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. On the evening of July 24, 2002, Harris received a devastating call from the investigator. "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 Harris stood stoically as the verdict was read, her lawyer's arms around her. Copyright 2023 Click2Houston.com is managed by Graham Digital and published by Graham Media Group, a division of Graham Holdings. "The lawsuit against us is baseless. "She stepped on the accelerator and went She said she felt a bump as the car ran over her father. If you need help with the Public File, call (713) 778-4745. 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. This is Dr. David Harris and hes fing this woman right here!. 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. Daniel Vaughn is the countrys first barbecue editor, and he has eaten more barbecue than you have. The death came a week after David Harris confessed to his nearly three-month affair with Bridges. Days earlier, David had admitted to Clara that he and Gail had been having an affair, and he had promised Clara that he would end it. She got out and saw her husband lying on the pavement, blood streaming from his ears and mouth. Go the other way,'" an emotional Lindsey Harris remembered in the courtroom. Harris said she snapped out of her daze as her stepdaughter screamed for her to stop. She said she quit her job, had sex with her husband three times a night, cooked his favorite meals and hired a personal trainer. 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. 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. She said she could kill him and get away with it for what shes been through, Lindsey testified. Perhaps the most powerful witness was David Harris' daughter, 17-year-old Lindsey Harris, who was in Mercedes. Without warning, she stomped on the accelerator and went straight for my Dad, testified Lindsey, 17, at Harris murder trial Wednesday. The Shocking Story Of Clara Harris, The Woman Who Killed Her Cheating Husband With Her Mercedes. 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. Two dodged right, she said, but her husband moved left, toward her approaching Mercedes. When Clara went towards them, Clara said, 'I'm going to hit him.' She turned the car around to run over him a second time, then made a final 180-degree turn to hit him once more. All she wants to do is make up for lost time with her boys., Clara is now sixty years old, and her hair is getting gray. On Thursday, jurors found Harris, 45, guilty of murder for repeatedly running over her 44-year-old orthodontist husband with her car. 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. George Wong/Getty ImagesClara Harris and attorney George Parnham after the first day of testimony in 2003. At her parole hearing this past October, he brought her two sons, who were then nineteen years old and attending universities in Texas. Prosecutor Mia Magness used her rebuttal to try to dismantle arguments for probation. Texas Jails Are Crowded, Understaffed, and Dangerous. "She did that when she made the choice to kill their dad. 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. Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. She's also suing the detective agency that followed him, "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.". After it was over, Clara Harris led Lindsey to the Mercedes. Bridges said she never saw this coming because Clara knew of their affair and David told his mistress he was leaving his wife. Its free. In 2007, Clara was brought back to Houston for a civil trial to defend herself in a wrongful-death lawsuit filed by Davids parents. They had twin sons named Brian and Bradley in 1998. 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. Sheriff says Texas shooting suspect "could be anywhere now" There, she had a front-row seat to her father's death, the prosecution maintained. He was trying to get away and he couldn't.". Get the day's top news with our Today's Headlines newsletter, sent every weekday morning. 1 employee killed, 2 injured at Tennessee Volkswagen plant Lori Vallow and Chad Daybell case: A timeline of events According to the Los Angeles Times, Lindsey later testified that Harris said, Im going to hit him, as they sat in the car and waited for David to appear. "It's hard to tell. Jurors deliberated for six hours before returning with their verdict on the sentence. She was incarcerated at the Mountain View Unit in Gatesville, Texas,[8] where she converted school textbooks to Braille for blind students. "Doing the right thing doesn't always feel good," she said. [3] Suspicious, Clara hired a private detective agency to monitor David, and on July 24, 2002, the agency notified her that he was at a hotel with his mistress. The trial is expected to go on through this week as defense lawyers present their case. 