Morbid - Episode 682: The Murder of David Harris (Part 1)

Episode Date: June 19, 2025

Part 1 of 2: On the afternoon of July 24, 2002, Clara Harris learned that her husband, David Harris, was having an affair with his secretary. Incensed, Clara went to the hotel where the David and his mistress had just checked in and confronted the couple before being escorted out by hotel staff. However, the argument between David and Clara continued in the parking lot, only ending when Clara ran her husband down with her car, driving over him three separate times and killing him.The trial of Clara Harris proved to be as exciting and dramatic as the marriage and the explosive argument that ended David’s life. The defense had tried to frame the murder as a crime of passion, an act of “sudden passion” committed by a woman rejected and scorned. That defense fell apart immediately when, without warning or expectation, Clara Harris decided to testify on her own behalf, at which point she essentially confessed to murder, sending the courtroom into chaos.The trial of Clara Harris for the murder of her husband garnered national attention, not only for the defense of “sudden passion,” but also for the unusually high amount of drama and scandalous details that emerged in the testimony at trial.Thank you to the Incredible Dave White of Bring Me the Axe Podcast for research and Writing support!ReferencesClara L. Harris v. The State of Texas. 2004. 01-03-00177-CR (Court of Appeals for the First District of Texas, December 16).Hollandsworth, Skip. 2002. "Suburban madness." Texas Monthly, November: 117-169.Long, Steven. 2004. Out of Control. New York, NY: St. Martin's.Madigan, Nick. 2003. "Houston woman on trial in killing of husband testifies." New York Times, February 6.—. 2003. "Jury gives 20-year term in murder of husband." New York Times, February 15.—. 2003. "Trial in killing of orthodontist goes to jury." New York Times, February 13.—. 2003. "Wife testifies she was 'in a fog' just before her car struck." New York Times, February 8.—. 2003. "Woman who killed spouse with car is guilty of murder." New York Times, February 14.—. 2003. "Youth who saw killing says stepmother 'stomped' accelerator and 'went for' father." New York Times, January 30.Zernike, Kate. 2003. "A wife betrayed finds sympathy at murder trial." New York Times, January 24.Stay in the know - wondery.fm/morbid-wondery.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Hey weirdos, before we dive into today's twisted tale, let me tell you about a place where the darkness never ends. Wondery Plus. It's like stepping into a haunted mansion where the floorboards creak with ad-free episodes and early access to new episodes lurks around every corner. So come join us, if you dare. Morbid is available one week early and ad-free only on Wondery Plus. You can join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app or

an Apple Podcast or Spotify. You're listening to a Morbid Network podcast. Honey, what are you doing? You wanted me to improve my guns for the summer? You know, sun's out, guns out. Great arms, babe, but that's not what I meant. Before you head into the mountains or the range, stop by SiWash Sports. From airsoft to paintball to tactical gear to ammo, they've got it. They've even got 410 ammo in stock, plus incredible deals on Wethery, Zeiss, Vortex, Savage, Tika,

Browning and Winchester. Shop the Fraser Valley's SiWash Sports in Chilliwack and at CywashSports.ca. I'm John Robbins and on my podcast I sit down with incredible people to ask the very simple question, how do you cope? From confronting grief and mental health struggles to finding strength in failure, every episode is a raw and honest exploration of what it means to be human. It's not always easy but it's always real. Whether you're looking for inspiration, comfort, or just a reminder that you're not alone in life's messier moments,

join me on How Do You Cope? Follow now wherever you get your podcasts, or listen to episodes early and ad free on Wondery Plus. How Do You Cope is brought to you by Audible, who make it easy to embark on a wellness journey that fits your life, with thousands of audiobooks, guided meditations and motivational series. Hey Weirdos, I'm Elena. I'm Ash. And this is Morbid. It's morbid with no tech neck. We were just talking.

I didn't know what tech neck was. If you don't know what tech neck is, listener, it's when your cousin takes a picture of you and you realize that you have a whole ass hump in the back of your neck because you've been slouching over your computer for years. That's so scary. Like if you work like a desk job or something and you're like really slouched over your computer, it can result in like a straight up curvature of your spine.

