"What did your dad do?" Garza asked Bridges. Her husband had confessed to her on July 17, and Harris had confronted Bridges at the orthodontics office that same day, telling her she was fired. Gideon Lindsey Lin Harris The lawsuit also said hotel management failed to provide effective security or notify police in time to prevent Harris' death and failed to train its employees to deal with domestic disputes. 1 employee killed, 2 injured at Tennessee Volkswagen plant At her parole hearing this past October, he brought her two sons, who were then nineteen years old and attending universities in Texas. Copyright 2023 Click2Houston.com is managed by Graham Digital and published by Graham Media Group, a division of Graham Holdings. Clara Harris dream of being a successful dentist came true when she opened her own practice in 1993. Feinstein has vowed to return to Washington, but what happens if she doesnt? But Clara Harris is a weepy, white, professional woman, someone whose marital troubles generated a lot of sympathy in and out of court. Clara Harris was convicted Thursday of murder by the jury that rejected her claim she was aiming for his lover's car. One of the English tabloids nicknamed Clara The Driller Killer. In Houston, it was the story of the year. We went shopping a lot. A defense expert said Harris was hit by the luxury sedan, carried atop its hood and then run over. 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. "I was in so much pain; it was a physical pain that I was feeling. "In conjunction with Clara Harris, their acts contributed (to) or caused the death of David Harris," said John Davis, an attorney for Lindsey Harris. } The parents of the victim, David Harris, took the stand, too to testify in support of their daughter-in-law. Garza asked. She did not know David was dead until Lindsey, David's daughter who was in the car with her stepmother, approached her. "She stepped on the accelerator and went straight for him," Lindsey Harris told jurors. display: none; CBSNews.com Legal Analyst Andrew Cohen says Texas showed too much mercy towards the Mercedes Muderess. She then brought up David Harris' daughter, Lindsey, and began crying as she spoke. Prosecutor Mia Magness, however, said Harris was using her sons as a "shield" to gain probation. Victims Daughter Testifies at Murder-by-Car Trial Bridges was very afraid of the television cameras. Her sons went to live with another couple who had been close friends with Clara and David. Recalling the day of the accident, Clara Harris wept as she said "everything seemed like a dream." She told jurors she wanted to save her 10-year marriage after learning of the affair. Trending News "What I want you to think about is what, based on all of the evidence in this case, what would David want?". She's also suing the detective agency that followed him, Gabriel Harris Daughter, Jasmine, Is Close To Her Grandmother Joan Baez and David Harris were once the power couple in the music world. Lindsey Harris is David's daughter from a previous marraige. Harris played for the Tar Heels of the 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. He said Burwell probably will discuss the settlement with the parties before the end of July. 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. [4], That evening, Clara went to the Hilton Hotel in Nassau Bay, Texas, to confront her husband and reportedly attacked Bridges in the lobby. Gail Bridges told Garza that her heart goes out to the children, especially Lindsey, who was in the car and witnessed this tragedy that night. She was on a mission to find where he was, said Lindsey. "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.". She said her stepmother made the remark just after finding him with Bridges. The Harrises, who also were business partners, then spent an evening at a bar talking about their relationship. 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.". Assistant District Attorney Mia Magness, who is prosecuting the case, asked the teenager. 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. 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 2005, Oprah arrived at the prison in the town of Gatesville (near Waco), where Clara was incarcerated, to interview her for her talk show. Jeff Moore, chief of investigations for Blue Moon, said company officials are "very pleased" with the outcome. 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. Gail Bridges told Garza that her heart goes out to the children, especially Lindsey, who was in the car and witnessed this tragedy that night. Lindsey Harris is David's daughter from a previous marraige. Oklahoma WR Keilahn Harris Rice Oregon State WR Tyjon Lindsey Report: Bucs star Barrett's daughter, 2, drowns in pool. Perhaps the most powerful witness was David Harris' daughter, 17-year-old Lindsey Harris, who was in Mercedes. Harris Daughter He went to church and loved Clara, she said. Texas Jails Are Crowded, Understaffed, and Dangerous. 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. Two dodged right, she said, but her husband moved left, toward her approaching Mercedes. Garza asked. "She stepped on the accelerator and went "I was in so much pain; it was a physical pain that I was feeling. "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.". "We were leaving the hotel and I was looking at David and I noticed all of a sudden his face changed. She said she could kill him and get away with it for what shes been through, Lindsey testified. 