354: Tracey Harris Branch – Memphis Code Enforcement Murder

FBI Retired Case File Review

Jerri Williams

True Crime, Interviews, Fiction, History, Fbi, Government, Truecrime

4.6 • 2.1K Ratings

🗓️ 15 May 2025

⏱️ 70 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Retired agent Tracey Branch reviews a hate crime investigation of the murder of Memphis Code Enforcement Officer Mickey Wright, killed in the line of duty because of his race. The subject of the investigation, Dale Mardis, was a self-proclaimed racist with anti-government views. Initially, Mardis was convicted of the local murder by the state of Tennessee, which resulted in him receiving a 15-year sentence. However, once allegations of racial bias surfaced, Tracey’s investigation resulted in the conviction of Mardis for a federal hate crime and a sentence of life in prison. Tracey Branch served in the FBI for more than 24 years.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to Episode 354 of FBI Retired Case File Review with Jerry Williams.
0:12.3	I'm a retired agent on a mission to show you who the FBI is and what the FBI does through
0:19.4	my books, my blog, and my podcast case reviews with former
0:23.1	colleagues. Today, we get to speak to retired agent Tracy Harris Branch, who served in the FBI
0:30.9	for more than 24 years. In this episode, Tracy reviews a hate crime investigation involving the murder of Memphis Code Enforcement Officer Mickey Wright, who was murdered in the line of duty because of his race.
0:48.3	The subject, Dale Martis, was his self-proclaimed races with anti-government views. Initially, Martis was convicted by the
0:57.6	state of Tennessee of the local murder, which resulted in a 15-year sentence. However, once allegations of
1:05.6	racial bias surfaced, Tracy's investigation was initiated and resulted in the conviction of martyrs for a federal
1:13.6	hate crime and a sentence of life in prison. Sadly, Mickey Wright's body was never recovered.
1:21.2	Tracy's first FBI assignment was to the Newark Division, where she worked on international drug investigations,
1:28.9	public corruption, and terrorism matters.
1:31.8	Tracy's second field assignment was to the Memphis Field Office, where she worked and
1:37.0	later supervised civil rights investigations. Those investigations included color of law,
1:43.4	police misconduct, hate crimes, human trafficking,
1:47.1	as well as other programs. Tracy has received multiple accolades for her work in civil rights.
1:54.7	One of the awards was from Attorney General Eric Holder for a human trafficking investigation.
2:03.3	Other awards include the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives Noble for Excellence in Civil Rights Investigations
2:10.4	and two awards from the International Chief of Police. Additionally, she has received recognition
2:17.2	from the United States Attorney's Office
2:19.7	and the Shelby County Crime Victims Center for Excellence in Investigations relating to her work
2:26.6	in human trafficking. After retiring from the FBI, Tracy was employed as the Senior Director of
2:33.7	Security and Safety for St. Jude's Hospital.
	...

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