnant with their fourth child.

Amanda was born in 1989.