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She Loved A Monster (Meet Marry Murder with Michelle Trachtenberg)

December 22, 2022 / 43:55

This episode covers the disappearance and murder of Micah Rine, the troubled marriage with Thomas Pate, and the investigation that followed. Key discussions include Micah's background, her family's concerns about Thomas, and the events leading up to her tragic death.

Micah Rine was a nursing student who met Thomas Pate in Searcy, Arkansas. Despite her family's reservations about Thomas's past, Micah believed in his potential for change. However, signs of Thomas's volatile behavior and infidelity began to surface, causing concern among her loved ones.

On April 30, 2009, Micah went for a run and never returned. Her husband Thomas reported her missing, but inconsistencies in his story raised suspicions among investigators. Evidence revealed Thomas's drinking habits and an affair, leading police to question him more closely.

Under interrogation, Thomas confessed to accidentally shooting Micah, but the circumstances surrounding her death suggested otherwise. The investigation uncovered a history of manipulation and control in their marriage, ultimately leading to Thomas being charged with second-degree murder.

The episode concludes with the trial process and Thomas's Alford plea, which allowed him to avoid a confession while acknowledging the overwhelming evidence against him. Micah's story serves as a cautionary tale about trust and the dangers of abusive relationships.

TLDR

Micah Rine's tragic murder by husband Thomas Pate reveals a deeply troubled marriage and the consequences of manipulation and infidelity.