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She and her future husband met as colleagues at the Castle Dental Center in 1991. "She ought not get credit for making herself a single parent," the prosecutor told jurors before deliberations began. Reward offered as manhunt for Texas shooting suspect reaches "dead end" How Did James Dean Die? Harris 66 Join Insider Sign In When I went to her first court appearance, nearly a dozen photographers were there to capture her every move. 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. Nevertheless, Claras attorneys persuaded the jurors that Clara had acted under sudden passion rather than with intent to kill, and they gave her a twenty-year sentence. 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.". Inside Edition/YouTubeClara Harris leaving prison on May 11, 2018. Get the day's top news with our Today's Headlines newsletter, sent every weekday morning. Copyright 2023 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. } Their 11th wedding anniversary would have been Friday. "She stepped on the accelerator and went straight for him," Lindsey Harris told jurors. After a three-week trial, Clara Harris was found guilty on Feb. 14, 2003. 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! In 2002 Lindsey Harris, daughter of David Harris filed a Federal lawsuit against Clara Harris. He pointed out that even David Harris' parents and brother had testified on Clara Harris' behalf. "I couldn't believe he could sleep holding her all night because we had never slept like that never," she testified. She had two sons with her orthodontist husband, David Harris. Lindsey, meanwhile, testified that Harris had made shocking statements one week before David was killed, as reported by ABC News. 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. Through it all, however, Clara Harris only wanted people to know the truth about what really happened the night she murdered her husband. She turned the car around to run over him a second time, then made a final 180-degree turn to hit him once more. Perhaps the most powerful witness was David Harris' daughter, 17-year-old Lindsey Harris, who was in Mercedes. Clara Harris stood stoically as the verdict was read, her lawyer's arms around her. He came up with a new strategy. 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. "Well, she ought not to be given credit for making herself a single parent," Magness said. "He was really scared. "He once told me that he would like to spend the rest of his life with me, and he did," Bridges said. I do not regret or will ever regret that I got to know him and that he became part of my life.". Column: Does racism make you too stupid to be a cop? Clara Harris was sentenced to 20 years in prison but only served 15. 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. Its free. Two of them cried as state District Judge Carol Davies read it in court. A book titled Out of Control was written by Steven Long about the case. He was trying to get away and he couldn't.". Generator vs power station: Which one is right for you? The daughter, Lindsey Harris, was a passenger in a Mercedes-Benz driven by her mother, Clara Harris, when the car was used to run down Harris' dentist husband, They were victims twice over, they said. Prosecutor Mia Magness used her rebuttal to try to dismantle arguments for probation. I could tell when we were going over the big concrete curve and when we were going over my dad. Lindsey Burke Harris (born November 19, 1993) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a goalkeeper for Houston Dash of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). Harris played for the Tar Heels of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill from 2012 to 2016, redshirting during her freshman year. Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. Harris faces the possibility of life in prison and the same jury that so quickly found her guilty will have a large say in what the punishment ought to be, Cohen said. Most Facebook users can now claim settlement money. Do you miss David?, At her trial, in February 2003, she testified before a packed courtroom that she did not mean to kill her husband but was only trying to wreck Gails SUV. Clara was found guilty of murdering her husband. Claras application for parole was granted, Why These Ugly, Abandoned Longview Homes May Be Worth Saving. She urged prison time, though she made no specific recommendation about the length of a sentence. } 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. "The case was a long-shot from the beginning for the defense, mostly because there was a videotape that partially showed Harris running over her husband over and over again," Cohen said. When Clara went towards them, Clara said, 'I'm going to hit him.' Harris gets 20 years for Mercedes murder - Feb. 14, 2003 - CNN She said she glimpsed her husband: "I saw some surprised eyes.". 