Moments After Psychotic Grandpa Killed His Wife in Broad Daylight

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Transcript

SPEAKER_03 0:12

So how did were you driving the car? So how did it escalate to where we are right now?

SPEAKER_00 0:18

This is 93-year-old James Pate. And at this moment, there is no mystery about what he has done. Because just minutes earlier, he admitted to k his wife in broad daylight.

SPEAKER_03 0:31

Hi, hey, I'm sorry.

SPEAKER_00 0:38

As officers secured the quiet street, they would discover Cheryl Pate laying nearby, gravely injured from a violent attack. Can you hear me?

SPEAKER_10 0:49

Oh my god.

SPEAKER_00 0:50

Can you hear me? The case from the beginning was never about who was responsible. As when investigators took a closer look, they were met with a motive far more gruesome than they first expected. One that would make them question whether they even knew who James Padday really was.

SPEAKER_03 1:04

He was walking back towards the house with b in his shirt. Can I ask why it escalated so quickly?

SPEAKER_05 1:12

I never, never in my wildest dreams with the case.

SPEAKER_00 1:36

A woman reported that a man was walking around, saying he had just killed his wife, and that she was lying on the pavement nearby. Within minutes, officers arrived at 1806 South 14th Street, where they found 93-year-old James Pate covered in the driveway just north of Hannah.

SPEAKER_03 1:56

Yeah, it's a long driveway. Well, here. Hi. What do you mean you just killed your wife? Okay. What happened? Can you come up here with all of them? What's your name? Okay. Do you live back here?

SPEAKER_04 2:31

I live I live at uh on fourteenth street and I can't think of the name of the You live here? No, no. Uh lady that walked down here with me does.

SPEAKER_03 2:43

Okay. So who was that lady?

SPEAKER_04 2:56

Okay, thank you.

SPEAKER_03 2:57

Why do you have to go over here? Okay. Let's let's step over here, okay? Is he at the corner? I got a 28. You live in Hollywood? Yes. Okay.

SPEAKER_00 3:26

As officers trying to understand what James Pate had done, medics and additional officers rushed to Cheryl, and what they were about to see would shake the first responders.

SPEAKER_07 3:37

Ma'am, can you hear me? Ma'am?

SPEAKER_04 3:45

Can you hear me?

SPEAKER_07 3:58

Can you hear me? She's agonal breathing. She's like barely.

SPEAKER_00 4:22

While medics fought to keep Cheryl alive, investigators pressed James for answers, hoping the truth might surface before he left the scene in handcuffs. But one question continued puzzling investigators. What was the motive behind it all?

SPEAKER_03 4:36

So what happened today? Why were you down here?

SPEAKER_04 4:40

Uh she's been staying with the lady you talked to here. Okay.

SPEAKER_03 4:47

Okay, so she's been staying down here? Uh-huh. Okay. And what's that lady's name? Okay. Can I patch you down real quick and make sure you don't have any? Do you have a knife on you still? Don't touch anything. Do you have a knife on you still?

unknown 5:06

No, I don't.

SPEAKER_03 5:07

Okay, where is the knife at? Just keep your arms up for me, okay? You got blood all over you, I don't want to get it all over me. What's in this pocket? I'll get I'll get it, but what's in there? So how did were you driving the car? Okay. So you drove down here today?

SPEAKER_04 5:37

Yes, I was holding here.

SPEAKER_03 5:39

Okay. So how did it escalate to where we are right now?

SPEAKER_04 5:44

It's it's always been escalated, it seems like.

SPEAKER_03 5:48

Okay.

SPEAKER_09 5:49

I had a five.

SPEAKER_03 5:50

But what I mean, what happened here? Can you just live on the cheek and I don't have my body?

SPEAKER_04 5:58

I don't know.

SPEAKER_03 6:01

Okay.

SPEAKER_04 6:02

I just lost.

SPEAKER_03 6:03

Okay, and what happened after that? Okay.

SPEAKER_04 6:10

What do I have in the colour?

SPEAKER_10 6:11

And is this lane? What do you verify is this ours or count?

SPEAKER_00 6:15

As officers questioned James, they tried to reconstruct the timeline behind the disaster, and instead of denying it, James started revealing the truth himself.

SPEAKER_04 6:24

I wasn't sure about that house.

SPEAKER_03 6:25

So you came to pick her up today.

SPEAKER_04 6:27

Yes, we were going to the to set you.