Episode

43:55
00:00:12
NARRATOR: A young nurse heads out for a quick run but never comes back. She was running without her phone and without her dog.
00:00:19
NARRATOR: As a storm rolls in, her anxious husband calls 911. NARRATOR: While searching for clues,
00:00:43
the cops learn of a marriage in trouble and a husband with issues. Sadly, I think Thomas had a volatile nature,
00:00:51
did have a penchant for alcohol and drugs. NARRATOR: Micah Rine's family were never
00:00:57
exactly fond of Thomas Pate. It hurts to know that she makes that choice. NARRATOR: She had chosen a man who claimed to love Jesus.
00:01:06
But Thomas Pate had other loves too. I think it became clear to her that he was having an affair.
00:01:13
And she may have confronted him with it. Thomas Pate had charmed a naive young woman
00:01:19
and then he persuaded her family to accept him. But there was a dangerous side to him
00:01:26
that neither knew existed. And all too soon, they would. It was clear that Thomas and Micah both knew about guns.
00:01:48
Nearly half of women murdered are killed by their partners but plenty of men also fall victim to the same fate.
00:01:57
So if I were you, I would pay attention to what you're about to see. It might just save your life.
00:02:08
Searcy, Arkansas, 2003. College students Micah Rine and Thomas Pate meet for the first time.
00:02:16
Thomas was an interesting young man. We teased, and he said it himself, that he was the biggest redneck city boy that he knew.
00:02:27
Because he was from Atlanta, which is a pretty good sized city. But he enjoyed being out in the outdoors, hunting and fishing
00:02:35
and just hanging out really by himself a lot in God's nature. He's athletic and so it matched up
00:02:45
with my sister wanting to play basketball and be involved in those things. NARRATOR: Micah had been raised in a close
00:02:54
knit religious household. We are a Christian family and we focus on trying to walk,
00:03:07
what we talk about. We grew up at Camp Tahkodah which is a camp about an hour north of our home town of Searcy We love spending that time out
00:03:19
at Camp Dakota and swimming and going hiking and spending that time together. We wanted to be authentic and actually live our faith.
00:03:30
NARRATOR: As a young girl, Micah attended Christian youth camps, weekly prayer meetings,
00:03:35
and Sunday church services. She led a rather sheltered life though. I must say. It was a small town in Arkansas.
00:03:45
It's a very, home family-based atmosphere. There's not a lot of exposure to the underside of the world.
00:03:55
She was very obedient and was a pleaser, very energetic. She was very talkative.
00:04:03
She also was very driven athletically and academically and did well on the basketball court especially.
00:04:13
And she enjoyed running. NARRATOR: At the age of 19, Micah met fellow student, Thomas Pate.
00:04:20
Micah and Thomas met through a French group. He was trying to connect one of his friends
00:04:25
with one of her friends and that's where that relationship started. So they connected and spent some time
00:04:32
together prior to whenever they really did consider each other exclusive. NARRATOR: Thomas Pate's childhood had been
00:04:40
very different from Micah's. His was a more privileged type upbringing, I would say.
00:04:46
His parents lived outside of Atlanta, Georgia, a much more metropolitan, open, exposed to just about
00:04:55
everything. NARRATOR: By the time Thomas met Micah, there were already signs he was far from a model citizen.
00:05:02
He had a basketball scholarship to a another college initially. But he lost his scholarship and he had to leave the school.
00:05:10
And that's when he became a student at Harding and eventually met Micah. He was more worldly.
00:05:17
And she considered him tall and handsome. She seemed thoroughly intrigued by Thomas.
00:05:24
NARRATOR: Micah's family began making their first impressions of Thomas a few months after he and Micah met in late 2002.
00:05:31
We hosted a Bible study in our home on Wednesday nights for years. We've done that for years.
00:05:37
Micah brought him to home Bible study, I believe starting in February or March. And that was probably maybe six weeks
00:05:48
after they started dating. So they would be regulars on Wednesday night then. So then it was just a matter of trying to get to know him.
00:05:57
And seeing what he was like and what comments he would make, how he fit in with the other people that were
00:06:03
involved in home Bible study. Our impression of him, he's very down to Earth. And pretty much what you see is what you get from him.
00:06:13
As he came to home Bible study, he had the right words and knew the Christian lingo so to speak.
00:06:22
And so he would say some of the right things. And do some of the right things. And even asking him to pray at home Bible study,
00:06:31
he would say a, what I would call a typical prayer. NARRATOR: In hindsight, Micah's father, Dennis,
00:06:41
wonders just how truthfully Thomas had been presenting himself. It was the game that he was playing.
00:06:47
He knew the right lingo and the right things to say to try to impress us. But was he really living it?
00:06:57
NARRATOR: Despite their misgivings, Micah's family held back their opinions of Thomas.
00:07:03
When they started dating, of course we were paying really close attention. And early on, when we didn't see that it really
00:07:11
appeared to be a good fit, we started paying closer attention. He's OK. Wasn't over the top impressed.
00:07:23
But didn't have any big red flags to start with either. We started expressing some of our concerns.
00:07:30
