Point Blank

Summary

48 Hours: Point Blank

Original Air Date: January 29, 2026
Podcast Host: CBS News
Case Focus: The shooting death of Scott Rhodey and the prosecution of his wife, Tracy Rhodey.

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Episode Overview

"Point Blank" explores the complex case of Scott Rhodey's sudden, violent death in his Texas home and the events that led to his wife Tracy's controversial conviction for murder—followed by an even more shocking sentence. Through investigative reporting, emotional interviews, and detailed forensic analysis, the episode examines questions of motive, evidence, and the deeply divided public opinion surrounding Tracy's guilt or innocence.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Discovery of the Crime and 911 Call

• [01:01] Tracy wakes up early, takes a walk, showers, and discovers her husband gravely wounded in bed after hearing moaning.
• Emotional Response & Immediate Actions:
  • Tracy describes her panic and trauma, calling 911 and rushing her children out to protect them from the horrific scene:

    "When I turned the water off in the shower, I heard like a moaning sound... I saw all the blood." — Tracy Rhodey [01:16]

  • She tells her children, “Daddy’s very, very sick,” unable to explain what had happened. [03:05]

2. Initial Investigation & Tracy as a Suspect

• [05:12] Tracy, instead of being allowed to see her husband in the hospital, is escorted by police for questioning as suspicions quickly turn toward her.
• Police Perspective:
  • "I took one look at that gun and I knew in my mind this was not a suicide... this was not a suicide." — JD Robertson, Texas Ranger [03:38]
  • Tracy is stunned investigators suspect her:

    “These people think I harmed the man I had loved for 20 years… It’s not even a possibility.” — Tracy [06:13]

• Marriage Background:
  • Teenage sweethearts with three children, both achieving their career goals.

3. Marriage Trouble and Motive Theories

• Scott’s Jealousy & Marital Strife:
  • Tracy reveals years of emotional abuse and jealousy:

    “He was obsessed. She was almost like a possession.” — Tracy [08:17] “He was afraid of losing her, moved the family five times in 13 years.” [09:55]

• Affair & Confrontation:
  • Tracy meets Shawn Michaels, a flirtatious coworker, and shares a kiss. Scott confronts her, and for the first time, she admits to feelings for another:

    "[Scott:] You have no idea what you’ve just done." — Scott (reported by Tracy) [11:45]

  • Detectives focus on this as motive—Tracy wanting freedom to pursue Shawn.

4. The Day Before the Shooting

• Custody Confrontation:
  • Scott takes Tracy to a divorce lawyer, blindsiding her with plans for sole custody:

    “You never told me that I was going to have the boys.” — Tracy [16:52]

  • That night, an explosive argument erupts. Scott becomes physical and then suddenly remorseful, asking her to stay. They fall asleep together after reconciling. [17:48]

5. Competing Theories: Suicide vs. Staged Murder

• Detective & Prosecution Theory:
  • They believe Tracy shot Scott point blank while he slept, staged the scene, and tried to muffle the gunshot with a pillow to avoid incriminating evidence:

    “A murder made to look like a suicide in a staged crime scene.” — Narrator [25:11]

• Tracy's Defense:
  • Insists Scott took his own life, overwhelmed by emotional and psychological issues:

    “He loved her enough... thinking she was cheating in every state to get her to the furthest point he could... I could see him… saying, I can’t handle this anymore. Enough is enough.” — Raina Cant, friend [19:43]

6. Physical & Forensic Evidence

• Disputed Gun Evidence:
  • Prosecution: Gun fallen on floor, picked up and placed in Scott’s hand, blood on gun inconsistent with suicide scenario.
  • Defense: Gun lay in a pool of blood on bed, evidence moved and compromised by EMS.
  • Experts disagree vigorously:

    “Any blood-stained pattern… you tend to see what you want to see.” — Forensic criminalist Richard Ernest [27:24]
    “They created a factual fiction.” — Defense [28:13]

  • No fingerprints matching Tracy found on the weapon.

7. Public Perception & Trial Dynamics

• Community Divided:
  • Sympathy for Tracy vs. condemnation for infidelity.
  • Prosecution paints her as a “vindictive, cold blooded murderer, cheating wife.” — Tracy [30:59]
• Shawn Michaels’ Role:
  • “Did you kill your husband so that you could be with Shawn Michaels?” — Narrator [32:16]
  • Tracy: “No, sir. For one thing, I did not kill my husband. But Shawn Michaels wasn’t even a factor in my marriage.” [32:16]
  • Their post-murder relationship (a brief romantic encounter) is used by the prosecution to imply motive.

8. Compromised Crime Scene

• Chain of Custody Issues:
  • Evidence was reportedly moved by EMS; initial photos taken two hours after Scott was removed, objects including the gun, pillow, holster displaced.

    “The scene was extremely compromised.” — Defense [36:25]

9. Verdict and Sentencing Twist

• The Outcome:
  • Jury finds Tracy guilty after three weeks of testimony.

