On October 23, 1990, a Chevy Suburban pulled into the parking lot of a funeral home in Red Lodge, Montana. Inside was a man named Cary Greenlee, his teenage daughter, and his father-in-law. In the back seat lay the body of Cary's wife, 34-year-old Anita Greenlee. She had been shot in the chest during a hunting trip earlier that morning.
Cary claimed that Anita had accidentally shot herself. But instead of calling 911 or seeking medical help, he had loaded her body into his vehicle and driven directly to the funeral home. The bizarre circumstances immediately raised questions for investigators. And as they began piecing together what happened in the woods, the story only grew more suspicious.
No one had witnessed the fatal shot. Anita's daughter reported seeing her mother walk away with Cary shortly before hearing gunfire. Investigators also believed that Cary had been having an affair with a much younger woman, whom he would marry just months after Anita's death. Questions about the physical evidence, conflicting statements, and Cary's behavior fueled suspicions that Anita's death was no accident.
But proving murder would be another matter entirely.
For nearly two decades, the case remained unresolved. Then, in 2009, prosecutors charged Cary Greenlee with deliberate homicide. It appeared that Anita's family might finally get answers. Instead, the case took another unexpected turn.
In this episode of Blood Trails, host Jordan Sillars revisits Anita Greenlee's death through court records, investigative documents, and interviews with people involved in the case. The story reveals a tangled web of family conflict, allegations of infidelity, and a decades-long struggle to determine what really happened on that October morning.
Was Anita's death a tragic hunting accident, as her husband maintained? Or did someone use the isolation of the Montana wilderness to conceal a murder?
More than three decades later, the questions surrounding Anita Greenlee's death remain deeply unsettling.
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