And the problem with that, though, was that we couldn't really put our finger on what it was that we wanted to point
00:07:39
out that was not a good fit. NARRATOR: Even Micah wasn't sure at this stage whether Thomas was the right guy for her.
00:07:47
There was one incident when they were dating seriously, two springs before they got married,
00:07:53
and we were on a ski trip and it was just Micah and I on the ski lift. And she said, Dad, if you notice any red flags with Thomas,
00:08:04
I want you to point those out to me. And I said, Micah, you can rest assured I will.
00:08:09
NARRATOR: Before long, there were a few things Thomas had mentioned that gave Micah's family
00:08:13
a real reason to be concerned. He shared that he had made some poor choices during his high school years and even the first year
00:08:23
or so of college. Part of that had to do with a lot of partying, a lot of drinking, some promiscuity,
00:08:32
even dabbling in some drugs. I believe that entered into him losing his basketball scholarship
00:08:39
with the prior college. Terri and Dennis couldn't understand why Micah would want to date somebody whose values seemed
00:08:47
so different from her own. But Micah believed in second chances. So when Thomas insisted he'd put his past behind him,
00:08:56
she and her family believed him. She says, well, he's changed. We find out later again that that's not true.
00:09:06
NARRATOR: There were certainly enough warnings that Thomas Pate wasn't on the up and up.
00:09:11
And it wouldn't be long before good Christian girl, Micah Rine, realized they weren't false alarms.
00:09:33
Micah Rine was a nursing student at Harding University in Searcy, Arkansas when she met supposedly
00:09:39
reformed bad boy, Thomas Pate. To those who knew Micah best, her decision to study nursing
00:09:46
was right in line with her core values. You don't take on that profession without having a heart for the vulnerable
00:09:54
and for the broken and the hurting. NARRATOR: Did Micah Rine believe her new boyfriend
00:10:00
Thomas Pate was a broken man in need of saving? Looking back, Micah's father had no doubt his daughter's
00:10:06
heart was in the right place. She would stay to try to help him. And I think she even had a sense of I may be
00:10:14
the only one able to help him. Not long into Micah's relationship with Thomas, her family began to see some changes in her personality.
00:10:23
She was very bubbly and friendly and very outgoing to everybody. And then all of a sudden, she was very withdrawn.
00:10:33
She was stressed. She just started having these tendencies that drew her inward rather than being outward.
00:10:43
And she was very much an outward person. Now she was very private. But she was very outward.
00:10:48
Where if they went out, he'd probably say, you know, why aren't you dressing like that person?
00:10:53
Or why do you have to be so picky about your food, you know, things that would make her feel bad about herself.
00:11:01
I can easily see that happening. Because I think a little of that may have happened
00:11:06
to him with his father. NARRATOR: But Micah was head over heels. And a little over a year into their relationship
00:11:12
Thomas proposed. It was about two years from the time they started dating till the time they got married.
00:11:19
Before Micah and Thomas got married he asked my dad's hand in blessing. NARRATOR: Dismayed, Micah's parents
00:11:29
tried to change their daughter's mind. There was this moment where my sister called me and said,
00:11:36
Mom and Dad don't want this relationship to continue. When I point out the red flags,
00:11:43
because she was, as Terri said, invested in this relationship and she had been groomed in this manipulative relationship,
00:11:53
she wasn't willing to listen to Dad's advice at this point. She was torn because we are a close family.
00:12:02
And she was drawn to Thomas. NARRATOR: With the date of Micah's wedding right around the corner, Terri and Dennis Rine
00:12:08
continue questioning her decision. Just the week prior to her wedding, we were just hanging out.
00:12:15
And I said something to her about the fact that I'm so disappointed that you're not going to have any children.
00:12:22
She loves kiddos. And she said, well, why would I not have children? And I said, well, Thomas has made it real clear
00:12:30
that he does not want to have children. And that he has no plans of being a dad.
00:12:36
Before I walked her down the aisle, I said, Micah, it's still not too late. If you want to back out of this, I'll support you 100%.
00:12:45
I want what's best for you. And she just said, no, let's go with it. And so we did.
00:12:51
We walked down the aisle and the marriage took place. I believe they still lived here for two
00:13:06
semesters, almost a whole year. And then she had received a nursing job with a clinic in Memphis and they moved to Memphis
00:13:14
or rather to Bartlett, which is just on the outskirts of Memphis. NARRATOR: Bartlett was a big change for Micah Rine Pane.
00:13:22
At twice the size of Searcy, Arkansas, it was a completely different world than the small town
00:13:28
Christian girl was used to. Micah graduated in 2005 and moved to Memphis shortly after.
00:13:36
And worked in labor and delivery at Methodist and then came about to work with us at MOGA.
00:13:41
She was the loveliest soul. Business manager, Melissa Conklin, runs a women's clinic in Bartlett, Tennessee.
00:13:49
She saw Micah blossom as a nurse. Her co-workers would have said that she was the nurses' nurse.
00:13:56
That she was the nurse that you wanted on your side, the one that you wanted to be there to help you with a patient.
00:14:04
She worked at an OB/GYN group here. And they were very close. They're all women.
