After it was over, Clara Harris led Lindsey to the Mercedes. Clara Harris then circled around and ran over him three times, Lindsey said. David Lindsay Harris - The Law Society ''She's really more like a daughter.''. 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. David Harris was enamored. He clearly did not make them a priority. In his opening argument, Parnham set out the essence of the defense case: that Harris had wanted to rescue her marriage, and ran over her husband by accident when her actual intention was to ram Bridges' car. Six months later, all Lindsey knows for sure is that her father is dead, and that her stepmother is to blame. What more could anyone want? Ashok Moza, who was playing tennis at the yacht club next to the hotel on the evening David Harris died, testified that he heard squealing tires as he went to retrieve a ball. She said that she had tried to get out of the car, but that her stepmother was driving too fast. "This is going to be a hard case," Parnham told Primetime 2 months before the trial. He came up with a new strategy. She killed my dad,'" Bridges responded. Clara Harris still rotting in prison is a waste of taxpayer money. The mock trial suggested that Harris' account was convincing. Can College Sports Get More Absurd Than SMU Joining the Pac-12? Clearly, this is a woman who is extremely unlikely to reoffend. We became very close, Lindsey said. "His last words to me were, 'I'm sorry, I'm so sorry' and then he lost his life shortly after that.". Lindsey, meanwhile, testified that Harris had made shocking statements one week before David was killed, as reported by ABC News. 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. 300+ "Lindsay Harris" profiles | LinkedIn When they were together, Gail felt special nonetheless. 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 hit her because I knew that she had killed my Dad, said Lindsey. Without warning, she stomped on the accelerator and went straight for my Dad, testified Lindsey, 17, at Harris murder trial Wednesday. She should not have been given 20 years. The two began working to repair their marriage, and David Harris even told a friend, Were going to make it. He then informed his wife that he wanted to take Bridges to one last dinner to end things amicably, as he had led the receptionist to believe that his marriage was open. She was in her 40s when she was arrested. She thought her car was going to stop on the high sidewalk, she said, but instead it kept going. A 2016 parole request was also denied. The defense's pathology expert said David Harris' injuries were consistent with being run over once, and Irwin constructed a computer simulation designed to show how the Mercedes' 40-foot turning radius meant it could not have hit the body a second time. The two women went to a number of restaurants and hotels, until they were alerted by a private detective Clara Harris had hired the previous day that Dr. Harris and Ms. Bridges were at the Hilton. 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. She already missed out raising her boys. Garza asked. 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. Harris agreed, but she secretly hired a private investigator to follow them to dinner and ensure her husband ended the relationship. 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. Facebook gives people the power to share and makes the world more open and connected. Before long, however, she and David began having an affair. Suzie from Carson City on April 17, 2016: Val..I would agree with you about Clara's reaction & out of control behavior, but as you can see from my comment~ I firmly believe she allowed her husband's infidelity to literally drive her to the brink of insanity. 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. Though Harris had hired a private detective to tail her husband that night, she and Lindsey set out to do their own surveillance. Yes, she made a horrible fifteen-minute mistake. Over the next five years, she was turned down three more times. Was her love "above" everybody else's wellbeing? In 2002 Lindsey Harris, daughter of David Harris filed a Federal lawsuit against Clara Harris. Clara Harris is serving a 20-year sentence for murder in the case, which drew national attention. Im so sorry, she was heard saying over and over. Blood was coming from his nose and mouth. Join Facebook to connect with Harris David and others you may know. Im thinking about pulling a Clara Harris, a woman would say with a laugh after learning her husband had done something really stupid. Harris found her husband and Bridges in the hotel lobby. Lived In Chesapeake VA, Monterey CA, Augusta GA, Grovetown GA. Related To Brad Harris, Ghanbria Harris, Alphonso Harris, Daphne Harris, Mary Harris. 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. It seemed that life was perfect and complete for the Harris family. YouTubeDavid and Clara Harris were married for ten years before she killed him in a fit of rage. They paroled OJ, clearly someone who cannot stay out of trouble. ''He provided well,'' Mr. Harris testified. ''I thought it was maybe a duffle bag or something like that,'' Mr. Moza added. David was consciously and purposely careless with his family. ''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. It was an accident. Clara Harris is serving a 20-year sentence for murder in the case, which drew national attention. 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. They watched as prosecutors built a case against Dr. Harris, 45, a former beauty queen who is a dentist. 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. When asked how many times, he said twice. 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. And if God can forgive us of our sins and our mistakes, then why should we not be able to forgive the sins and mistakes of others?''