S31.E38: The Last Ride Home (Tex McIver)

[formerlyfreedom]

Quote

The case of Atlanta lawyer, Tex McIver, who shot his wife from the backseat of a car while their friend drove them home from their family farm.

[partofme]

You don't keep a gun on your lap.  At a minimum it was reckless homicide.  He belongs in jail and I don't feel bad for him.

Edited April 29, 2018 by partofme

[LittleIggy]

If you are heavily in debt, don’t throw lavish birthday parties for your “godson” (in quotes because that term is loosely used by a lot of people).

The defense attorney’s rattail  braid was risible. 

Edited April 29, 2018 by LittleIggy

[LGGirl]

He was careless.  But it wasn’t murder and not a life sentence.  

[Court]

I've followed this case since it happened in my area. I believe it was murder. 

[atlantaloves]

Oh me too, I live in Atlanta, and I agree Miss Court, no way that could happen with a 38. Yep, he murdered her. I was really surprised that they convicted him, when the jury was hung I thought they were going to let him off, totally! 

[Lisa418722]

I'm also in Atlanta and from the beginning, I thought, "that was no accident."  I was surprised when I heard the jury convicted him especially after being hung. 

[ari333]

I missed why the gun was in his lap in the backseat.  I missed something. 

Also, ,why were his biological  children estranged? Did they say? 

Frankly, if I had any reason to have a loaded gun in my lap in the backseat and I was half asleep, in and out, I'd for sure not have it pointed in someone's direction.  

Edited April 29, 2018 by ari333

[atlantaloves]

They were afraid of Black people in the Piedmont Park area. Are you kidding me? She handed him the gun when they thought they were in a bad area of town.  I live in that area, honey it is ritzy.  Not nice enough for them I take it. 

[ari333]

She handed him the gun, but did he ASK for it? And who  clicks it making it ready to fire like that? Unless you are ready to shoot it.

[Ohmo]

I'm going to go against the grain here and say that I don't think they proved murder.  To go from hung to conviction in two hours also gives me pause.  Negligence and recklessness make sense to me, but murder implies intention.  It was said that Diane suggested the change in route, not Tex, so it didn't seem to me that there was a plan.  If they hadn't changed the route, was he just going to shoot her in the midst of Atlanta traffic?  If he's going to kill her, why decide to do it that way?  Unless the prosecution was trying to say he suddenly had a light bulb moment and came up with the idea of killing her as soon as they got off the highway.  However, if that's what the prosecution was trying to do, they didn't prove intent well enough for me.  I could have convicted him for negligence or reckless behavior.  Also likely manslaughter if that were an option, but not murder.

[biakbiak]

47 minutes ago, Ohmo said:

but murder implies intention.  I

They specifically stated during the show that Felony Murder that he was convicted of doesnt need intent. The deference between Malice murder and felony murder:

Quote

Malice Murder:  An intentional murder that is willful and premeditated.

Felony Murder: A killing that occurs during the commission or attempted commission of a felony. Intent is not necessary. In the case of McIver, the underlying felony was aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

[atlantaloves]

According to the trial, he did ask for that gun. 

[PepperMonkey]

Quote

 

Okay, I don't know WHY I have a quote box..... Gosh and his son Jeepers know what I must have clicked on.

I think he *did* it (okay, we all know he shot her, but I mean I think he *killed* her, intentionally); I don't necessarily think he planned it out, but seized the opportunity when presented. Idk why the best friend that was driving was completely on his side and then changed her mind. Did she say he started calling and trying to get her to lie or lie MORE for him? The VM they played didn't mean much to me: he could have been saying "she's about to put me in jail" because she wasn't letting him know what was happening, or if she was even cooperating with or talking to, the police. I was bothered by the immediate auctions - very quick, I thought - and by the ashes being left in the box wherever they found them. I love my husband, too, and I would definitely get him a nice urn. Or at least a mayonnaise jar with some flowers painted on it.

The whole beloved godson thing bugged me, also. And, of course, the godson's mother had absolutely no financial motive at all for continuing to support Tex, right? I would have liked to know why he was estranged from his biological children, too. I'm sure godson's family was hoping the estrangement would never end.