00:14:10
They're all very close together. NARRATOR: Micah's personal life however, was not running quite so smoothly.
00:14:16
I think they were a little suspicious of Thomas. And Micah was becoming less happy, I'll say.
00:14:27
They rarely went home. And it got to be less and less. They started missing some of the holidays, which were
00:14:35
very important to the Rine's. The thing that I noticed the most was her making excuses for Thomas not wanting to be there.
00:14:45
There was an example with my parents' 50th wedding anniversary and my dad's birthday.
00:14:51
And we had a big celebration. And everybody was excited to come and spend a good weekend
00:14:56
together Micah came. But she had to make excuses for Thomas not wanting to come and have fun.
00:15:04
Thomas was always awkward around our family. But he knew about us giving advice to Micah
00:15:13
and trying to have her think about that a lot more than she did. NARRATOR: On the rare occasions that Micah's family did get
00:15:22
a visit from her and Thomas, they were able to catch glimpses of his troubled personality.
00:15:27
Thomas had a hunting dog. And he told the hunting dog to stay in the back of the truck.
00:15:37
And then Thomas went off to do something else, working on a trailer. Well, as the dog was still pretty much a pup,
00:15:45
it saw Thomas go over there and work on the trailer. And then the dog got off the truck
00:15:52
and walked towards Thomas. Thomas screams at the dog. I told you to stay on that truck.
00:15:59
And he picked the dog up by the ears and threw it back in the truck, extreme anger,
00:16:08
extreme violence. NARRATOR: There were also hints that Tom's behavior toward his wife could also be highly volatile.
00:16:17
We would talk back and forth at least twice a week on the phone. I'd just ask her how things are going.
00:16:24
And she would hint at, well, Thomas and I had a good day. We were able to work in the yard today without any issues.
00:16:34
Well, we had a good day today. We didn't have any arguments or fights. NARRATOR: Looking back, it was readily
00:16:39
apparent Micah was in a relationship with a controlling husband. We don't know that he ever hit Michael
00:16:45
physically, but the yelling and screaming and belittling. You're so stupid. Why can't you get this right?
00:16:53
And then at the other extreme of saying, oh, you're so sweet. I love you so much.
00:16:59
It wasn't like bruises and cuts and scratches and broken bones and cigarette burns.
00:17:06
It wasn't that kind of domestic violence. It was the kind of scars in her heart and her spirit dampened.
00:17:16
And all those things that made her who she was, many of those were taken away. She was basically wearing herself
00:17:25
down trying to be the perfect wife, employee, and hopefully a mother. The things that we saw in her relationship
00:17:34
were very typical observations that you would see in someone who is trying to manipulate another person.
00:17:43
But at the time, we didn't know that's exactly what it was because it's so deceptive.
00:17:49
NARRATOR: Micah's friends had similar concerns about the type of husband Thomas Pate had become.
00:17:54
Micah kept us all very at bay. I mean she was very separate. She did have a co-worker that she ran with.
00:18:02
And she would meet her at Micah's house. And they would go run. She wasn't allowed inside the house.
00:18:10
If Micah took call at night and on weekends, and if she did, then she couldn't sleep in the same bedroom as Thomas.
00:18:18
After talking to co-workers, co-employees, her fellow church members, things of that nature,
00:18:26
she was struggling with being who she perceived Thomas wanted her to be. He just belittled her.
00:18:35
And I think that his drinking didn't help that. Because it would be in those spells that he would
00:18:39
drink and things would come out of his mouth that it shouldn't. NARRATOR: Thomas swore to Micah his drinking
00:18:44
days were behind him. But that wasn't true. Then one day in the spring of 2009, Micah discovered alcohol wasn't her husband's only vice.
00:18:56
He actually spent the weekend with a young woman in Tunica. NARRATOR: The fears Michael's family
00:19:03
had about her husband's true nature were slowly being confirmed. This was a man who was anything but the devout Christian
00:19:11
he had claimed to be. Easter, 2009. While Micah Pate goes to spend the holiday with her parents
00:19:33
back in Arkansas, her husband, Thomas, says he has other plans. She had come to our house for a weekend.
00:19:42
And he was going hunting, is what he said. NARRATOR: The next week, she's back at work as usual.
00:19:49
Now, she went home one day and surprised Thomas. And he said he was sick so he wasn't going to be working any.
00:19:58
So she thought she would go home and fix him some soup during the middle of the day.
00:20:03
And when she got there, he was on the phone with somebody that he seemed to be talking rather intimately to.
00:20:12
NARRATOR: Back at work, Micah can't hide her distress. Thomas's supposed hunting trip had clearly been nothing more
00:20:19
than a cover story. I remember Micah seeing a provider in my office, being totally, totally distraught,
00:20:25
to the point of where I went and got her stuff, and helped her out the door. And she went home.
00:20:30
We found it out in investigating for the trial that he actually had met a woman on a flight to Atlanta.
00:20:38
And he was indeed in communication with her. And had met her for a weekend at the casinos
00:20:44
in Tunica, Mississippi. NARRATOR: Micah is devastated. But when she heads back home to celebrate her 26th birthday
00:20:52
