"If you had anything to say to Clara, what would it be?" (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.) Harris, a 45-year-old Houston dentist, was accused of killing her cheating husband by running him over with her Mercedes in a hotel parking lot in front of half a dozen witnesses. She said her father had told her he would end the affair with Ms. Bridges on July 24. It seemed that life was perfect and complete for the Harris family. Many of the mock jurors said that judging from what they had heard in the media, they believed Harris had killed her husband intentionally. (According to Stouwie, the company that runs the prison braille program has asked Harris to keep working once she returns to Houston. Clara Harris: Death by Mercedes - The CrimeWire - HubPages And so Clara, heartbroken and dreading confirmation of suspicions, tried to carry on with business as usual. Her stepmother ran to them and began slapping Bridges and ripping her shirt, she added. View Lindsey Harris results in Oklahoma (OK) including current phone number, address, relatives, background check report, and property record with Whitepages. Lindsey opened the door and stuck her feet on the ground, as if she was attempting to escape, according to witnesses, who then saw Clara whip the car around, hit the accelerator again, and drive over her husbands crumpled body a second time. View Lindsey Harris results in Ohio (OH) including current phone number, address, relatives, background check report, and property record with Whitepages. David Harris is on Facebook. Silently, Harris put the car in reverse and began to drive out of the hotel parking lot. On the other, it gave her an opportunity to get closer to her stepmother, from whom she said she had felt distant since the birth of twins to the Harrises in 1998. In her turn on the stand, Mildred Harris said she and her daughter-in-law ''were like friends.''. She said she remembered driving around in circles, "confused," with no conscious thoughts going through her mind. ''She's really more like a daughter.''. Today, the judge sent the jury out and told her: ''Either you will sit here in a composed manner or you will be removed from the courtroom. She lost everything because of what he put her through. He went to church and loved Clara, she said. If jurors find she acted under the legal definition of sudden passion, she could receive a two-to-20-year sentence. What more could anyone want? 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. This beautiful & intelligent woman seemed to crack & fall apart completely due to her narcissistic husband's selfish behavior & infidelity. Clara Harris retained $1.2 million in assets. Last year, Professor Harris testified in a competency hearing in the trial of Andrea Yates, who was convicted of murder in the drownings of her five children. Click a location below to find Lindsey more easily. They heard witnesses tell how she killed her husband, David, by running over him with her car on July 24 after he admitted having an affair. They paroled OJ, clearly someone who cannot stay out of trouble. Bridges responded, "The affair was wrong. She was in her 40s when she was arrested. Raised by her widowed mother, she grew into an ambitious adult who studied dentistry in her home country before making her way to the United States in the late 1980s. Accompanying her was Davids sixteen-year-old daughter from a previous marriage, Lindsey, who was visiting from Ohio, where she lived with her mother. Mr. Parnham was a defense lawyer in that case, too. Join Facebook to connect with David Harris and others you may know. I screamed 'No!' HubPages is a registered trademark of The Arena Platform, Inc. Other product and company names shown may be trademarks of their respective owners. As Assistant District Attorney Mia Magness led Lindsey through the moments leading to her father's death, she kept her composure, her voice quivering occasionally. Suzie from Carson City on April 16, 2016: I'm very familiar of this extremely high-profile case. Only two of the panelists both men said Harris was guilty of murder. Granted parole in November 2017, Harris was released from prison at 8:20 a.m. on May 11, 2018. Lindsey Harris - People Directory - 192.com Are insane ticket costs pricing Astros fans out of Opening Day? Once she discovered the couple's whereabouts, Clara Harris called the family's nanny at home and told her to put some of her husband's business clothes on the porch and to throw everything else away, Lindsey said. The Mercedes glanced off Gails SUV and hit David before he could get out of the way, propelling him 25 feet across the lot. We have found at least 200 people in the UK with the name Mark Harris. After learning about Clara Harris, read about Leona Candy Stevens lying in court to liberate her husband Charles Manson. 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. Then, all of a sudden, she said, she saw her husband in front of her, running. There are no words to justify David's infidelity. The Harris parents agreed with a suggestion by a defense lawyer, George Parnham, that Clara Harris had always been a truthful and law-abiding person. Turn on desktop notifications for breaking stories about interest? He said it would all come down to one thing for the jury: Did Harris want her husband dead or did she want him back? That was when she struck me on my leg with the vehicle," the mistress said. She then cradled her husband and told him she was sorry and loved him, according to The New York Times. 