    “The courtroom fell silent as the judge uttered the jury’s decree. Guilty.” — Narrator [39:05]

  • After emotional testimony from her children (who pleaded for their mother) during sentencing, the same jury sentences her to probation—ten years, no prison time.

    "The same jury that convicted Tracy Rhodey of murder decided to let her walk away. Probation. No time in prison. Zero, zilch, nada, Nothing." — Narrator [41:08]

• Jury’s Rationale:
  • “The testimony of the children. For the children having to stand up there and say that they didn’t want their mother to go to jail.” — Juror [42:23]
• Tracy’s Reaction:
  • “I am innocent. Obviously, they had doubts about their verdict to give me probation. I mean, who would put a convicted murderer home on probation?” — Tracy [42:56]

10. Aftermath and Ongoing Dilemma

• Life on Probation:
  • Tracy is not allowed to leave the county, must obey an 8pm curfew, cannot attend family events, and is fined $10,000.
  • Faces agonizing choice: appeal the conviction (and risk a harsher sentence) or serve probation while maintaining her innocence.

    “People think I got off easy. How is 10 years probation… how is that getting off easy when you’re innocent? I’m innocent.” — Tracy [43:49]

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the Tragedy:

  “Three little young men, you know, they've lost their father, and we've just proven it was their mother that killed their father.” — Prosecutor Chuck Mattingly [39:30]

• On the Prosecution’s Motive Theory:

  “In order for her to continue this relationship with Shawn Michaels, she had to be free from her husband. And how was she gonna be free from her husband? ...She was gonna wake up in the morning, put a bullet in his head. That’s what she did.” — Chuck Mattingly, prosecutor [31:43]

• On Community Reaction:

  “I wouldn’t spit on her if she was on fire.” — Community Member [30:41]

• On Evidence and Doubt:

  “They created a factual fiction. From the day one that I first met this woman, this woman has been very consistent.” — Defense attorney Ernesto Gamez [28:13]
  “Any blood stained pattern on the carpet almost looks like a Rorschach pattern. You tend to see what you want to see.” — Forensic criminalist Richard Ernest [27:24]

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Important Timestamps

• [01:00] — Tracy discovers Scott and calls 911
• [03:38] — Texas Ranger asserts he believes it is not a suicide
• [08:13] — Accounts of Scott’s jealousy and emotional disturbances
• [11:45] — The crucial marital confrontation over infidelity
• [16:41] — Divorce and custody shock
• [18:51] — Altercation with baseball bat, eventual reconciliation
• [22:47] — Debates over the position and state of the gun
• [25:11] — Detailed breakdown of the prosecution’s staged crime scene theory
• [28:13] — Forensic evidence arguments for the defense
• [30:41] — Community’s divided opinions
• [32:16] — Direct questioning of Tracy’s motives
• [36:25] — Defense attack on the integrity of the crime scene
• [39:05] — Guilty verdict
• [41:08] — Probation sentence delivered
• [42:23] — Jury’s explanation for the probation decision
• [43:49] — Tracy contemplates appeal, maintains her innocence

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Conclusion

In one of the most controversial outcomes in Texas criminal justice history, Tracy Rhodey was convicted of murdering her husband but sentenced only to probation, thanks in large part to the emotional plea from her children. The episode underlines the murky nature of truth in emotionally charged cases where forensic ambiguities, divided community sentiment, and the power of personal testimony converge. The case remains a stark illustration of how courtroom drama, evidence interpretation, and family dynamics can collide—with irreversible consequences.

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Listeners are left to ask:
Was Tracy wrongly convicted, or did a craftily staged crime fool experts and a jury? And how often does our system allow so much doubt to linger, even as it moves on to the next tragedy?

Transcript

[Narrator]

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[Tracy Rhodey]

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[Narrator]

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[Tracy Rhodey]

Get started today@stitch fix.com. October 15, 2003 was the worst day of my life. I Woke up around 4:45 in the morning. I took a walk, walked two miles and came home and a shower. When I turned the water off in the shower, I heard like a moaning sound. I listened at the door and the moaning got louder. So I opened up the door and the bedroom was completely dark. But I could see my husband laying in the bed. I walked around the bed and I touched his legs and I said, honey, are you okay? And he didn't respond to me. And I walked on up to the side of the bed and he had the pillow over his head. And I moved the pillow and that's when I just saw all the blood. Nine one one. Can I help you please? My husband's just shot himself. Where did he shoot himself? Can I have you in the head?

[Narrator]

In the head?

[Tracy Rhodey]

Yes. I was just like, oh my God, what have you done? What happened? Why did you do this? You know? Talk to me. Please talk to me. Nothing. And I thought about my children and they could not see them like that. And I ran and got them out of bed and out of the house. My name is Tracy Rhodey and I'm Scott Rody's wife.

[Narrator]

I asked my mom if my dad was okay. And she told me, no, he's not, honey.