Didn't bother me much that they went from hung to a decision in a couple hours as it sounds to ME like the hung part was deciding between malice and felony, and that maybe, since they couldn't all agree on malice, they agreed to all go with felony, especially since they carry basically the same penalty.

Edited April 30, 2018 by PepperMonkey

[ari333]

25 minutes ago, PepperMonkey said:

Okay, I don't know WHY I have a quote box..... Gosh and his son Jebus know what I must have clicked on.

I think he *did* it (okay, we all know he shot her, but I mean I think he *killed* her, intentionally); I don't necessarily think he planned it out, but seized the opportunity when presented. Idk why the best friend that was driving was completely on his side and then changed her mind. Did she say he started calling and trying to get her to lie or lie MORE for him? The VM they played didn't mean much to me: he could have been saying "she's about to put me in jail" because she wasn't letting him know what was happening, or if she was even cooperating with or talking to, the police. I was bothered by the immediate auctions - very quick, I thought - and by the ashes being left in the box wherever they found them. I love my husband, too, and I would definitely get him a nice urn. Or at least a mayonnaise jar with some flowers painted on it.

The whole beloved godson thing bugged me, also. And, of course, the godson's mother had absolutely no financial motive at all for continuing to support Tex, right? I would have liked to know why he was estranged from his biological children, too. I'm sure godson's family was hoping the estrangement would never end.

Didn't bother me much that they went from hung to a decision in a couple hours as it sounds to ME like the hung part was deciding between malice and felony, and that maybe, since they couldn't all agree on malice, they agreed to all go with felony, especially since they carry basically the same penalty.

Good points. I kind of feel the same. 

I was a little shocked about that foreclosure clause if he didnt re pay.  I think it'd be better not to loan that much to a husband if you have to foreclose on him. Yikes. NOt blaming her, just saying.  I feel like we are missing part of the story.

But Tex asking the Dani (her name?) best friend who was driving - to lie was iffy. NOt for her benefit; plus weren't they on video with her driving? I just cannot understand why he readied the gun to shoot especially since he knew he had that sleeping "disorder." AND had the gun pointing at her back.

Edited April 29, 2018 by ari333

[ridethemaverick]

4 hours ago, atlantaloves said:

They were afraid of Black people in the Piedmont Park area. Are you kidding me? She handed him the gun when they thought they were in a bad area of town.  I live in that area, honey it is ritzy.  Not nice enough for them I take it. 

I was cracking up. You do not need a gun to drive through any area of Atlanta that's not the Bluff. Locking your car doors is enough defense against whatever he claimed to be afraid of.

Glad his ass is locked up.

Also, no not everyone in the south has a LOT of guns. Most of us are sane. Why does a lawyer need an arsenal of 30+ guns? 

Edited April 29, 2018 by ridethemaverick

[Court]

4 hours ago, atlantaloves said:

They were afraid of Black people in the Piedmont Park area. Are you kidding me? She handed him the gun when they thought they were in a bad area of town.  I live in that area, honey it is ritzy.  Not nice enough for them I take it. 

Right? It's a nice area! 

[atlantaloves]

Oh man, it's really really swank. Not always, but now, oh yeah. I live here and am surprised they let me in to shop at Kroger. Snort. 

[biakbiak]

38 minutes ago, atlantaloves said:

Oh man, it's really really swank. Not always, but now, oh yeah. I live here and am surprised they let me in to shop at Kroger. Snort. 

Well they shopped at Publix, but seriously what sort of responsible gun owner carries a loaded gun in a cheap plastic grocery bag.

[The Closer]

5 hours ago, Ohmo said:

I'm going to go against the grain here and say that I don't think they proved murder. 

You can add me to your party of going against the grain. I get that Tex was out of touch in a rich, white guy kind of fashion and don't feel particularly warm towards him as a person and found some of his behavior tacky and distasteful. 

