Skip Hollandsworth specializes in long-form narratives. Clara Harris tried to control the damage by making herself real pretty so Dad would want her and not Gail, said Lindsey. "Doing the right thing doesn't always feel good," she said. She's also suing the detective agency that followed him, 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. She and her future husband met as colleagues at the Castle Dental Center in 1991. Sheriff says Texas shooting suspect "could be anywhere now" [9] Her second parole request was denied in September 2016. It was an accident. 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. If you need help with the Public File, call (713) 778-4745. All rights reserved. Lindsey was upset with her father. Harris played for the Tar Heels of the This time, a jury had little sympathy for Claras story, and it ordered her to pay $3.75 million in damages. Oklahoma WR Keilahn Harris Rice Oregon State WR Tyjon Lindsey Report: Bucs star Barrett's daughter, 2, drowns in pool. With all hes done to me, I could kill him and get away with it, Harris had allegedly stated. "She stepped on the accelerator and went Leave them blank to get signed up. I'm so sorry. Her sons went to live with another couple who had been close friends with Clara and David. One time she wrote about sports. David Harris' Mistress Breaks Her Silence - KPRC Clara's trial began the following February. The death came a week after David Harris confessed to his nearly three-month affair with Bridges. 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. 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Its daily. "She stepped on the accelerator and went straight for him," Lindsey Harris told jurors. [13] This story was the inspiration for the completion of a chapter in the Mexican series Mujeres Asesinas "Killer Women." 1 employee killed, 2 injured at Tennessee Volkswagen plant } 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. 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.". She said she could kill him and get away with it for what shes been through, Lindsey testified. David Harris and Bridges entered the hotel lobby hand in hand, Lindsey said. And I went to look at the direction, and then we saw her," Bridges said. Mike Hall writes about criminals, musicians, the law, and barbecue. Jurors deliberated for six hours before returning with their verdict on the sentence. She said she has been seeing a therapist, is taking medication and that her leg -- hit by Clara Harris' car -- still bothers her. Six months later, all Lindsey knows for sure is that her father is dead, and that her stepmother is to blame. "I couldn't believe he could sleep holding her all night because we had never slept like that never," she testified. They said they had come to the prison every month for the last fifteen years, without fail, to visit their mother. } I hit her because I knew that she had killed my Dad, said Lindsey. During his marriage to Clara, David began to have an affair with his former receptionist, Gail Bridges. If you need help with the Public File, call (713) 778-4745. Davids daughter from a previous marriage, Lindsey Nicole Harris, who was in the car at the time of the incident, testified against her stepmother in the trial. Lindsey was already crying when she reached her dying father, and Harris soon joined in. "If you had anything to say to Clara, what would it be?" Inside Look at Mercedes Killer's Defense - ABC News Clara Harris stood stoically as the verdict was read, her lawyer's arms around her. 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. [2] During his marriage to Clara, David began to have an affair with his former receptionist, Gail Bridges. The Mercedes glanced off Gails SUV and hit David before he could get out of the way, propelling him 25 feet across the lot. And she was not going to do anything to jeopardize her chance of getting parole so she could someday be with them.. Clara Harris said that remark stunned her. A defense expert said Harris was hit by the luxury sedan, carried atop its hood and then run over. 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.". Yes, she made a horrible fifteen-minute mistake. Oklahoma WR Keilahn Harris Rice Oregon State WR Tyjon Lindsey Report: Bucs star Barrett's daughter, 2, drowns in pool. Harris knew her husband was being unfaithful and hired a private investigation agency to follow him, as reported by ABC News. Its time to forgive her and let her move on.. "Did you see the car coming towards you?" The settlement terms are confidential, said attorney John A. Davis Jr., who represented Lindsey Harris. She got out and saw her husband lying on the pavement, blood streaming from his ears and mouth. The 17-year-old testified that she had tried to commit suicide four times in the months after her father's death July 24. Recalling the day of the accident, Clara Harris wept as she said "everything seemed like a dream." Clara and her stepdaughter, Lindsey, began to drive around town after they could not find David at the restaurant where he said he was taking Ms. Bridges. Harris faces the possibility of life in prison and the same jury that so quickly found her guilty will have a large say in what the punishment ought to be, Cohen said. YouTubeDavid and Clara Harris were married for ten years before she killed him in a fit of rage. Their 11th wedding anniversary would have been Friday. I yelled, 'Stop it, you're killing him.' She married David Harris on February 14, 1992, at the Nassau Bay Hilton, and raised three children: twin sons Brian and Bradley, born in 1998, and David's daughter Lindsey from a previous marriage. The Harrises, who also were business partners, then spent an evening at a bar talking about their relationship. Any money made in Lindsey Harris' lawsuits would go towards her pain and anguish. Generator vs power station: Which one is right for you? 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. [10] However, she was granted parole in November 2017. David Harris was enamored. Her attorney explained what was in the report, using the consultant as an expert witness on the stand. A $300-million (minimum) gondola to Dodger Stadium? She said her stepmother made the remark just after finding him with Bridges. Copyright 2023 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. Most Facebook users can now claim settlement money. Harris sons visited her at the Mountain View Unit prison in Gainesville, Texas, every month. #inline-recirc-item--id-92ae5a70-8c88-11e2-b06b-024c619f5c3d ~ .item:nth-child(5) { "She stepped on the accelerator and went straight for him," Lindsey Harris told jurors. Since it only showed Harris circling the parking lot, and since David was barely visible, the defense argued she only hit him once. "He once told me that he would like to spend the rest of his life with me, and he did," Bridges said. Harris was released in 2018, a full five years before completing her sentence. 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. 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's not fair to dangle those two boys out in front of you the way that she has.". Copyright 2023 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. 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. The owner of Blue Moon Investigations said that they did not do anything wrong. Harris If jurors find she acted under the legal definition of sudden passion, she could receive a two-to-20-year sentence. Lori Vallow and Chad Daybell case: A timeline of events She always said that David called Lindsey his angel and now David is her angel. Harris found her husband and Bridges in the hotel lobby. #inline-recirc-item--id-92ad5f4e-8c88-11e2-b06b-024c619f5c3d, #right-rail-recirc-item--id-92ad5f4e-8c88-11e2-b06b-024c619f5c3d { She testified anyway, and Parnham subsequently passed out from tremendous stress in the courthouse hallway and had to be hospitalized. 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. Garza asked Bridges. I hate you! The 45-year-old dentist faces up to life in prison when she is sentenced, though the punishment could be reduced if jurors decide she acted with "sudden passion.". "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.". [1], Clara Suarez, a Colombian immigrant, was named "Mrs Colombia Houston" and worked as a dentist. They got married on March 26, 1968, at St. Clements Episcopal Church in New York. Shortly thereafter, appellant and her step-daughter, Lindsey Harris, drove to the hotel. A dozen photojournalists flocked to Harris first court appearance. Henry married his first cousin, Lucretia Riggan, the daughter of Ann Harris and Francis Riggan, on December 12, 1819. 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Harris gets 20 years for Mercedes murder - Feb. 14, 2003 - CNN He pointed out that even David Harris' parents and brother had testified on Clara Harris' behalf. When the car stopped, Lindsey ran around to the drivers side. It was an accident. Her husband later opened Space Center Orthodontics outside of Houston. But shes a wonderful woman. Join Facebook to connect with Lyndsey Harris and others you may know. "Soon after that, it all turned into massive turmoil, and the only thing that I could do was to yell for help for someone to please, please get her off of me.". 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. The Legislature Is Poised to Send Them More Inmates. A Wife Betrayed Finds Sympathy at Murder