[Tracy Rhodey]

Shane asked me, is Daddy okay? And I said, no, honey, he's not okay. Daddy's very, very sick. I couldn't tell him.

[Narrator]

Scott Rode is not a man that would have taken his own life. Scott Rode is a man who was a driven professional and a doting father of his three children. This was a intricate puzzle to put together. We had to put the pieces together to show that this indeed was an elaborate staged crime scene. I took one look at that gun and I knew in my mind this was not a suicide. My name is J.D. robertson. I'm with the Texas Rangers. I examine physical evidence, and from that physical evidence I tell stor I told the story of the murder of Scott Rody. It was a very difficult story to tell. In all the years that I've worked in law enforcement, I've never seen an outcome like this. Point blank. Tonight's 48 Hours Mystery.

[Tracy Rhodey]

I could never have imagined what all would have transpired. There's no way to even think that any of this stuff was real. But all of it happened.

[Narrator]

October 15, 2003. The Life Tracy Rhodey knew was over. As Scott Rode lay dying with a gunshot wound to the head, his wife Tracy's ordeal was only just beginning.

[Tracy Rhodey]

My husband is dying there in the hospital and they're taking me away to be questioned.

[Narrator]

Before we ask you any questions, Ms. Rodey, you need to be aware of what your rights are.

[Tracy Rhodey]

I was shocked when they asked me to go to the police station. I had already told them all that I knew that had happened. I mean, I wasn't there. I didn't see it, I didn't hear it. I only know what I found. I moved the pillow back and I saw all the blood in his eyes, all swollen. And I touched his face and I said, scott, can you hear me? I kept asking the police officers, please let me go be with my husband. He's dying. Can I please tell my children? My children don't know what happened. Just a few more minutes and we'll let you go. Just a few more minutes and we'll let you go.

[Narrator]

By mid afternoon, it was clear Scott was brain dead and would not recover. And something else was clear, too.

[Tracy Rhodey]

These people think I harmed the man I had loved for 20 years of my life, that I spent my life with. It's not even a possibility.

[Narrator]

Tracy says she can barely remember a time without Scott. They met in their early teens and became high school sweethearts in Fort Madison, Iowa. Scott was an only child from a troubled family. In Tracy, he not only found the love of his life, he found a home, says Tracy's mom, Vicki Lear.

[Tracy Rhodey]

You'd have to send him home at 10 o' clock at night, but I mean, they spent their time together and he became part of our family.

[Narrator]

Tracy and Scott were married in 1990, only a few years after Tracy's high school graduation.

[Tracy Rhodey]

Storybook. They were just so much in love, and you could really tell when they would look at each other.

[Narrator]

Scott put himself through college, became an engineer. Tracy would go on to become a nurse, specializing in birth and delivery care.

[Tracy Rhodey]

The three things that she ever wanted in life. Be married, be a nurse, and be a mom.

[Narrator]

She got her whoosh times three.

[Tracy Rhodey]

Hi, sweetheart.

[Narrator]

Shane, Nicholas, and Dalton.

[Tracy Rhodey]

Go, Shane. Go. Go, Shane. Go. Go, go, go.

[Narrator]

In home videos, the roadies seem to be the picture perfect place.

[Tracy Rhodey]

Family.

[Narrator]

Scott, the picture perfect dad. But there was another side to Scott Rody, says Tracy. And it was slowly destroying their marriage. Was Scott a jealous man?

[Tracy Rhodey]

Very jealous.

[Narrator]

Did he accuse you of having affairs?

[Tracy Rhodey]

All the time. He was obsessed. She was almost like a possession.

[Narrator]

Raina Cant and her husband Kyle have been close friends of the roadies for years.

[Tracy Rhodey]

She'd always tell me that Scott was saying that she was cheating and had an affair with the different doctors that she worked with.

[Narrator]

Is there any chance that she was cheating with these doctors?

[Tracy Rhodey]

There was no way that Traci had an affair with any of these doctors.

[Narrator]

But there was no convincing him, says Traci. She remembers one awful night when she had to stay a few hours late at work to help deliver a baby.

[Tracy Rhodey]

I went home. It's midnight. I get home. My husband's not there. My kids aren't there. As I'm calling the emergency room, thinking the worst, I hear the garage door open, and I go running out to the garage. You know, what happened? What happened? Is everybody okay? And he's screaming at me, you tramp. You whore. Where the hell have you been? And he said he went looking for me so he could show our children what a tramp they had for a mother. And I lived like that for years.

[Narrator]

Why did you stay in the marriage so long if you were constantly being accused of having affairs with other people?

[Tracy Rhodey]

I loved him. And I mean, as bad as our bad times were, there were still good times. He was the father of my children. Thank you. He was my husband. To me, it was worth working out.

[Narrator]

But Scott didn't make things any easier. Tracy says her husband was so afraid of losing her to another man, he moved the family five times in 13 years. There would be stops in Maryville, Tennessee, Kennett, Missouri, and Batesville, Arkansas, finally ending up in Brownsville, Texas, in 2003.

