After a three-week trial, Clara Harris was found guilty on Feb. 14, 2003. "There's no indication that they did call the police. "It will be really interesting to find out whether the same jurors who so quickly and harshly judged her will now show some sympathy for her situation and recommend a lighter sentence," said Cohen. Bush: Prosecutor taking up Schiavo inquiry. Neil Patrick Harris is wishing his twin children a very happy birthday. The prosecution admitted that it was a good argument, but countered by bringing in a police officer who had been present at the scene who pointed out another tire track on the pavement shown in a police photograph, the angle of which went directly to where David's body had been. She lunged at Gail, slapped her, grabbed her shirt and tore it off, all the while screaming, You bitch, hes my husband! At the same time, Lindsey began hitting her father with her purse, shouting I hate you! She married David Harris on February 14, 1992, at the Nassau Bay Hilton, and raised three children: twin sons Brian and Bradley, born in 1998, and David's daughter Lindsey from a previous marriage. Because she is penniless (and legally, she still owes her in-laws $3.75 million), she will initially live with a friend, and she will look for a job. .component--type-recirculation .item:nth-child(5) { Its time to forgive her and let her move on.. Then, learn about rich teenager Ethan Couch being released from prison despite murdering four people. Copyright 2023 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. "She did that when she made the choice to kill their dad. One of the prosecution's most powerful witnesses was 17-year-old Lindsey Harris, David Harris' daughter from a previous marriage, who was riding in her She also testified she even went to a tanning salon and scheduled liposuction and breast enhancement surgery to make him happy, only to catch him in a tryst with Bridges at the same hotel where the Harrises were married on Valentine's Day 1992. He pointed out that even David Harris' parents and brother had testified on Clara Harris' behalf. They said they had come to the prison every month for the last fifteen years, without fail, to visit their mother. We report on vital issues from politics to education and are the indispensable authority on the Texas scene, covering everything from music to cultural events with insightful recommendations. Texas Department of CorrectionsClara Harris was sentenced to 20 years in prison but only served 15. The two began working to repair their marriage, and David Harris even told a friend, Were going to make it. He then informed his wife that he wanted to take Bridges to one last dinner to end things amicably, as he had led the receptionist to believe that his marriage was open. She and Lindsey got into Harris silver S-Class 430 Mercedes-Benz and waited. "Well, she ought not to be given credit for making herself a single parent," Magness said. Clara Harris, the woman who mowed down her philandering husband with a Mercedes-Benz, was sentenced by a Houston jury to 20 years in prison on the day that would have been her 11th wedding anniversary. ', "She knew what she did and she wasn't sorry.". During his half-hour closing, Parnham also focused on Harris' twin sons and how they need their mother. WebLindsey Burke Harris (born November 19, 1993) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a goalkeeper. Clara Harris was sentenced to 20 years in prison but only served 15. I wasn't thinking anything," Harris testified. She had two sons with her orthodontist husband, David Harris. Perhaps the most powerful witness was David Harris' daughter, 17-year-old Lindsey Harris, who was in Mercedes. Most Facebook users can now claim settlement money. Prosecutors say Harris, bent on avenging her husbands adultery, used her car as a murder weapon. She said she could kill him and get away with it for what shes been through, Lindsey testified. Staring at a photo of her twin boys, Clara bowed her head, her dark brown eyes brimming with tears, and then was escorted away. 66 Join Insider Sign In The Harrises, who also were business partners, then spent an evening at a bar talking about their relationship. Im so sorry, she was heard saying over and over. Most Facebook users can now claim settlement money. Im thinking about pulling a Clara Harris, a woman would say with a laugh after learning her husband had done something really stupid. HOUSTON, Texas (CNN) -- Clara Harris was sentenced to 20 years in prison and a $10,000 fine Friday for killing her husband in a hotel parking lot with her Mercedes-Benz. David Harris' tooth, found on the pavement next to his head, was introduced as evidence, as were autopsy photos showing what a pathologist said were tire tracks across the body of the 44-year-old orthodontist. Her attorney explained what was in the report, using the consultant as an expert witness on the stand. Lindsey was with Harris when she sped off in the