338. The Double Wedding Killing - The Murder of Thad Reynolds

Insurance isn't one-size-fits-all. That's why customers have enjoyed Progressive's Name Your Price tool for years now. With the Name Your Price tool, you tell them what you want to pay, and they'll show you options that fit your budget. So, whether you're picking out your first policy, or just looking for something that works better for you and your family, they make it easy to see your options. Visit Progressive.com. Find a rate that works for you with the Name Your Price tool. Progressive Casualty Insurance Company & Affiliates. Price and coverage match limited by state law. Have every single feature you could need. They have a big one that we all know, ShopPay. I mean, the easiest checkout on the market that is literally draining my bank account, ShopPay. And of course, they work with Shopify. I just love how intuitive it is. Like, if there's something you want to sell online, you can go into Shopify and you can figure it out within minutes. It is so intuitive. If you're ready to hear the of your first sale today, head over to Shopify.com slash husband. To start your free trial today. Again, you guys, if you've ever just wanted to sell anything big, small, any company out there that is selling something, head over to Shopify.com/husband and check it out. That's right. Start your free trial at Shopify.com/husband, Shopify.com/husband. You're listening to an Ono Media Podcast. Hey, everyone. Welcome back to the podcast. This is Murder With My Husband. I'm Peyton Morland. And I'm Garrett Morland. And he's the husband. And I'm the husband. We have some beef right now. We're jumping right into it. Go ahead, babe. I just told Garrett, we were at a work lunch before this, like lunch meeting. I'm so mad right now. I don't even know what it was. I couldn't have said anything. It happened so fast. And Garrett's like talking and I look over and I, I can see this like booger slowly. It was hard. It's hard. I can see it like slowly moving out of your nose. And I'm like, oh, I'm going to tell him, but I'm going to wait for him to finish talking. Obviously, because like, everyone's looking at you, you just keep going. You just keep talking with so much passion, flies out of your notes and onto the floor. That makes me so mad because listen, it bugs me when I'm talking to you or I'm talking to somebody and like, I have something in my teeth and nobody tells me, that's me. I've mentioned this before, or if I have a booger in my nose, tell me you're like, Hey, dude, you got a booger nose. Hey, did you get something in your teeth? I don't tell. I don't tell anyone. Cause I just hate when I'm talking to someone, I'm like, wait, they're staring at something on me right now. I can just tell. Well, he couldn't see it. Like you, it was in my nostril view, not his, but when it flew out, then he could see it. He saw it. I don't know. You were, did you see him look down passionately? You were like bagels. Did you see, did you see him look down? No. Oh my gosh. And the worst part is I was like, Oh, that thing's like inching out. I'm going to tell him. Why didn't you just tap my? Like, and make Gary, you got a booger in your nose. Cause you were like talking. Yeah. Anyways. Okay. That's fine. No big deal. It was a crusty sucker. Well, it would have been worse if it wasn't crusty and it flew. I would have stuck to the table or something. What if it flew in my food? Your sushi. That's crazy. Oh, my sushi wasn't that great, but my chicken was. I just had chicken and rice. The use. Yeah. I mean, I don't know. I guess. That's my 10 seconds. That's fine. Good. 10 seconds. Thank you for listening. Thank you for watching. Thank you for supporting us. Reminder. We have bonus episodes. Reminder. Peyton's also having a baby here pretty soon. Pretty soon. Technically us. I say pain, but it's us. Well, I'm having the baby. I'm the father. And you're taking care of it. And you are not the father. You are the father. But I am the father. I know. I've been working slowly to try to get ahead so I can take a little bit of maternity leave. But I haven't made much progress over here on murder with my husband. No, we really haven't. You guys might be seeing me literally days after I give birth. We're going to get ahead because Peyton needs a couple. Peyton needs a little bit off. I mean. We're getting there. Everything else is going good. We hope you guys are doing well. Anything else you guys got for us? I got nothing for you. You got anything for me? If you got nothing, then we're going to jump into this week's case. Shall we do it? Yeah, let's do it. Let's do it. Our sources for this episode are NBCNews.com, Newsbreak.com, TheCinemaholic.com, Oxygen.com, WSBTV, WFMYNews2.com, That's Life.com.au, NorthwestGeorgianNews.com, and Murderpedia. WSBTV.com.au. Because there's usually a reason why things didn't turn out right the first time. Maybe we ignored the warning signs. Maybe we convinced ourselves things would be different. Maybe we told ourselves what hurt us once surely couldn't hurt us again. So no, a second chance doesn't always mean redemption. Sometimes it's just giving the thing that hurt us a chance to actually finish the job. And today's case takes us to Rome. Rome, Georgia. Did you think I was going to say Italy? Rome, Georgia. This is a town about 75 miles north of Atlanta. A little hub in the Bible Belt that centers heavily around strong family values and a dedication to the church. And it's in this little town of Rome that Thad Reynolds has dedicated his life to. He grew up in Rome. He spent all 36. He spent all 36 years of his life so far here. So Thad was a name that by 36, basically everyone knew around town. And that's because as he was growing up, he was really involved in sports in high school. When he wasn't golfing or wrestling, he was one of the star players on the local football team. He even caught the attention of girls at the competing high schools. Like a young, beautiful blonde cheerleader named Michelle Sullins. Michelle couldn't keep her eyes off the boy in the number 15 jersey. When she ran into him at a school dance in the fall of 1985, the two were introduced formally and the rest was history. It was a match made in all American heaven. The cheerleader and the football player went on their first date at a tractor pole a short while later in