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Tracy Scott called 911 from his Salem, Utah, home on the evening of March 23, 2013, and told a dispatcher he had just shot his wife, according to court records and police reports. Officers found Teresa Scott, 45, sitting up in bed, a crochet hook and yarn still in her lap, having been shot three times with a .45 caliber pistol.

During the roughly three minute call, Scott told the dispatcher "there's been a shooting" and identified the victim as "my wife." Asked who had fired the gun, he answered "I did." Responding officers said Scott met them outside, shouting that he had shot his wife and that she was dead, then dropped to the ground and raised his hands.

Prosecutors said the couple, married 18 years, had been arguing for about two weeks before the shooting. At trial Scott testified he believed his wife had threatened him with a gun and that the shooting was accidental, telling jurors "she was going to take a picture of me, and it just went off." Jurors deliberated roughly eight hours before returning a verdict.

A 4th District Court jury convicted Scott of first degree felony murder in August 2014. Judge David Mortensen sentenced him that October to 15 years to life in the Utah State Prison, the maximum term available under the charge.

The Utah Court of Appeals threw out the conviction in 2017, ruling Scott's trial attorney had been ineffective for not getting an alleged threat from his wife admitted as evidence for a manslaughter defense. The Utah Supreme Court reversed that ruling in 2020, finding the appeals court lacked enough detail about the alleged threat to judge the ineffective assistance claim.

On remand, with the threat's specifics before it, the Utah Court of Appeals affirmed Scott's conviction on June 24, 2022, finding his attorney's performance had not been deficient and that the jury instruction at issue was not coercive. Scott, 57, remains in state custody serving his original sentence.