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 stepmother's Mercedes when it struck her father. "We're just glad it's over," he said. Mr. Harris said he had been aware of ''some difficulties in the relationship'' between his son and Clara, but suggested that he saw no serious impediments to a future together. Although his Clear Lake staff, and even some at the Lake Jackson office, were aware of Davids infidelity, Clara seemingly had no idea. 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 -. Originally sentenced to twenty years for first-degree murder, the former Houston dentist has been paroled. She was quickly inundated with requests for interviews, but she turned all of them down. She said she could kill him and get away with it for what shes been through, Lindsey testified. In an interview in November in Texas Monthly magazine, Mr. Harris said that he and his wife would do anything to help their daughter-in-law. Lindsey Harris, along with her mother (David's first wife), quickly filed suit against Clara Harris in hopes of claiming David's insurance proceeds and inheriting his portion of the estate. She was reprimanded by Judge Carole G. Davies, the second time in two days her sobbing stopped the hearing. That would change sometime in June 2002, when Clara hired the services of Blue Moon Investigations. Lindsey, meanwhile, testified that Harris had made shocking statements one week before David was killed, as reported by ABC News. Murder Defendant's In-Laws Tell Jurors Why They Remain Her Strongest A symbol of her American success story, the luxury car soon became a murder weapon. Its daily. The thing that made me upset about this case, is that no one ever touched on the fact that David caused his own death due to his own foul behavior. If convicted, Harris could be sentenced to life in prison. Trial consultant Robert Hirschhorn, whom Parnham had hired to help him pick a winning jury for Harris, said the defense team needed to working on "softening her up. I do not regret or will ever regret that I got to know him and that he became part of my life.". When they found it, Clara Harris scratched the vehicle with her keys, ripped off the rear windshield wiper and tried to do the same to the front wipers. This is a sad story all around. Fire Ants Have Unleashed Chaos in Texas for Decades. Clara and Lindsey walked into the lobby just as David and his office receptionist, Gail Bridges, were emerging from an elevator. In the end, Galveston County probate judge Gladys Burwell ruled Davids three children would receive almost $2 million each, while Clara was allowed to retain roughly $1.2 million in assets. She said she checked local restaurants to see if he was keeping his word, but instead caught him and Bridges coming down from a room at the Nassau Bay Hilton, hand in hand. Leave them blank to get signed up. "This is going to be a hard case," Parnham told Primetime 2 months before the trial. They had twin sons named Brian and Bradley in 1998. "What did Lindsey say to you?" 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. Clara Harris still rotting in prison is a waste of taxpayer money. Garza asked. What Colombia plans for their descendants, Messy storms roll eastward after slamming Texas, Louisiana, Ukrainians dig up more bodies from makeshift graves in once-occupied towns, New crew from U.S, Russia and UAE arrives at space station, Two Americans arrested on charges of selling tech to Russia. Then she did another 180 and ran over him a third time. Facebook gives people the power. Leona Candy Stevens lying in court to liberate her husband Charles Manson, rich teenager Ethan Couch being released from prison despite murdering four people. He says he replays the trial in his head every night, wondering what went wrong: whether it was the tire track on the police photograph, or the jurors' jealousy of Harris and her success. View the profiles of professionals named "David Harris" on LinkedIn. 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. Only 16 at the time she witnessed her father's traumatic death, Lindsey stated she had since attempted suicide on at least four occasions. I hate you! Most of all, mind your own damned business. She should not have been given 20 years. Harris' Stepdaughter Sues Hotel, Detective Agency - KPRC When the car stopped, Lindsey ran around to the drivers side. She would tell me pretty much everything that was going on and made me feel part of the family. Lindsey, David Harris daughter from a previous marriage, spent summers and holidays with her father and Harris. Its too bad if they do, said Detoto, who has kept in touch with Harris since her conviction. Though Harris had hired a private detective to tail her husband that night, she and Lindsey set out to do their own surveillance. I don't believe she should have been sent to jail for 20 years. Daniel Vaughn is the countrys first barbecue editor, and he has eaten more barbecue than you have. Lindsey Harris, Michigan (30 matches): Phone Number, Email, Address The Arena Media Brands, LLC and respective content providers to this website may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Not to mention destroying so many other lives. 