''I don't approve of that kind of behavior,'' said the surviving son, also named Gerald, a professor of psychology at the University of Houston who is no stranger to Houston courtrooms. Clara Harris then circled around and ran over him three times, Lindsey said. Only two of the panelists both men said Harris was guilty of murder. 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 should not have been given 20 years. With all hes done to me, I could kill him and get away with it, Harris had allegedly stated. 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? Read Skip Hollandsworths 2002 piece on Harris, Suburban Madness,. On the other side of the aisle, with a majority made up of women especially those whose husbands or exes had cheated on themthere are those who insisted it was a crime of passion and David got what he deserved. "A lot of women would say, 'I don't feel sorry for (you) because (you were) going out with a married man,'" Garza said. City Employees Are Heading for the Exits. Her husband drove her to kill him. Facebook gives people the power to share and makes the world more open and connected. She cried. Her friends have told me she is worried that people she meets will realize who she is and back away. She stomped on the accelerator and went for him.''. Find Lindsey Harris's phone number, address, and email on Spokeo, the leading people search directory for contact information and public records. Her devastation is understandable, but comparing to many broken-hearted women who just leave their cheating husbands, she went to an extreme. Includes Address (11) Phone (14) Email (17) Most of all, mind your own damned business. It was just a big fight.''. She was reprimanded by Judge Carole G. Davies, the second time in two days her sobbing stopped the hearing. She lost everything because of what he put her through. Mimi Swartz is a staff writer based in Houston. Harris found her husband and Bridges in the hotel lobby. She said she tried to save their 10-year marriage by quitting her job, cooking her husband's favorite meals and promising to please him sexually, and that he promised to break up with Bridges over dinner. The Mercedes glanced off Gails SUV and hit David before he could get out of the way, propelling him 25 feet across the lot. Enraged, Clara ordered her teenage stepdaughter into her Mercedes-Benz and headed for the hotel; the very same hotel in which she and David had promised to love one another only 10 short years ago. ''But there is no problem with me getting to see those children.''. In 2002 Lindsey Harris, daughter of David Harris filed a Federal lawsuit against Clara Harris. The trial started off well for the defense team. Custody Compromise Reached For Clara Harris' Twins, Custody Battle Begins Over Harris Children, Harris' Stepdaughter Sues Hotel, Detective Agency, Hotel Official Fired After Testifying In Clara Harris Trial, Clara Harris Says She Still Loves Her Dead Husband, Jury Considers Punishment For Clara Harris, Jurors Set To Begin Deliberations In Clara Harris Case, Closing Arguments Wednesday In Harris Trial, Jurors Told To Bring Toothbrushes In Clara Harris Trial, Clara Harris' Attorney Collapses Outside Courtroom, Harris' Lover Testifies About Relationship, Defense Goes After Victim In Clara Harris Case, Collision Expert Testifies About Harris' Death, Accusations Fly After Harris Daughter Testifies, Harris' Daughter Testifies: 'She Meant To Kill Him', Stepdaughter To Testify In Clara Harris' Trial, Harris Cries Uncontrollably, Removed From Trial, Private Investigator Testifies In Clara Harris Trial, Witnesses Describe Harris Running Over Husband, Jury Selection Continues In Harris' Murder Trial, Jurors To Be Picked For Clara Harris' Trial, Harris' Stepdaughter's Remarks Spark Debate, Audiotapes Allege Clara Harris Also Having Affair, Custody Battle Stems From High-Profile Murder, Wife Free After Allegedly Running Over Husband. But then, on the last day of testimony, the prosecution produced a rebuttal witness who directly contradicted Irwin's theory. Some argued yes, it was murdereven first degree murder that warranted the death penalty. They said they had come to the prison every month for the last fifteen years, without fail, to visit their mother. How Did James Dean Die? ''When we came closer, that bag turned out to be a human being.''. As part of a prison program, she learned braille and worked several hours a day translating school textbooks into braille. . Anyone can read what you share. 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! As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. Garza asked. In her turn on the stand, Mildred Harris said she and her daughter-in-law ''were like friends.''. ''She was on a mission to find where he was -- she was determined,'' Lindsey testified. Can College Sports Get More Absurd Than SMU Joining the Pac-12? West Texans Are Learning What It Means to Live in Bear Country, How Florence ButtNot Her SonLaunched the H-E-B Empire, H-E-Bs True Texas BBQ Restaurant Is Slipping, Jimmy Carters Peanut-and-Egg Taco Made Quite the Impression on San Antonians. And so Clara, heartbroken and dreading confirmation of suspicions, tried to carry on with business as usual. If jurors find she acted under the legal definition of sudden passion, she could receive a two-to-20-year sentence. 