. Are ticket costs pricing Houston Astros fans out of Opening Day? I screamed 'No!' David Rice Harris, in Perry County, in the late 1860s and early 1870s. Through it all, however, Clara Harris only wanted people to know the truth about what really happened the night she murdered her husband. 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. The 44-year-old orthodontist was tragically already gone. Elliott: Kings use their heads over hearts in trading Jonathan Quick, A $150,000 executive protection dog? ''She had killed him.''. 16-year-old Lindsey Harris testifies at Houston, Tex, murder trial of stepmother Clara Harris, accused of murdering husband Dr David Harris by running him over with car in hotel parking lot . Attorneys for Lindsey Harris filed a lawsuit Thursday, naming Blue Moon Investigations and the Hilton Nasa Clear Lake, Nasa Road 1, in Nassau Bay. 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. Menu Log In Sign Up That was when she struck me on my leg with the vehicle," the mistress said. The hotel's attorney, Ervin Apffel Jr., confirmed that the lawsuit had been settled but declined to comment further. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. During hearings on the matter, Lindsey Harris testified she was severely traumatized from her stepmothers actions. I'm so sorry. 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? '', ''David loved Clara very much,'' she told the jury. I believe anyone can be driven to do what Ms Harris did when they are pushed far enough. They were expected to argue that Harris deliberately and repeatedly ran him over. Mr. Parnham was a defense lawyer in that case, too. Her husband later opened Space Center Orthodontics outside of Houston. I wish Clara would have been stronger, but unfortunately she wasn't . "What happened when you got off that elevator?" I pray for her continuously and I am glad she will have something to come home to, her twin boys. Facebook gives people the power to share and makes the world more open and connected. 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. Most of all, mind your own damned business. The worst was yet to come, however. Whats more, she didnt violate any prison rules. She and her future husband met as colleagues at the Castle Dental Center in 1991. ''What David did outside his marriage was a tragic mistake, and what Clara did was a tragic mistake,'' he said. Clara had a lucrative practice as a dentist, while Davids specialty was orthodontics. Resides in Chicago, IL. Clara! a reporter shouted. Lindsey Harris, 17, David Harris's daughter by his first marriage, was in the passenger seat of the car that killed her father. The romance blossomed so rapidly that the couple got married on Feb. 14, 1992, less than a year after their first date. Lindsey Harris filed a wrongful death lawsuit against her stepmother and was awarded about $2. She said Clara Harris finally stopped the car, ran to her husband and said: ''I'm so sorry. Things spun out of control for Joy and she fled the country. 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. She said at no point did she intend to kill her husband. Mock Jurors Find Harris Account Convincing. According to her testimony on Jan. 29, she screamed repeatedly at her stepmother to stop as the car rushed toward her father. He openly flirted with women everywhere he went, even showing his wife notes scribbled by waitresses at Hooters. As part of a prison program, she learned braille and worked several hours a day translating school textbooks into braille. This post has been updated since publication to correct an error: the minimum punishment for intentional murder is five years, not twenty years. With her stepdaughter in the car, she ran over him three times and was sentenced to 20 years in prison. 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. Since it only showed Harris circling the parking lot, and since David was barely visible, the defense argued she only hit him once. ''You could hear a car going round, hard.''. Yes, the twins acknowledged, they had lost their father, but at the same time they had lost their mother, whom they loved deeply. "I told him 'look, look what she done,'" Bridges said. I'm sure she suspected his infidelity, but could never prove it - hence hiring a PI. When asked to choose from a list of possible verdicts, most of the mock jurors chose criminally negligent homicide. And she was not going to do anything to jeopardize her chance of getting parole so she could someday be with them.. Not to mention destroying so many other lives. Victim's Daughter Testifies at Murder-by-Car Trial She did not know David was dead until Lindsey, David's daughter who was in the car with her stepmother, approached her. For his closing argument, Hirschhorn advised Parnham to focus on Bridges as a homewrecker, but not to vilify David Harris as a cheating husband, just a man who made some mistakes. She stomped on the accelerator and went for him.''. Join Facebook to connect with David Harris and others you may know. This time, a jury had little sympathy for Claras story, and it ordered her to pay $3.75 million in damages. Bridges then walked to her car with David following. 2023 The Arena Media Brands, LLC and respective content providers on this website. She was reprimanded by Judge Carole G. Davies, the second time in two days her sobbing stopped the hearing. All the while, Lindsey sat screaming at her stepmother from the Mercedes passenger side; begging Clara to stop. As soon as News2Houston walked into her home with a camera, she bolted into the bedroom and did not want to come out until the camera was gone. 