In a quiet corner of Pearl, Mississippi, a grim discovery shattered the peace of a Tuesday afternoon in late June 2015. Peggy Faries, a 77-year-old female, and her husband, Robert, were found murdered in their home on Highway 469 North. The couple, who had been married for 57 years and were well-known in the community as the former owners of Faries Printers of Richland, had their lives brought to a violent and tragic end.
The alarm was raised on June 23, 2015, when a family friend,
concerned after the couple didn't answer their door, peered into a window and saw Peggy's body on the floor. A family member was contacted to unlock the home, leading to the further discovery of Robert's body in a bedroom. Both had been killed.
Suspicion quickly fell upon their 22-year-old grandson, Zachary Alexander Stanford of Ocean Springs. In a fateful turn of events, a Magee police officer pulled Stanford over for careless driving. The officer noticed what appeared to be blood on Stanford's clothes and inside his vehicle, prompting them to contact the Rankin County Sheriff's Department. Rankin County deputies responded and took Stanford into custody.
The investigation that followed uncovered damning evidence against Stanford. During the traffic stop, officers found bloody clothing, a knife, and a. 22 caliber firearm with a homemade suppressor in his vehicle. He was subsequently charged with two counts of capital murder in the deaths of his grandparents. During questioning by Rankin County deputies, Stanford ultimately confessed to the murders.
Zachary Stanford was ordered to be held without bail and to undergo a mental and substance abuse evaluation. Following the legal proceedings, he was convicted of the first-degree murder of his grandparents and received two life sentences for the heinous crime.