1 Lindsey Harris ER 2006 Sudbury, Suffolk, CO10. ''In 10 years, he never had a negative thing to say about Clara. In November, Claras application for parole was granted, and her release date was set for May 11. David, Im so sorry., The murder made headlinesall over the world. (Photo By Carlos Antonio Rios/Chronicle) Clara Harris Clara and David Harris Clara and David Harris ''We could talk to each other because we both loved David,'' she said in testimony that began with her smiling broadly at the jury. ''When we came closer, that bag turned out to be a human being.''. ", The phrase stopped Harris for a moment, she said. Yet they say they have forgiven Dr. Harris and in court today described an unblemished marriage that was, in Mildred Harris's words, ''made in heaven. Bridges spoke to News2Houston in an exclusive interview Thursday. Probation and therapy would have been the better option because she has no history of this behavior and no criminal behavior on her record prior to this. It's time to send her home. Lindsey was with Harris when she sped off in the direction of the hotel on July 24 to confront her husband. He then escorted Bridges to her Lincoln Navigator while hotel staff took Harris outside. Katy Vine has been a staff writer since 2002. When the car stopped, David Harris, 44, was dead. Lindsey visited her father and stepmother two or three times a year. Lindsey C. Harris - Association of Jungian Analysts . David Harris | Facebook SRA ID: 125332 SRA Regulated. Garza asked Bridges. She and her future husband met as colleagues at the Castle Dental Center in 1991. They watched as prosecutors built a case against Dr. Harris, 45, a former beauty queen who is a dentist. City Employees Are Heading for the Exits. Bridges was very afraid of the television cameras. She stomped on the accelerator and went for him.''. A 2016 parole request was also denied. Mike Hall writes about criminals, musicians, the law, and barbecue. But when the jurors came back after the sentencing phase, their decision gave him a moment of hope: They ruled that Harris had acted under the influence of sudden passion. 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. Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. He was pronounced dead at 9:48 p.m. and Clara Harris was charged with murder. Prosecutors say Harris, bent on avenging her husbands adultery, used her car as a murder weapon. David Harris told his daughter that he felt neglected by his wife after the birth of their twin boys three years earlier. 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. However, when your mind has been overtaken by grief, depression & severe stress, it's not possible to THINK rationally about anything. 1 most stressful city for U.S. workers, To get these special tacos, drive out to the Houston Ship Channel, MLB legend makes surprise appearance at Astros' Spring Training, 'This is about profit': Houston leaders condemn HISD takeover, Oops! A dignified churchgoing couple in tweeds and sensible shoes, Mildred Harris and her husband, Gerald, have sat a few feet behind Dr. Harris in the public gallery alongside another of their sons, several close friends and members of Dr. Harris's family from Bogot, Colombia. Dr Harris joined the School of Social and Political Sciences in September 2019 having previously held a number of key academic . Well aware she had run over her husband, Clara circled aroundcrossing two grassy medians, according to witnessesand ran over Davids motionless body; then circled around to run over him again. Mock Jurors Find Harris Account Convincing. According to her testimony on Jan. 29, she screamed. With all hes done to me, I could kill him and get away with it, Harris had allegedly stated. The teenager testified that a week earlier her stepmother had told her, "With all he's done to me, I could kill him and get away with it." Why Does He Get to Make That Call? The investigator's camera was rolling as Clara's car made contact with Davids body and he was tossed into the air. ''He provided well,'' Mr. Harris testified. Fred Tokars knew his wife was ready to divorce him and he feared she'd expose all of his dirty secrets, so he hired one of his clients to make sure she didn't. 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. On one hand, Lindsey said, she strenuously objected to her father's affair and disliked Ms. Bridges, who, she said, flirted openly with her father in his office. 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. ''She started pulling her shirt off. Over the next five years, she was turned down three more times. She said Clara Harris finally stopped the car, ran to her husband and said: ''I'm so sorry. 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. 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. She was determined to become a professional dentist. Then, the theory went, Harris panicked and locked the wheel to the left, driving around her husband's body in a 40-foot circle, but not hitting it again. Youth Who Saw Killing Says Stepmother 'Stomped' Accelerator and 'Went Clara Harris leaving prison on May 11, 2018. 