Shooting someone through a seat from behind in the evening isn't exactly the best way to guarantee a kill shot. The person actually driving the vehicle didn't know how to get to the hospital and it sounded like, thanks to Tex, they at least ended up at some hospital - and for that matter, Diane was still conscious and able to speak when they arrived. And god help me if anyone I love dies under mysterious circumstances given my natural snarky nature if the emails they showed during the trial between Tex & Diane are proof of anything.  And, when the doctor asked the wife what happened, she said her husband had shot her but it was an accident. If there had been such major issues in their marriage the way the prosecution made it sound, you'd think she might have at least expressed some hesitation or doubt about that. It seems that in Diane's mind it wasn't conceivable that Tex would intentionally shoot her. 

I thought Tex was stupid and careless and pretty pompous but I find it shocking that they convicted him on felony murder charges.  

4 hours ago, biakbiak said:

Malice Murder:  An intentional murder that is willful and premeditated.

Felony Murder: A killing that occurs during the commission or attempted commission of a felony. Intent is not necessary. In the case of McIver, the underlying felony was aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

Part of what made this so controversial, though, is that the jury said he's innocent of intentional, premeditated murder but that he killed her in the act of trying to assault her which wasn't even an argument put forth and doesn't really make sense in this case outside of it being a middle ground between those wanting malice murder and those wanting manslaughter. Only, it isn't actual a middle ground which would mean that some jurors might have ended up with a verdict they didn't really intend, but we'll have to see if anyone comes forward and says as much before that can be fully known.

Edited April 30, 2018 by The Closer

[LakeGal]

Why didn't he call 911? Was he worried they would have directed him to the nearest hospital?

[Ohmo]

32 minutes ago, The Closer said:

Shooting someone through a seat from behind in the evening isn't exactly the best way to guarantee a kill shot. The person actually driving the vehicle didn't know how to get to the hospital and it sounded like, thanks to Tex, they at least ended up at some hospital - and for that matter, Diane was still conscious and able to speak when they arrived. And god help me if anyone I love dies under mysterious circumstances given my natural snarky nature if the emails they showed during the trial between Tex & Diane are proof of anything.  And, when the doctor asked the wife what happened, she said her husband had shot her but it was an accident. If there had been such major issues in their marriage the way the prosecution made it sound, you'd think she might have at least expressed some hesitation or doubt about that. It seems that in Diane's mind it wasn't conceivable that Tex would intentionally shoot her. 

Another thing that I felt while watching the episode was that there was a whole lot of talk about money, but it didn't feel to me like anything was actually proven on that score.  Like one set of accountants said that Tex still had 1.7 million.  I understand that Diane had her own wealth, and I was trying to follow all of the angles with the loans, etc.  Like you said, the e-mail exchanges between the two of them were not terse or threatening, and the day that Diane died, she still was living with Tex as husband and wife.  I got the sense that whatever was between them in terms of money was their own deal,  As you also said, if Diane felt threatened by Tex, even a little bit, you'd think she'd tell the doctor that while she was conscious and able to do so.

33 minutes ago, The Closer said:

Part of what made this so controversial, though, is that the jury said he's innocent of intentional, premeditated murder but that he killed her in the act of trying to assault her which wasn't even an argument put forth and doesn't really make sense in this case outside of it being a middle ground between those wanting malice murder and those wanting manslaughter. Only, it isn't actual a middle ground which would mean that some jurors might have ended up with a verdict they didn't really intend, but we'll have to see if anyone comes forward and says as much before that can be fully known.

I also completely agree with this part of your post and think that the jurors could have thought of the felony murder charge as a middle ground that would allow them to break the deadlock quickly, which is what happened.  The assault idea also doesn't work for me because he wasn't doing that.  They weren't fighting or arguing verbally or physically, so there wasn't an assault, much less an aggravated assault.  He was reckless with a gun or negligent with a gun, and that negligence resulted in death.  That's manslaughter to me, not murder.

[atlantaloves]

oh oh oh my Atlanta friends, let's talk about actually driving to Emory Hospital when Piedmont Hospital or Crawford Long were just a couple of minutes away. Grady truly is the best gunshot wound place, agreed, but it is a horrible place, so I understood that, but since they were probably on 14th street near Peachtree since they were at Piedmont Park, Piedmont was the hospital to go to. That made no sense at all, Emory would be a 20 minute drive. That probably killed her. Yup. 

