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PROVO — A Salem man accused of shooting his wife was ordered Friday to stand trial for murder.
In a 911 call played in 2nd District Court, the caller identified himself as Tracy Scott and admitted to shooting his wife.
"She was going to take a picture of me and it just went off," he said in the call on March 23.
After hearing witnesses and viewing evidence, Judge David N. Mortensen found that there was probable cause for Tracy A. Scott, 47, to stand trial for murder, a first-degree felony.
Salem police officer Roger Lowe testified Friday that he initially went to the wrong house and then heard a man's voice yell at him from down the street.
Lowe remembered Scott said, "I just shot my wife. She's dead." The man then closed the door and went back inside.
Lowe said Scott was compliant when he was asked to come outside. He put his hands up, knelt down and got in the prone position. After backup officers arrived, Scott became emotional.
"He was crying uncontrollably," Lowe testified.
Salem police officer Austin Cobbley, who knows Scott, said Scott told him, "I just snapped."
It's very clear to everyone that they had a very stormy relationship.
–Richard P. Gale, defense attorney
Lowe said he saw a pistol on the floor in the entrance of the Salem house, 445 E. 300 South, and found Teresa Scott, 45, sitting up in her bed with her feet in front of her. After checking for a pulse and breathing, he determined she was dead.
Teresa Scott was shot three times, with the fatal bullet entering through her chest, according the medical examiner who inspected her body.
A black safe on the floor of the room was open. Shell casings were found nearby and another gun was on the edge of the bed, according to the testimony of a forensic scientist from the Utah County Sheriff's Office.
Teresa Scott's knitting or crocheting was still in her lap.
"It's very clear to everyone that they had a very stormy relationship," defense attorney Richard P. Gale said after the hearing.
The couple has two teen sons, both of whom are staying with their maternal grandmother, Gale said.