direction of the hotel on July 24 to confront her husband. In the week before the murder, Harris went to a tanning salon and a beauty shop, joined a gym and consulted with a plastic surgeon about liposuction and breast implants, her checkbook register shows. I hit her because I knew that she had killed my Dad, said Lindsey. Her sons were placed in the care of family friends, and her stepdaughter Lindsey testified against her at the trial that began in January 2003. They saw David and Gail heading to Gails SUV in a different part of the parking lot. She did not know David was dead until Lindsey, David's daughter who was in the car with her stepmother, approached her. She told jurors she wanted to save her 10-year marriage after learning of the affair. When Clara finally stopped the car, she got out, looked around, walked toward her dead husband, cradled him in her arms, and begged him to breathe. This is Dr. David Harris and hes fing this woman right here!. Through it all, however, Clara Harris only wanted people to know the truth about what really happened the night she murdered her husband. David Harris was killed in the hotel parking lot moments later. Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. Claras application for parole was granted, Why These Ugly, Abandoned Longview Homes May Be Worth Saving. In the darkened cabin of her stepmothers Mercedes-Benz, Lindsey Harris thought the drama was over for the night. But shes a wonderful woman. I wasn't thinking anything," Harris testified. if ( host.indexOf("europe.cnn.com") != -1 ) { She was in the Mercedes-Benz when her stepmother, Clara Harris, ran over her husband in the parking lot of the Clear Lake-area hotel on July 24, 2002. Her parole requests in April 2013 and September 2016 were denied, but her third request was boosted when her sons argued that they had now lost their mother as well as their father. I was yelling, 'Stop, don't do that. Shortly thereafter, appellant and her step-daughter, Lindsey Harris, drove to the hotel. [9] Her second parole request was denied in September 2016. Henrys will was recorded in Warren County, North Carolina in May, 1838. When the car stopped, Lindsey ran around to the drivers side. Without warning, she stomped on the accelerator and went straight for my Dad, testified Lindsey, 17, at Harris murder trial Wednesday. By the time they tracked him down at a hotel, Harris was livid. Harris agreed, but she secretly hired a private investigator to follow them to dinner and ensure her husband ended the relationship. ", She also scoffed at Parnham's statement about keeping the boys with "the last parent they have on Earth.". Local radio talk shows were jammed with callers debating whether Clara was a cold-blooded murderer or a good woman who simply did what every woman secretly wants to do when she finds out her husband is cheating. She and her future husband met as colleagues at the Castle Dental Center in 1991. Emily McCullar is a senior editor covering pop culture, news, and Texas history. She confronted the lovers in the hotel lobby and brawled with Bridges before returning to her car. While David Harris daughter Lindsey spent the school year in Ohio with her mother, the teenager lived in Houston with her dad and stepmom over the summers. After the car came to a stop, Lindsey said she got out and began hitting Clara Harris, who was knelt next to her husband saying, "I'm sorry. The verdict is not a surprise, according CBSNews.com Legal Analyst Andrew Cohen. } On Friday, one of Texass most notorious killers, Clara Harris, was released from prison. Their 11th wedding anniversary would have been Friday. What very few people knew was that Clara was a model prisoner. David had been married once before and had a daughter named Lindsey, and Harris loved the young girl like her own. The settlement terms are confidential, said attorney John A. Davis Jr., who represented Lindsey Harris. .component--type-recirculation .item:nth-child(5) { Because of her criminal record, she can no longer practice dentistry.) On Thursday, jurors found Harris, 45, guilty of murder for repeatedly running over her 44-year-old orthodontist husband with her car. On July 24, 2002, Clara Harris confronted her husband in a hotel parking lot over an extramarital affair, then struck and ran over him with her Mercedes-Benz sedan, killing him in an act of mariticide. "She ran over him the first time, then two more times. They seemed like the perfect family but on July 24, 2002, Harris fatally ran over her husband with her car. Harris knew her husband was being unfaithful and hired a private investigation agency to follow him, as reported by ABC News. Attorneys for Lindsey Harris filed a lawsuit Thursday, naming Blue Moon Investigations and the Hilton Nasa Clear Lake, Nasa Road 1, in Nassau Bay. Bridges then walked to her car with David following. Harris slumped into her chair as the sentence was read. Originally sentenced to twenty years for first-degree