So you end up getting like a hump in your neck. That's so crazy. So now I am trying to sit up straight and shoulders back, baby. Shoulders back. Cause you, the good news is it is reversible. I did a lot of that picture was taken of me. I looked at it and we did research immediately.

We said how do we reverse this? We did some tech neck research. Tech neck out. On it, technology is not, it's not killing it. It's not good for the human body. It's really not good for us. I think. It's good for us some ways.

It's very good for us in some ways. But man, I think it's going too far. I think that's the problem is we can never just do things right as a species. We always have to take it way too far. I know. The thing that sucks is that like sitting like this is so uncomfortable. Yeah, it is. Like I feel so fucking weird right now.

She's just straight up. I'm just so straight right now. I'm so straight right now. Happy Pride Month. up. I'm just so straight. I'm so straight right now. So straight right now. Happy Pride Month. Look at that. Happy Pride Month. Happy Pride Month, I'm just straight now.

She's decided she's gonna be straight. She's gonna sit straight. In body language. Just kidding. But speaking of technology that went too far. Go girl. Oh look at that. Motherfucking segue.

We might have tech neck but but we got quick brains. We still not have tech brains. Melina doesn't have tech neck because she's a bitch. It's because I am always rigid. I know, I'm too loosey goosey. I'm always rigid in my posture because I sit very... And I'll catch myself sometimes sitting too rigidly. Those things where people are like, hey, relax your shoulders

and like unclench your jaw. I'm always like, who? Don't, because you'll get tech jaw. Because I'm always like, my jaw is super tense as we know. But anyway, speaking of that was a good segue. I don't want to, I don't want to get too far away from it. Speaking of technology that's gone too far. This is just a little like a documentary recommendation kind of thing.

Recommendation, that's the word. I haven't had enough coffee. Wow, I said our brains are quick too early on. So I got super hyper fixated on the Titan submersible thing when it was happening. I think a lot of us did. Very hyper fixated. I learned so much about submersibles. I would be sitting next to John on the couch and just be like, can I just tell you how

carbon fiber is made? Like he was just like sure. And so it went away after I was like, you know, I've always been like fixated on it. But now exactly onto the next. And now HBO did a documentary implosion, the Titanic sub disaster. I got to see this. I haven't finished it yet because it's long and I'm old and I fell asleep. Not because it's not fun and good, but because I'm old and I fell asleep. It is so good so far and also horrifying to watch. The amount of, we're going to cover this in an episode. Like that's a case.

Full episode because this is, it is incredible how much was ignored in the making. It's so scary. And in the like this whole trip, it was so avoidable. It is, I mean, we all knew it was avoidable because like you choose to get in the sub to go down to the Titanic, but I don't even mean in that way. I mean, he ignored every single Stockton Rush ignored experts, or he would fire people around him that told him this thing is going to break. This thing needs a new hole. Like the hole is cracked. It's you need to scrap it. He would just fire people. He's just that

guy who like surrounded himself. Like, it's like he surrounded himself with yes people. Well, that's it. I'm taking an astrology class right now, as you know. I'm big into like woo-woo classes right now. I love the woo-woo class version of you. But I love, if you've been listening to the show, I've like always really been interested in astrology, but I've only really known like the tip of the iceberg. Yeah.

So I'm like, let's fucking go deeper. And like, we're going to learn how to read charts in this class. I only had like the first one. So we learned about like the planets and what they mean, and the different signs and like what they all represent. And so I got a text from my teacher this morning, basically being like, I guess, so Pluto went into, yeah, that's right, Pluto went into Aquarius, because the planets move this past November. And Pluto is all about, like, use and abuse and misuse of power, beginnings and endings,

transformation, like, technological shit. And then Aquarius is, like, unpredictability, rapid changes, uh, like, information science, mathematics, like, that kind of thing. So she had sent a news article this morning, and was like, you know, like, send us anything that represents Pluto and Aquarius energy. And Alina and I were talking about this whole thing.

And I was like, I'm really interested in this guy's chart, like what his fucking chart is, because he's just a very interesting, fascinating man in a dark way. Yeah. He has his Pluto and Aquarius. Yeah, which is crazy, because it was literally like an hour after I had got that text. So I sent it to my group chat. I know, it was weird. And my teacher was like, great example.