SPEAKER_09 6:31

Anybody saw that the PDN coming out here came right into crime scene. Crime scene alongside.

SPEAKER_03 6:38

So you guys got into an argument as you were leaving, and she tried to scratch you? Well, she is.

SPEAKER_10 6:45

I didn't know that'll be all helpful.

SPEAKER_03 6:47

She didn't scratch you?

SPEAKER_04 6:49

She tried to high held her arms.

SPEAKER_03 6:52

Okay. And then you grabbed the knife that was in the car?

SPEAKER_04 6:57

I did.

SPEAKER_03 6:57

And you cut her throat.

SPEAKER_04 6:59

I I hit her first. Then I got to the knife.

SPEAKER_03 7:03

Okay. Can I ask why it escalated so quickly?

SPEAKER_04 7:07

Like it's been going on now for longer than I can remember.

SPEAKER_08 7:15

The knife in question. Is that what we don't know?

SPEAKER_03 7:18

He does not have it on hand.

SPEAKER_08 7:20

Okay.

SPEAKER_07 7:24

Uh here's what we're gonna do, James. Good. Uh let's uh walk up to one of these cards. Yeah. If you want to.

SPEAKER_02 7:40

Here, let's step over here, okay?

SPEAKER_00 7:43

With James now separated from the scene and in police custody, the officer's focus shifted entirely, keeping Cheryl alive and getting her to the hospital as quickly as possible.

SPEAKER_01 8:15

Where are we going? Cabrion, I love you.

SPEAKER_00 8:26

Cheryl was now in the ambulance, being rushed to St. Francis Medical Center in an effort to stabilize her condition. A journey of roughly 10 to 11 miles, taking about 15 minutes. But saving her life would soon prove far more difficult than medics had hoped. Meanwhile, as Cheryl was transported to the hospital, officers at the scene were already establishing a timeline of what had happened. According to James Pate, he had arrived in his red 2025 Toyota to pick Cheryl up from a friend's home, where she had primarily been staying, only occasionally spending nights at his apartment. But as they began to leave, James claimed the two got into an argument. He said Cheryl tried to scratch him, and in that moment, he reacted by grabbing a knife from inside the vehicle before sta her multiple times in the f. And as the investigation deepened, another question emerged. How did the friend know Cheryl had been stabbed? And was she connected to what had happened in any way? As the investigation deepens, Cheryl's friend would reveal further secrets, painting an even darker picture of reality behind closed doors.

SPEAKER_05 9:35

Yeah, I know.

SPEAKER_08 9:39

Okay, if you married to her, let's go. And they're out crying. That's okay. So they're not just staying with me.

SPEAKER_05 10:05

She's in your phone. We were going down to the base.

SPEAKER_08 10:15

So we see the two.

SPEAKER_05 10:18

Yes, absolutely. Okay. And she haunts. I I was on the deck with her. She said, I'll see you after the thing. Okay. And so uh I thought everything was fine. I was just gonna take my dog for a walk.

SPEAKER_08 10:30

Is this a red boy over here? Yes, it is.

SPEAKER_01 10:34

It's still running. Okay.

SPEAKER_08 10:35

And there's just been so that I can do it more.

SPEAKER_01 10:39

I um her vehicle's a little bit.

unknown 10:42

Yeah.

SPEAKER_07 10:42

Did you did you speak to him at all?

SPEAKER_05 10:44

Yes, he was walking back towards our house with the black shirt, and I couldn't didn't see Sherry then, but I said, Jim, what's happened? And he said, I just I couldn't take it anymore.

SPEAKER_08 10:59

No. My dog. He doesn't speak.

SPEAKER_05 11:02

Okay.

SPEAKER_08 11:03

Gotcha. And that's your car behind her. Yes.

SPEAKER_05 11:05

Yes. Okay. You see things on TV, but it's not like what when you're really here. I never, never in my wildest dreams would have predicted this. I've heard their phone calls, they've been very civil. Uh I don't know what happened.

SPEAKER_00 11:24

With Cheryl's friend giving her account of what had happened, any suspicion of her being tied to the killing quickly faded. But what she did reveal began to paint a deeper picture. She explained that James and Cheryl had been going through a divorce and were on their way to the bank to separate their finances, a detail that now pointed investigators toward a possible motive. Could the dispute over money have pushed James to the edge? What detectives would uncover next would reveal even more about the moments leading to the violence.