this small town. What is that? Oh, a tractor pool. Yeah. Okay. And even though he was a football player, he was a football player. And even though Thad's whole entire family was there, this first date was one for the history books. The two became known around Rome as Ken and Barbie, the couple everyone wanted to be. But while Thad had a solid home life with a loving and church-going family, Michelle, his girlfriend's life behind closed doors, wasn't exactly the object of envy. Michelle's parents separated when she was little and her father passed away when she was only 13 years old. And as a way to get through it all, Michelle's now single mother turned to the church to help her through the difficult time. And Michelle, at 13, turned to other people for a distraction. She loved to be the center of attention. It was like she knew from an early age just how far her looks could get her. She loved to be in the spotlight. She loved having her photo taken and just knew that when she walked into a room, she kind of was the center of it. So it was no surprise when she became homecoming queen in 1986. But even before that, it seemed like she really was just out to get everything she wanted. Her relationship with Thad moved quickly. And just a few short months after dating in high school, Thad had given her his class ring to wear, which in 1986, it's a pretty big deal. This is a sign that he was devoted to her and planned to stay committed. The date was January 21st. 28th, 1986, but not even an hour after putting that ring on Michelle's finger, the country was rocked by some devastating news that day, the space shuttle Challenger had exploded only 73 seconds after launching, killing every single astronaut on board. And in some twisted way, it was a metaphor of what their relationship would later become after. But it was a metaphor of what their relationship would later become. And in some twisted way, it was a metaphor of what their relationship would later become. putting this ring on this same day. But in the meantime, it seemed like smooth sailing for the young picture-perfect couple. They went to prom together, Thad graduated, Michelle, with still one more year to go, took home the title of homecoming queen, and after she graduated, the couple decided to make it official. They chose August 15th, 1987 to get married, matching Thad's jersey and what they considered their shared lucky number. So 15, that was his jersey number. This is their lucky number. They're getting married August 15th. In front of their loved ones, they tied the knot at the Hollywood Baptist Church, both of them just shy of 20 years old. And immediately after getting married, the two get to work building their lives together. Thad found work at a grocery store. He saved up for a house, vacations, a family, and they got all of it. Around 1992, the couple welcomed their first child, a daughter. They named Olivia. But after six years of marriage for these high school sweethearts, things get to be a bit rocky. Both ended up stepping out and cheating on one another. The foundation was now broken. The trust seemed irreparable. It was at that point that Thad and Michelle realized maybe it just wasn't meant to be. Maybe the Challenger crash was a bad omen after all. So they end up getting divorced in 1993. Thad moved out and got an apartment. Michelle got a job working at an office. She begins dating other people. But Thad, he was having a harder time getting back on the horse. So instead, he took this time after the divorce to strengthen his connection with God. Which, interestingly enough, him starting to focus on his connection with God somehow leads him back to Michelle. Okay. Okay, so they're divorced. She's also now having a hard time in the dating scene. And apparently, this time apart, it made her realize maybe Thad, her high school boyfriend and ex-husband, was the one for her. So soon, they started spending holidays together again. And then they actually end up going on family vacations. And after some time, it was like the two had never even gotten divorced at all. They went to couples counseling. And then finally, in 1997, after four years apart, they decided, that's it. We really are soulmates. We are meant for each other. So they went back to that same church they were first married at, Hollywood Baptist. And in front of the same friends and family members, they exchanged their vows for a second time. And now, this time, their daughter, Olivia, is looking on, too. And I'm only. I know I have some, like, chuckling in my voice. But it's more of, like, I'm a sucker for a love story. For a remarriage? Yes. Like, I'm not laughing in, like, this is ridiculous. I'm laughing in. I've actually heard of this happening before, where people get divorced just to reconnect and, like, get remarried again. Yeah. I feel like I've heard of it happening a few times. Seems like. Quite a bit of trauma just to go through, you know, just to get there. But. Here we are. Who am I to judge? And for Olivia, this really felt like a kid's parent trap dream. I mean, she's like, oh, my gosh, my parents are back together. Even the local newspapers reported on this, about how this estranged couple actually now found, once again, their happy ending. And after that, they built a new house right next door to Thad's family. And over the years, they have three more daughters. Meanwhile, Thad felt he owed this second chance to his faith. And he made sure to pay it forward. He started volunteering as a deacon while Michelle homeschooled their four kids and volunteered at the Hollywood Baptist Church as well. She helped organize some of their dance and theater productions. And Thad also got a pretty well-paying job at the Frito-Lay Corporation, and he began climbing the ladder. Oh, my gosh. You know what I love? The Frito, um, the chili cheese Fritos. Oh, I used to eat those. You don't eat those? And you don't like them anymore? I haven't had them in so long. They're good. That was very middle school. Those are good. That and hot Cheetos. Oh, I can't eat hot Cheetos anymore. Those wreck me. I'm too old for those. Low-key in middle school, I think my fingertips were always red. Yeah, but the Fritos, oh, my gosh. Honestly, Fritos are, I feel like, kind of underrated. They're pretty good. Anyways. Keep going. I have Fritos at home with Daisy's paws. True. That is a