Look at that. And then she asked me a lot of in-depth questions about the chart. And I said, I don't know yet. I don't know yet. I don't know yet, but I will look. But now I'm excited to see what Stockton Rush's chart is because I mean, I would love it. Like when Aliza Kelly told us like, you know, what like stars over Salem, like, I'm like, tell me about this guy.

That's my goal is to get to Aliza Kelly's like fucking level level. Yeah, I was gonna say era. I mean, get to her era as well. But that will take me years. But I can only hope to be as good as her. Oh, you will. Thank you. You'll get there.

Thank you so much. And then the two of you will just be charting all over the place. My God, you can come chart with us. And I'll just be like, tell me things. It's fascinating. It really is. And like, people can say that astrology is like, woo, woo, it's not real, blah, blah, bitch. There's something to it, man. Ancient civilizations, I found out, used to use astrology

and like look at the planets to figure out when kings were going to die, when great famine would hit, like all these different things. So fuck you, it's real. So fuck you, it's real. That's how I feel about astrology. That's the mode of today. And it's just fascinating. Well, go watch that documentary Implosion because I'm telling you, it'll fascinate you. And then we'll do, we'll cover it like once we get all the research together. And then maybe by that time, I'll have gone a little bit further in my class. And I can tell you a little bit more about this guy's chart. I love that. Because that's that's kind of fun.

That's really fun. Yeah. She actually said we're going to look at some like serial killers charts and stuff like that, which I do feel like will be fascinating. Oh, for sure. Because obviously a lot of it is, you know, I think certain things in your life are kind of predetermined. But then I think some are like free will. Oh, for sure. Because obviously a lot of it is, you know, I think certain things in your life are kind of predetermined, but then I think some are like free will. Oh, for sure. So it'll be interesting.

It's the nature versus nurture of it all. Yeah, it'll be interesting to look up. And I can't wait to watch that documentary. Yes, it's really good. It's on HBO. Yeah, this one's on HBO. I think there's going to be another one too on like Netflix. Oh, shit.

I think there is one on Netflix right now. Because it's like two years. Which is like crazy. Or no, one year. It's one year. Okay. Right? I think it's only one. It's only one year that this happened.

I can Google it. I think it was 2024. I think you're right. No. Is it 2023? Okay, so I was right. I need to go with my gut more. No, you should.

I'm sorry for doubting you. Holy shit, that was two years ago. It was two years because I remember being shocked. I was like, wait, what? Yeah. And on June 18th, it'll be two years. Yeah. Isn't that nuts? Yes. I'm actually like a little bit shocked. Like how is this time a real thing?

No, it's a flat circle. It really is. Well, speaking of like time being a real thing, actually, we have a case today. And I was thinking about it this morning because I like got this together like a few days ago. And then I was thinking about it. I was like, I remember watching some of this morning, because I got this together a few days ago. And then I was thinking about it, I was like, I remember watching some of this play out on the news. I feel like I watched a snapped episode of this

when I was far too young. I mean, probably. Because as I was going through this the other day, I was like, I know that this is a very well-known case. It's the murder of David Harris and Clara Harris runs him over with her car. Ooh. Yeah, I definitely remember this. and Clara Harris runs him over with her car. Ooh. Yeah, I definitely remember this. Horrible.

I remember it. But I had this like epiphany this morning where I was like, I think I knew like a lot more about this when I was like much younger. Because what were you? When was this? 2002. I was... You were six.

Six. But I think like later on, like when I was like eight or nine, I saw like some special about it. Yeah. Because I was like, damn. Yeah, no, like when I was like eight or nine, I saw like some special about it. Yeah. Yeah. I was like, damn. Yeah, no, not when I was six. I mean, in the news when you were six again, I used to fall asleep to like forensic files

as a child. So but let's get into it. So on the afternoon of July 24, 2002, Clara Harris just casually asked her stepdaughter, Lindsay, if she wanted to go for a drive, get out, enjoy the beautiful summer weather. Lindsey was 16 at the time. So one, she was like, hell, yeah, let's go joy riding in your Mercedes. She loved her stepmom. They got along great. Well, that's nice. And this didn't seem unusual at all. Clara loved showing off her Mercedes.

