SHELBYVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — For the first time, we are hearing from a judge’s son accused of murdering a man in Nashville and then shooting a Shelbyville woman in the face.
Sam Rich was sentenced in Bedford County to 59 years, the maximum for each count with consecutive sentencing where applicable, for shooting 21-year-old Gracie Perryman in August of 2021.
Thursday’s sentencing was the first step towards closure for Perryman as she continues her physical and mental recovery.
“It went under my right eye and came out under my left ear,” she showed News 2, saying bullet fragments still remain in her face.
It’s been difficult for Perryman to stay focused first on surviving and now on her mission of making sure her shooter doesn’t win.
“None of the physical pain I have endured can compare to the emotional toll this monster has caused me,” Perryman cried from the stand.
Rich, who also faces murder charges for the deadly shooting of will Warner in Nashville, was seen often laughing, smirking and staring down Perryman and Warner’s family while in the courtroom.
Rich also surprisingly took the stand, showing his angry side while describing a FaceTime call he received.
“Low and behold, this man has my bag of letters, that my grandmother wrote me, my dead grandmother, that I will never get back. My dead grandmother and he’s spouting out the mouth and then he takes his and he urinates in the bag… makes me sick, makes me so sick. I have to stop at the Waldron Road, La Vergne exit in Antioch and I was so sick and I was so mad, I was so mad,” Rich shook his hands with anger while gritting his teeth.
The judge said Rich has shown no remorse for his actions. Audio recordings and testimony Thursday showed that while behind bars, Rich continued to try and finish off the job, attempting to hire someone to kill Perryman. Rich was heard in a phone conversation offering up money and property to someone while pointing to his family for credibility. An investigator testified that a family member even helped Rich in finding the address of where Perryman worked. Testimony also showed Rich tried to have a witness harmed just last week.
“I feel like I have to constantly look over my shoulder and that I just don’t live life like I used to. I’m terrified to go to the gas station by myself and even to go out to eat with my family, just being in this town is terrifying,” explained Perryman.
Despite the testimony, Rich took the opportunity to apologize to Perryman for the first time, looking right past Warner’s heartbroken family.
“From the bottom of my heart, I’m so sorry. Gracie, sorry. I’m just not some animal that they make me out to be. I’m definitely not some dog. Thank you,” Rich said adding, “and I had a good raisin’.”
Perryman calling his apology a show, with an act her family isn’t buying.
“Demented, twisted, monstrous. He’s just, you know, disgusting. He said in court today he was not an animal. That’s exactly what he is, is an animal,” said Perryman and her mother Chanda Scott.
Rich’s trial for the murder of Will Warner is set for April 24.