[ari333]

6 minutes ago, atlantaloves said:

oh oh oh my Atlanta friends, let's talk about actually driving to Emory Hospital when Piedmont Hospital or Crawford Long were just a couple of minutes away. Grady truly is the best gunshot wound place, agreed, but it is a horrible place, so I understood that, but since they were probably on 14th street near Peachtree since they were at Piedmont Park, Piedmont was the hospital to go to. That made no sense at all, Emory would be a 20 minute drive. That probably killed her. Yup. 

So they did not go to the nearest hospital, but one 20 minutes away? Why not call 911 as mentioned? 

I think any area was a "bad" area that was not their area. ... to him.

Just bc she didn't feel threatened by him doesn't mean she didn't have reason to be. I agree tho with the above, given the evidence (that we saw) I'd have to go manslaughter. (Was that a choice?)

[Josette]

1 hour ago, atlantaloves said:

let's talk about actually driving to Emory Hospital when Piedmont Hospital or Crawford Long were just a couple of minutes away.

 And Dani Jo actually mentioned Piedmont Hospital.  She just didn't know how to get there.  Apparently, Tex wasn't was interested in telling her or finding out how.

I also wonder why 911 wasn't called.

 

13 hours ago, PepperMonkey said:

The whole beloved godson thing bugged me, also. And, of course, the godson's mother had absolutely no financial motive at all for continuing to support Tex, right?

Yeah, that kid of hers was sure being pampered by Tex and his wife.  I wonder how she became friends with Tex.

And Tex may have had $1.7 million, but he owed his wife about a million dollars.

[mythoughtis]

I was floored that anyone that familiar with weapons would be so careless- and I didn’t believe that it was an accident.  Keeping a loaded weapon in a flimsy grocery bag in an accessible area of your car- then carrying it cocked in your lap? 

I was also taken aback by the focus on their godchild- who was the youngest child of that family. Let’s just spoil him by basically adopting him and ignore his siblings.  Didn’t sound like they got birthday parties at that place. 

I sort of understood the loan thing. Presumably they filed married but separate and were subject to the IRS gift limitations. So record it as a loan. But foreclosure clauses?   Spending $350,000 on a saloon because your fiancée said you had to when you dont own the property? Their marriage was odd.

I even cut him a little slack on retrieving the ashes so late since he had been in jail for several months. But either buy the urn or schedule a time to scatter the ashes. 

Back to my original point.  He knew better than to hold a loaded gun that was even remotely pointed in someone’s direction. He’s guilty of at least manslaughter. 

[ari333]

The godson had child-age siblings? Wow.

I agree. A person who lives on a ranch or has one, and owns 30 or so guns should know gun safety. 

Very odd about the choice and route to the hospital.

[walnutqueen]

Just my two cents.  There is absolutely no evidence that the revolver was cocked in his lap.  He could easily have pulled the trigger in double action mode - not all revolvers have an extremely hard pull.  However, you never point a gun at anything you don't want to shoot, and you never put your finger on the trigger until you are ready to shoot.  That said, alcohol (they had wine at dinner, right?) and coming out of a sleep/passout could contribute to some carelessness.  I'm giving this case one big side-eye.

[Ohmo]

Due to the disability that I have, I startle and jerk very easily.  If I were asleep and had something in my hand (anything), and I were startled awake, I can easily see myself squeezing, pushing, or pulling whatever is in my hand as a completely involuntary response.  I'm not a person who's in favor of gun ownership, but I would never hold a gun anyway for the reason I just mentioned.  Even though my situation is circumstantial to me, the overall concept of being startled awake is more general and can apply to anyone.  Walnutqueen also mentioned alcohol.  If Tex did what he said, that was the stupidest of stupid moves, but it was reckless and negligent, not murderous.

Another thing---the episode said that 35 guns came out of Tex's condo.  Tex and Diane were living together at the time of her death.  They were out socially when the incident happened.  She clearly was not worried about being around him when he had access to a firearm, and if he suddenly just had a "Hey, now's a good chance to off my wife as I'm sitting in the back of this car" moment, I'd need more to get me to how that happened so suddenly.  They weren't fighting physically or verbally.  He wasn't assaulting her by hitting her or struggling with her for the gun.