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. Individual details - click to Hide Show Main role not specified . "I've always said I thought that video eventually would be the best thing in the world for us," he said. David and Clara Harris were married for ten years before she killed him in a fit of rage. They then walked around the parking lot looking for Ms. Bridges's Lincoln Navigator. ''There was a lot of shouting going on,'' Mr. Moza said. Running Into Fire: The Legacy of Jeff Blackburn, The Apache, the Irish Catholic Priest, and a 40-Year-Old Miscarriage of Justice, An Unforgettable Texas Tale of Envy, Embezzlement, and Fruitcake, How the Texas Rangers Became One of the Most Powerful Forces in the State. "I thought: so they're going together in her car, and so my thought was stopping that car.". Lindsey Harris in OH - Address & Phone Number | Whitepages March 6, 2003 -- From the moment he took on the case, defense attorney George Parnham knew that defending Clara Harris would be uphill work. Clara Harris was born Clara Suarez on Feb. 3, 1958, in Bogot, Colombia, according to Texas Monthly. View the profiles of professionals named "David Harris" on LinkedIn. Skeptical that he would do so, Lindsey accompanied her stepmother that day on her quest to find her husband, whom they believed to be with Ms. Bridges. Clara Harris - The New York Times Most believed she had not intended to kill her husband, saying she was in a "jealous rage" and "lost it," and that she "didn't know what she was doing." Accompanying her was Davids sixteen-year-old daughter from a previous marriage, Lindsey, who was visiting from Ohio, where she lived with her mother. View the profiles of professionals named "Lindsay Harris" on LinkedIn. Their most devastating witness was David Harriss teenage daughter Lindsey, who testified that a week earlier her stepmother had told her, With all hes done to me, I could kill him and get away with it. On the night of the killing, she said, Clara stepped on the accelerator and went straight for him, saying moments before impact, Im going to hit him.. Last July 24, shortly before Clara Harris, furious that her husband was having an affair, ran over him with her car, killing him, she turned to her 16-year-old stepdaughter in the passenger seat and said she could kill him and get away with it because of what he had done to her, the young woman testified in court today. David Harris, a suburban Houston orthodontist, died July 24 after Clara Harris car struck him. 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. The story of an angry dentist killing her husband spread like wildfire. Clara Harris: Death by Mercedes - The CrimeWire - HubPages David Harris' Mistress Breaks Her Silence - KPRC Selfish? This is Dr. David Harris and hes fing this woman right here!. Lindsey Harris in OK - Address & Phone Number | Whitepages 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. Videotape shown in Harris trial - F.A.C.T Clara Harris was sentenced to 20 years behind bars. Get the day's top news with our Today's Headlines newsletter, sent every weekday morning. The attorneys said that Blue Moon. When the car stopped, David Harris, 44, was dead. In cross-examination, Ms. Magness said that after the death of her husband, Clara Harris could have kept the twins from seeing their grandparents if the grandparents had chosen not to support her. David was dead at the scene and Clara was charged with first-degree murder. Some argued yes, it was murdereven first degree murder that warranted the death penalty. When the car stopped, Lindsey ran around to the drivers side. Parnham was relieved; he believed the jury would recommend something close to the two-year minimum. 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. '', By the same token, she added, her daughter-in-law ''loved David very much.''. Its daily. 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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. Leave them blank to get signed up. Im going to hit him, Harris told the teenager. She was on a mission to find where he was, said Lindsey. I also understand what you say about her naivety. They succeeded in getting a jury of nine women and three men. David Harris is on Facebook. "This is going to be a hard case," Parnham told Primetime 2 months before the trial. Harris defense attorney George Parnham urged her not to take the stand for fear she would incriminate herself. Lindsey Harris - People Directory - 192.com 156 Results for Lindsey Harris Please use the search above if you cannot find the record you require. 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. 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. Lindsey was already crying when she reached her dying father, and Harris soon joined in. While the sentence for intentional murder in Texas is 20 years to life, murder in sudden passion carries a minimum penalty of just two years, with a maximum of 20 years. In her turn on the stand, Mildred Harris said she and her daughter-in-law ''were like friends.''. Also in 2004, an episode of American Justice called "Murder by Mercedes" (episode 3, season 13) was released that detailed the Clara Harris case. Click here to find personal data about Mark Harris including phone numbers, addresses, directorships, electoral roll information, related property prices and other useful information. Clara Harris discusses her crime, years in prison - Chron David had been married once before and had a daughter named Lindsey, and Harris loved the young girl like her own. She has since filed a wrongful death suit against her stepmother. She said she remembered one of them telling her, "Don't go where they're going. Since the trial, Parnham has been asking himself why the jury imposed the maximum. 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.