with her family shortly after, she doesn't tell them about Thomas's affair. Micah did not confide in us at all
00:21:00
about any struggles that she was having in her marriage. We were even unaware that there had been indiscretions
00:21:10
with at least one other woman. We were unaware of his promiscuity and his attraction
00:21:18
to pornography on his computer. NARRATOR: After her birthday weekend, Micah returns to Tennessee more determined than ever
00:21:27
to make her marriage work. Then, two days later on the night of April 30, 2009, Michael's parents receive an unexpected call.
00:21:38
We got a call that Thursday night. I think it was around 10:00, 10:30 was the first call.
00:21:44
Thomas said, hey, do you know where Michael is? She's going out for a run. She hadn't come back.
00:21:51
She normally would walk her dog and go on runs by herself because her runs were lengthy.
00:21:56
They would be like six miles, anywhere from six to 12 miles at a time. Thursday night, which was the 30th, Micah worked late night.
00:22:03
It was kind of a dreary, rainy night. That was not uncommon for her to go running.
00:22:07
It was uncommon for her to go running late at night, in the dark, in a rainstorm.
00:22:13
Where could Micah be? Where's Micah? You know, the dog was there. She wasn't there.
00:22:20
And he just didn't know. No we haven't heard from her. But, please, call us and let us know if you hear
00:22:26
anything of what's going on. And so there was at least one other call, or maybe two,
00:22:32
I can't remember. But on the final call, it was OK, Thomas, you need to be calling the police and start a search.
00:22:57
We packed our stuff and headed to Memphis immediately. It's about a two hour drive.
00:23:03
And at that point when we got to the house, he had already organized a search party.
00:23:10
And they had been at it for several hours. He'd notified people in the neighborhood,
00:23:15
her friends, her co-workers, everyone was looking for Micah? Where was Micah? So there's this big search, this big hunt for Micah
00:23:26
the evening of the 30th. We got to Memphis between 1:00 and 2:00 in the morning.
00:23:35
And so as soon as we got there, he said, well, she's gone out for a run. So I started running the routes that I knew that we had been
00:23:44
on, different routes that we had run from her house around Bartlett. NARRATOR: While her husband searches for signs of Micah,
00:23:53
Terri tries to piece together what might have happened. There are too many things that make no sense.
00:23:59
One of the interesting things that Terri discovered early on was Thomas had put out the trash that day.
00:24:07
And in the trash were quite a few bottles of tequila and I forget what else. And Terri asked him about it said,
00:24:17
hey, what are all these bottles doing in your trash? And Thomas said, well, sometimes people come by and just
00:24:24
put their trash in my trash. During the night, I asked, Thomas, you know, just occurred to me.
00:24:32
Did you all have a fight? Or did you have a disagreement? And maybe she's just left and spent the night
00:24:37
with a friend or something? He said, no, they hadn't had a disagreement. Nothing had happened.
00:24:44
Detective Todd Halford is also suspicious of Thomas's version of events. As I walked around the house, instead of Thomas
00:24:52
sitting or talking to anybody or talking to the officer, he actually followed me throughout the house.
00:24:57
Made small talk with me while I was looking at different things, explaining things
00:25:03
that didn't need explanation. Lieutenant Halford checked the weather reports against when
00:25:09
Thomas said she went running. And there were severe storm warnings with lightning and severe rain at that time when
00:25:19
she was supposed to be running. Heavy rain, heavy thunder, most people don't go jogging in that, even if they're
00:25:25
training for a marathon. As we were looking through the house, you know Micah's purse is still at the house.
00:25:30
Micah's phone is still at the house. Her ID is still at the house. I mean, even, when you go jogging or go the gym,
00:25:36
you take your phone with you. NARRATOR: 12 hours after Micah supposedly went missing,
00:25:41
Casey Rine arrives in Tennessee to help with the search. I drive to her house. And at her house, there's yellow tape everywhere.
00:25:51
There's police cars everywhere. And it starts to make me even more alarmed. I believe Lieutenant Halford came to the house about 7:00.
00:26:04
And that's when he moved us to the police station to continue the investigation there.
00:26:10
So I go on to the police station. And the first person I see when I walk in is Thomas.
00:26:15
And I walk in. And we meet in the middle of the lobby and we hug. And I'm crying and he's crying.
00:26:22
And I'm like, we're going to find her. It's going to be OK. We're going to find her.
00:26:25
It's going to be OK. And he's telling me, I'm sorry. I don't know where she is. I'm sorry.
00:26:32
I don't know where she is. And that's the last time that I've spoken to Thomas. NARRATOR: In the meantime, word of Micah's disappearance
00:26:42
spreads. We called husbands. We went and got four wheelers, side by sides. And we went to the Loosahatchie Bottoms to look for her.
00:26:50
NARRATOR: The Loosahatchie Bottoms is a remote wooded area just a few miles from Thomas and Micah's home.
00:26:57
We did that for a few hours and came up with nothing. NARRATOR: Back at the Bartlett Police Department,
00:27:03
investigators are already working on the assumption that Micah had not simply had a fall
00:27:09
or become lost while jogging. The interrogations started at the police station. One of my first questions for Lieutenant Halford,
