Comments on: 48 Hours Mystery: Point Blank

Did A Man's Obsession With His Wife Lead To His Death?

[rowdytexan2]

From the sound of it, the man had some serious problems...evidently testified to by the man''s boss, and their friends.

The fact that the man, made an appointment with the lawyer, threatening his wife with custody of their children shows a classic male intimidation practice. And the fact that she demonstrated she would fight it shows that she wasn''t worried about it and knew they couldn''t prove her an unfit mother.

The fact that the scene was disturbed and that they''re not even sure where the hell the gun was or had been doesn''t prove up a murder theory to me, anyway, and the prosecution didn''t have much of a leg to stand on.

If the woman wasn''t innocent, why would she try to appeal to get her name cleared. What murdering woman would risk an appeal? If she''d actually murdered him, she''d glom onto that ten years probation, sail thru it, and be glad she got off, rather than take a risk they could investigate further and find a mistake.

The good old boy network is alive and well. Of course the woman drove him crazy then murdered him, and was in fact a ***. Yeah right!

Of course when men cheat on their wives or flirt with other women, it''s just boys being boys. How many times have you heard that little ditty?

[khanghi-2009]

melabling:
"Bless his heart, she drove him crazy".
What, are you kidding? I suppose their friends (his BOSS)had a hand in driving him crazy, too, huh? I think he was an insecure little boy that couldn''t handle not being the center of her universe.

smueabs:
"I''m shocked they took the words of her children instead of his family".
What exactly are his children if not HIS FAMILY? Kinda simpleminded there, aren''t ya?

[melanie230-2009]

gabyxoxo...What medical attention could she give her husband? He shot himself in the head, end of story. There is nothing she could do in that situation. As for the pillow, he probably used that pillow so that he wouldn''t see the gun pointing at his head. 4 years of never ever changing her story makes it very clear she is indeed innocent.

[melanie230-2009]

I watched the show last night. I don''t believe for a minute that she killed her husband. After 4 years of trying to find evidence her story never changed once. That is a very clear indication that she did not kill her husband. Another thing that I thought was very telling was her husband''s former boss was not surprised that he committed suicide. That their friends werent surprised that he committed suicide. I applaud her for filing an appeal. That is yet another clear indication that she is innocent.

[paulgailhans]

I attended several days of the Traci Rhodes'' trial. The re-enactment by one of the doctors made perfect sense of the pillow being used by Scott in his suicide. Although two jurors said that sympathy for the boys led them to not give Traci prison time, other jurors have said that they immediately realized their mistake in finding her guilty. The fact that Traci had a tiny flirtation with a co-worker that developed for a while after her traumatic loss, does not make a love triangle or a murder. Everyone that has ever known her as a nurse, knows she is a woman of compassion and kindness. I hope a followup is someday done and some of the other jurors are interviewed as I know there were huge controversies over the refusal of some jurors to speak English even though the entire jury was NOT biligual. Traci deserves a free retrial and instead she is being financially drained by her efforts to get her name cleared. She will be vindicated. This is a trial that The Innocence Project should look into. Until you have lived in Texas, you cannot understand the injustice often suffered in our jails, prisons and by our legal system.

[smueabs]

One more thing: as a Texan, I am extremely embrassed that 12 of my fellow residents would give that woman probabtion. Everyone who said this was a travesty of justice is completely right. I''m shocked that they took the words of her children over the words of HIS family. Did they testify in the sentencing hearing? I''m sure some of his relatives did, and it is so sad that the jury didn''t take his family''s loss into account. If we based every ruling on what children feel and think, our justice system would be a disaster. Oh, wait, in Texas, it already is. Does anyone else find it funny that they could only get 2 jurors to come forward?

[smueabs]

Many of us seem to agree that her alibi doesn''t add up. I would be interested to know if a pre-dawn jog was part of her normal schedule. Also, I don''t think her case has made it through the appelate courts yet, but I''m still checking. Also, "Truthyness," you need to GET OFF THIS DISCUSSION BOARD. This board is not for political discussion. If you are so disinfranchised by the government, run for office and stop complaining.