SPEAKER_05 11:53

Do you know was she still in the car or was she already? She was out when I when I pulled up. I saw him first coming down. And then when I pulled up behind her, thinking I could do something, and that's when I saw Sherry leaving leaning out of the halfway in and halfway out.

SPEAKER_07 12:09

Halfway in the car?

SPEAKER_05 12:11

No, just her foot was in the foot right now for each jump small floor.

SPEAKER_07 12:18

Yeah. Okay.

SPEAKER_05 12:20

Is it at this vehicle or no? He was walking back towards our house. Our house is down there, another quarter mile past.

SPEAKER_08 12:27

Okay. About how far past these cars do you think you made it before you encountered?

SPEAKER_05 12:32

Uh, I could see his car clearly. So, you know, maybe 20 steps.

SPEAKER_08 12:37

Okay, so not super far past.

SPEAKER_05 12:39

No, no.

SPEAKER_00 12:39

With Cheryl's friend providing her account, officers at the scene shifted their focus to securing James and preparing to take him to the station to collect his clothing as evidence. But before that could happen, they still needed to locate the weapon used in the attack. And because James had been cooperative with officers from the beginning, they decided to ask him directly.

SPEAKER_07 13:00

So let's just click over here to the lights and plate real quick while they get this uh ambulance out of here, okay? Here's what I'm gonna do. I I trust Officer Nelton, who's added you down before, but this is detective material. I'm gonna have him just make sure you don't have that knife on you right now, okay?

SPEAKER_01 13:26

Where did you last be that knife?

SPEAKER_04 13:30

In the car?

SPEAKER_01 13:31

In the car, okay. If you're okay with it, will you take in, go attend to the CD, and then I was gonna just start on uh fitted down your thing with all the other pieces.

SPEAKER_00 13:56

As the chaos at the scene slowly began to settle, James now sat inside a police car, separated from everything that had just happened. On the other side of the crime scene, an officer approached one more witness, hoping this final conversation might shed light on the truth and reveal whether anyone else was connected to the violence.

SPEAKER_06 14:15

Go to the bank and separate the money. Yeah, so Jim came, they're they're going through divorce. Jim came here to get Sherry to go to the bank to split up their assets. Okay, and everything's fine. You you didn't hear any arguing here. No, it isn't. Oh, I stayed inside, I didn't come out. True, okay, yeah. So they never they never went in the house. Jim never went in. She came out. Yeah. She got in and they left. Okay. So you mind if we look around, like like where she was standing? Where was she waiting for a mat? So then how did your wife stumble upon them up there?

SPEAKER_08 14:58

Oh, okay, so she just crossed them. Yeah. Sorry, we'll buy it.

SPEAKER_07 15:06

Okay, so she came out, he honks, she comes out.

SPEAKER_06 15:10

No, she's on the back deck. She's on the back deck. Okay. Okay. Oh, it sounds like whatever happened happened in the car or at some point.

SPEAKER_07 15:42

Okay.

SPEAKER_06 15:46

Thanks for letting us walk.

SPEAKER_07 15:47

We might be back down to talk to you.

SPEAKER_06 15:48

Oh, yeah, I am. Okay, we're all right. Alright, thanks by the way.

SPEAKER_00 15:55

With officers finding little new information at the scene, a quiet uncertainty began to settle over the investigation. So they stepped back, regrouping to determine their next course of action, what still needed to be done, and where the case would go from here.

SPEAKER_08 16:10

Is he in custody? He is in the car, and he's going through the city. He needs to be in custody. Um, so I'll give you the quick rundown. I talked to the lady. So uh suspect's husband, Victor and his wife. They're going through a divorce. They know these people, and this house. Victim has been living for a week because of the divorce. Prearranged, husband suspect was coming this morning to pick up the victim, and they're going to the bank to take care of financials going through the divorce. The victim comes out and gets in the car and they leave. I couldn't run one and melting lane.

SPEAKER_07 17:20

Yeah. Yeah, he's a contact person on scene. Then triple chapter weapons. Yeah, yeah. Uh we're just gonna while he's cool, we're gonna take him to headquarters, collect, photograph, uh. He's in custody.

SPEAKER_08 17:35

Pictures of him, all of his clothes. At this moment, I think she's still alive, she's not pronounced. I've got a crime scene back here with the car, and then I need to talk with Butler because I don't know if what happened in the car or outside of the car. We don't know where the knife is yet.