[Tracy Rhodey]

And there was never anyone. I never looked at anyone. I never talked to anyone. I'VE never nothing until Brownsville.

[Narrator]

It was here, far away from friends and family, that Traci really did meet somebody. His name was Shawn Michaels.

[Tracy Rhodey]

Shawn was a big flirt with everybody at work. And I would tell him, you know, I'm married. And he's like, I know, I'm just kidding. Over time, I could tell that it was more than just kidding.

[Narrator]

One afternoon, they arranged to meet in a parking lot to talk.

[Tracy Rhodey]

We just stood there talking. And then he gave me a hug to leave and he kissed me. I was shocked. Shocked, but yet it was good to have somebody pay attention to me.

[Narrator]

And then one week later, Scott confronted Tracy in their bathroom, once again accusing her of cheating.

[Tracy Rhodey]

That's why you're all sweaty. That's why you're in here washing your face. You've been having sex. And I said, no, I haven't. I've not been having sex with anybody.

[Narrator]

In the heat of the moment, Tracy blurted out her feelings for Shawn.

[Tracy Rhodey]

And I said, for the first time in my life, there is somebody. It's not about sex. Somebody's paying attention to me.

[Narrator]

Was he upset?

[Tracy Rhodey]

He was very upset. And he just looked right through me and said, you have no idea what you've just done.

[Narrator]

But police didn't buy Tracy's story, any of it.

[Tracy Rhodey]

I'm telling the truth.

[Narrator]

The truth, they say, is that she committed cold blooded murder. Tracy Rhodey grabbed a gun, grabbed a pillow, put the pillow to his head, the gun to his head, and shot him.

[Tracy Rhodey]

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[Narrator]

October 15, 2003 I was called out to a suicide. Initially it was reported to me that Scott Rody had suffered a self inflicted gunshot wound. Within hours, Brownsville Detective Sam Lucio's investigation had changed course. The investigation turned from attempted suicide to a possible homicide investigation. It had all the ingredients of a classic murder plot, says Lucio. A love interest, jealousy, and a pretty young wife who was behaving suspiciously. She's a nurse, but she gave no first aid to her husband whatsoever. And the reason she says she didn't give any first aid was because she was in shock. In shock, says the detective. Yet she had the presence of mind to call work and say she wouldn't be coming in. Who would be thinking about I need to call work so they can get a replacement for me at work today because my husband got shot. Even more troubling to Detective Lucio, she washed her hands in front of a police officer. What was she washing off? Gunshot residue.

[Tracy Rhodey]

I just could smell blood. I'm a nurse, I'm sensitive to the smell of blood. And I just had my hands up there and I just walked over to the kitchen sink and I just ran hot water over my hands and I.

[Narrator]

Just stood there crying, Crying, says Tracy from the trauma of seeing her husband with his head blown apart. Some might say, why didn't you try to do something else? You're a nurse.

[Tracy Rhodey]

What could I do? He didn't need cpr. He was breathing. My thought was get the paramedics here, get him to the hospital, let them see what they could do.

[Narrator]

It was not only Tracy's behavior that aroused the suspicions of Lucio and his partner, Detective Thomas Clipper. It was also what they learned that day about the final weeks and hours of Scott Rody's Life. Were there problems in the marriage? Problems that led detectives to the other man, Shawn Michaels, the unit secretary at the hospital where Tracy worked, the very same hospital where Scott Rode would die. The detectives also learned that Scott had hired divorce attorney Nat Perez. They were about to play hardball, and he was a man who had a.

[Tracy Rhodey]

Plan and wanted to implement that plan.

[Narrator]

Just one day before the shooting, Scott took Tracy to Perez's office and blindsided her with his plan.

[Tracy Rhodey]

I said, scott will have custody of.

[Narrator]

The children, but you would have liberal visitation. She just basically yelled out what? Looked at Scott and said, you never told me that. You never told me that I was going to have the boys. And if she chose to fight, they made it clear they would use Shawn Michaels against her.

[Tracy Rhodey]

I said, you know, that didn't matter to me. I would do whatever to fight for my children. I didn't feel like I should sign away my children. I love my children. I was a good mother.

[Narrator]

And she told Scott, we need to go home and we need to talk about this some more. Back home, emotionally drained, they stopped fighting and started talking. Says Traci.

[Tracy Rhodey]

I told him I wanted joint custody of our kids. I wasn't doing anything wrong. I didn't deserve to lose my children.

[Narrator]

Tracy says both agreed they didn't want to put their kids through an ugly custody battle. But later that night, Scott's mood changed again.

[Tracy Rhodey]

My wife made me goofy.

[Narrator]

Tracy says he suddenly flew into a rage in the laundry room over Shawn Michaels.

