Missing in Tennessee: Micah Denise Pate [UPDATED]

• Jaden, I agree..it was very surprising how Ballin got WInkler off on such a lenient sentence. (though there were extreme emotional factors involved) Hes' a clever, silver tongued fellow i suspect. I agree also that its very suspicious that the husband went to such lengths to conceal the crime, and tried to stage it as a disappearance that led to Opportunistic murder or something similar. It was stated on one site (fox news i believe) that a neighbor said he was calm and collect while speaking to the Police. (a man who just killed his wife accidentally would Usually show symptoms of guilt or grief more often) the 2nd degree charge could also be for a scenario in which there was No Planning INvolved, or premeditation to kill. A spur of the moment domestic homicide would often get 2nd degree.

• Leslie Ballin is his attorney. Same one that defended Mary Winkler. If you're guilty or not, this is the best man in town to have defend you. He is claiming it was accidental, gunshot to the back of the head. If it was an accident, and he loved her, why would he have not called 911, but instead he tried to hide her body and concoct a story? I believe they have only charged him with 2nd degree because they don't have all the facts yet. Once they determine if there were problems in the marriage, I wouldn't be surprised if he gets hit with Murder 1.

• john in NC, in the article you posted, the neighbor (bowen) mentions that the husband seemed Calm and collected, i think thats something that would be hard to pull off if you had just accidentally shot someone, but i guess people react differently. I think its interesting that no one reported a shot fired, or heard anything, but things like that have occurred before. Are they considering she was shot in the residence and then transported to the dumpsite? It makes me wonder if she was still in the house when he called the police, and the husband waited until LATER to take the body to the dumpsite,whenever neighbors were in bed. If you find out anything keep us posted Sir. thanks.

• He says he accidentally shot her and they charged him with second degree, so maybe they are buying his story of "accident." I haven't read anything about their relationship or possible problems. http://snipurl.com/h9ofz She had a Facebook page but the only thing you can do is view her friends list.

• agreed Christy..very suspicious on his part. But on another note people Tend to expect the worst in situations like this and automatically determine the right course of action by how they would themselves act. (its safe to assume MOST would have dialed 911 immediately and not acted deceptively, but there IS an increasing tendency to also fear wrongful conviction which might cause some to behave that way. Personally i think it was probably a domestic- homicide that he tried to cover up, but I'll wait for the police version of events and see what transpires. (and be assured cases like this often have a quick resolve and plenty of things which tie the offender to the Crime) most crime afficiados likely have a few possible scenarios in mind though :1) he was cleaning his gun and it went off which led to her death, he panicked, and decided to hide the body and try the "my wife went missing" routine because he feared wrongful persecution 2) due to an accumulation of personal stressors (arguments about bills/adultery/threats of leaving him for another man) he killed her during a heated argument (domestic homicide) and then staged it to look like a disappearance (most would say Staged-domestic homicide maybe for this one) 3) the classic motive/money/insurance/ he killed her and staged it to look like a disappearance/stranger-related homicide in order to get insurance money.

• I hate stories like this. The result seems predetermined as soon as you hear it. My condolences to her family and loved ones.

• From Nurse's link: "Thomas was identified as a suspect by investigators, and then told police where to find her body. Thomas Pate is currently in police custody; he is expected to be officially charged with his wife's murder Saturday."

• I live just north of Memphis and my husband works right in this area. I asked him if he had heard about this woman on the news and he said no. I watched the news and had not heard about her. There is no way she ran 9 miles. I agree with previous poster. I cannot imagine this woman running in long pants and long sleeve shirt.

• http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=3591+Foxfield+Trail+Bartlett+Tennessee&daddr=Loosahatchie+River+&hl=en&geocode=&mra=ls&sll=35.286681,-89.787714&sspn=0.002185,0.004807&ie=UTF8&ll=35.28094,-89.765124&spn=0.008741,0.019226&t=h&z=16 Steve, this is a map from her house to the location her body was found... it is about seven miles away from her house and surrounded by trees. I smell hink...

• http://www.myfoxmemphis.com/dpp/news/050109_Missing_Bartlett_Woman_Found_Dead she has been found dead

• Russ, bless your heart! I thought Tina's name sounded familiar. So sorry for what you went thru. If you have info to share I think you can use the contact form to tell Steve Huff.. Hope that helps and again.. bless you for what you must have went thru/continue to go thru ~Becky

• All I can do is sigh and agree with the last part of your write up Steve. Christy, Very interesting about the weather/temperture and the clothes she was last seen wearing.

• I have recently lost a loved one in Bartlett (Tina Caronna). I have some web resources that may or may not help in this. I will be receptive to email contact by a responsible adult close to the case and will be glad to help as much as possible.

• I live in Bartlett, TN, not too far from where this lady lives.. I am very confused WHY she was out jogging, wearing long pants and a long sleeved shirt? It was hot and MUGGY yesterday and began to rain around 8:00 last night (right as she supposedly left her house??)! FISHY!

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