SPEAKER_00 17:50

With lead investigators now fully briefed on what had happened, they began planning their next course of action. James Pate would be taken to the station, photographed, processed, and formally dealt with there. Back at the scene, officers shifted their focus to the vehicle, preparing to have it towed away for further forensic testing. But for Cheryl, her condition was still unknown. And lingering over everything was a single, unanswered question. Was she still alive? As James Pate was taken from the scene to the station, he appeared unusually calm, far too still for someone who had just committed such a violent act.

SPEAKER_07 18:29

And you just sit tight, Officer Zimmerman's gonna take you down to the police department, and I'll meet you there, okay?

SPEAKER_04 18:33

Okay.

SPEAKER_07 18:34

What do you want to do? Everything in here's being recorded, I have to tell you.

SPEAKER_01 20:37

Okay, James. Um obviously, because we're at the police department and you're in custody, I have to read your meringue warning, okay? If you need anything during this, just let me know, okay? But just kind of uh be patient with me. But I'm gonna try to get this done as quick as possible, okay? Get your change. Do you know where the knife went?

SPEAKER_04 21:09

I think I threw it.

SPEAKER_01 21:11

Okay, do you think you threw it in the tree line or where did you throw it at? Okay. And then did you drink a bottle of water that would have been outside of the car? Was there a bottle of water in the car that you would have thrown outside of the car? We don't know if it's just trash or if it was something that you left there. Okay. I just wanted to make sure that the officer that's out there was asking me, because we just want to make sure that we know um everything that's out there. We want to make sure we know where it came from, okay? I'm gonna get uh you some clothes, and then I'm gonna have a male officer help me change, okay?

SPEAKER_00 22:04

At this point, James was briefly questioned about what had happened at the scene as detectives focused on one critical detail still missing the weapon. Despite searching the area, officers had not yet been able to locate it. But what would happen next would shift the entire direction of the case. A phone call soon reached investigators at the station, confirming that Cheryl had succumbed to her injuries at 11 10 a.m. Doctors would later document in the autopsy that she suffered. Multiple sht force wounds to the including damage to the left carotid artery, along with defensive wounds on her arms and hands, evidence that she had tried to protect herself. With this new information, investigators began thinking strategically about their next steps. Before formally photographing James Pate at the station, they made the decision to send officers back to his residence, searching for anything that might raise further concern or reveal more about what had happened. Because even with a confession, the investigation was far from over. Now, imagine seeing so much more. Well, that's why we went all out and decided to create channels in every niche, which are still based on true crime for you to enjoy. I mean, who doesn't like seeing people's reactions like these?

SPEAKER_05 23:26

Oh my god.

SPEAKER_00 23:28

From no commentary to just interrogation. Because I know some of you guys hate that, but that's not the end. We really enjoy what we are building, so we have an exclusive Patreon community where they get firsthand access to anything we post and all uncensored footage and images. And some of the things are truly horrifying. But one detail stood out. When James had been arrested, he did not appear to have a cell phone with him. That same phone would soon be located inside his apartment, raising the possibility that it might contain answers investigators had yet to uncover. Even then, there was little certainty that anything inside the device would truly change the direction of the case. However, back at the station, officers were preparing to begin the formal process, starting with photographing James Pate.

SPEAKER_01 26:24

So I'm just gonna go face and work my way down, and then we'll stand you up and turn you around and do the same thing. Okay. Are you still feeling okay? Despite everything.

SPEAKER_04 26:38

No, I'm just not I'm not thinking too clear.

SPEAKER_01 26:42

Okay. Great. Alright, can you uh look this way for me? James, now can you look this way for me? So I want to make sure I get pictures of all the if you got a couple scratches on your face. Red. Was it like a like a utility knife, like a folding knife, or was it like a steak knife? Or like a box cutter knife?

unknown 27:31

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 27:34

And when you threw it, because you're kind of you're you're kind of right down by that lake. Do you know if you threw it into the lake or if you threw it into the trees? Uh and if you don't know, just let me know. If you don't know, I just tell me that.

SPEAKER_04 27:53

I threw that not towards the lane.

SPEAKER_01 27:58

Okay.

unknown 27:59

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 28:00

As officers photographed James, the formal processing quietly continued. He was given a new set of clothing to wear, while the garments he had on at the time of the incident were carefully collected as evidence, every detail preserved, as investigators prepared for what would come next. You can actually James was formally charged with first degree murder on the same day Cheryl lost her life. He was taken into custody and transported to the Tazewell County Jail, where the case would move into the legal system, a process that could take months or even years before a final outcome is decided. As of now, there is no further information on his sentencing.