[Tracy Rhodey]

He went and got a ball bat, and he wanted to know where Shawn lived because he was going to go bash his head in. And he's screaming at me, you know, tell me where he lives. I don't know. I've never been to his home. I don't know. That's when he got physical with me, grabbed me by the throat, put his fist up to me, told me he was just gonna knock the out of me. And I said, if that makes you feel better, just do it. I'm not having an affair. And I went into the and I started packing his suitcase. I was just gonna go stay in a hotel, but he started crying, and he begged me not to go. And then, you know, he said, you know, come lay down here with me. And I laid with my head on his chest. It wasn't anger anymore. It was just loving couple just trying to work out our problems.

[Narrator]

The next morning, Scott Rode was found with a gunshot wound to the head. Till the day I die, I will never accept that Scott committed suicide.

[Tracy Rhodey]

What I believe is that he really Felt like he was losing me. We were all each other had. I mean, he didn't have a relationship with his family. It was just me, him, and the boys. That was. Was better for Scott, in Scott's mind, to take his own life than it was to live without Tracy.

[Narrator]

He loved her that much.

[Tracy Rhodey]

He loved her that much.

[Narrator]

Traci's friend Raina Cant believes that after all the years of accusations, Scott found himself facing the real possibility there was someone else. And it was more than he could bear.

[Tracy Rhodey]

He loved her enough to move her from state to state to state, thinking she was cheating in every state to get her to the furthest point he could. So he had her all to himself in Brownsville, Texas. I could see him easily at that point saying, you know what? I can't handle this anymore. Enough is enough.

[Narrator]

But Detective Lucio says Scott was no broken man. He was going to take custody of his kids and move on, leaving Tracy with a double motive for murder. I think that the motive was clearly she was losing her children. She was losing her home. She was losing the life she. She was used to. And the only way she was going to have a relationship with Shawn Michaels is if Scott Rody was out of the picture. Believing it was one thing, proving it another, the detective spent the next two years hunting for physical evidence linking Tracy Rode to the crime.

[Tracy Rhodey]

They swabbed every drain in this house. There was no blood anywhere. They checked all my trash cans. There was no evidence. I didn't kill my husband.

[Narrator]

But the investigators kept digging until finally, a break. A Texas Ranger noticed a piece of evidence that had been staring him in the face all along. What does the evidence in this case tell you? That Tracy Rhodey shot Scott Rody. On August 11, 2005, on what would have been her 15th wedding anniversary, Tracy was arrested for the murder of her husband, Scott Rhodey, while he was asleep. While he was asleep. Reeling after her indictment for murder, Tracy Rode turned to the only place in Brownsville she felt welcomed. The Vineyard Christian Fellowship.

[Tracy Rhodey]

And those people were just amazing. They're just so giving.

[Narrator]

We have to continue to pray for Tracy. Most of us felt in the gut there was some injustice going on here. Jim Odabashian is not only Tracy's pastor, he is a lawyer and a former assistant district attorney. This is a false charge. This is not right. I believe that Tracy's innocent.

[Tracy Rhodey]

Thank you so much.

[Narrator]

Odebassian believes Tracy has told the truth about that dreadful morning when she got out of the shower and discovered her dying husband.

[Tracy Rhodey]

And when I lifted the Pillow. All I could see was just blood. And as I'm dialing 911, I saw the gun.

[Narrator]

That gun and where it was found would become one of the most disputed issues in this case.

[Tracy Rhodey]

The gun was in between his hands, somewhere on the bed.

[Narrator]

In every good lie, there's a little bit of truth. Prosecutor Chuck Mattingly spent two years gathering evidence for his indictment against Tracy Rhodey. Tracy Rhodey is a cold blooded, calculated killer. A killer, says Mattingly, who orchestrated the final moments of her husband's life. Down to the feathered pillow she placed over his head. I believe the pillow was used in an attempt to muffle the sound. I also believe she used that pillow to prevent any back spatter from coming back, getting on her hands. And thirdly, she used that pillow to disassociate herself from her husband before she killed him. Police recreated their theory of the shooting and brought in Texas Ranger JD Robertson to help prove their case. Suspects and witnesses lie. The evidence does not. It tells the truth. Robertson, a forensic bloodstain analyst, poured over police photos taken at the scene. I took one look at that gun and I knew in my mind this was not a suicide. That gun was removed from Scott by Sergeant Pablo Flores, one of the first officers on the scene. I entered and as I was removing the handgun, that's when EMS arrived. I put it on her hope chest. When he removed it, says Flores, the gun was lying in Scott's hands. The handle of the gun was resting on his left hand and the barrel on his right. He also said there was no blood on Scott's hands and the gun did not come into contact with any blood on the bed. The gun was not touching the bedding, the mattress, the sheet, the mattress cover, the comforter. The gun never came into contact with anything that had blood on it, and yet there was blood around the handle and a thick glob of it in the mechanism of the gun. Robertson wanted to know how it got there. There was no blood in his hands, but yet there's a mass of congealed, coagulated blood in the hammer in action. We have to find that source. That source jumped out at him. While studying this photo, an enlarged print of the blood stained carpet next to the bed. Robertson's theory is that the gun was lying in the pool of blood next to the bed. Using the carpet swatch taken as evidence. This demonstration shows where he believes both the holster and gun fit into the blood pattern on the floor. To Robertson, this perfect fit made perfect sense in the prosecution scenario of what happened. The morning of October 15th, Tracy Rhodey put the gun to his head with the pillow covering it. She discharged it. When she did, she dropped the gun and it landed on the floor. But waiting for her husband to Robinson says Tracy realized she'd made a big mistake. After some period of time passed, she realized that the gun's on the floor, and if this is going to be a suicide, it's got to be in his hand. Tracy says the prosecution then picked up the weapon and put it into the hands of her dying husband. It was a murder made to look like a suicide in a staged crime scene. But Tracy says this was a suicide that the prosecution made look like a murder.