00:27:20
why are you taking Thomas to this other place? He goes, well, typically in these situations,
00:27:26
the first person we have to eliminate is the spouse. And so we're going to question him separately from the family.
00:27:33
And I was like, OK. And of course, the husband is one of the suspects. Almost 75% to 90% of the time that someone ends up dead,
00:27:44
the spouse ends up as a suspect at some point. NARRATOR: This is the moment when it suddenly
00:27:50
dawns on the Rines that their son-in-law had a hand in their daughter's disappearance.
00:27:56
That's when our conversation started to move to, well, does he know something about it?
00:28:02
So that's when it began to sink in that we've got a problem. When we were interviewing him up here at headquarters
00:28:12
without the door closed, just a regular room, just sitting there talking to him,
00:28:16
any time we would ask him a question that was the least bit pointed, that would maybe position him to give
00:28:24
us an answer, he didn't want to give us, he'd start dry heaving. Around noon is when we started to move towards,
00:28:30
I think Thomas knows something, where she's at or-- so as that progressed, we became more and more concerned.
00:28:40
NARRATOR: As Bartlett Police go through the home they have one question in mind.
00:28:44
Had Thomas Paine harmed his wife? They take computers. They take phone bills. They take the actual phones.
00:28:56
The police uncover a lot of different things, from multiple bottles of alcohol, to a history of pornography.
00:29:06
All through that search afternoon, more and more doubts began to arise about, what's going on here?
00:29:14
We're not getting the whole story. There's things here that don't add up. And they start going through more personal items.
00:29:22
And it turned out that Micah kept a journal. The journal was very revealing. This journal was intended to be between Micah and God.
00:29:35
There was one entry in her prayer journal in February before this happened in April.
00:29:40
And she had a whole paragraph that spoke to Thomas's indiscretions and unfaithfulness.
00:29:48
Through Micah's journal, cops begin to build a picture of the troubled days and weeks
00:29:52
before her disappearance. I think it became clear to her that he was having an affair.
00:29:57
And she may have confronted him with it. And they were beginning to argue. And they were arguing.
00:30:04
And I think it got more and more frequent. I was one of the last people that saw Micah alive.
00:30:35
NARRATOR: Confronted by police with evidence of his infidelity, his drinking, and his wife's
00:30:41
obvious unhappiness with the state of their marriage, Thomas Pate begins to crack while being interrogated.
00:30:48
It became clear that he was more involved in the disappearance and the ultimate demise of Micah
00:30:55
than he was letting on. NARRATOR: Under intense questioning, Thomas denies that he knew anything
00:31:01
about his wife's whereabouts and demands to speak with his father. And he's not telling the Bartlett Police anything
00:31:07
except for her leaving, she's gone jogging, he doesn't know where she is. And the father comes in and just wants him to tell
00:31:14
the police where Micah is. Just tell them where she is. He went from being very aggressive and telling Thomas,
00:31:34
you know, don't lie to me. Tell me if you hurt-- tell me where Mike is. He went from that, within a matter of minutes,
00:31:42
to Thomas confessing. Around 8:00 that night, the police pulled me and my mom and my dad into the side room.
00:32:24
We found that Thomas had made the statement that he had shot her and left her lying in this low lying area that
00:32:33
was real muddy and marshy and during a rainy season, it floods. NARRATOR: This area was the Loosahatchie Bottoms,
00:33:19
the very place that Melissa Conklin and Micah's other worried colleagues had searched for much of the day.
00:33:26
Thomas had taken Micah there just a few days before. It was her birthday just two days prior to this.
00:33:34
And so we had visited with her on the weekend, I had. And said, oh, what did you do?
00:33:40
And she said, well Thomas found this new place for us to go target shooting, I believe, and run the dogs.
00:33:50
But it's not very far from our house. It's just you know just down the road. NARRATOR: Thomas told detectives that on Thursday, April 30,
00:33:58
they had gone out for another target practice session, but that a terrible accident had occurred.
00:34:04
According to Thomas, they would go target shooting out there. And that somehow there was a mistake
00:34:12
and he accidentally shot her in the back of the head. The fact that he knew that whole time
00:34:20
and was lying to us the whole time, it's so painful. It's so, so painful. But we were just so eaten up with anger, just so mad,
00:34:31
that this man allowed her family to drive in, her mom, her dad, her brother, her friends, to spend
00:34:42
this time looking, looking for her, hoping to find her. for you to know all along that you
00:34:50
shot her and left her at the bottoms with ants and mud. NARRATOR: As Micah's family processed the news,
00:34:57
a police search party was set out to recover her body. I personally walked out to where they found her.
00:35:04
And it is way off the road in the middle of thorns, brambles, mud, leaves. And it looked as if he had probably carried her there.
00:35:16
Probably with the intention of throwing around the Loosahatchie River. Typically, if that rain would have continued, and it did,
00:35:23
her body probably would have washed away had he not taken her to-- taken us there to get her.
00:35:30
