Kriti Mehrotra
When 58-year-old Gary Wayne Farris was found dead in a burn pile at his sprawling estate near Alpharetta, Georgia, it baffled not only his loved ones but also the entire nation to their core. That’s because, as explored in NBC’s ‘Dateline: A Little Patch of Perfect’ and CBS’ ’48 Hours: The Ferris Wheel,’ the 6’5″ 300-lb family man had been shot at least twice before being disposed of in the fire with no one around. It took two days for his loved ones to even find his remains, only for the ensuing investigation to ultimately ascertain that it was a homicide at the hands of his wife of 38 years for money.
How Did Gary Farris Earn His Money?
Born on June 27, 1960, in the wondrous city of Tuscumbia in Colbert County, Alabama, Gary Wayne Farris was the eldest of four children and thus reportedly set the precedent for his family. According to reports, he grew up alongside his parents, brother, and two sisters in a rather middle-class household that was always wrapped in love, kindness, and country living. Therefore, he had their unwavering support at every step of the way, which is just part of why he was even confident enough to pursue the path he had decided on rather early in life. It was around the late 1970s when Gary enrolled at the University of Alabama to pursue further education, which culminated in him achieving his childhood dream of earning a Juris Doctorate.
Gary subsequently passed the bar and began working at a regional legal firm by the name of Burr & Forman in Birmingham, Alabama, all the while financially backing his own family. After all, he had tied the knot with his teenage sweetheart, Melody, when he was just a sophomore in college, shortly following which they welcomed four children into this world. Gary and Melody’s first child, Chris, came into this world while the former was still working towards his law degree, followed by Scott, Emily, and finally Amanda. Hence, as the matriarch became a stay-at-home mother to care for their kids, her husband unfailingly worked nights to put food on the table despite also being a full-time student.
As the years passed, though, Gary’s schedule evolved because while he was a workaholic by all accounts, he never missed out on family time and even coached his kids’ sports teams. Per the Farris children, their parents were always there for them, yet their childhood wasn’t really financially affluent – in fact, their family vacations were wherever Gary had a law seminar. Yet, things began changing over time thanks to the patriarch’s hard work, eventually even resulting in him being asked to open and manage a new office for his company in Atlanta, Georgia. From what we can tell, this was in or around 1995 since that’s when he passed the Georgia State Bar and was permitted to actively practice solely within this jurisdiction.
Gary reportedly specialized in business and real estate law, both of which are extremely lucrative considering the litigations involved, his success in which led him to establish a name for himself. As if that’s not enough, this also enabled him to purchase a 10-acre property comprising a 6-bed 8-bathroom home, a barn, and an apartment on top of the barn, near Alpharetta in 2010. He actually bought this following a rough patch in his marriage since it was his wife’s dream estate; plus, he also wanted it to be a safe haven of sorts for his kids as well as grandkids.
Gary Farris’ Net Worth
When Gary passed away on July 3, 2018, he was still serving at Burr & Forman LLC – the former Managing Partner was the Chair of Lending Practice and a Member of the Executive Committee. Therefore, during his nearly 4-decade career as a business attorney, commercial real estate lawyer, and law executive, he had unsurprisingly managed to accumulate significant wealth. Even with reports of him being extremely generous with his funds as well as his wife, sons, and his son-in-laws allegedly taking advantage of his kindness for years, he was more than comfortable.
Gary reportedly did have arguments with his son-in-laws, threatened to cut off his sons from time to time, and even actively limited his wife’s spending, yet no one could have ever imagined it would lead to murder. The attorney seemingly didn’t have a will, so the entirety of his $2 million property, $2 million life insurance policy, Mercedes, and all other assets were directly passed over to his next of kin, his wife, that is, until she was arrested for his murder. Since then, per legal guidelines, his worth has probably been distributed amongst his kids equally, which we believe was close to $10 million in 2018. This is after taking into account his income as a practicing attorney and legal executive, along with his possible investments, returns, expenses, etc.
Read More: Melody Farris: Where is Gary Farris’ Wife and Killer Now?