good point. But by 2004, Thad was so invested in the church that he was actually considering becoming a minister full-time. And this is something that actually gave Michelle some cause for concern, because this would mean a pretty big change in their lifestyle, since it would take that away from the family more for missionary trips. And it also meant less income to the family if he were to leave his job at Frito-Lay. So a pretty big change. Not to mention, Michelle, after all these years, after going to this same church forever, was starting to feel a little bit over the area of Rome, Georgia. Her dreams weren't never really with the church. That was mostly Thad. She wanted to move somewhere more remote, like the Smoky Mountains, and live in a cabin. Maybe open some sort of bed and breakfast. In fact, the Reynolds had already talked about it and even qualified for a place that was unfortunately scooped up before they could even officially put in an offer. But between this, Thad's deeper commitment to the church, and the overall grind of daily life, Michelle once again starts to feel restless in this marriage. She begins to tell her friends she's feeling a little bit ignored by Thad, second fiddle to the church, and his duties. But before Michelle and Thad could even speak about another separation at this point in their marriage, something happened that actually made the decision for them. All right, guys, we're jumping into an ad. It is Warby Parker. Big fans of Warby Parker. Peyton has been using Warby Parker for years. I swear, every time I wear glasses on the show or over on Instagram, people are constantly like, oh my gosh, where did you get your frames? I love them. Every single pair. Every single pair of frames I own is Warby Parker. Also, once you buy Warby Parker, you realize like how much easier they've made the entire process than the typical process of getting glasses. Warby Parker is ahead of the game with how easy they make all of it. They have a virtual try on, so you don't even have to go into one of their stores. All their glasses are cute. But they have so many stores, too, where you can just go and handle everything, including contacts. Actually, there's one next to us, close by us. Yes. In Salt Lake. Love them. They have everything you need for happier eyes. It includes contacts, online eye exams, sunglasses, glasses, and more. It's an all-in-one place, which makes everything so much easier. They also have over 300 retail stores across the U.S. It's nice knowing you have that in-person option if you ever want it. Right now, buy one pair of glasses and get 20% off any additional pairs at warbyparker.com slash husband. Again, use slash husband so you can get that 20% off additional pairs. 20% off any additional pairs when you purchase one pair at warbyparker.com slash husband. All right, guys. We're jumping into an ad real quick, and it is Rocket Money. Big Rocket Money fans. I know you guys hear it a lot, but here we are again. We love Rocket Money. We use them. Literally, we use them all the time, every day. We have our bank accounts connected to them, our credit cards, everything. I can see all our finances in one spot. They help cancel our subscriptions. They help us. I can see large transactions, upcoming bills, refunds, low balances. Everything can be seen right there in one dashboard. If you want to organize your finances, you need to check out Rocket Money. Big fans. Rocket Money is a personal finance app that helps find and cancel unwanted subscriptions, monitors your spending, and helps lower your bills so that you can grow your savings. Let Rocket Money help you reach your financial goals faster. Join at rocketmoney.com slash husband. Don't forget slash husband. That is rocketmoney.com slash husband. rocketmoney.com slash husband. So it's July 5th, 2004, now in our story. And that morning, Thad Reynolds wakes up after the holiday weekend to return to work. He gets to his job at the Frito-Lay warehouse around 6 a.m. His friends said he actually liked to go there bright and early so he could get his work done and then be home for the kids by early afternoon. But that day, Thad never really gets to settle down. He doesn't get to settle into his workday because a short while later, his co-worker finds Thad bleeding out on the floor of his office at the Frito-Lay warehouse. So this co-worker immediately calls 911. He tells the operator that Thad appears to have been attacked, possibly stabbed to death. And so authorities rush over to the scene. Now, Rome, Georgia is not the kind of place that you would expect to see something like that. like this. If they have two murders a year that's considered a lot yeah but what happened to that is clearly no accident when responders get there detectives show up and they discover that that had been stabbed at least a dozen times in his office well i mean there's obviously going to be cameras you're in a very big company yeah gonna be cameras we're gonna know who it is so curious to see what happens i realize i didn't say he had succumbed to his wounds by the time oh yes he's dead okay um his autopsy later counted 19 stab wounds geez a wheeze man come on and whoever did this really they did a sloppy job because there is evidence all over this crime scene for starters they find the sheath of a hunting knife not far from where thad's body is discovered there's also a pair of broken prescription glasses on the ground nearby and they aren't thads but they do have his blood all over them so you know they know it was part of the crime and when they speak to witnesses a few people say they think they actually saw the assailant rip out of the parking lot around the time the crime was committed apparently they were driving recklessly and driving a burgundy reddish minivan because you know what i mean they're not thads they're not thads they're not thads they're not thads they're not thads they're not thads because you you have to keep in mind like this isn't a public i mean yes it's his private office and earlier in the morning but this is still a public place like people it's still a work day interesting yeah so detectives are thinking well this shouldn't be too hard to solve we have quite the assortment of clues here and this doesn't seem like some random robbery nothing was taken from thad his wallet was still on his body plus the warehouse