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. Lindsey Harris was wedded a third time, to Mrs. Margaret "Meg" Gray Harrison, a widow with one daughter. Despite the medical examiner's report, the defense was unable to prove that she did not in fact run over him multiple times. Generator vs power station: Which one is right for you? Parnham argued that Clara Harris acted out of sudden passion. / CBS. In testimony mixed with flashes of fury and tears, the teenager described how Harris enlisted her support after learning about her husbands affair with his receptionist, Gail Bridges. If you need help with the Public File, call (713) 778-4745. Every waking moment, she thought about those boys. display: block; Join Facebook to connect with Lyndsey Harris and others you may know. [10] However, she was granted parole in November 2017. David Harris, a suburban Houston orthodontist, died July 24 after Clara Harris car struck him. A Wife Betrayed Finds Sympathy at Murder She wasnt crying, said Lindsey. Harris knew her husband was being unfaithful and hired a private investigation agency to follow him, as reported by ABC News. This time, a jury had little sympathy for Claras story, and it ordered her to pay $3.75 million in damages. ', "She knew what she did and she wasn't sorry.". The death came a week after David Harris confessed to his nearly three-month affair with Bridges. She was denied parole in her first attempt on April 11, 2013, by the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles. We became very close, Lindsey said. The 2023 NFL Draft runs April 2729 live from Kansas City, Missouri. Clara Harris is serving a 20-year sentence for murder in the case, which drew national attention. The crime was caught on tape by a private investigator Clara Harris had hired to document her husband's affair. Harris' attorney, George Parnham, had argued that the crime happened moments after an emotional and volatile confrontation between Harris, her husband and his mistress at the same hotel where the couple was married. Its daily. Sheriff says Texas shooting suspect "could be anywhere now" One time she wrote about sports. The 17-year-old's pivotal testimony on Thursday gave jurors a firsthand glimpse into the horror Lindsey witnessed the night of July 24, when she was sitting in the front passenger seat of Clara Harris' Mercedes S-Class. "She ran over him the first time, then two more times. Im so sorry, she was heard saying over and over. display: none; As part of a prison program, she learned braille and worked several hours a day translating school textbooks into braille. Clara Harris said that remark stunned her. Suspicious, Clara hired a private detective agency to monitor David, an [5] David was dead at the scene, and Clara was charged with murder.[6]. DAVID HARRIS - CLARA HARRIS - CMM-Crime, Mystery & Mayhem David Harris was killed in the hotel parking lot moments later. 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. Momentum shifts as Lindsey Harris testifies - Chron Lindsey was with Harris when she sped off in the direction of the hotel on July 24 to confront her husband. You b, hes my husband! Harris shouted before slapping Bridges. They had twin sons named Brian and Bradley in 1998. 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. "What happened when you got off that elevator?" Accompanying her was Davids sixteen-year-old daughter from a previous marriage, Lindsey, who was visiting from Ohio, where she lived with her mother. And I went to look at the direction, and then we saw her," Bridges said. HOUSTON The stepdaughter of Clara Harris is suing the hotel where her father was fatally run over. The chain was particularly successful, and the couple was able to afford an upscale home and lifestyle in Friendswood, Texas. } Published in 2004 by St. Martin's Paperbacks, the book follows the story of the murder and the reasons behind it. Its too bad if they do, said Detoto, who has kept in touch with Harris since her conviction. Harris found her husband and Bridges in the hotel lobby. Lindsey Harris - Wikipedia Magness reminded jurors how Lindsey Harris had gotten her father's clothing out of the trash, where they had been thrown earlier that day, and laid the items out on her bed so she could feel like he was there. Bridge's now suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder -- flashbacks, nightmares and is on medication. Harris accused of bullying legendary singer's daughter Harris It felt different. A police officer who witnessed the crime testified that she ran him over three times, however. Most Facebook users can now claim settlement money. } else if ( host.indexOf("asia.cnn.com") != -1 ) { } else { Climate change sparks disaster fears, Police manhunt continues for suspect in Texas mass shooting, A powerhouse U.S. doctor slain in Sudan, killed for nothing, In final Mass in Budapest, pope urges Hungary to open doors. The defense's attempts to prove that Clara ran over David only once crumbled when the judge ruled their re-creation of the crime by a private consultant inadmissible in court. Clara Harris, a Colombian immigrant, was named "Mrs Colombia Houston" and worked as a dentist. 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. During a violent confrontation with her husband and his alleged mistress, Gail Bridges, in the hotel lobby, Clara Harris "went straight for Gail, hitting and ripping her shirt off," Lindsey testified. She confronted the lovers in the hotel lobby and brawled with Bridges before returning to her car. The prosecutor lowered her voice to almost a whisper as she made her final points. 