In the summer of 2002, the most riveting and dominant news story in the Greater Houston area was that of the murder of prominent orthodontist, David Lynn Harris by his very successful wife (a dentist), Clara Harris. The two owned a very profitable practice south of Houston and achieved a very high quality of life. Following the media frenzy, the story became a national obsession.
Clara Harris was very suspicious of her husband and suspected that he was guilty of having an affair. She believed a private investigator confirmed her deepest fears. Harris decided to confront her husband and her mistress at a hotel. The narrative of what happened can be found in the following series of videos.
The first video shows what happened after Clara confronted her husband and alleged lover. Harris proceeded to run him over — not once, but several times. Warning, this film footage is disturbing.
In July of 2003, Harris was found guilty of killing her husband and received a twenty year prison sentence. After two unsuccessful attempts at a parole, she finally received one and was released, May 11, 2018. You can see her being released in the video below.
One of the most fascinating aspect of this story is the release of the conversation Harris had with with her private investigator. In that phone call her investigator informed Harris that she had captured video of the dentist running over her husband. It is amazing how Harris keeps her cool, but she is also clearly troubled by the revelation.
The aftermath of the murder has been a media frenzy. The result led to a made for TV movie for Lifetime Movies (presented in its entirety here):
This incident is just one more example of fact being stranger than fiction.