wasn't the kind of place that left massive amounts of cash laying around like nothing really seemed stolen and the brutality of the attack doesn't fit the mo for a frito-lay warehouse robbery either so that motive just isn't adding up which was why investigators felt despite being murdered in his office this murder was actually very personal now later that day the police have the unthinkable task of breaking the news to thad's family they show up at michelle's home knock on the door to tell her hi your husband's been found stabbed to death at work now meanwhile thad's mother learns about it while she is still at work so she and thad's sister race over to michelle's house to console one another be there for michelle and his four daughters and they say michelle's totally in shock like in a trance okay they end up calling for an emergency prayer group that night at the hollywood baptist church and meanwhile the police are trying to dig deeper into who might have wanted that dead you know the typical we need to learn everything about him so the following day they ask the public for help they say the suspect they believe was spotted fleeing the scene in a red minivan and if anyone noticed anything between the hours of 4 30 and 6 30 a.m in the area to please just give a call like nothing's too small and somebody does it's a man who works at the floyd medical center in rome georgia he was stationed in the tech department and had the job of switching the company over to a new phone system one day not too long ago he said he was working on the phone lines when he overheard a colleague having an intimate conversation with someone who clearly was not his spouse so he's calling in with workplace drama he's like let me tell you this story and he said this same colleague who i think i literally caught on the phone lines cheating on his wife well he actually happens to drive a red minivan exactly like the one police on the news said they were searching i was gonna say there can't be too many people there that have a red minivan right and his wife is calling in with workplace drama he's like let me tell you this story his name was scott harper and it's not just the red minivan that makes this person call he says i actually have uh more details about this because it's not just that i overheard scott talking and he drives a red minivan the person that he was having that intimate conversation with with his wife was with the victim's wife oh my gosh michelle reynolds you're lying so i mean this is an insane tip like when he calls over and he's like listen it's my job i was working on the phone lines like this has nothing to do with the frito-lay warehouse but it has everything to do with the victim because this guy he drives a red minivan and i definitely heard him having an intimate conversation with the victim's wife amount of cases that we cover where someone is murdered because of cheating or a relationship or something along the lines insane and it just so many you know the other week when you were saying how many people were in the car and i was like i don't know i don't know how many people out there do you think are capable of murder oh a lot unfortunately if it comes to a love triangle way more than i think we think i'm not saying that's what's happening here i'm not saying the psychology behind having a connection to someone is so interesting because people freak out well also betrayal freak out like there's a whole nother level to it which is just betrayal is traumatizing but i mean like people will kill for people that to have an affair yes that's what i mean like the emotion like the psychology around it is just kind of mind-blowing to me because i'm like i don't i'm not gonna kill anyone like chris watts murdering his pregnant wife and two daughters to be with a mistress but it happens so much yeah like i've been so much you it sounds unbelievable but it happens all the time yeah like what is wrong with you guys yeah so let's there's a lot of fish in the sea yeah like like and realistically there's a lot of fish in the sea move on it is interesting yeah because whether it's that way or the other way of like you cheated on me and now i'm gonna kill the girl or the guy let's move on i don't know yeah anyways so let's talk about scott harper for a second the guy okay he also happened to be a volunteer deacon at the church alongside thad reynolds but he had since been promoted to family pastor nice now we have some uh church drama and in many ways he and his wife page actually lived pretty similar lives he's married too they also live next door to their parents in rome georgia they had three little girls and they were heavily involved in the hollywood baptist church which is where thad is spending a lot of his time and where him and michelle got married twice now like that scott also had another full-time job after doing a tour in the air force with the combat communications unit he got a job working in the telecommunications department at floyd medical center now outside of their jobs and civic duties the two families were actually pretty close too so it's not like thad doesn't really know scott they were always attending the same prayer groups together the same barbecues they had even gone on family camping trips together but thad didn't just see scott as a good friend he also saw him as a role model someone who he genuinely admired and whose trajectory within the church was worth modeling himself off of however their wives page and michelle never quite formed the same kind of bond as the husbands did michelle always sensed that page was a bit jealous of her especially when michelle and scott started working closer through their church programs michelle as part of the church's theater program started teaming up with scott since he was the youth pastor at the time that meant more meetings phone calls email exchanges and that's also how michelle learned that scott actually went to the same high school as her and was just two years younger so the reason the girls aren't besties is because michelle is like she's jealous i spend so much time with her husband even though our families are family friends but again like that and michelle scott and page were also having some rough patches in their marriage apparently in fact scott had started going to thad for marriage counseling and had even confided in him