Naman Shrestha
Ignoring signs of lies and violence, Melanie Robey embraced Tracy Marshall with all his flaws. Little did she know that their marriage would lead to her almost losing her life. The detailed account of their relationship and Melanie’s survival are covered in the episode titled ‘He Was Whistling as He Did It’ of Investigation Discovery’s ‘Evil Lives Here.’ As it features an exclusive interview with the survivor, the documentary provides the audience with all the intricate details of how the traumatic experience impacted her life.
Melanie Robey and Tracy Marshall’s Marriage Was Full of Ups and Downs
Born and brought up in a loving household in Georgetown, Kentucky, by Merla Graves and Norman Mason, Melanie Robey was a bright child who did well academically. During her teenage years, she decided she wanted to become a paralegal and began working towards her dreams. The life of the church-going girl drastically changed after she met Tracy Wayne Marshall, who had a contrasting personality to Melanie’s. Despite his bad-boy persona, she started going out with him, hoping that she could change him with her love. During their relationship, she found out that he had been sentenced to 30 weekends, allegedly for stealing from the newsstand to pay for rent. As the couple got closer and their relationship got stronger, Melanie invited Tracy over to introduce him to her parents.
The meeting went far from positive, leading to her father forbidding her to date him. Instead of obeying him, she left home to be with her boyfriend. Despite noticing so many red flags throughout her relationship with him, she decided to ignore them. In 1996, the two got married and welcomed their beloved daughter, Sammie, three years later. Around that time, Tracy was again due in court for a theft charge. In order to start afresh, the family of three relocated to a new house in Sevierville, Tennessee. With time, the couple’s marriage started to deteriorate as Tracy allegedly began exhibiting signs of domestic violence towards Melanie. On top of that, a co-worker constantly asked her out every other day, despite knowing she was married.
Tracy Marshall Attempted to Kill His Wife For Life Insurance Money
As it made her feel unsafe and uncomfortable, she talked about it with her husband, who shrugged it off like it was not a big deal. In the following weeks, she noticed several signs of stalking, such as the windows and smoke detectors in her house being tampered with. She connected all these to her co-worker and filed a restraining order against him. Following that, she found a note on her car, ordering her not to go to court or else she would burn. On the night of June 2, 1993, Melanie and Tracy returned home from a family gathering; the former unaware of what awaited her. A few hours later, she woke up with the sound of flames and found herself in the middle of a fire in her bedroom. It turned out that Tracy had intentionally set the fire and locked her in the room.
Soon, she realized that the stalker she was worried about was none other than her husband. Fortunately, help arrived, and she was able to escape the fire before getting airlifted to the hospital. The incident had burned 69% of her body, with 3rd and 4th degree burns all over, and she was paralyzed from the neck down. With little to no chance of survival, she was in a coma for two and a half months. During her time in the hospital, Tracy visited her and tried to finish what he started by unplugging her life support. However, he was caught in the act by the nurses and was soon arrested. It took nearly three years for the police to learn what exactly transpired that night. The motive behind his attempted murder was the $375,000 life insurance policy of Melanie, who managed to come out of the ordeal and coma alive.
While Tracy Passed Away, Melanie Remarried and Went on to Rebuild Her Life
After an intense trial, Tracy Wayne Marshall was convicted of arson and attempted murder in 1998. Subsequently, he was sentenced to 20 years in prison. However, halfway through his sentence, he died of natural causes at the age of 40. On the other hand, Melanie made the most of her second chance at life. Rather than letting the horrific ordeal define her life, she decided to face her adversities head-on. After all, she had to look out for herself and protect her baby girl, Sammie, too. Therefore, she held her daughter tight and embraced the next phase of life, one wherein she focused solely on healing and rebuilding. However, Melanie’s road to recovery was marred by challenges. Since that fateful day, she underwent over 70 surgical procedures.
On the personal front, she also gave love another chance when she met another Georgetown native, Wayne Robey. On April 17, 1998, after less than a year of getting into a relationship, they tied the knot in the presence of all their loved ones. Through all of life’s ups and downs since then, the two have stood by each other. Though she has healed a lot over the years, the trauma and mental scars of her ordeal still keep her awake some nights. As a way of dealing with that, Melanie donned the hat of a writer. Under the pen name Angel Robey, she depicted an unfiltered account of her story in a book titled ‘His Love Called My Name: An Inspiring Story of Faith and Hope Following Tragedy,’ which dropped on September 19, 2012. As she carved a new path for herself, Wayne, Merla, and Norman served as her biggest cheerleaders.
Melanie Continues to March Forward With the Unwavering Support of Her Loved Ones
Together, Melanie and Wayne built a beautiful life for themselves and Sammie. Much to the former’s delight, Wayne and Sammie quickly developed a tight bond and went on to embrace each other’s presence with genuine love and affection. While Wayne is now retired, Melanie has been self-employed since 2019 and likely runs a jewelry business. Her daughter, Sammie, lives in Lexington, Kentucky, and is seemingly in a loving relationship with Darius Miller. Both her parents are quite proud of the independent and free-spirited woman Sammie grew up to be and never miss a chance to express the same to her.
On January 25, 2021, Melanie had to endure a tragedy as she lost her father, Norman Graves AKA Punk. Through it all, the family held each other tight and honored his life by keeping his spirit alive. Even after all these years, Merla, Melanie, and Sammie take time out from their schedule to catch up every now and then. Holidays are a fun-filled time for the family as they get together, eat delectable meals, and create lasting memories. Thus, from what we can tell, Melanie is leading a life full of gratitude and contentment in the company of her beloved husband of over 25 years, daughter, mother, and a close circle of family and friends, and frankly, she deserves every bit of it!
Read More: Erika Peña: Where is Juan David Ortiz’s Survivor Now?