[gabyxoxo]

Reading throught the posts, it reminds me of the fact that she said she called sick into work after she called 911. So Traci is in too much shock to do any type of first aide on her husband but she has the presence of mind to call in sick to work. WHAT?

And with regards to the pillow. The ONLY thing a pillow would do is prevent blood spatter which absolutely, positively could not be explained. Period. Nothing else. To say that he did that to muffle the sound is ridiculous!!! That wouldn''t muffle any sound! And he could just have easily went into his car of somewhere truly soundproof.

It''s just such a shame and I can''t help but think her whole "religious show" was purposeful to make her look like a kind, God fearing woman. And it makes me sick to know that it worked!!!

[curious51]

I watched and listened to every detail of this story. At first, I was convinced that she conveniently went out for a walk @ 4:45AM, giving her no other alibi, shot her husband, and covered it to look like a suicide.
But as the events/evidence grew, such as the questionable position of the gun in the blood, the feathers on the gun, along with the blood, it seemed like someone other than the wife was to blame for tampering with evidence!
If it were me, I would have left well enough alone, taken the 10 years probation...........But, this was her decision.
Does anyone know what the end result was, was her appeal granted? Is there an update?
I was really surprised by the reaction of the Texas Ranger, as he seemed "determined" to make HER pay for the crime, regardless of the evidence!

[gabyxoxo]

So, all a woman has to do is cry a lot for people to feel too guilty to assign a punishment for murder??
W.O.W.

Traci''s own words show her guilt. She said that she and her husband had a HUGE fight the night of the murder but went to bed "happily" agreeing to try to work things out. Now, people commit suicide in one of two ways. Either in the midst of a breakdown or rage rather impulsively (which means Scott would have pulled the trigger on himself when he and Traci were having their "knock down, drag out" fight) or in a planned, perpared kind of way which gives a person time to say their goodbyes. Especially to beloved children.

Now, WHY would a man that LOVES his three kids, wake up from a peaceful sleep and decide to kill himself AT THAT MOMENT? Why then? And did he go to bed with the gun under his pillow? Or did he have to get up and get it from somewhere and then lay back down to commit suicide in what has to be the most ackward position?

How convenient for Traci that she decided to go for a jog at 4:30 am and then take a shower. Was this unusual timing typical of her daily routine? I doubt it.

Poor Scott. He had his demons both from his birth family and then with Traci. How unfortunate that he was able to face down these demons all those years and then, when there was finally an end to his turmoil in sight, he decides to choose that moment to "commit suicide" and leave his kids, without a goodbye and with an immoral, cheating spouse.

[melabling]

Traci...I do hope you read these. Could it be that on your little 4:45 am walk, you met up with your boyfriend, oops sorry, your friend...gave him the gun, went home and while you were in the shower, he shot your Hubby...wonder why no one has ever thought of that. Whatever happened Traci, ever fiber of my being believes that you had something to do with his murder. Bless his heart, you drove him crazy...you were constantly cheating on him and you werent a good MOM. You didn''t want to lose this battle! You knew he had no family to fight for him on his behalf. Now all of America knows what you did...

[lsbrooks721]

Did Traci''s friends, the husband who used to be Scott''s boss, and wife testify at the trial. I felt their input was important. I have been married to a man like this...who is obsessed with you, changes moods quickly, thinks you are having an affair with anyone you talk to or look at. After I left him, with much domestic violence, he remaiired 2 more times, before commiting suicide. He was a deputy sheriff. I believe Traci is innocent. People who have not lived with someone like this don''t understand how they think.

I believe you are innocent

[tomcrews1]

How can somebody hold a pillow to their own head while holding a gun to their head and then shoot themselves holding the gun with both hands?

Obviously, she''s guilty. The jury saw that. They just didn''t want her to suffer any CONSEQUENCES for the killing. How is that different fron the way any other woman is treated in any other situation? Women are NEVER TO HELD ACCOUNTABLE FOR THEIR ACTIONS PERIOD. That''s just the way it is in America. That''s the way it always will be. Get used to it.