oh my gosh this is horrible this is ridiculous this annoys me well okay so scott goes to thad you know for marriage counseling he confides in thad about something that leaves that a little unsettled scott tells that during marriage counseling i actually think your wife michelle is the perfect wife and i wish my wife page was more like her what is wrong with people so when thad is when thad's good old buddy friend comes to him and says i'm unhappy in my marriage i'm having troubles and i actually just wish your wife was my wife Or, you know, my wife was more like your wife. So then after this, Thad goes to Michelle and he's like, I know these are our couple friends. I know we go to church with them. I am not comfortable with you being around Scott, at least not alone, because Thad knows Scott just admitted this to him. And he's like, listen, I don't have any reason. Something just feels off. But Michelle, she couldn't avoid him forever. A lot of her work at the church required to be around Scott, have his input and help. And Paige begins to sense that her husband, who she is having marital issues with, might also have some feelings for Michelle. Now, not too long before this, the couples had actually taken a rafting trip together. And Paige felt on this trip, Michelle and Scott were being separated. A little bit too flirty. Turns out her instincts were right. And so was Thad's. And by May 2004, things were heating up further. It was around this time that Michelle said she started to feel neglected by Thad, that she was second fiddle to the church. So as Scott starts laying it on, according to Michelle, she realizes I actually like the attention from him. From there, the vacation flirting turns into emails and messages. The two complementing each other. They go to church together. They're serving together. Things get sexier. Thing, emails. Which I just want to let you know, some of these emails they would send had positions they would like to try. Okay. Cool. Good for them. Productive emails. Uh-huh. Now, before long, the two are meeting up in the parking garage as Scott's work, getting in the backseat of his car together. And that was that. They are having a full-blown affair. Okay. Okay. Just taking the reality of this entire situation and everything that has happened. And apparently this affair was really intense. Scott was falling for Michelle hard. Part of him reliving the high school experience he never got to have. He's stealing the homecoming queen away from the star football player. Oh, my gosh. That's so cringy. I'm not going to lie. And what was it first? Eight. Once in a while meetup turned into an everyday affair. They would tell their spouses they were going to the gym. And then they would meet up at a motel down the street from the church where Michelle and Thad got married twice. If Scott and Michelle weren't together, they were emailing or on the phone with each other. After just a month together, they were already talking about leaving their spouses to run off with each other. They even spoke about Portland, about moving there, starting a new life there. Okay. But Michelle told Scott, I don't think I'm going to be able to leave Thad without the like a fight going down. After everything they'd been through, she's like, I don't think he's just going to walk away this time. Especially now that he was a leading figure in their church and wanted to center his career around it. I've heard of this before, but getting divorced once, let alone a second time, would definitely go against church values and what he believed in and what he stood for. And that's when Michelle made one memorable comment to Scott. She said, quote, if you want me as your bride, you're probably just going to have to outlive Thad. Okay. Now, of course, Scott's coworker didn't have all everything I just told you, all of these juicy details to share with the police. But they figured it out pretty quickly. I mean, he had overheard one of those steamy phone calls. At the height of the affair, obviously. So between that and Scott's red minivan and Thad being murdered. He's like, I feel like I have to call you. I feel like I needed to call you and let you know. And detectives are like, thank you, sir. This is a very reasonable lead. They keep digging into Scott to see if there's any connection between him and the crime scene. And what they find is shortly after Thad was killed on July 5th. Scott went to the medical center. Where he worked with an injury on his right hand, they stitched him back up. But when his coworkers asked, yeah, come in, we'll do it. What happened? He said he had heard it at the gym that morning in a, quote, weightlifting accident. So the day his mistress, his husband is murdered, he needs stitches at work. But that's not all. Police also go to his place of work and discover all of the steamy emails that were exchanged. Between he and Michelle, they're still on his account. Remember, it's 2004. So it's not like all of this was happening on a smartphone. And this is kind of ironic considering Scott works in I.T. You would expect him to like have deleted things off his computer and wiped it. Though, shockingly, this isn't even the worst of it. As investigators dug deeper, they found that four days before the murder on July 1st, 2004, Scott was killed. Scott had actually made a stop at a local Kmart. If you're listening to this, do you still have Kmart where you are? Is that still a thing? Kmart, yeah. Kmart is. Kmart closed in my hometown. I thought they were still open in some places, but I don't know. I guess I haven't seen a Kmart in a long time. That place kind of feels like the back rooms a little bit. A little bit. Yeah. I could see that. So anyone who has listened to this show for more than five minutes knows that I research everything to death. It's a problem. Garrett will tell you. So the second I found out I was pregnant, that same brain just redirected. Prenatal vitamins are basically unregulated. So as I'm doing all this research, that was when I finally landed on parallel as my prenatal. And here's some reasons why. Parallel changes as your pregnancy changes, which matters because it means they're not just feeding you the same thing the whole time, but literally following your body in your third trimester. You get a premium prenatal and probiotics to support mom's gut health and baby's