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. Granted parole in November 2017, Harris was released from prison at 8:20 a.m. on May 11, 2018. WebLindsey Burke Harris (born November 19, 1993) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a goalkeeper. YouTubeDavid and Clara Harris were married for ten years before she killed him in a fit of rage. Claras goal was to get paroled so she could be reunited with her sons, Emily Detoto, one of her original defense attorneys, told me. A defense expert said Harris was hit by the luxury sedan, carried atop its hood and then run over. } Assistant District Attorney Mia Magness, who is prosecuting the case, asked the teenager. Bridges says that's when Harris came back around and hit David then ran over him repeatedly. WebView the profiles of people named Lyndsey Harris. "She said, 'I'm so sorry. The couple married on February 14, 1992, at the Nassau Bay Hilton, and were raising three children, twin sons born in 1998 and David's daughter Lindsey from a previous marriage. Lindsey Harris was the prosecution's only witness during the penalty phase of the trial. Lindsey was with Harris when she sped off in the direction of the hotel on July 24 to confront her husband. David Lynn Harris was an American orthodontist who owned a chain of offices along with his wife, Clara Suarez Harris. The chain was particularly successful, and the couple was able to afford an upscale home and lifestyle in Friendswood, Texas. "He was really scared. 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. Her lawyer contends that the 44-year-old dentist acted in the heat of passion, a wife unhinged by her cheating husband. Harris, who had remained stoic during her verdict on Thursday, slumped in her chair crying as the judge read her sentencing. "She ought not get credit for making herself a single parent," the prosecutor told jurors before deliberations began. ", She also scoffed at Parnham's statement about keeping the boys with "the last parent they have on Earth.". I never thought hed do something like that to her. She killed my dad,'" Bridges responded. She always said that David called Lindsey his angel and now David is her angel. if ( host.indexOf("europe.cnn.com") != -1 ) { 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. They got married on March 26, 1968, at St. Clements Episcopal Church in New York. Recalling the day of the accident, Clara Harris wept as she said "everything seemed like a dream." A hotel employee tried to stop them. The attorneys said that Blue Moon investigators told Clara Harris where to find David Harris with his mistress the night of his death and that the Hilton did not contact police. The same nine-woman, three-man jury deliberated about eight hours before returning the murder conviction. The story of an angry dentist killing her husband spread like wildfire. 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. Lindsey Harris is David's daughter from a previous marraige. The settlement terms are confidential, said attorney John A. Davis Jr., who represented Lindsey Harris. John Spong writes primarily about popular culture. "She ran over him the first time, then two more times. Mimi Swartz is a staff writer based in Houston. 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. Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. Its time to forgive her and let her move on.. display: block; In the heat of the moment, she went on to say, she didnt even know she had run over David. Copyright 2011 by Click2Houston.com. display: none; David, Im so sorry., The murder made headlinesall over the world. "What I want you to think about is what, based on all of the evidence in this case, what would David want?". She told jurors she wanted to save her 10-year marriage after learning of the affair. 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.". 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. Clara Harris tried to control the damage by making herself real pretty so Dad would want her and not Gail, said Lindsey. "I think I closed my eyes" just before impact, she testified. Though Harris had hired a private detective to tail her husband that night, she and Lindsey set out to do their own surveillance. "I wasn't sure if what I was seeing was real," said one tearful witness, Chris Junco. 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. Performance meets portability with Apple's 2023 MacBook Pro. ', "She knew what she did and she wasn't sorry.". [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. 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. The 44-year-old orthodontist was tragically already gone. "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. 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. So she will walk out of prison in about 10 years or so (with time off for good behavior and parole)," says Cohen. [10] However, she was granted parole in November 2017. Its too bad if they do, said Detoto, who has kept in touch with Harris since her conviction. "Without that information, David Harris would not have been located that evening," said Marty Webber, an attorney for Lindsey Harris. 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. 