[Tracy Rhodey]

It's not okay. What the police and the prosecutors do to people, they twist things starting, she.

[Narrator]

Says, with that gun on the floor. At any point did you touch the gun?

[Tracy Rhodey]

No, sir.

[Narrator]

You never touched the gun?

[Tracy Rhodey]

No, sir.

[Narrator]

The gun, says Tracy, as far as she knew, was never on the floor.

[Tracy Rhodey]

The gun was somewhere on the bed. His hands were. Were something like this.

[Narrator]

Tracy's story is the same today as it was in 2003 when she first talked to police. The gun was in between both hands.

[Tracy Rhodey]

The gun was somewhere laying on the.

[Narrator]

Bed, I think laying on the bed. And contrary to what the prosecution says, it was in direct contact with the blood soaked sheets, says Tracy.

[Tracy Rhodey]

I know when I lifted the pillow, the gun was somewhere up between his hands and. And that's where all the blood was. And the gun was laying in that blood.

[Narrator]

Forensic criminalist Richard Ernest agrees. He studied the evidence for the defense and believes the gun was lying in the blood right here. That area of him, around his head, his arms, his hands, was all bathed in a big pool of blood. And that is where the gun was taken from. Scott's hands were washed at the hospital. There are no photos of him at the scene. There's a tremendous amount of blood here. You'll note also that there's not only blood, but feathers. And Ernest believes the feathers and the blood on the gun came directly from the bed. Obviously, this gun was lying in that blood for some period of time. And to say that there's no other way that blood could be in the mechanism of this gun than for it to be down on the floor for a while before it was placed in his hand is a ridiculous proposition. To my way of thinking, any blood stained pattern on the carpet almost looks like a Rorschach pattern. You tend to see what you want to see. Did Tracy Rhodey kill her husband, Scott? Absolutely not. She's innocent. Ernesto Gamez would defend Tracy in her upcoming trial. If the prosecution say she touched a gun and there was blood on the gun, then why weren't her fingerprints on the gun? Investigators did find a palm print on the handle of the weapon, but it was never identified as belonging to either Scott, Sergeant Flores, or Tracy. They found nothing. Zero. They created a factual fiction. From the day one that I first met this woman, this woman has been very consistent. Robert Garza, a former Texas judge, was co counsel for Tracy. I believe her. By God, she's telling the truth.

[Tracy Rhodey]

That's what I have done from day one. I have told the truth. The police and the prosecutors, they've taken parts of truths and twisted it around.

[Narrator]

This was a murder. The physical evidence points to it. I wouldn't have taken it to trial if I didn't believe it was a murder.

[Tracy Rhodey]

What's up, little psychos? I'm investigator Slater, host of the Psychopedia podcast. Psychopedia is a true crime podcast delivering raw, real and absolutely gripping episodes every single week. I dig deep, deep to uncover fascinating details of heinous true crime cases while exploring criminology and psychology theories. I take you into the absolute darkest corners of the human psyche. My favorite territory. And present cases like you've never heard them before. Follow and listen to Psychopedia everywhere you get your podcasts.

[Narrator]

Four years after the death of Scott Rody, his wife Tracy went on trial. Brownsville was a town divided. On one hand, a cry for mercy. Do I think that Tracy killed Scott? No, I don't. On the other, a cry for blood.

[Tracy Rhodey]

I wouldn't spit on her if she was on fire.

[Narrator]

To those convinced of her guilt, Tracy's crime was murder, but her sin was infidelity. Her relationship with Shawn Michaels was at the center of the prosecution's case. How do you think the prosecution portrayed you in court?

[Tracy Rhodey]

Oh, they portrayed me to be a vindictive, cold blooded murderer, cheating wife. And that's not true. I'm not this tramp that they made me out to be. I'm not a whore. I'm not.