Many bodies end up in the Loosahatchie unfortunately. But he couldn't make it quite to the river.
00:35:39
So he left her there, face down, with a gunshot hole in the back of her head. And the interesting thing is, she's not wearing her shoes.
00:35:50
And she's wearing white socks, which are not dirty on the bottom. And this is a muddy, muddy place where she is, full of you know,
00:36:01
dried leaves, dead grass, thorns, things of that nature. He will tell you that some extraordinary, unbelievable--
00:36:17
that her boots fell off her feet is why she had no shoes on. She had all the same clothes that she had on when
00:36:24
she was at my office that day. NARRATOR: It was yet another piece of evidence that this may not have been a terrible accident.
00:36:32
On May 2, 2009, Thomas Pate was charged with second degree murder. The only time I got a true impression of Thomas was
00:36:43
when I was cross-examining him on the stand for that bond hearing. NARRATOR: Thomas succeeded in securing bail.
00:36:51
As he awaited trial, investigators set out to prove that Micah's death had been a deliberate act.
00:36:57
The gunshot wound is in the middle of her back, the back of her head. It goes through her ball cap.
00:37:04
And it's not quite a contact wound, but it is close. We spent a lot of time at a Christian youth camp.
00:37:12
And one of the things we do at Camp Tahkodah is target shoot. She was well aware of the safety issues involved
00:37:19
with guns and to not be in front of someone that was with a loaded gun. NARRATOR: Micah had plenty of experience with firearms
00:37:29
and so did her husband. Thomas was very experienced in firing weapons. He was also experienced at being with other people who
00:37:39
had weapons. He went hunting all the time with his friends. And going through the autopsy and seeing the crime
00:37:46
scene photos, and looking at the clothing, which was a ball cap with the hole in the back of it,
00:37:56
and the blood and a little powder burn-- NARRATOR: The pathologist and ballistics experts
00:38:01
believed the shot had been fired at close range and with some precision. To them, this was no stray bullet.
00:38:09
Other evidence considered were his actions after Micah's death. There's no accident when you shoot somebody
00:38:15
in the back of the head. One shot with her own gun? And you don't call anybody? And you don't call nine one one?
00:38:23
That wasn't an accident. That's not an accident. And I think that speaks something to the manipulation
00:38:49
and the heart. That's a very telling thing to me that's very difficult for me to give up.
00:38:59
He left Micah out there for over 24 hours, wild animals, elements, it didn't matter.
00:39:06
And I do think that the evidence from the texting, the leading us on a wild goose chase,
00:39:15
all of those different things led to that this was more than an accident. NARRATOR: To further prove that, there was the evidence
00:39:22
that police had found in the couple's home, signs that their marriage was increasingly troubled.
00:39:28
The officers tracked back through his phone records. And there were many texts with another woman
00:39:36
who was from New Jersey. And then they got into the bills for the credit cards. And that's when they discover that there was
00:39:43
a charge, charges made at Tunica, Mississippi, charges made for actually the slot machines.
00:39:50
He used the credit card to play on the slot machines and to pay for the hotel room that he and this woman from New
00:39:58
Jersey spent the night in. I believe that she caught him in his adulterous exploits.
00:40:11
I believe that she caught him in some lies. And she realized what was going on. I don't know that to be true.
00:40:20
But in my mind, I believe that was the turning point that led to her death. NARRATOR: Micah's loved ones waited almost two years
00:40:31
for Thomas Pate's trial to begin with mixed emotions. We wanted to hear what he had to say.
00:40:37
We wanted to know why. Early on, he was offered a plea deal of second degree murder and 15 years.
00:40:44
And we asked our friends to pray that he would take that. And he did not. It was a disappointment to us that he did not
00:40:56
take the plea on the front end. He could have saved us all those months of grief.
00:41:00
We wanted to grieve the loss of our daughter. We wanted to get used to this new normal of having a daughter
00:41:08
that was no longer with us. Instead, we had to concentrate on all the stuff that was going
00:41:14
on in Memphis and make trips over there that were very emotionally laden. NARRATOR: On Monday, March 7, 2011,
00:41:22
Pate entered an Alford plea. The Alford plea says, I'm not confessing to doing this
00:41:30
but the evidence against me is overwhelming. And so therefore, I wave the white flag.
00:41:37
So there's not a confession. There was part of me that felt some relief that this is over.
00:41:45
And so I say, that is God's way of saying, here's the best blend of justice and mercy.
00:41:55
We get to feel some justice, that there's a consequence being paid for what happened to Micah.
00:42:04
Micah Rine trusted she was marrying a good Christian man and her faith gave her comfort when things began to go bad.
00:42:12
But in the end both her trust and faith had been tragically misplaced. I'm Michelle Trachtenberg.
00:42:21
And I'll see you next time on "Meet Marry, Murder." Micah was stubborn. Michael had a very willful personality.
00:42:30
And so I do believe that she was trying to make it work. Even though the marriage was pretty bad,
00:42:40
she kept her faithfulness and her love for God. And that lets us live with hope.
00:42:48
There will be a day when I'll see Micah again because of the resurrection of Jesus.