She loved driving it and just was like their thing to do. Yeah. For her, the car was a symbol of the success that she and her husband, David, had achieved in their 10 years of marriage, including a thriving dental practice in the suburbs of Houston, Texas. Look at that. They're very well-to-do people. Because Lindsay lived with her mom during the school year and she spent summers with Claire and her father, she welcomed the opportunity to hang out with her stepmom and happily accepted the offer. They had actually gotten really close in the last couple of months, having bonded over the recent revelation that David Harris, Clara's husband and Lindsay's father was having an

affair with his secretary, Gail Bridges. Oh, yes. What a thing to bond over. Uh huh. I think they both felt hurt in different ways. Of course they did. You know? Yeah. It's just like, wow, what a trauma bond.

Yeah, I think a lot of times, like, we don't realize that, like, affairs affect kids as much as they do. Oh, yeah. And like, when kids find out about them, they also feel duped. Well, they feel betrayed, yeah. It's a level of betrayal that's similar to what the spouse feels. Yeah, which is interesting. But just a few weeks earlier, Clara had confronted David, her husband, about the affair and he agreed to end it. But the damage had been done and

he was going to have to work very hard to earn back not only his wife's trust, but his daughters as well. Ew, I also hate the like grossness of like you're having an affair with your secretary. It's very cliche. Like, It's very cliche. Get it together. Yeah. Both of you. Yeah.

Gail and David. Agreed. Well, Clara was very upset that afternoon and Lindsay knew that much. As far as Lindsay could tell, it had something to do with her dad and his mistress, Gail Bridges. Lindsay also knew that in the weeks leading up to her father's affair being exposed, that Clara had hired a private investigator to follow David and Gail. And it was that private investigator who had just called the house before Clara asked Lindsay to go for a drive. So she was like, obviously these two things are

connected. At first, it seemed like Clara was just driving aimlessly. But soon it became clear to Lindsay that this was not a casual afternoon drive. It was very much an excuse to hunt around town looking for David and Gail. Oh, no, don't do that. Don't do that with his kids. Don't do that with his kids. Yeah, don't do that. Don't do that with any kid. Don't do that.

Don't do that with kids. That's a solo activity. Don't involve. That's a solo activity. And even then, like, don't hurt your own feelings. Yeah. Well, this didn't come as much as a surprise to Lindsay. She knew that her father

actually had plans with Gail that evening and the plans were supposed to be to formally end their relationship. So it made sense to Lindsay that they would be out with each other. But what didn't make sense was Clara's emotional state as they drove. Like Lindsay, Clara also knew that David was planning to meet Gail that evening to end things. So it really shouldn't have come as much of a surprise when the PI called and said that they were meeting. Yeah. And Lindsay remembered years later, she was just on a mission to find out where he was and she was crying, which is really sad.

That's really sad. That afternoon, Clara drove to all of the places she knew that David and Gail liked to go to together, including to Gail's home, but there was no sign of David's car anywhere. So eventually Clara pulled over and asked Lindsay to take over driving so that she could place a call to Blue Moon, which was the private investigation firm that she had hired. At Clara's instruction, Lindsay just drove from one location to another, but no matter where they went, it didn't seem that Gail and David were there. Lindsay said later she she was so confused. We were just gonna forget about it and go shopping, which came as a relief, but then Clara's phone rang.

We're just so sad knowing that detail that like this almost went away. Yeah, like we were just gonna go shopping. And you just forget about it. Just go shop, retail therapy girl, spend his money. Spend his money. Spend his fucking money. Yes.

Make them pay that way. They can literally pay with that. Yes, exactly. Nobody deserves to pay with their life. So it's like, make him pay with actual money. It's like that, hey ladies. Yes. When you make him try to get fucked loud.