I also can understand the thing about the hospital.  Tex is a contemporary of my parents.  Both here where we're from and when my parents have traveled and had a medical issue, they have shied away from hospitals in what they considered to be unsafe areas of town (and they have a lot less money then Tex.)  I've seen or heard about my parents doing this twice, so that behavior is not foreign to me.  It's not necessarily an indicator that someone is deliberately trying to cause someone else harm. 

As to 911, they were already in a car.  They didn't need someone to come and get them, and Tex might have mistakenly thought that they could get somewhere faster.  Using 911 to get directions to a hospital might not have sprang to anyone's mind.  I see mistakes on Tex's part, but I don't see murder.

Edited April 30, 2018 by Ohmo

[SoCal Mema]

19 hours ago, Court said:

Right? It's a nice area! 

I was also bothered by them not heading to Grady.  THE gunshot trauma center in the U.S.  I saw one of his friends on the show scoff as if Grady was a low class hospital in a bad neighborhood.  We'll never know if it would have made a difference; however, he wanted to go to Emory, which was the farthest away.

6 hours ago, Josette said:

 And Dani Jo actually mentioned Piedmont Hospital.  She just didn't know how to get there.  Apparently, Tex wasn't was interested in telling her or finding out how.

I also wonder why 911 wasn't called.

 

Yeah, that kid of hers was sure being pampered by Tex and his wife.  I wonder how she became friends with Tex.

And Tex may have had $1.7 million, but he owed his wife about a million dollars.

I thought her clause in the last loan to him about him defaulting was interesting.  And also that she did not want to see him before they took her to surgery.

[Court]

5 hours ago, SoCal Mema said:

I was also bothered by them not heading to Grady.  THE gunshot trauma center in the U.S.  I saw one of his friends on the show scoff as if Grady was a low class hospital in a bad neighborhood.  We'll never know if it would have made a difference; however, he wanted to go to Emory, which was the farthest away.

I thought her clause in the last loan to him about him defaulting was interesting.  And also that she did not want to see him before they took her to surgery.

Me too! Grady is not the closest to me but it's pretty common to hear around here if I get shot, take me to Grady. 

In all seriousness, you go to the closest hospital if you're shot. Period. 

[GeorgiaRai]

For McIver to KNOW a bullet went through his wife's abdomen and not call 911 is inconceivable to me.  Maybe nothing beneficial could've been done en route (apply pressure? keep her awake? recline her seat?), but who doesn't at least call & ask the questions?  If nothing else, couldn't 911 have alerted the hospital to have a team waiting?  I find McIver's behavior in the ER video so eerie.  He must've had the driver stop & let him out - why, if not to run ahead and alert the staff?  I can't find any basis for him thinking he needed to direct traffic.  He was wasting valuable time, which leaves me thinking either (1) he had no real interest in saving her life, or (2) he's so arrogant he trusts himself more than any 911 operator or ER attendant, and he'd rather risk her life than let someone else call the shots.  (OMG - that truly horrible pun was not on purpose!)

My theory is that the story is true up until the gun is handed to him, but the shot & his actions after it were intentional - a classic crime of opportunity.  I also think I'd have had reasonable doubt if I'd been on the jury, and probably could not have voted to convict. 

P.S.  I've worked in Buckhead for years but would have to GPS my way to any place I can't see from my office window.  ;)

 

[ChristmasJones]

This is the type of case I don't like because there is no evidence that can definitively prove the state of mind of the perpetrator.  We know that he shot her and he should get punished, at the minimum, for careless handling of a gun (whatever charge that may be).  The core issue is WHY did he shoot her.  And there is no way to know that.

In my own opinion, there was not enough to convince me he did this on purpose.  Like others have said, its hard to imagine how he would think that shooting her through the seat, with someone else in the car, while driving around town would be an optimal way to get rid of her. 

I know nothing about guns, but I did find it interesting that the expert handling the gun in the trial accidentally caused it to shoot. That added weight to the argument that it could have been an accident. It seemed quite easy to fire a round with that particular gun.

This one seems like a rorschach test- each person can see something different in the evidence. 