[Narrator]

In the course of your investigation, did you ever find any proof at all that Tracy had slept with other men during the relationship she had with Scott? Other than rumor, no. The prosecution questioned Shawn Michaels on the stand, but no audio recording was allowed. During the trial, he acknowledged a mutual attraction, but clearly stated they did not have sex. That didn't stop District Attorney Chuck Mattingly from branding Tracy an unfaithful wife. Going around with another man, kissing him passionately. While you're Married to your spouse, is that being unfaithful? Well, down here in South Texas, that's being unfaithful. In order for her to continue this relationship with Shawn Michaels, she had to be free from her husband. And how was she gonna be free from her husband? She was gonna wake up in the morning, put a bullet in his head. That's what she did. Did you kill your husband so that you could be with Shawn Michaels?

[Tracy Rhodey]

No, sir. For one thing, I did not kill my husband. But Shawn Michaels wasn't even a factor in my marriage. It was. It wasn't this big affair that they made it out to be.

[Narrator]

But that changed after Scott died, and it did not play well at trial. We learned that about a week or so, maybe 10 days after Scott's murder, Shawn Michaels and Tracy Rhodey checked into the Red Roof Inn.

[Tracy Rhodey]

We didn't meet at the Red Roof Inn to have sex like they have said. That's not what happened.

[Narrator]

They first met at a pancake house to talk.

[Tracy Rhodey]

There were several police officers, and I was very uncomfortable.

[Narrator]

So they drove across the street.

[Tracy Rhodey]

We were supposed to go there to talk. Unfortunately, things went a little further than that.

[Narrator]

The appearance of all this after your husband had died, you have to concede it doesn't make you look good.

[Tracy Rhodey]

No, it doesn't make me look good, but I wasn't thinking about looking good. I was in a place 24 hours away from home, from any family. Shawn was the closest person I knew, and I hung onto him with everything in me to get me through.

[Narrator]

Their relationship was on and off for about two and a half years. That helped the state hammer home motive and make its case for murder over suicide. They claimed Scott Rody was too devoted a dad to kill himself. His children were everything to him. He took him fishing. He took him hunting. But Tracy says the detectives and prosecutors didn't even know her husband. Raina and Kyle Cant knew Scott and Tracy for years before they moved to Brownsville. Kyle was Scott's boss. I was not surprised that Scott committed suicide. Was not surprised at all. The can't say. Scott was a deeply troubled man at work. He believed people were plotting behind his back to get him fired, says Kyle. Much like his paranoia about his wife, says Reyna.

[Tracy Rhodey]

I'm not an expert in psychology, but he was definitely manic depressive or bipolar. There was something else there that just wasn't right. Something was wrong.

[Narrator]

But Scott Rode wasn't the one on trial. Traci was. And to prove her guilt, Mattingly turned to this. I really think that was probably the most damning piece of evidence. The prosecution showed the holster and the gun fitting neatly into the blood stain on the piece of carpet. If the gun was on the floor, how did that gun then get back into his hands while he was lying in bed? The prosecution told the jury that Tracy Rhodey shot her husband. Startled, she dropped the gun on the floor. She later picked it up and put it in Scott's hands to make it look like he pulled the trigger. That's not what happened, says Tracy. She says she got up, walked about two miles, came back and showered before finding Scott. And she never heard a gunshot.

[Tracy Rhodey]

I don't even know if I was in the house when he shot himself. I don't know. I don't know when he shot himself.

[Narrator]

Defense attorney Ernesto Gamez argued that the prosecution was only interested in their own version of events and one outcome, murder. They could not see right or left, only that this was a murder. Gamez says the evidence was tainted in the hours after the shooting. Remember, before it was a crime scene, it was an emergency medical scene with paramedics working frantically to save Scott's life. Objects were moved, pillows were moved, the pistol was moved. The scene was extremely compromised. The first photographs weren't even taken until almost two hours after Scott was removed from the scene. Take a look at this. This photograph shows the blood pool at 8:11am the holster appears to be flush with the bed and the pillow is lying in the blood itself. At 2:14, the holster is now away from the bed and the pillow is pushed back, no longer touching the blood. And that, says Gamez, cast serious doubts on the prosecution's perfect fit. They were manipulating and distorting, displacing evidence to fit their belief that a murder occurred. After more than three weeks of testimony, nine women and three men filed into the jury room to deliberate Tracy Rhodey's fate. But no one was prepared for the jaw dropping decision the jurors would make. In all the years that I've worked in law enforcement, I've never seen an outcome like this.

[Tracy Rhodey]

Hi, honey.

[Narrator]

As she waited for the verdict, Tracy Rhodey was haunted by one regret. On the advice of her lawyers, she did not take the stand.

[Tracy Rhodey]

As bad as it is, I want the truth out there. I want people to know I did not kill my husband. I did not.

[Narrator]

But this story was far from over. Before it was finished, it would take a turn so controversial, so unheard of, it would rattle the core of Texas justice. A lot of people across America will have a hard time understanding what happened Here in Brownsville, so did I. The march towards the stunning conclusion began with the verdict. After two days of heated deliberations, the courtroom fell silent as the judge uttered the jury's decree. Guilty.