Literally. And it's like, damn, you just wish that had gone that way. I know. For many of the people involved. You know what I mean? When you find out this next bit that I'm going to say, it's like, this wasn't even supposed to happen. Because despite a company rule about not returning clients'

requests for updates until the following day, a policy put in place to prevent messy or even potentially dangerous situations, private investigator Lucas Baca told Clara he had picked up David's trail, and that he and Gail had checked into a local hotel and were either on the fourth or sixth floor, but said that he couldn't provide any more details until the following day. But it's like, first of all, you already provided enough details for this to get messy and dangerous. Yes, absolutely. You did. And then not one to be denied something that

she thought she was entitled to. Clara eventually just pride the remaining details out of him. And it was worse than she ever could have imagined. Well, and imagine I can't fathom one, finding out that your husband is having an affair with his secretary. My God. I can't fathom that. No, it's why our husbands don't have secretaries. Yeah, no, you can't have secretaries. But also it's just like that must I can't imagineathom that. That's why our husbands don't have secretaries. Yeah, no, you can't have secretaries. I'm just kidding. But also it's just like, I can't imagine the feeling of that. I really can't.

Like that's awful. I've been cheated on by like ex-boyfriends. I know that that sucks. I just can't imagine going through with like marriage and having it happen. Marriage, kids. That must be a whole different kind of vibe. And then also to then know that like their meeting to end it would be also fucked up

of a feeling because you know they're meeting. And when they're breaking up. And you're not there. Like he's breaking up with the woman that he's having an affair with. Like it's just like what? It's a wild concept. And then to then be hearing they just checked into a hotel and you're sitting here with his daughter. Yeah. Because you're why are you breaking it checked into a hotel and you're sitting here with his daughter.

Yeah. Because you're, why are you breaking it off at a hotel? And it's, well, that's the thing. It's like, what are the implications? And it's like, you just know, like, and again, this is what I mean. Like nobody should pay with their life for these kind of indiscretions. No way. But like bar it hands down.

Like that's it. But it's like, you just wonder, like, you're just like, oh my god, that was like shot after shot for her. Like, and you just, ugh. She wasn't supposed to have that information that day. She just shouldn't have had that information, you know what I mean? There was a company policy put into place. That this kind of information can set somebody into a tailspin.

And the fact that like the company policy already was in place tells you there had been situations in the past where they had to then put that policy in place. Or they'd at least seen enough evidence to know like this could go, this could go gnarly if we really, you know, because you just don't, you don't need to give all that information. Yeah. People in heightened emotional states do crazy terrible things. The human species is very flawed that way. They sure are.

We need to be aware of it. But it's just like, there's those two sides of that coin where it's like he did not deserve to pay with his life. Last year long crime brought you the trial that captivated the nation. He's accused of hitting her boyfriend Boston police officer John O'Keefe with a car Karen Reed is arrested and charged with second degree murder. The 6 week trial resulted in anything but resolution. We continue to find ourselves at an impasse I'm declaring a The six-week trial resulted in anything but resolution. But now the case is back in the spotlight.

And one question still lingers. Did Karen Reed kill John O'Keefe? I'm Kristin Thorn, investigative reporter with Law and Crime and host of the podcast, Karen, The Retrial. This isn't just a retrial, it's a second chance at the truth. I have nothing to hide.

My life is in the balance and it shouldn't be. I just want people to go back to who the victim is in this. It's not her. Listen to episodes of Karen, The Retrial, exclusively and ad free on Wondery Plus. Inspired by the hit Wondery podcast Against the Odds comes the gripping guidebook, How to Survive Against the Odds, Tales and Tips for Animal Attacks and Natural Disasters. This might just be the most important book you'll ever read. Go inside life or death situations where everyday people survived nature's most extreme scenarios. And learn how you can too.

In these tales, you'll hear about the grit, willpower and know-how needed to endure shipwrecks, alligator attacks, earthquakes and more. You'll learn from experts including top doctors about what happens to your body and mind in life-threatening situations. Plus important tips on what to do and equally important what not to do when faced with a situation that is truly against the odds. Go to www.survivalguidebook.com to get your copy of how to Survive Against the Odds Today, or visit your favorite bookstore.

Well, so as far as Claire and Lindsay knew, like I said, David's plan was to meet Gayle but at a local restaurant, a public place where it was much less likely that there would be a scene. But according to the PI, the couple had checked into the Nassau Bay Hilton in Houston, which to add insult to injury was the same hotel where David and Clara had their wedding reception a decade earlier. Let that sink in for a second. And then when you know how this all ends, it's like you walked out that door as newlyweds, and then like, he ends his, like, he doesn't end his own life, but his life ends there. Like what a horrible, tragic, on another level.