murder, the former Houston dentist has been paroled. Most Facebook users can now claim settlement money. A staff writer for All Thats Interesting, Marco Margaritoff has also published work at outlets including People, VICE, and Complex, covering everything from film to finance to technology. "Soon after that, it all turned into massive turmoil, and the only thing that I could do was to yell for help for someone to please, please get her off of me.". Save on AeroGarden indoor herb growing kits at Amazon, Create a bonsai tree out of bricks with this $40 LEGO set, Dyson's air purifying headphones have finally arrived, Preorder 'The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom' today, There are a ton of great patio furniture sets on sale right now, Beat the heat with this discounted Lasko tower fan from Amazon, Apple deal: The 2023 MacBook Pro Laptop is under $2,000 on Amazon, New Texas bill would charge electric car drivers $200 annual fee, These 8 Denver-area hikes each offer something unique, Why this museum should be on every Houston kid's must-visit list, Elon Musk describes Starship flight as 'roughly what I expected', Here's how much you have to make to be 'middle class' in Houston. Though Harris had hired a private detective to tail her husband that night, she and Lindsey set out to do their own surveillance. As soon as News2Houston walked into her home with a camera, she bolted into the bedroom and did not want to come out until the camera was gone. Seven months later, she called News2Houston's Cindy Garza and said she was ready to talk, but only under one condition -- no cameras, only audio. #inline-recirc-item--id-92ae5a70-8c88-11e2-b06b-024c619f5c3d ~ .item:nth-child(5) { This post has been updated since publication to correct an error: the minimum punishment for intentional murder is five years, not twenty years. The chapter title is Luz, overwhelming (Luz, arrolladora). Assistant District Attorney Mia Magness, who is prosecuting the case, asked the teenager. [11], Harris was released on parole on May 11, 2018, and was released from parole in February of 2023.[12]. Inside Edition/YouTubeClara Harris leaving prison on May 11, 2018. Instead, the jury said Harris should be fined and sentenced to prison at the upper limit of the sentencing guidelines for the special circumstance. host = new String(location.hostname); Harris insisted the death last July was an accident and that she only wanted to damage the black Lincoln Navigator belonging to her husband's receptionist turned lover, Gail Bridges. She married David Harris on February 14, 1992, at the Nassau Bay Hilton, and raised three children: twin sons Brian and Bradley, born in 1998, and David's daughter Lindsey from a previous marriage. [2] During his marriage to Clara, David began to have an affair with his former receptionist, Gail Bridges. [3] Clara Harris was convicted Thursday of murder by the jury that rejected her claim she was aiming for his lover's car. Harris defense attorney George Parnham urged her not to take the stand for fear she would incriminate herself. Whats more, she didnt violate any prison rules. "(Clara) knew what she did, was not sorry about it and meant to kill him," were Lindsey's damning words inside Judge Carol Davies' courtroom. 1 employee killed, 2 injured at Tennessee Volkswagen plant During his marriage to Clara, David began to have an affair with his former receptionist, Gail Bridges. She wasnt crying, said Lindsey. This time, Harris got in on the drivers side. Clara's sons, who are in the custody of family friends, were said to visit about once a month. Clara Harris was born Clara Suarez on Feb. 3, 1958, in Bogot, Colombia, according to Texas Monthly. Go the other way,'" an emotional Lindsey Harris remembered in the courtroom. This time, a jury had little sympathy for Claras story, and it ordered her to pay $3.75 million in damages. Prosecutor Mia Magness used her rebuttal to try to dismantle arguments for probation. "He was really scared. After confronting him in a hotel lobby in Houston, Texas, she got into her Mercedes-Benz and waited. She confronted the lovers in the hotel lobby and brawled with Bridges before returning to her car. Perhaps the most powerful witness was David Harris' daughter, 17-year-old Lindsey Harris, who was in Mercedes. The lawsuit claimed that Blue Moon, of Webster, which Clara Harris hired to photograph her husband with another woman, should not have told Clara Harris that the two were at the hotel. Bridges was very afraid of the television cameras. In the heat of the moment, she went on to say, she didnt even know she had run over David. Apparently, some members of Davids family had written letters to the parole board declaring that Clara didnt deserve mercythat she should at least serve her full twenty-year sentence and be released in 2023. Every waking moment, she thought about those boys. Im going to hit him, Harris told the teenager. David Lynn Harris was an American