Maybe on some level the prosecutors wanted to take him to trial to send a signal that people need to be way more careful about how they handle their guns. I do think more people should be prosecuted when someone dies due to how they improperly stored their guns (such as when a child gets their hands on one and kills a sibling or someone else in the family).

[atlantaloves]

Hey, Georgia, Don't forget Piedmont Hospital is on frigging Peachtree Street as is Crawford Long. Anybody who lives in Buckhead knows how to get around on Peachtree Street, right?  I mean come on, I can't believe they didn't know that Piedmont Hospital was on Peachtree, and don't all rich folk have a navigating system in their car?  Ahhhhhhh man, HE DID IT. 

[Ohmo]

16 minutes ago, ChristmasJones said:

Maybe on some level the prosecutors wanted to take him to trial to send a signal that people need to be way more careful about how they handle their guns

This made me think of something.  I believe that states should adopt a rule that if a jury goes to a judge and the judge sends them back, the jury has to continue to deliberate for at least half a day.  Even if the jurors don't change their minds, it would force them to sit and maybe new thinking would occur.  This "we have a verdict (any verdict) two hours after we're supposedly deadlocked" is bogus to me.  It's the adult version of "We're going to tell the teacher whatever she wants to hear so we can get out of here and go to recess "

[ari333]

2 hours ago, GeorgiaRai said:

For McIver to KNOW a bullet went through his wife's abdomen and not call 911 is inconceivable to me.  Maybe nothing beneficial could've been done en route (apply pressure? keep her awake? recline her seat?), but who doesn't at least call & ask the questions?  If nothing else, couldn't 911 have alerted the hospital to have a team waiting?  I find McIver's behavior in the ER video so eerie.  He must've had the driver stop & let him out - why, if not to run ahead and alert the staff?  I can't find any basis for him thinking he needed to direct traffic.  He was wasting valuable time, which leaves me thinking either (1) he had no real interest in saving her life, or (2) he's so arrogant he trusts himself more than any 911 operator or ER attendant, and he'd rather risk her life than let someone else call the shots.  (OMG - that truly horrible pun was not on purpose!)

My theory is that the story is true up until the gun is handed to him, but the shot & his actions after it were intentional - a classic crime of opportunity.  I also think I'd have had reasonable doubt if I'd been on the jury, and probably could not have voted to convict. 

P.S.  I've worked in Buckhead for years but would have to GPS my way to any place I can't see from my office window.  ;)

 

Yikes.  did not know some of this. (I was doing other things while watching)  

It may not have been planned and the opportunity presented itself. 

[GeorgiaRai]

3 hours ago, ari333 said:

Yikes.  did not know some of this. (I was doing other things while watching)  

Oh, crap! I thought 48 Hours was where I saw the ER video, but maybe I got confused.  Sorry if I brought up into not directly related to the episode.  

[raiderred1]

On 4/30/2018 at 7:27 AM, Josette said:

 And Dani Jo actually mentioned Piedmont Hospital.  She just didn't know how to get there.  Apparently, Tex wasn't was interested in telling her or finding out how.

I also wonder why 911 wasn't called.

 

Yeah, that kid of hers was sure being pampered by Tex and his wife.  I wonder how she became friends with Tex.

And Tex may have had $1.7 million, but he owed his wife about a million dollars.

I think Tex was broke as a joke. He didn't HAVE $1.7 mil that is what he was worth, which isn't much with all the expensive lifestyle choices he made.  He would have to sell assets in order to have any cash in the bank and I think that is what he was doing by selling off his wife's possessions.  I think the wife's ashes sat at the funeral home because he couldn't afford the $1600 to pick her up.  I think it should have been manslaughter, too. If you have ever shot a revolver you would know how incredibly hard you have to pull the trigger, now if he had it cocked then it's quite easy. I think he fell asleep and had it cocked and woke quickly with his finger on the trigger. Verrrrrry stupid and dangerous but I just don't think he meant to shoot her.  I think she was worth more to him alive than dead.

I do live in the south(Texas) and my husband is former law enforcement and we own a lot of guns but we also know how to handle them correctly!  Good luck to anyone if they ever try to break into our home on the range or car or our person.  