microbiome development. You literally switch packs as your body and baby move into a new phase, which again is just so nice. It's also so easy that they do come in these packs. So you just know what you're taking. Honestly, prenatals can become very overwhelming, but that is why I trust parallel because one, not overwhelming. Two, I've done the research. They have what you need. And they. Follow you along your pregnancy. If you're pregnant, trying or postpartum, you need to check out parallel. We had them give us an exclusive code just for you. New customers can use code husband and get 20% off your first order at parallel health.com/husband. That's P E R E L E L health.com/husband. This show is sponsored by ZocDoc. I love ZocDoc. I like ZocDoc too. Such a smart thing. Such a smart thing. I think that every time you move, I think moving is a really big one, right? You move to a new city, you move to a new area, you move to a new state. You have to get all new doctors, like all new, everything ZocDoc does that. And so much more, it solves everything. You can go on, you can see all the doctors who's rated what's going on. You can see who you want, who you don't want. You can get sometimes same day appointments. I mean, it's amazing. It's also just like more than that, if you ever have anything health-wise that comes up unexpectedly. It is shocking the amount of things that you then have to do, the next steps you have to do to try to figure it all out. And ZocDoc comes in and makes that so much less of a hassle, pain-free, like it's just all sitting out there for you, easy to do. ZocDoc lets you search and compare high quality in-network doctors. They have over 150,000 providers. You can go to their websites, there are tons of reviews, you can see actual appointment openings. And click to instantly book. Your health matters and taking care of yourself shouldn't be complicated. Ready to be seen, head to ZocDoc.com/husband to get started and check the appointment off your to-do list. That's Z-O-C-D-O-C.com/husband. So anyways, so four days before the murder, Scott apparently had gone to Kmart and do you know what he bought? A hunting knife, matching the sheath that was left at the crime scene. And this is something that is confirmed on Kmart's security footage as well. So police are pretty sure they have their guy, right? On July 7th, detectives have Scott come down to the station for an interview. They didn't show all their cards immediately after getting this tip. They did some investigating first so that they would have something under their belt when they finally did interrogate him. And one of the first things they ask him is, "Hey, where's your glasses? Don't you usually wear prescription lenses?" And Scott doesn't have a good answer for this because his prescription glasses are sitting bloodied up in an evidence locker after being found at the crime scene. And the police also end up impounding Scott's red minivan and taking it in for processing. Yeah, I mean, I feel like it's going to be pretty open and shut. So they do interrogate him, they don't arrest him that night, they let him go home, but a day later they do get their warrant. And Scott is arrested for the murder of Thad Reynolds, motive being that he wanted to kill him. to be with thad's wife and shockingly after getting arrested he confesses he admits to police that he stabbed thad reynolds 19 times even saying quote i want what you got right before he did it so when he was stabbing thad right before killing him he said i want what you got talking about michelle but he insists to police listen i know where you're going next michelle had nothing to do with this he said she had no idea i was going to do this she had no idea i was going to kill her husband but the police aren't so sure that this is the case because the emails they found seemed to tell a little bit more detailed story now when michelle is brought in for questioning she does admit to the affair but she's like i had no idea he was going to kill my husband however there were a few people who said they found michelle's behavior rather suspicious after she learned about the news of the murder and not like quote oh she wasn't crying that was weird no apparently michelle was cracking jokes and just kind of saying some weirdly inappropriate things after hearing the news of her husband's death that night she allegedly even pulled out a brand new black dress from her closet that she had recently bought and told people this is what i'm going to wear to his funeral which people are like that's just so like you just found out but i i don't judge i'm no it's hard for me to judge i mean i feel like i do judge so anyways i judge because i mean if i found out you died the last thing i would be thinking about is what i'm wearing to your funeral also it's like she would have i don't know i feel like she probably knew that it was him that did it yeah it's like you don't go oh my gosh who killed my husband oh the guy you're probably sleeping with and that you told hey you're gonna have to outlive him exactly like come on yeah yeah that is the other thing do you think she okay say in no she knew i she knew 100 right away she knew hypothetically she has no idea that scott is going to kill that you know the second she finds out that's the first thing that comes into your mind is oh the she immediately call him i mean i don't know if she calls him but i think she knows and that's only if she didn't know beforehand yeah correct so this is obviously just the opinions of those who were around michelle after she got the news the truth and what she was really feeling about thad's death well police find some of that information tucked away in messages to scott turns out as they're reading through these messages emails they realize that scott and michelle were referencing their partners as quote gnats for some time so obviously gnats not like gnats they're like annoying little pesky they're obviously not being very thoughtful of their partners and from there things escalated as michelle joked with scott on how she might be able to get rid of thad she's like maybe i can induce a heart attack by slathering extra butter on his food or make him a pasta dinner one night and poison the sauce so she's openly having these conversations with scott and little by little police notice in these emails that these