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. I was yelling, Stop, youre killing him!. "This is Dr. David Harris and he's fing this woman right here!" She admitted grabbing Bridges' hair when she saw her come out of the elevator with her husband, and said hotel employees broke up the fight and steered her toward her car in the parking lot. perhaps in a way. Her sons went to live with another couple who had been close friends with Clara and David. Recent work includes the illustrations for Alan Mulhern's two books: Healing Intelligence, the Spirit in Psychotherapy (Karnac, 2012), and The Sower and the . You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times. David Harris' Mistress Breaks Her Silence Woman Involved In Fatal Love Triangle Gives Exclusive Interview HOUSTON - Gail Bridges had been having an affair with Clara Harris' husband, David,. Parnham was relieved; he believed the jury would recommend something close to the two-year minimum. In an interview with Oprah before her release, Harris said, I want to be judged by what really happened, not by the speculations people had made I found myself in a situation that I never thought myself capable of.. She said at no point did she intend to kill her husband. She will at some point be transferred to a maximum-security prison to serve out the rest of her term. Around Houston, she became a pop culture reference. A Federal Judge in Amarillo Could Effectively Ban the Abortion Pill. Even if they take such sentiments into account, jurors are being asked to weigh testimony that points to Clara Harris's revving her silver S-Class Mercedes and speeding toward Ms. Bridges's Navigator, next to which David Harris and Ms. Bridges were standing, then running over her husband up to three times as she circled the Nassau Bay Hilton parking lot. The young woman's appearance in court clearly displayed her ambivalence about the events that led to the death of her father, who married Clara Harris, his second wife, on Valentine's Day in 1992, in the same hotel, the Nassau Bay Hilton, where he died. After a three-week trial, Clara Harris was found guilty on Feb. 14, 2003. 20 years was extremely unfair. 5500+ "David Harris" profiles | LinkedIn Momentum shifts as Lindsey Harris testifies - Chron Clara Harris was born Clara Suarez on Feb. 3, 1958, in Bogot, Colombia, according to Texas Monthly. Houston pitmaster goes viral after hilarious TV interview, Willie Nelson's new album is a lovely tribute to a fellow country legend, Two ocelots were photographed crossing a road in rare South Texas sighting, Astros GM Dana Brown sees bright future for top prospect Drew Gilbert, This is how astronauts see Houston, Texas Gulf from space with unaided eyes. The tragedy took place at the parking lot of the Hilton Hotel at Nassau Bay last year. 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. Lindsey Harris in Florida. Clara suddenly gunned the engine and raced toward them. In her rebuttal, an assistant district attorney, Mia Magness, cited witnesses' testimony that Clara Harris had lied about one of her twins being sick to persuade her husband to return home on the day he died; that she had trespassed on Ms. Bridges's property; that she had vandalized Ms. Bridges's Lincoln Navigator; and that she had assaulted Ms. Bridges in the hotel lobby shortly before her husband was killed. David Lindsay Harris - The Law Society Her behavior was erratic and her speech loud and angry as she demanded to know which room her husband and his mistress were in. Jeff Moore, chief of investigations for Blue Moon, said company officials are "very pleased" with the outcome. Bridges then walked to her car with David following. View the profiles of professionals named "Lindsay Harris" on LinkedIn. 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. The investigators Harris had hired happened to record the entire ordeal on video, which was entered into evidence. You can watch the full episode below. By the time she saw him, it was too late to stop and she hit him by accident, lifting his body onto the Mercedes' hood. As a result, David began spending more time away from home and longer hours at his office, as well as spending large amounts of money lavishing gifts on his mistress, along with high-end hotel rooms for their couplings. View the profiles of people named Lynsey Harris. When asked how many times, he said twice. "His last words to me were, 'I'm sorry, I'm so sorry' and then he lost his life shortly after that.". This time, a jury had little sympathy for Claras story, and it ordered her to pay $3.75 million in damages. As the defense rested its case, Parnham was concerned about the damaging police statement and some of the testimony, but he was confident the jury would accept Irwin's testimony that Harris only hit her husband once. Because of her criminal record, she can no longer practice dentistry.) In 2007, Clara was brought back to Houston for a civil trial to defend herself in a wrongful-death lawsuit filed by Davids parents. Gerald Harris, a former school principal who later directed the transportation division of a school district before he retired, said his son was a good husband and a good father to their young twin boys. Paul May Other occupants: Paul May View 2 Lindsey A Harris ER 2002 Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, CB3. 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! Lynsey Harris Profiles | Facebook In 2004 Harris also sued her attorney, George Parnham, who had represented her at trial, claiming he overcharged her and misused her .