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. Two of them cried as state District Judge Carol Davies read it in court. 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. Garza asked. But back in February, after Clara Harris was convicted of killing her husband, News2Houston asked the other woman in David's life for an interview. "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. Lindsey Harris, 17, took the stand as the prosecution's last witness against orthodontist Clara Harris, who stands accused of running down her husband - David Harris, 44, also a dentist - in the parking lot of the Nassau Bay Hilton last year. 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. The case was profiled on the Oxygen Network series Snapped in 2004, on ABC News's 20/20 in 2006, and on Investigation Discovery's Deadly Women in 2010. "(Clara) went right through (a hotel employee) and straight for my dad. Performance meets portability with Apple's 2023 MacBook Pro. I wasn't thinking anything," Harris testified. When I went to her first court appearance, nearly a dozen photographers were there to capture her every move. Clara Harris dream of being a successful dentist came true when she opened her own practice in 1993. 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. "Well, she ought not to be given credit for making herself a single parent," Magness said. 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. Clara's trial began the following February. Legendary singer Nina Simones granddaughter accused Vice President Kamala Harris of causing the family to lose control of Simone's estate while Harris was California attorney general. Without warning, she stomped on the accelerator and went straight for my Dad, testified Lindsey, 17, at Harris murder trial Wednesday. [4], That evening, Clara went to the Hilton Hotel in Nassau Bay, Texas, to confront her husband and reportedly attacked Bridges in the lobby. Clara was advised not to take the stand. 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. With all hes done to me, I could kill him and get away with it, Harris had allegedly stated. HOUSTON The stepdaughter of Clara Harris is suing the hotel where her father was fatally run over. Although she knows she cant disappear, she is going to do her best to stay out of the public eye, said Stouwie. Recalling the day of the accident, Clara Harris wept as she said "everything seemed like a dream." Trending News Clara Suarez, a Colombian immigrant, was named "Mrs Colombia Houston" and worked as a dentist. This time, a jury had little sympathy for Claras story, and it ordered her to pay $3.75 million in damages. The hotel's attorney, Ervin Apffel Jr., confirmed that the lawsuit had been settled but declined to comment further. 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. "What did Lindsey say to you?" 111. Taking the stand allowed parts of Clara's original interview, which her attorneys had previously gotten ruled inadmissible, to come into question. } else { #inline-recirc-item--id-92ad5f4e-8c88-11e2-b06b-024c619f5c3d ~ .item:nth-child(5) { She said Harris' boys would be provided for and they would adjust and survive, "because that's what children do. / CBS. } else if ( host.indexOf("asia.cnn.com") != -1 ) { Harris found her husband and Bridges in the hotel lobby. Lindsey Harris was the prosecution's only witness during the penalty phase I hit her because I knew that she had killed my Dad, said Lindsey. Her stepmother ran to them and began slapping Bridges and ripping her shirt, she added. Perhaps the most powerful witness was David Harris' daughter, 17-year-old Lindsey Harris, who was in Mercedes. As part of a prison program, she learned braille and worked several hours a day translating school textbooks into braille. Clara Harris had it all. Clara Harris was convicted of murdering her cheating husband, David Harris, by running him over with her Mercedes-Benz on July 24. We became very close, Lindsey said. "Did you see the car coming towards you?" In the darkened cabin of her stepmothers Mercedes-Benz, Lindsey Harris thought the drama was over for the night. Bridge's now suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder -- flashbacks, nightmares and is on medication. "Suddenly, I thought about smashing my car against her car and then I (picked) up speed.". The romance blossomed so rapidly that the couple got married on Feb. 14, 1992, less than a year after their first date. The Legislature Is Poised to Send Them More Inmates. "What did your dad do?" [13] This story was the inspiration for the completion of a chapter in the Mexican series Mujeres Asesinas "Killer Women." In 2002 Lindsey Harris, daughter of David Harris filed a Federal lawsuit against Clara Harris. } Clara Harris was sentenced to 20 years in prison but only served 15. After confronting him in a hotel lobby in Houston, Texas, she got into her Mercedes-Benz and waited. Suspicious, Clara hired a private detective agency to monitor David, an Bridges responded, "The affair was wrong. Lindsey, meanwhile, testified that Harris had made shocking statements one week before David was killed, as reported by ABC News. Because of her criminal record, she can no longer practice dentistry.) 