Frank Trew: The Untold Story of Suicide, Divorce, $150,000, & a 26 year-old lover.

The Nashville community lost Frank Trew to suicide on Tuesday 08/15. Many, including Mayor Berry, described him as a “dedicated public servant who volunteered his time and energy towards the betterment of his neighbors and community”; however there was a darker side to Frank that only a few knew, and more to his death that is being reported on the news, but it was witnessed by the neighbors, and recorded in court documents. It’s the ‘untold’ story of a 55 year-old Frank Trew, who began to cheat on his 51 year-old husband/partner of 23 years (Michael Moss) with a 26 year old man(Joel Michael Welch) he met a mere 8 months prior, in January of 2017.

According to two witnesses (elderly neighbors), Frank Trew committed suicide on 08/15, reportedly in the front yard of his home, during a “extremely heated” argument with his husband, Michael Moss, who just filed for divorce. The witnesses are absolutely traumatized, and say during the argument he raised the gun to his head/mouth and pulled the trigger. Frank Trew and his Husband, Michael Moss, had a court date scheduled for a portion of their divorce hearing a few days prior, on 08/10 – however according to court records, there was a 9:00 AM Contempt Notice, meaning one or more parties were not present. Moss filed for divorce because Frank was, admittedly, cheating on him.

NEW: Frank Trew: Another $87,000 Debt – How It Happened.

Not only was he cheating, but according to court documents, he was blowing through the couple’s money faster than it could come in.Hotels, trips, bars, restaurants, vacations, gifts, getaways – all coming from the joint accounts of Frank & Michael, benefiting Frank & Joel.

Franks husband, Michael, filed for divorce on July 10th, citing irreconcilable differences & inappropriate marital conduct. In the divorce filings, Michael Moss states that he “recently learned that spouse has been having an affair with a much younger man names Joel Michael Welch, and has been using credit cards to spend significant marital assets of gifts, trips, hotels, restaurants, and other expensive items for his paramour (Joel Michael Welch)”. Moss even states he heard Frank talking on the phone with Joel Michael Welch about when he could move into the marital residence.

For the past few months, Frank has stopped paying the mortgage on their home (approx $1700/mo) – stating he doesn’t have the funds to do so – though according to his husband, Michael Moss, Frank has plenty of money to spend on himself and his new paramour, Joel Michael Welch. Moss filed a petition with the court, to sell the marital home on July 23rd.

According to the filings, Frank admitted to the affair, but refused to end it. According to Moss, Frank was suddenly claiming an much lower monthly income, even though he continued to spend significant amounts on credit cards, and now has “large amounts” of debt on at “least five different credit cards” that Moss knows about – all used for hotels, gifts, trips, restaurants, etc.. for Joel Michael Welch.

Moss was asking for a lot in the divorce, specifically to be granted enough money to continue to live on, as he is disabled and unable to work, and Frank was always the primary breadwinner in the family. Weeks prior to the divorce filing by Moss, Frank stopped depositing his paycheck into the joint account, and removed Moss from one of the primary used credit card accounts.

in 2014 Michael Moss received a $150,000.00 settlement, of which the entire amount was deposited into their joint account, however Moss states that most of that money is now gone. After Moss learned of the affair, and that he was taken off a joint credit card, he took $3,500 remaining from their joint account, and moved it to a private account, to have day to day funds. Frank got extremely upset about this, and Moss returned $1,600 back to the joint account on the understanding he would be added back to the joint credit card account, but Frank refused to do so, even after the $1,600 was returned.

Moss went out of town to help his father, and during this time, Frank had Joel Michael Welch to their marital home to stay when him during Moss’s absence. Moss asked for permanent alimony in the divorce filing, due to being disable, unemployed, and without regular income.

According to Frank Trew, Moss is able to work, is not disabled so much that he can’t be gainfully employed. Frank also states in a response to the support request, that the hotel charges were incurred because he felt unsafe at home. Frank reports that Moss would consume excessive amounts of alcohol and become belligerent and irrational. On Tuesday, August 1st, Frank came home to find Moss drunk, according to a filing, and Moss told Frank that if he turned on the air conditioner he would “cut all the wires”.

Frank agrees the they are in dire financial circumstance, but attributes the problems to Moss spending $12,000 to purchase a 2015 Ford Mustang, one week before filing for divorce. Moss also sold two other vehicles, making a $10,000 profit, according to Frank, and deposited that money into his private account, with the previous $3500 (minus the $1600 he returned to the joint account). In less than one month, Moss spent nearly $25,000, according to Frank Trew.

That brings us to the request for an ex-parte restraining order be issued to restrain and enjoin Frank Trew from:

Continuing to spend marital assets and funds on Joel Michael Welch, or any other person with whom he is romantically or sexually involved.
Bringing Joel Michael Welch, or any other person with whom he is romantically or sexually involved, to their jointly-owned marital home
Continuing to use credit cards established during the marriage for any non-routine expenses such as hotels, restaurants, bars, and gifts for his paramour, Joel Michael Welch, or any other person with whom he is romantically or sexually involved.

The hearing for this restraining order (image is below, after the initial divorce filings), was scheduled to happen on Thursday, 08/10, however the court records show a 9AM ‘contempt’ entry – indicating one or more parties was not present.