Claras goal was to get paroled so she could be reunited with her sons, Emily Detoto, one of her original defense attorneys, told me. "Suddenly, I thought about smashing my car against her car and then I (picked) up speed. We became very close, Lindsey said. That was when she struck me on my leg with the vehicle," the mistress said. "Suddenly, I thought about smashing my car against her car and then I (picked) up speed.". "I couldn't believe he could sleep holding her all night because we had never slept like that never," she testified. Also introduced at her trial was a videotape of the crime, recorded by the detective agency Clara had hired when she suspected David of the affair. After learning about Clara Harris, read about Leona Candy Stevens lying in court to liberate her husband Charles Manson. 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 said her stepmother made the remark just after finding him with Bridges. Clara Harris was sentenced to 20 years in prison but only served 15. She has already filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against Clara Harris. Clara's sons, who are in the custody of family friends, were said to visit about once a month. "(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. Her husband and Bridges were not talking at a restaurant but were together at Nassau Bay Hilton the same hotel where David and Clara Harris had been married 10 years earlier. [11], Harris was released on parole on May 11, 2018, and was released from parole in February of 2023.[12]. After the initial collision, Clara Harris circled around and ran over him again, the teen testified. While their marriage seemed perfect from the outside, David Harris began an affair with his receptionist Gail Bridges in the spring of 2002, as reported by CBS News. The owner of Blue Moon Investigations said that they did not do anything wrong. She said she quit her job, had sex with her husband three times a night, cooked his favorite meals and hired a personal trainer. Six months later, all Lindsey knows for sure is that her father is dead, and that her stepmother is to blame. Most Facebook users can now claim settlement money. Published in 2004 by St. Martin's Paperbacks, the book follows the story of the murder and the reasons behind it. ', "She knew what she did and she wasn't sorry.". 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 was denied parole in her first attempt on April 11, 2013, by the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles. Harris played for the Tar Heels of the She testified that Clara was furious that David was having an affair and determined to catch him in the Sixteen years ago, Clara was a pretty and personable dentist who lived in a prosperous south Houston suburb with her husband David, an orthodontist, and their twin three-year-old sons. When David and Bridges came out of the hotel, Clara struck down her husband in the parking lot as her teenaged stepdaughter Lindsey sat in the passenger seat. Assistant District Attorney Mia Magness, who is prosecuting the case, asked the teenager. "They did not specifically have procedures and proper training to train their employees in how to deal with these situations," Webber said. You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times. "What happened when you got off that elevator?" Lindsey Harris is David's daughter from a previous marraige. The death came a week after David Harris confessed to his nearly three-month affair with Bridges. Lindsey testified against her stepmother, claiming she told her to stop the vehicle. 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. . Emily McCullar is a senior editor covering pop culture, news, and Texas history. Garza asked Bridges. "That forced Harris' lawyers to tell jurors not to believe their own eyes but to believe the defense theory that the whole thing was an accident.". Every waking moment, she thought about those boys. (According to Stouwie, the company that runs the prison braille program has asked Harris to keep working once she returns to Houston. Clara suddenly gunned the engine and raced toward them. A symbol of her American success story, the luxury car soon became a murder weapon. [1][7] The prosecution claimed Clara's actions were more than a crime of passion, but that she "wanted to hurt" David, as she was heard saying in a police interview. They had one daughter, Martha "Mattie" Harris, who was born in November 1895, when Gideon Lindsey Harris was almost 82 years old. "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. 