conversations seemed to go from some type of weird twisted fantasy to a possible reality especially after michelle told scott listen the only way we're gonna ever be together is if you outlive my husband now by june again the murder happened in july michelle's emails to scott had shifted she started to tell him where thad was gonna be and at what times he would be there however michelle claimed this was just so that scott could show up and finally tell that about the affair like when police confront her about this she's like no i just wanted him to go tell him we were having an affair but police obviously suspect there's more to it than that that they were probably over the phone talking about killing him and then in emails like following up the conversation without like specifically writing details but it gets worse i mean as the weeks passed nothing seemed to be done about thad scott never showed up to tell him about the affair and the emails show that michelle is starting to get frustrated by july 4th the weekend she in emails claims she's ready to cut things off with scott because he hasn't confronted that but she gave him one more chance she said listen i'm telling you right now thad will show up to work the next morning at this time and the night before scott then sent her something along the lines of quote i'm ready for tomorrow stop me if you have any hesitation and michelle responded back no hesitation i'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 and then less than 24 hours later like a movie her husband was dead that is insane now obviously these emails aren't going please go kill my husband yeah there's obviously phone calls happening in between these but please be observant of your surroundings when you're just having your boyfriend go tell your husband that he's your boyfriend yeah i mean i could see both sides and that'd be honest like it's a good defense because like i don't want a lot of people hearing what yeah you're saying like i don't know if i necessarily would say it means kill it literally fits for both honestly no yeah stop me if you have any hesitation be careful so apparently that night scott called michelle and told her what he had done he said on this phone call he wanted to confess it to the police but michelle told him to wait until after thad's funeral which she doesn't end up making it too by the way because the same day that scott harper was arrested for murder so was michelle reynolds and now they were both facing the possibility of the death penalty so the cops detectives the d.a the state they were like uh we think we have enough to prove that she was somehow involved interesting i don't think they do so i'm curious how trial goes him saying no she didn't and her saying no i didn't like this looks bad for me but it really was just supposed to be him going to confront him i had no idea he was going to murder him okay now while they had a confession from scott obviously prosecutors knew michelle's case was going to be a lot harder to try mainly because there was nowhere in these emails that michelle explicitly talked seriously about murdering her husband she joked about poisoning him she choked about trying to give him a heart attack she never said you should go stab him now from the way everything was written it really did seem like she could have just been pressuring scott to confront thad with the truth instead like we said however her behavior behind bars didn't exactly show a woman who number one just unknowingly lost her husband to murder and number two was blindsided by her lover who committed that murder in fact scott and michelle keep in touch and they continue on with the relationship behind bars in recorded conversations michelle and scott were caught asking each other what the other was wearing michelle jokingly said orange at one point she said to scott quote i don't believe that i've ever been loved as much by somebody as i have by you and i mean that okay so despite both being arrested for murdering her husband it's not stopping yeah this infatuation that doesn't surprise me they even were still talking about ending up in portland one day as if he's not going to prison for life yeah yeah but like he confessed yeah but there was one thing missing from every one of these conversations and it was any proclamation of their innocence or admission of guilt from michelle so like they never addressed the subject of her knowing or not knowing however there was one other clue detectives uncovered after her arrest is suggested maybe she wasn't oblivious to scott's plans after all turns out she had an insurance policy on thad one that would have given scott a better life than the one that he had given to scott and that's why scott and michelle are so close to each other and that's why scott and michelle are so close to each other and that's why scott and michelle one that would have given michelle a one that would have given michelle a one that would have given michelle a 250 000 payout however sources don't 250 000 payout however sources don't 250 000 payout however sources don't indicate when that policy was initiated indicate when that policy was initiated indicate when that policy was initiated or how close it was or how close it was or how close it was whose death and it's really not that whose death and it's really not that whose death and it's really not that unusual for people to have life insurance unusual for people to have life insurance unusual for people to have life insurance policies on their spouses so policies on their spouses so policies on their spouses so but prosecutors add it to the pile but prosecutors add it to the pile but prosecutors add it to the pile anyways and meanwhile detectives are anyways and meanwhile detectives are anyways and meanwhile detectives are trying to find more ammunition against trying to find more ammunition against trying to find more ammunition against scott turns out another employee in scott turns out another employee in scott turns out another employee in his i.t his i.t his i.t department led detectives to a server room department led detectives to a server room department led detectives to a server room where they where they where they said scott had been seen hiding some said scott had been seen hiding some said scott had been seen hiding some stuff stuff stuff and after removing one of the