[SunnyBeBe]

Do you recall HOW he was charged and found guilty? It seemed to me that he was found guilty of murder, due to felony murder rule, which doesn't require intent to murder, only that a death occurs in the commission of a felony and he was found guilty of committing a felony, which was the way he was using the firearm, I believe. I'll have to confirm.  

I found this helpful about GA law: (There should be an OR between those 3 things below.)

Quote

 

A homicide is considered murder if the following factors apply:

The person intended to kill another person — i.e., acted with malice aforethought.

The person acted with depraved indifference to human life, such as firing a gun into a crowd.

The person killed someone while committing another felony crime, such as aggravated assault or rape, whether the death was intentional or unintentional. This is known as felony murder.

 

https://www.melvinsnashlaw.com/practice-areas/criminal-defense/homicide/

(No affiliation to that law firm.)

...............................................Okay.  That's it.  He was found guilty by Felony Murder Rule, so, the jury didn't think that he shot her on purpose either. 

https://www.ajc.com/news/charges-filed-against-tex-mciver/L6go5fvUWh5YDJwcVhG5CL/

Edited May 22, 2018 by SunnyBeBe

[GeorgiaRai]

I think the jury believed - or at least could have believe- that he shot her on purpose.  

IMO, nothing shows he planned her murder, but once he had the gun, I think he purposely pulled the trigger with it aimed in her direction and she died from it.  If he "snapped" (as I believe), there was no provable "malice aforethought", but he still intentionally shot at her, which caused her death.  I can see how in some people's minds, that could make him not guilty of murder while still guilty of felony murder.  

Not putting this forth as a legal opinion or anything - just my thoughts. :)

[atlantaloves]

I think you are right on the money....I followed this case pretty closely too, as it was local. 

[ByaNose]

Just watched. Pretty crazy that no one called 911 beforehand. I believe he murdered intentionally her but exactly not sure why.  Like, why do it in front of someone else? Did he want a witness? I do have one question. Does anyone know who inherited his estate? Did the godson or his mother? Granted, he isn’t dead so maybe no one does but who is living in the mansion. I might have missed it if it had been mentioned. I still have six 48 Hour shows to watch on my DVR. I had gotten behind due to other programming. Yes, my life is very full. LOL!!!!!!,

[GeorgiaRai]

The Ranch is being sold at auction next month.  Lawyers disagree about what should happen to the proceeds, with the Estate claiming Tex shouldn't get anything because of the "slayer" laws.  His lawyers say he's entitled to half, less repayment of the $350K loan Diane made to him.  I'm guessing his lawyers hold that opinion as that's their best shot (no pun intended) at getting paid. 

Here's the link, if anyone is thinking of making an offer. :)
https://www.aandoauctions.com/mciver/

[RedheadZombie]

On July 28, 2018 at 6:22 PM, GeorgiaRai said:

The Ranch is being sold at auction next month.  Lawyers disagree about what should happen to the proceeds, with the Estate claiming Tex shouldn't get anything because of the "slayer" laws.  His lawyers say he's entitled to half, less repayment of the $350K loan Diane made to him.  I'm guessing his lawyers hold that opinion as that's their best shot (no pun intended) at getting paid. 

Here's the link, if anyone is thinking of making an offer. :)
https://www.aandoauctions.com/mciver/

When did instruments of death become decorative items?

And how much did they blow on items that barely even look like John Wayne?  How surprising, a wanna-be cowboy who ends his wife's life with a firearm. 

[dkd]

I can’t believe there are gun enthusiasts, wife of police officers, etc, on this page, not to mention the idiots at 48 hrs.   that didn’t see they were not talking about the correct gun as the murder weapon. 

The S&W 38 spl. they showed as the murder weapon.....HAD AN INTERNAL HAMMER!   

You dont “cock” this gun!  The FBI specialist and Maureen Maurer we’re testing and talking about a gun that was not like the murder weapon.  

I do not own an internal hammer revolver and cannot comment on the pounds of pull it takes to fire.  And neither can the dopes that were on the show, bc they didn’t test an internal hammer revolver. 

At least get the correct gun before you go babbling for an hour on a prime time “award winning” tv show!!

Edited July 13, 2019 by dkd