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. 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. Accompanying her was Davids sixteen-year-old daughter from a previous marriage, Lindsey, who was visiting from Ohio, where she lived with her mother. "She stepped on the accelerator and went straight for him," Lindsey Harris told jurors. She urged prison time, though she made no specific recommendation about the length of a sentence. Their 11th wedding anniversary would have been Friday. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Lindsey Harris was wedded a third time, to Mrs. Margaret "Meg" Gray Harrison, a widow with one daughter. #inline-recirc-item--id-92ad5f4e-8c88-11e2-b06b-024c619f5c3d, #right-rail-recirc-item--id-92ad5f4e-8c88-11e2-b06b-024c619f5c3d { A dozen photojournalists flocked to Harris first court appearance. Column: Does racism make you too stupid to be a cop? Harris slumped into her chair as the sentence was read. }, First published on February 13, 2003 / 3:16 PM. Im so sorry, she was heard saying over and over. The verdict is not a surprise, according CBSNews.com Legal Analyst Andrew Cohen. Here's how. She got out and saw her husband lying on the pavement, blood streaming from his ears and mouth. Then she did another 180 and ran over him a third time. Clara Harris retained $1.2 million in assets. She knew what she did and she wasnt sorry, said Lindsey. 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. He pointed out that even David Harris' parents and brother had testified on Clara Harris' behalf. Clara 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. Lucretia was born about 1795. She confronted the lovers in the hotel lobby and brawled with Bridges before returning to her car. They seemed like the perfect family but on July 24, 2002, Harris fatally ran over her husband with her car. Over the next five years, she was turned down three more times. display: block; (According to Stouwie, the company that runs the prison braille program has asked Harris to keep working once she returns to Houston. document.write('Saturday, February 15, 2003 Posted: 11:37 AM HKT (0337 GMT)
<\/span>'); HOUSTON Gail Bridges had been having an affair with Clara Harris' husband, David, for months -- an affair Clara says drove her to kill her husband. Most Facebook users can now claim settlement money. After a three-week trial, Clara Harris was found guilty on Feb. 14, 2003. Clara was found guilty of murdering her husband. 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. Abbott, FBI announce rewards for info on Cleveland mass shooter, Massive ranch up for sale near Texas next big state park, 3,800-acre San Antonio-area property to become Texas state park, Texas man catches giant alligator snapping turtle, releases it, Former KPRC 2 anchor Dominique Sachse to launch podcast Monday, Uber ranks Houston among most 'forgetful' U.S. cities, Texas to host national hot air balloon championship this summer, Report: Texas man took break from dinner date to kill man outside, One of Houston's tallest skyscrapers to become apartment complex, J.J. Watt tweets the 2 things he doesn't miss about Houston, You can own your own cave system for a cool $875k, home included, Texas college baseball player hit by stray bullet mid-game, Greg Abbott announces $50k reward for information on Cleveland shooting, Massive Coastal Bend ranch up for sale near Texas next big state park, Property north of San Antonio set to become a new Texas state park, Texas man catches massive alligator snapping turtle, then releases it back into the wild, How former KPRC 2 anchor Dominique Sachse is getting back to reporting, Uber ranks Houston among the most 'forgetful' U.S. cities. "Suddenly, I thought about smashing my car against her car and then I (picked) up speed. .component--type-recirculation .item:nth-child(5) { Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. Lindsey testified against her stepmother, claiming she told her to stop the vehicle. 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. } He was trying to get away and he couldn't.". Any money made in Lindsey Harris' lawsuits would go towards her pain and anguish. I wasn't thinking anything," Harris testified. They were more concerned, from what we can tell, about the embarrassing situation that was going on in the lobby of their hotel," Davis said. On July 22, 2002, she got into her silver S-Class 430 Mercedes-Benz and drove to the Nassau Bay Hilton, across the highway from the Johnson Space Center. 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. "This was an unfortunate tragedy and it did not have to end this way," Bridges said. "I couldn't believe he could sleep holding her all night because we had never slept like that never," she testified. "And that's the position you're in right now, but I know you will do the right thing.".