[Tracy Rhodey]

It was just like everything just disappeared. And I just immediately started talking to God and asking, God, why? Why have you forsaken me?

[Narrator]

The jury left, and Tracy collapsed. She couldn't walk, so she had to be wheeled out of the courtroom.

[Tracy Rhodey]

I never once believed that she would be found guilty. I really did not. And it broke my heart.

[Narrator]

It was a somber moment for all, says Mattingly. There was no jubilation. I mean, this is not a happy occasion. It's a tragedy. Three little young men, you know, they've lost their father, and we've just proven it was their mother that killed their father. Tracy was shackled and locked in a holding cell while awaiting her sentence. But defense attorney Ernesto Gamez assured her all was not lost. When you looked at the jury, you could tell, you could sense that they weren't sure. In Texas, the defense has the option of letting the jurors decide the punishment as well as the verdict. Gamez opted for a jury sentence. So it was back to the courtroom for the second phase of testimony. This time, Tracy did take the stand. What did you tell the jury?

[Tracy Rhodey]

That I did not kill my husband. And that I did not agree with their verdict.

[Narrator]

The two oldest boys also testified, boys who loved their father and adored their mother. They said that she didn't do this. She needs to be with us. We need her, and she needs us. And with that, the jury was sent back to. To deliberate Tracy's punishment. The prosecution asked for 60 years. The jurors struggled hour after hour. Two days later, their stunning decision. The same jury that convicted Tracy Rhodey of murder decided to let her walk away. Probation. No time in prison. Zero, zilch, nada, Nothing. At first, Tracy didn't comprehend what was happening.

[Tracy Rhodey]

My attorney was shaking me, telling me, this is good, this is good. And then I hear everybody, all my family and church friends.

[Narrator]

Do you hear them say what?

[Tracy Rhodey]

Just yay.

[Narrator]

She will remain on probation for 10 years. It was like getting punched in the gut and having the wind knocked out of you. It was an awful feeling. But the jury's decision was legal, and it was binding. The state's case against Tracy Rhodey was over. In all your years of law enforcement, have you ever seen a trial with an outcome like this? Not probation for a cold blooded murder? No, sir. We hadn't seen a case like this either. So we went looking for the jurors to tell us how they came to their decision, only two agreed to talk with us. Javier Lopez and Sarah Vallejo. If you had to pick one thing, one event that persuaded the jury to come back with 10 years probation, what would it be? The testimony of the children. For the children having to stand up there and say that they didn't want their mother to go to jail.

[Tracy Rhodey]

Can you open the gate, please?

[Narrator]

Go ahead, ma'.

[Tracy Rhodey]

Am.

[Narrator]

There's a gate.

[Tracy Rhodey]

Thank you.

[Narrator]

It was the children. After three days in jail, Tracy was released.

[Tracy Rhodey]

I'm very thankful that I'm home, but I do not agree with their guilty verdict. I am innocent. Obviously, they had doubts about their verdict to give me probation. I mean, who would put a convicted murderer home on probation?

[Narrator]

Tracy was fined $10,000. And probation means she cannot leave the county and has an 8:00pm curfew. Yes. Nick, let's go. So no evening basketball games.

[Tracy Rhodey]

This is like 10 pounds.

[Narrator]

No going to Dalton's championship Taekwondo tournaments. And now Tracy is facing the most agonizing decision of her life. Whether or not to appeal. If she wins, she would clear her name. If she loses, she could spend the rest of her life in prison.

[Tracy Rhodey]

I'm praying to God to give me the wisdom to know what to do, because I am so lost right now, I have no clue. People think I got off easy. How is 10 years probation and everything that it brings with it, how is that getting off easy when you're innocent? I'm innocent.

[Narrator]

But until she can prove it, Tracy Rhodey will walk through life known as the cold hearted woman who shot and killed her husband in his sleep. Well, the holidays have come and gone once again. But if you've forgotten to get that special someone in your life a gift, well, Mint Mobile is extending their holiday offer of half off unlimited wireless.

[Tracy Rhodey]

So here's the idea.

[Narrator]

You get it now, you call it an early present for next year.

[Tracy Rhodey]

What do you have to lose?

[Narrator]

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[Tracy Rhodey]

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[Narrator]

The new era of UFC on Paramount plus continues. Live from Australia. Featherweight champ Alexander Volkanovski.

[Tracy Rhodey]

He is an animal.

[Narrator]

Defense is belt at home in an explosive rematch against Diego Lopez.

[Tracy Rhodey]

You gotta be Kennedy.

[Narrator]

And the always dangerous Dan Hooker throws down with powerhouse Ben Wasington in a high action, lightweight showdown. There's never been anything like this.

[Tracy Rhodey]

Let's go.

[Narrator]

UFC 325, Saturday, January 31st only on Paramount. Plus.