orthodontist who owned a chain of offices along with his wife, Clara Suarez Harris. That was when she struck me on my leg with the vehicle," the mistress said. Silently, Harris put the car in reverse and began to drive out of the hotel parking lot. [4], That evening, Clara went to the Hilton Hotel in Nassau Bay, Texas, to confront her husband and reportedly attacked Bridges in the lobby. "We were leaving the hotel and I was looking at David and I noticed all of a sudden his face changed. }, First published on February 13, 2003 / 3:16 PM. Since it only showed Harris circling the parking lot, and since David was barely visible, the defense argued she only hit him once. When Clara went towards them, Clara said, 'I'm going to hit him.' Clara suddenly gunned the engine and raced toward them. With all hes done to me, I could kill him and get away with it, Harris had allegedly stated. On March 11, 1896, Gideon Lindsey Harris passed away and is buried in the old Mars Hill Cemetery beside his second wife, Catherine, and among many of his descendants who rest there. Lindsey Harris was the prosecution's only witness during the penalty phase of the trial. display: none; "'She killed my dad. What the Bleep Is Going On With Texas Property Taxes? The 2023 NFL Draft runs April 2729 live from Kansas City, Missouri. He yelled 'stop' and she didn't. When David Harris wasnt at the steakhouse, Lindsey drove her stepmothers car -- with Clara Harris in the passenger seat -- to Bridges house, then to a hotel and two other restaurants the couple had frequented. She said her stepmother made the remark just after finding him with Bridges. She said her stepmother made the remark just after finding him with Bridges. A California law says yes. Back then she declined. Harris, who had remained stoic during her verdict on Thursday, slumped in her chair crying as the judge read her sentencing. "He once told me that he would like to spend the rest of his life with me, and he did," Bridges said. Harris sons visited her at the Mountain View Unit prison in Gainesville, Texas, every month. George Wong/Getty ImagesClara Harris and attorney George Parnham after the first day of testimony in 2003. Trending News Hotel employees escorted Clara to her Mercedes-Benz sedan. She was quickly inundated with requests for interviews, but she turned all of them down. Lindsey testified Clara "peeled out" and headed around to another part of the parking lot where her father and his alleged mistress were getting into a Lincoln Navigator. The parents of the victim, David Harris, took the stand, too to testify in support of their daughter-in-law. WebHere he lived out his life, except for some six years near his brother, David Rice Harris, in Perry County, in the late 1860s and early 1870s. I yelled, 'Stop it, you're killing him.' When Harris suddenly accelerated, Lindsey was thrown against her seat and saw her father put his hands on the hood of the car, shouting, Stop! she said. They got married on March 26, 1968, at St. Clements Episcopal Church in New York. While he gave his wife higher marks for "prettier" hands, feet and eyes, he described his 39-year-old receptionist, a former beauty queen, as "petite" and "the perfect fit to sleep with, holding her all night.". The owner of Blue Moon Investigations said that they did not do anything wrong. Davis said the settlement followed a long day of mediation among the parties in May but will not be final until Galveston County Probate Judge Gladys Burwell approves it. Davids daughter from a previous marriage, Lindsey Nicole Harris, who was in the car at the time of the incident, testified against her stepmother in the trial. }, First published on February 21, 2003 / 4:32 AM. The trial is expected to go on through this week as defense lawyers present their case. "The lawsuit against us is baseless. I'm so sorry. Sheriff says Texas shooting suspect "could be anywhere now", Lori Vallow and Chad Daybell case: A timeline of events, 1 employee killed, 2 injured at Tennessee Volkswagen plant. But Clara Harris is a weepy, white, professional woman, someone whose marital troubles generated a lot of sympathy in and out of court. The Mercedes glanced off Gails SUV and hit David before he could get out of the way, propelling him 25 feet across the lot. Over the years, there were occasional stories in the media about Clara. "It's hard to tell. Clara Suarez, a Colombian immigrant, was named "Mrs Colombia Houston" and worked as a dentist. She got out and saw her husband lying on the pavement, blood streaming from his ears and mouth. The woman who ran down her philandering husband with a Mercedes-Benz after catching him with his mistress was convicted of murder Thursday by a jury that rejected her claim she was aiming for his lover's car. "Without that information, David Harris would not have been located that evening," said Marty Webber, an attorney for Lindsey Harris.

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