Badges

This episode stands out for the following:

  • 90
    Most shocking
  • 90
    Biggest twist
  • 85
    Most heartbreaking
  • 85
    Most unpredictable

Episode Highlights

  • The Mysterious Disappearance
    A young nurse goes for a run and never returns, sparking a frantic search.
    “But never comes back.”
    @ 00m 14s
    December 22, 2022
  • A Troubled Marriage
    The investigation reveals a marriage fraught with issues and hidden dangers.
    “But there was a dangerous side to him that neither knew existed.”
    @ 01m 23s
    December 22, 2022
  • The Hidden Truth
    Micah's family begins to uncover the troubling nature of her husband, Thomas.
    “He actually spent the weekend with a young woman in Tunica.”
    @ 18m 56s
    December 22, 2022
  • Micah's Disappearance
    Micah goes missing, leaving behind personal belongings, raising alarms among family and friends.
    “Micah's phone is still at the house.”
    @ 25m 30s
    December 22, 2022
  • The Search Begins
    Family and friends mobilize to search for Micah in remote areas, but find nothing.
    “We went to the Loosahatchie Bottoms to look for her.”
    @ 26m 47s
    December 22, 2022
  • Police Investigation
    Investigators suspect foul play, focusing on Micah's husband as a potential suspect.
    “The first person we have to eliminate is the spouse.”
    @ 27m 20s
    December 22, 2022
  • Thomas's Confession
    Under pressure, Thomas admits to shooting Micah, claiming it was an accident.
    “He had shot her and left her lying in this low lying area.”
    @ 32m 24s
    December 22, 2022
  • Trial and Plea
    Thomas enters an Alford plea, acknowledging overwhelming evidence without confessing guilt.
    “I wave the white flag.”
    @ 41m 37s
    December 22, 2022

Episode Quotes

  • If I were you, I would pay attention to what you're about to see.
    She Loved A Monster (Meet Marry Murder with Michelle Trachtenberg)
  • She would stay to try to help him.
    She Loved A Monster (Meet Marry Murder with Michelle Trachtenberg)
  • She was basically wearing herself down trying to be the perfect wife.
    She Loved A Monster (Meet Marry Murder with Michelle Trachtenberg)
  • We're going to find her. It's going to be OK.
    She Loved A Monster (Meet Marry Murder with Michelle Trachtenberg)
  • It's so painful.
    She Loved A Monster (Meet Marry Murder with Michelle Trachtenberg)
  • I believe that she caught him in some lies.
    She Loved A Monster (Meet Marry Murder with Michelle Trachtenberg)

Key Moments

  • Storm Approaches00:19
  • Search Begins00:42
  • Unraveling Lies18:44
  • Discovery of Affair18:56
  • Frantic Search21:38
  • Emotional Reunion26:17
  • Searching for Micah26:47
  • Suspicions Arise27:35

Tension Over Time

Words per Minute Over Time

Vibes Breakdown