floor tiles and after removing one of the floor tiles and after removing one of the floor tiles at his work at his work at his work okay in this server room they discover a okay in this server room they discover a treasure trove of evidence from the crime scene inside an old JC Penney's bag where the bloody clothes and shoes Scott had been wearing during the murder and the knife the murder weapon and a receipt for the murder weapon now with this this is obviously very open and shut with a confession and all of this being found the prosecution comes up with another plan one that might help them finally uncover michelle's true role in all of this so they went to scott with all of the evidence and told him hey there's a good chance you're going to get the death penalty like this is open and shut but if you agree to a plea deal and testify in court against michelle telling us the truth about if she knew about this we will take the death penalty off the table interesting it's so interesting because it's a great tactic but we know nowadays death penalty hardly ever goes through it's still scary though it's scary i get but i just feel like it wouldn't work anymore that's a tactic but also like they're not saying hey tell us the truth and we'll take the death penalty off they're saying hey tell us that she was involved yeah which is also hard right because it doesn't have to be the truth but what do you think what do you think he did oh i don't think he did it i think he's obsessed with her this is all it took for scott to betray really wow okay okay in scott's taped confession he admitted to a conversation between him and michelle where she said quote when you talk with thad what if it gets ugly and when he asked her what she meant by that she replied i love you as long as i end up with you i can deal with just about anything now scott said he took that to mean she was willing to see thad dead if it meant they could go on together which isn't exactly telling him to kill him but also it doesn't look great either um he also claimed that after he told michelle that he killed thad he heard relief in her words and she said i don't think he did it like this is what she wanted all along once michelle got word that scott was going to testify for the prosecution against her she also accepted a plea deal she agreed to 10 years for voluntary manslaughter and another 10 years for being party to a crime of burglary for the fact that scott entered the frito-lay warehouse that day to commit the crime scott was ultimately sentenced to life without the possibility of parole okay and i hate to tell you this but michelle still maintains to this day that she never helped plan this she never thought he was going to kill him she thought he was going there to confront him about their affair okay and she's like i i'm serving time for a crime i didn't even know what's going to happen and scott himself has said well she didn't explicitly tell me to do it but she definitely felt like it was alluding to it kind of i'm actually a little surprised she got convicted she took a plea deal yeah like i'm kind of surprised that i don't know that she didn't just try her luck at trial yeah yeah i guess it's scary right but i will say despite the fact that she like has now said i'm i'm like serving time for a crime i didn't commit she still says she deserves this sentence anyway for simply having had the affair and like leading to this murder fair yeah claims if she didn't even have the relationship with scott thad would most likely still be here today oh duh and so she's like that's why i think i should serve time because i'm the root cause of this and scott he kind of backs her up after accepting the plea deal he went back on his confession so he accepts the plea deal to not get the death penalty and then he comes out and says uh yeah i just said that so i wouldn't get the death penalty she literally didn't know about the murder at all okay he said instead he acted alone he went to bed that night with plans to confront that about the affair the next morning but when he approached that outside the warehouse he asked him what he was doing there and scott replied i want what you got he then pulled out the knife and stabbed thad without even thinking he said he just did it over and over 19 times and then left that there to bleed out on his office floor oh my i mean it's horrible like screw the guy but also here's the thing he deserves to rot in prison if you're going there not planning to kill him why did you buy the murder weapon four days before yeah i know you bought it it's not like you just brought it you bought it and brought it yeah that feels premeditated a double b man so anyways he says he does this his employees find him later and scott said he didn't think it over he says he just fled the scene in a panic went to the er to patch up his hands since thad did fight back and then he called michelle and told her what he had done but unlike michelle and thad's relationship scott won't be getting any second chances not at all and not with michelle she's since written him off and chances are the two will never rekindle the romance that literally cost someone's life yeah and that is the murder of thad reynolds and isn't that always something we see in these cases where they do murder for love and then they get to trial they don't even end up together anyways they don't even end up just crazy could you imagine just throwing away your entire life your freedoms everything just gone he's gone he's gonna sit he's gonna sit in prison for the rest of his life and what about page his wife i know who's like huh not only was my husband having an affair but he murdered he murdered a good friend of ours who also went to church with us insane like the amount of people the kids that this affected no it's crazy it's it's crazy anyways you guys that was our story for today thank you for listening or watching to another one of our episodes and we will see you next time i love it i hate it goodbye hey before your q3 call i've got the campaign brief ready built from last quarter's data and the competitive landscape great did you include the differentiation angle the cmo asked for already in there three angles no competitors using right now just need your approval approved thanks oh agents where would we be without you somewhere with a lot more tabs open