1 employee killed, 2 injured at Tennessee Volkswagen plant Clara, who had been tipped off to Davids whereabouts by a private investigator she had hired, went berserk. Family and friends can send flowers and condolences in memory of the loved one. (While the sentence for intentional murder in Texas is five years to life, murder in sudden passion carries a minimum penalty of just two years, with a maximum of twenty years.) Perhaps the most powerful witness was David Harris' daughter, 17-year-old Lindsey Harris, who was in Mercedes. "The whole scene was very mad.". "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.". Perhaps the most powerful witness was David Harris' daughter, 17-year-old Lindsey Harris, who was in Mercedes. "She said, 'I'm so sorry. "I think I closed my eyes" just before impact, she testified. Lindsey Harris was the prosecution's only witness during the penalty phase College career. Momentum shifts as Lindsey Harris testifies. They saw David and Gail heading to Gails SUV in a different part of the parking lot. Bridges said she never saw this coming because Clara knew of their affair and David told his mistress he was leaving his wife. 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. Lindsey was with Harris when she sped off in the direction of the hotel on July 24 to confront her husband. Harris found her husband and Bridges in the hotel lobby. You b, hes my husband! A police officer who witnessed the crime testified that she ran him over three times, however. The prosecutor said it was "almost offensive" to consider that the defendant has suffered, too. The investigators Harris had hired happened to record the entire ordeal on video, which was entered into evidence. Bridges was very afraid of the television cameras. I could hear someone yell at me to get away from my car to get away and I didn't quite understand why until I turned and looked. Reward offered as manhunt for Texas shooting suspect reaches "dead end" Bacha said that she would sue Clara Harris for breach of contract since she should not have gone to the hotel after receiving the report. Lucretia was born about 1795. 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. Over the next five years, she was turned down three more times. Leave them blank to get signed up. Reward offered as manhunt for Texas shooting suspect reaches "dead end", Louisiana's health care deserts put women, babies at risk, doctors say, Second convoy of U.S. citizens fleeing Khartoum arrives at Port Sudan, How a tall Texan became an unlikely Australian rules football star, Surviving the torturous hell of the Hanoi Hilton, Texas surfer pushed offshore by strong winds rescued by Coast Guard, Tornado flips cars, downs trees after touching down in South Florida, Shaquil Barrett's 2-year-old daughter dies in drowning accident, Investors sue Adidas over Kanye West Yeezy deal. A lawsuit on behalf of the children of David Harris, a cheating husband fatally run down by his wife in a jealous rage two years ago, has been tentatively settled, lawyers for the involved parties have confirmed. Harris found her husband and Bridges in the hotel lobby. Its free. There, she had a front-row seat to her father's death, the prosecution maintained. You b, hes my husband! Harris shouted before slapping Bridges. Clara Harris said that remark stunned her. He holds dual bachelor's degrees from Pace University and a master's degree from New York University. Sheriff says Texas shooting suspect "could be anywhere now" The testimony of Lindsey Harris, a high school student from Columbus, Ohio, in the trial of her stepmother, who is accused of murdering her husband of 10 years, 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. A $300-million (minimum) gondola to Dodger Stadium? Their 11th wedding anniversary would have been Friday. Recalling the day of the accident, Clara Harris wept as she said "everything seemed like a dream." Clara then parks her car next to his body. Harris' lawyer George Parnham had requested probation, saying the Harrises' twin sons need their mother, whom he described as "a good mother and a good wife.". Lindsey Harris filed a wrongful death lawsuit against her stepmother and was awarded about $2 million from her father's estate, as were her half brothers. This post has been updated since publication to correct an error: the minimum punishment for intentional murder is five years, not twenty years. display: block; display: none; 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. We went shopping a lot. Clara's trial began the following February. And she was not going to do anything to jeopardize her chance of getting parole so she could someday be with them.. In the heat of the moment, she went on to say, she didnt even know she had run over David. Prosecutor Mia Magness, however, said Harris was using her sons as a "shield" to gain probation. Eventually, Clara and Lindsey stormed back to the Mercedes. "I was in so much pain; it was a physical pain that I was feeling. Bridges says before Clara Harris was pulled off of her, Harris attacked her -- she pulled her hair, punched her head and face, and bit her. It felt different. John Spong writes primarily about popular culture. Yes, the twins acknowledged, they had lost their father, but at the same time they had lost their mother, whom they loved deeply. Under the conditions of her parole, she has to wear a monitoring bracelet, take regular drug and alcohol tests, be gainfully employed, and reside in Galveston County. } else if ( host.indexOf("asia.cnn.com") != -1 ) { This caused her attorney to collapse from the stress, causing the court to go to recess as he was taken to the hospital and later released. 