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. Running Into Fire: The Legacy of Jeff Blackburn, Step Aside, Perrys: This 30-Ounce Smoked Pork Chop Is Ready to Take the Crown, Willie Nelsons Son Lukas on Ancient Texts, Pearl Jam, and I Never Cared for You, Love and Death in Silicon Prairie, Part I: Candy Montgomerys Affair, I Biked the I-35 Hell Route From Austin to San Antonio So You Dont Have To, Texas-Style Pulled Pork Is Embarrassing, The Astrodomes Decline From Eighth Wonder to Eighth Blunder of the World, 15 Treasure-Filled Spots to Antique in Small-town Texas, Mosquito Hawks Are Flitting All Over Texas, Matthew McConaughey Is Monetizing His Whole Vibe, Love and Death in Silicon Prairie, Part II: The Killing of Betty Gore. Clara Staring at a photo of her twin boys, Clara bowed her head, her dark brown eyes brimming with tears, and then was escorted away. The stepfather of Lindsey Harris is upset that defense attorneys accused her of testifying Wednesday to help in her family's wrongful death lawsuit against Clara Harris. College career. 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. Lindsey was already crying when she reached her dying father, and Harris soon joined in. The video was especially damning, as it showed her circling her Mercedes around the parking lot three times, although David is not clearly seen in the video. The romance blossomed so rapidly that the couple got married on Feb. 14, 1992, less than a year after their first date. With all hes done to me, I could kill him and get away with it, Harris had allegedly stated. I was yelling, 'Stop, don't do that. They had one daughter, Martha "Mattie" Harris, who was born in November 1895, when Gideon Lindsey Harris was almost 82 years old. "If you had anything to say to Clara, what would it be?" Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. 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. Harris Harris already knew about the affair when she hired Blue Moon Investigations, a private detective agency, in July 2002. The story of an angry dentist killing her husband spread like wildfire. But shes a wonderful woman. They got married on March 26, 1968, at St. Clements Episcopal Church in New York. 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. Harris, who had remained stoic during her verdict on Thursday, slumped in her chair crying as the judge read her sentencing. It was an accident. This post has been updated since publication to correct an error: the minimum punishment for intentional murder is five years, not twenty years. On the evening of July 24, 2002, Harris received a devastating call from the investigator. Her lawyer contends that the 44-year-old dentist acted in the heat of passion, a wife unhinged by her cheating husband. The prosecutor said it was "almost offensive" to consider that the defendant has suffered, too. Bridges responded, "The affair was wrong. "There's no indication that they did call the police. Clara was first eligible for parole in 2012, but she was turned down. I hit her because I knew that she had killed my Dad, said Lindsey. "I think that speaks volumes to what this jury should do," Parnham said. The tragedy took place at the parking lot of the Hilton Hotel at Nassau Bay last year. 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. If you fill out the first name, last name, or agree to terms fields, you will NOT be added to the newsletter list. Then, learn about rich teenager Ethan Couch being released from prison despite murdering four people. Clara Harris was convicted of murdering her cheating husband, David Harris, by running him over with her Mercedes-Benz on July 24. Killen ordered attack on civil rights worker, jury hears, Father convicted of murdering 9 of his children, Gov. What very few people knew was that Clara was a model prisoner. 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. Click Here to try 4 Free Trial Issues of Time! Jurors deliberated for eight hours over two days before reaching the verdict. Texas Department of CorrectionsClara Harris was sentenced to 20 years in prison but only served 15. .component--type-recirculation .item:nth-child(5) { She always said that David called Lindsey his angel and now David is her angel. She then brought up David Harris' daughter, Lindsey, and began crying as she spoke. Clara Harris, The Dentist Who Killed Her Husband With Mimi Swartz is a staff writer based in Houston. Family and friends can send flowers and condolences in memory of the loved one. "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. Copyright 2023 Click2Houston.com is managed by Graham Digital and published by Graham Media Group, a division of Graham Holdings. Only part of the interview was played; the jury heard Clara state that she "wanted to hurt" her husband, but not the portion where she said later in the interview, "I didn't want to kill him." Copyright 2011 by Click2Houston.com. "I think I closed my eyes" just before impact, she testified. He yelled 'stop' and she didn't. In July 2002, Clara Harris had her teenage stepdaughter with her as she tracked down her husband David Harris to the Nassau Bay Hilton where he was with his He then escorted Bridges to her Lincoln Navigator while hotel staff took Harris outside. According to bar napkin notes kept by Clara Harris, David Harris thought his wife was overweight, dominated conversations and was a workaholic, all in contrast to Bridges. However, after watching days of testimony, she decided she had to speak. "(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. His children are Dr. Joseph Denton Harris, IV and Donna Harris of Beaumont, TX, Mary Kathleen Harris of Houston, TX, Peggy Harris Lacy and Mike Lacy of Dallas, TX, Connie Harris Arnold and Dr. David Arnold of Liberty, TX, Ann Marie Harris and Pam Karter of Liberty and Houston, TX, Dr. James Mitchell Harris and Meredith Harris of
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