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,. ''I felt the bumps,'' she said, making a distinction between the sound of the car going over her father's body and that it made running over a pair of medians. Gail Bridges stood watching, too stunned to move. However, on a rational side, what bothers the most is Clara's not being aware through all those years that her husband was a cheating type - despite the fact that he didn't even particularly hide it. You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times. She was on a mission to find where he was, said Lindsey. Joy Davis Aylor was angry that her husband Larry Aylor was having an affair, so she hired a man to murder Larry's mistress and later sent thugs to kill Larry himself. Clara and husband David were both respected dental practitioners in Houston, Texas, with a shared office in the shadow of NASAs Johnson Space Center. 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. She told Parnham that a week earlier her husband, 44-year-old orthodontist David Harris, had revealed he was having an affair with his receptionist, 39-year-old Gail Bridges. I wish Clara would have been stronger, but unfortunately she wasn't . Creger, who said she was trained in CPR to care for a premature son, tried to help the injured dentist breathe. I pray for her continuously and I am glad she will have something to come home to, her twin boys. The mock trial suggested that Harris' account was convincing. Well, kind of, Video shows Memphis jailers beating Black inmate before his death, Skin lesion removed from President Bidens chest last month was cancerous, doctor says, Desperate mountain residents trapped by snow beg for help; We are coming, sheriff says, Newsom, IRS give Californians until October to file tax returns, Before and after photos from space show storms effect on California reservoirs, Latinx Files: In praise of Jenna Ortega, Aubrey Plaza and moody, deadpan Latinas. 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. I hate you! 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. perhaps in a way. David Harris, a suburban Houston orthodontist, died July 24 after Clara Harris car struck him. When Harris suddenly accelerated, Lindsey was thrown against her seat and saw her father put his hands on the hood of the car, shouting, Stop! she said. 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. When the verdict came, it was what Parnham had feared: The jury found Harris guilty of murder. We have found at least 200 people in the UK with the name Mark Harris. 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. ''I'm going to hit him,'' Lindsey quoted Clara Harris, 44, as saying as she drove toward Dr. Harris and Ms. Bridges, who were standing in the parking lot next to Ms. Bridges's car. Whats Up With All the Kangaroos on the Loose in Texas. On the evening of July 24, 2002, Harris received a devastating call from the investigator. 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. That was when she struck me on my leg with the vehicle," the mistress said. She said that she had tried to get out of the car, but that her stepmother was driving too fast. ''She said she could kill my father for what he'd done to her,'' Lindsey testified, glancing only briefly at her stepmother, a former beauty queen and dentist, in almost five hours on the witness stand. 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. Because of her criminal record, she can no longer practice dentistry.) She said her father had told her he would end the affair with Ms. Bridges on July 24. Lindsey visited her father and stepmother two or three times a year. You b, hes my husband! Harris shouted before slapping Bridges. David Harris is on Facebook. However, when your mind has been overtaken by grief, depression & severe stress, it's not possible to THINK rationally about anything. 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. Clara Harris had it all. "This was an unfortunate tragedy and it did not have to end this way," Bridges said. She was quickly inundated with requests for interviews, but she turned all of them down. "Did you see the car coming towards you?" Days of Our Lives (DOOL) spoilers tease that Steve Burton is all set to reprise his role as Harris Michaels, so let's talk about his first airdate back and mull over some shockers related to his character.. Burton debuted on DOOL as Harris way back in 1988, so it was a fun surprise when he brought the character to life once again last summer on Beyond Salem's second installment. Facebook gives people the power. Mike Hall writes about criminals, musicians, the law, and barbecue. She then cradled her husband and told him she was sorry and loved him, according to The New York Times. Was her love "above" everybody else's wellbeing? However, Irwin, the accident reconstructionist, still managed to make a persuasive case that Harris only ran into her husband once. Clara Harris is serving a 20-year sentence for murder in the case, which drew national attention. After it was over, Clara Harris led Lindsey to the Mercedes. Skip Hollandsworth specializes in long-form narratives. She thought her car was going to stop on the high sidewalk, she said, but instead it kept going. HubPages is a registered trademark of The Arena Platform, Inc. Other product and company names shown may be trademarks of their respective owners. Did Gail Katz run away from her tumultuous marriage or did her husband, Dr. Bob Bierenbaum, kill her then use his plane to dump her body? 