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. Appellant and Lindsey walked to the parking lot and found Bridges s Navigator. 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. "(Clara) went right through (a hotel employee) and straight for my dad. A defense expert said Harris was hit by the luxury sedan, carried atop its hood and then run over. Harris said she snapped out of her daze as her stepdaughter screamed for her to stop. "In conjunction with Clara Harris, their acts contributed (to) or caused the death of David Harris," said John Davis, an attorney for Lindsey Harris. Clara was first eligible for parole in 2012, but she was turned down. Skip Hollandsworth specializes in long-form narratives. David Harris was killed in the hotel parking lot moments later. ", Harris said she saw three figures near Bridges' Navigator. "Harris gets 20 years for Mercedes murder", A Wife Betrayed Finds Sympathy at Murder Trial, "Private Investigators, Police Testify at Dentist's Trial", "Trial in Killing of Orthodontist Goes to Jury", "Victim's Daughter Testifies at Murder-by-Car Trial", "Clara Harris denied parole in husband's death", "Clara Harris, infamous Houston dentist who ran over husband, released from prison", "Clara Harris released from prison after 15 years", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Murder_of_David_Lynn_Harris&oldid=1145070527, Short description is different from Wikidata, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 17 March 2023, at 03:41. The parents of the victim, David Harris, took the stand, too to testify in support of their daughter-in-law. Harris knew her husband was being unfaithful and hired a private investigation agency to follow him, as reported by ABC News. Granted parole in November 2017, Harris was released from prison at 8:20 a.m. on May 11, 2018. } She's also suing the detective agency that followed him, News2Houston reported Thursday in an exclusive story. Attorneys for Lindsey Harris filed a lawsuit Thursday, naming Blue Moon Investigations and the Hilton Nasa Clear Lake, Nasa Road 1, in Nassau Bay. Texas Jails Are Crowded, Understaffed, and Dangerous. I hate you!. Clara! a reporter shouted. But Clara Harris is a weepy, white, professional woman, someone whose marital troubles generated a lot of sympathy in and out of court. He was trying to get away and he couldn't.". 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] In 2002 Lindsey Harris, daughter of David Harris filed a Federal lawsuit against Clara Harris. Two dodged right, she said, but her husband moved left, toward her approaching Mercedes. She said she felt a bump as the car ran over her father. She got out and saw her husband lying on the pavement, blood streaming from his ears and mouth. She urged prison time, though she made no specific recommendation about the length of a sentence. Inside The Accident That Killed The Beloved Actor, 'A World First': New Species Of Prehistoric Crocodile Discovered With A Dinosaur In Its Stomach, What Stephen Hawking Thinks Threatens Humankind The Most, 27 Raw Images Of When Punk Ruled New York, Join The All That's Interesting Weekly Dispatch. WebView the profiles of people named Lyndsey Harris. As part of a prison program, she learned braille and worked several hours a day translating school textbooks into braille. Her lawyer contends that the 44-year-old dentist acted in the heat of passion, a wife unhinged by her cheating husband. Harris completed her residency at the University of Texas School of Dentistry in Houston and was crowned Miss Colombia Houston at a local beauty contest shortly after. "She stepped on the accelerator and went Harris, who had remained stoic during her verdict on Thursday, slumped in her chair crying as the judge read her sentencing. Here's how. "Without that information, David Harris would not have been located that evening," said Marty Webber, an attorney for Lindsey Harris. A book titled Out of Control was written by Steven Long about the case. Bridges responded, "The affair was wrong. 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. If you need help with the Public File, call (713) 778-4745. "I knew she had killed my dad," Lindsey Harris testified. How Palm Springs ran out Black and Latino families to build a fantasy for rich, white people, 17 SoCal hiking trails that are blooming with wildflowers (but probably not for long! She then cradled her husband and told him she was sorry and loved him, according to The New York Times. 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. "I wasn't sure if what I was seeing was real," said one tearful witness, Chris Junco. display: block; On February 14, 2003, she was sentenced to twenty years in prison the maximum sentence allowed by the jury's "sudden passion" finding and fined $10,000. February 13, 2003 / 3:16 PM Court was scheduled to reconvene later Thursday for the sentencing phase.
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