Molly Watson was found dead just two days before her Disney-themed wedding and her fiance James Addie was later convicted of her murder after his secret life was exposed
Two days before Molly Watson was set to marry, a passing driver spotted her body on a rural road in Monroe County, Missouri, in April 2018.
“I came around the bend, and my headlights hit her body in front of the car,” Glen McSparren, the driver, recalled in an episode of limited true crime series Bad Romance. “When I saw her, my heart stopped… I could tell she wasn’t moving.” Molly was found lying in front of her car, having suffered a close-range gunshot wound to the back of her head. Authorities later discovered that her marriage license was still in the back seat of her vehicle.
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When officers went to notify her fiancé, James Addie, they were met by an unexpected visitor – his wife.
Soon after, Addie’s secret life began to unravel.
According to ABC News, Molly and Addie had met seven years earlier while both were working as corrections officers at the Moberly Area Correctional Centre in Moberly, Missouri. Molly’s brother, Tim, revealed that his sister was “absolutely, 100% in love” with Addie.
Addie proposed to Molly in 2018, and the two were planning a Disney-themed wedding. Chrystal Graves-Yazici and Tabetha Schilb were hired to do hair and make-up for the nuptials.
“She was so excited,” Graves-Yazici said. “We had been working on a wedding that was ‘Beauty and the Beast,’ and so we were like, ‘We’re very familiar with doing this very Disney themed wedding.'”
Authorities later revealed that Addie had told Molly he was divorced from his wife, Melanie Addie, and that she had died in a car accident. However, Melanie was alive and unaware of the seven-year affair or the planned wedding until the police arrived at her door.
The former couple share two kids together — a daughter, named Emma, and a son, named Ben.
And although she didn’t think he was being unfaithful at the time, looking back now, she said she definitely sees some warning signs.
Melanie said: “He would get off work at 3pm… and usually he would get home at 5pm, and I would say, ‘Why are you always so late?’ That would be an argument. He didn’t want to tell me anything.”
Over the years, Melanie noted that he took two trips without her — he went to Florida and claimed it was a business trip, and he vacationed in Mexico, telling Melanie he was going with his friends.
However, Melanie later discovered he was actually traveling with Molly when she found photos of them together on the trips in a storage space in their garage.
Addie was arrested and charged with Molly’s murder. In 2021, he was found guilty of first-degree murder and armed criminal action.
Melanie, who testified at his trial, described Addie as “pretty selfish” and “controlling and intimidating.” She said, “It just seemed like something he would do to fix a problem.”
Addie was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, plus 10 years for the murder, and an additional 20 years for the armed criminal action charge.
Molly’s obituary describes her as a devoted mother who “loved her son and spending time with family”.