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. The defense team also found that some of the women were quick to judge Harris by her appearance. Facebook gives people the power to share and makes the world more open and connected. "'She killed my dad. 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. There are no words to justify David's infidelity. Facebook gives people the power to. We went shopping a lot. (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 found her husband and Bridges in the hotel lobby. Originally sentenced to twenty years for first-degree murder, the former Houston dentist has been paroled. The lawsuit sought damages from the Nassau Bay Hilton Hotel and the Blue Moon Investigations detective agency for the couple's twin sons, Brian and Bradley, 5, and Harris' daughter, Lindsey, 18, by a previous marriage. '', ''She wasn't sorry,'' Lindsey testified. They should've paroled her the first time she was up for parole. David Rice Harris, in Perry County, in the late 1860s and early 1870s. In the darkened cabin of her stepmothers Mercedes-Benz, Lindsey Harris thought the drama was over for the night. In short time, the Harrises were showing signs of success, with an expensive home and high-dollar import vehicles. It was an accident. 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. When she saw the car, she said, she decided to ram it with her Mercedes. Harris agreed, but she secretly hired a private investigator to follow them to dinner and ensure her husband ended the relationship. View Lindsey Harris results in Ohio (OH) including current phone number, address, relatives, background check report, and property record with Whitepages. A Harris County, Texas, jury would have the official and final say. Facebook gives people the power to share and makes the world more open and connected. Mistresses everywhere were warned to take note: next time it could be them. They succeeded in getting a jury of nine women and three men. When I went to her first court appearance, nearly a dozen photographers were there to capture her every move. 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. As the naughty couple approached Gails car, the Blue Moon detective tasked with capturing the marital indiscretions of David was shocked as he witnessed, through the lens of his video camera, Clara behind the wheel of her Mercedes-Benz, speeding toward the other womans car in a direct path toward the husband. Clara Harris retained $1.2 million in assets. He conceded that David Harris's relationship with Gail Bridges, 39, a receptionist in his dental practice, was not proper. 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. 2023 The Arena Media Brands, LLC and respective content providers on this website. ", The phrase stopped Harris for a moment, she said. Four of the jurors said they could "relate" to how Harris felt. The worst was yet to come, however. She knew what she did and she wasnt sorry, said Lindsey. "We were leaving the hotel and I was looking at David and I noticed all of a sudden his face changed. Things spun out of control for Joy and she fled the country. He then escorted Bridges to her Lincoln Navigator while hotel staff took Harris outside. Accompanying her was David's. Mock Jurors Find Harris Account Convincing. Lindsey Harris, along with her mother (Davids first wife), quickly filed suit against Clara Harris in hopes of claiming Davids insurance proceeds and inheriting his portion of the estate. She couldn't fully grasp what was happening. Instead of driving out of the parking lot, Harris drove toward Bridges' Lincoln Navigator. They had hidden from her, and she was upset by that.'' Eventually, Clara and Lindsey stormed back to the Mercedes. Eyewitnesses testified for the prosecution that Harris seemed "possessed" as she got into her Mercedes, and some said they saw multiple runovers. Its time to forgive her and let her move on.. During hearings on the matter, Lindsey Harris testified she was severely traumatized from her stepmothers actions. 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. 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. Im thinking about pulling a Clara Harris, a woman would say with a laugh after learning her husband had done something really stupid. Lindsey Harris in Florida. Harris already knew about the affair when she hired Blue Moon Investigations, a private detective agency, in July 2002. Her neighbor at the psychiatric prison is another client of Parnham's: Andrea Yates, who is serving a life sentence for drowning her five children in a bathtub. This was said to be the equivalent of Davids half of the estate plus a little over 50 percent of Claras half. ''She had killed him.''