[what-about]

I think all first responders should carry a digital camera with them to every call that they get and document the scene. Good digital cameras have a setting that will take 40 pictures in about 20 seconds then it stores them, and then the first responders can go on to saving the persons life. The context of the crime scene was compromised, so most of the evidence should not be used. How did she walk into the bathroom to take a shower without seeing her husband, but heard him moan in the bedroom while taking a shower? Would she not smell the fired gun or blood, she%u2019s a nurse. Did she leave the house to go get cleaned up at her friend home? Maybe the husband was right, do a DNA test on the children to see if they were his or someone else%u2019s.

[drbobalee]

As I drive around my beautiful western state, I notice bumper stickers that read "Don''t mess with Texas". Don''t worry, we wont. Texas messes with itself enough! Absolutely ridiculous! "It''s OK, you''re a murderer but your kids want you so forget about any jail time". P.S. Please keep Bush to yourselves.

[johnhanne]

Sometimes ya'' need to drain the sludge from the bottom of the pool.....gene pool that is. Tho'' I have observed this is often an automatic societal function. Ahh- regression to the mean!

[davegrant6]

Using the information from the program last night , I can see that the police and medics seriously comprimised the crime scene. (I watch a lot of the CSI programs, lol) I think a lot of evidence should have been thrown out of court. I believe that the jury verdict was wrong, there wasn''t enough evidence to convict this woman. However, I don''t believe that she can prove she is innocent either and I would hope that she would drop her appeal and live with the results. She is taking a risk that is not worth it.
There was a case in our town where the woman killed her newborn and they offered her a minimum sentence due to other circumstances. She decided to do better with a jury and as a result has spent the last thirty years in prison and they still won''t let her out. She had admitted the crime all along. While this is not an exactly similiar situation the point is that sometimes you have to take your losses and move on. I had a friend who committed suicide thirty years ago and it made no sense whatever. Scott may have killed himself because he wanted to punish her while not wanting to lose her. He may have tried to frame her for his murder or just couldn''t stand the emotional pain of the conflict. Suicide often makes no sense to the facts. We didn''t hear anything about the gun which would have been interesting information. So I can see both guilt and innocents but I believe that Traci should not appeal this verdict.

[drdavedmd]

Also, why would he end his life if he wanted to go to court and get full custody of the kids???? Yeah..... that makes sense.... a guy tells his lady that they are going to court to fight for the kids, and he ends up dead??? Yeah, right.....

Yeah.... and then ten days later, they meet in the hotel room... you know... just to chat... they had *** people.... you don''t pay for a hotel night just to talk and see how they are... they mut be talking about how proud they are to get awaty with cold blooded murder.....

And please don''t tell me that this new boyfriend had finally hit a home run, after the murder... he banged her much earlier, and they just had to play it cool so it would NOT arise any suspicion.

You''ll see.... one day, when it doesn''t work out, there will be a confession to something down the road... I hope the appeal fails and Traci is sent to prison for the rest of her life.... murderers should NOT get away with it..... an innocent life was taken away.... so should hers.....

[drdavedmd]

There is also a couple of facts that point to murder....I see other people already picked up the fact about the pillow.... NO ONE in their right mind is going to take a pillow, then aim a gun to their head, and then pull the trigger. That''s stupidity beyond belief.

Secondly, Traci said the gun was found in both of her hands. This can''t be true. Someone killing themselves with a small pistol is NOT going to be holding a pistol like that with both hands and pull the trigger. The gun also has to be facing towards their face. This was implicating her immediately. If he shot himself, with the one hand, then how can he end up with the gun in both hands. Doesn''t make sense. A physical impossibility. This jury was out to lunch on this one.

Also, if someone was going to kill themselves,and they wanted to try and not let anyone know, putting a pillow over their head is NOT going to silence the gun... sorry.... that''s idiotic.

And why would he put a pillow over his head, only to run the risk of missing, ''cause he can''t see where he''s aiming! Is this retarded????? I wouldn''t believe Traci a split second. SHe''s a cold blooded murderer.