. Because she is penniless (and legally, she still owes her in-laws $3.75 million), she will initially live with a friend, and she will look for a job. A 2016 parole request was also denied. He clearly did not make them a priority. 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. Turner: TEA is giving Houston ISD two optionsclose school or be taken over, Who is Justin Dirden? Six months later, all Lindsey knows for sure is that her father is dead, and that her stepmother is to blame. Prosecutors say Harris, bent on avenging her husbands adultery, used her car as a murder weapon. David pushed her to the brink of insanity. Clara and Lindsey walked into the lobby just as David and his office receptionist, Gail Bridges, were emerging from an elevator. They seemed like the perfect family but on July 24, 2002, Harris fatally ran over her husband with her car. 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. View the profiles of professionals named "Lindsay Harris" on LinkedIn. A Federal Judge in Amarillo Could Effectively Ban the Abortion Pill. Garza asked Bridges. 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. 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. ''In 10 years, he never had a negative thing to say about Clara. But, he said, she insisted on testifying. Bring on the Shiplap? Prosecutors say Harris, bent on avenging her husband's adultery, used her car as a murder. David Harris's father, however, refused to agree with Ms. Magness that Clara Harris's behavior in the days leading up to the confrontation at the hotel was anything unreasonable. The romance blossomed so rapidly that the couple got married on Feb. 14, 1992, less than a year after their first date. They had twin sons named Brian and Bradley in 1998. At her parole hearing this past October, he brought her two sons, who were then nineteen years old and attending universities in Texas. They saw David and Gail heading to Gails SUV in a different part of the parking lot. Clara Harris still rotting in prison is a waste of taxpayer money. Clara Harris was born Clara Suarez on Feb. 3, 1958, in Bogot, Colombia, according to Texas Monthly. 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. I'm sure she suspected his infidelity, but could never prove it - hence hiring a PI. Local radio stations gave breathless updates. The impact threw him about 25 feet, prosecutors said. Its daily. Clearly, this is a woman who is extremely unlikely to reoffend. He came up with a new strategy. She first became eligible for parole in 2013 but her request was denied. She said she became upset, she got into her car and drove toward Bridges' black Lincoln Navigator, but did not remember running over her husband. When she arrived, Clara found Gails Lincoln Navigator in the hotels parking garage and set about vandalizing the car by bending windshield wipers and keying the paint. When they arrived at the hotel, she said, they went to the front desk, where they were told that neither Dr. Harris nor Ms. Bridges was registered. Previously, Lindsey was a Director, Marketing at Frazier Healthcar e Partners and also held positions at Texas Ambulatory Surgery Center Society, Access MediQuip. A symbol of her American success story, the luxury car soon became a murder weapon. She testified anyway, and Parnham subsequently passed out from tremendous stress in the courthouse hallway and had to be hospitalized. Turn on desktop notifications for breaking stories about interest? Are insane ticket costs pricing Astros fans out of Opening Day? She probably hoped she could become what he wanted her to be and change him. Most women in her shoes would've snapped. 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. Only 16 at the time she witnessed her father's traumatic death, Lindsey stated she had since attempted suicide on at least four occasions. 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. Anyone can read what you share. When the anxious wife called their offices on July 24, 2002 for an update, they told her they had a detective watching David and Gail, who were currently checked into the Nassau Bay Hilton Hotel. "I thought we were in good shape," he told Primetime later. Finally David and Gail exited the hotel, obviously unaware of his wifes presence or even the scene she had created in the hotel earlier. Witnesses recalled seeing Lindsey punch Harris in the face before both of them exited the vehicle. She and Lindsey got into Harris silver S-Class 430 Mercedes-Benz and waited. Without warning, she stomped on the accelerator and went straight for my Dad, testified Lindsey, 17, at Harris murder trial Wednesday. Forrest Wilder writes about politics and the outdoors. One said she "snapped," and Hirschhorn latched onto the word, telling Parnham to use it to counter what the prosecutor would want the jury to think: "intentional.".
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