And also like Gail, does Gail know that Gail must know that he has an entire family? Yeah. Honestly, Gail, go fuck yourself. She might have been told some interesting details that we'll get to, but still. Please. So when she heard the news, Clara's attitude and Demeter apparently changed immediately, where she had previously been very determined, irritated, confused even. Now she was silent, humorless, just affectless, like in another world entirely.

That must have been so scary. For Lindsay. For Lindsay. Absolutely, she's 16 years old. And to see someone just live, like to go numb like that, like affectless is like, whoa. Like we've crossed over into dangerous territory. Really dangerous territory.

And she's 16, she knows that. Yeah, of course. So Clara dialed the phone again, this time calling the house to speak with the nanny who was taking care of the couple's two other children. Oh man. Yeah. When Maria Gonzalez answered the phone, Clara told her in a flat, even tone to, quote,

pack her husband's best clothes in the couple's oldest suitcase and place it outside the door in the garage. And the rest of his clothes, she told Gonzalez, could just be thrown in the trash. Damn. Which I think was really nice of her to let him keep his oldest clothes. And honestly I wish it had just gone there. Just kick that motherfucker out. And then go spend the money. That's it. No one gets hurt physically. When she hung up the phone though, Clara, in the same flat tone as she had used with

the nanny, instructed her stepdaughter to go to the Nassau Bay Hilton. Oh no. It was about 8.30 PM when Lindsay pulled the Mercedes into the Hilton lot and parked in one of the guest spaces and then followed Clara into the lobby. Oh no, she should not be part of this. I didn't even realize that she was like, I didn't- such a big part of-

I always knew that she was there, like that's such a big part of the story, but I didn't realize how there she was. That she was like brought into the lobby and shit like that. She should not be witnessing this kind of shit. No, this poor girl, lots and lots of trauma. Yeah.

So at the front desk, Clara asked for her husband's room number, but she was told that nobody was registered under that name. So she asked for the room number of Gale Bridges, but received the same response. She's getting nowhere, so she lied to the clerk. And she was like, Listen, my son is sick. I need to get in touch with my husband immediately. Like, I know he's here. But the clerk only repeated that there wasn't anybody registered under those names. So he just couldn't help her. Later, after detectives went through the hotel security footage and

records, they learned that the clerk had been telling the truth. David Harris had paid cash in advance for the room, so the clerk hadn't bothered with the usual check-in procedures like getting his guests, like the guest names or their license numbers. So feeling frustrated and defeated, Clara did a slow walk around the lobby one final time, Lindsay just reluctantly in tow. And as they were heading back to the car, Clara spotted what she thought was Gale Bridge's car in one of the spaces in the employee parking lot. When she got closer, she saw some of the identifying details and confirmed that it was indeed Gale's car. And she turned back in the direction of the hotel lobby,

but not before ripping off the rear windshield wiper and dragging her keys along the side of the vehicle. Damn, Yeah. Carrie Underwood style. Oof. So the explosive attack on Gail's car seemed to have exhausted Clara briefly. I've never keyed a car personally, but I feel like. No, I feel like that would exhaust you.

And ripping the windshield wipers off that I can't even get my windshield wipers off when I'm supposed to. And here's the thing. It's like, this is like, this is wrong. I know you're angry. You have every right to be angry. She has every right to feel whatever feeling she is feeling right now.

Yeah. You gotta hold to some of that stuff. You know what I mean? You gotta do it in a better way. It's like, you can't be destroying property. You can't be killing people. When you're a mom, like you're a mom in this scenario to Lindsay, like a stepmom.

Yeah, you gotta. You're a parental figure to her. And you have two other kids. Exactly. Like you gotta a mom in this scenario to Lindsay, like a stepmom. Yeah, you got you got a you're a parental figure to her to other kids. Exactly. Like you got to think of them and say, this is going to get me in trouble. Yeah. And this is bad to show them as a way to get your anger out. You know what I mean? It's like, obviously, I've never been in this situation. So it's like, but you it's just like, oh, no. And you can just see it like escalating really quickly. Because I can't imagine being...

Like, I don't think I've ever been cheated on. Drew's like my only serious relationship and he definitely never cheated on me. But being cheated on in like a relationship where there's no kids is one whole world and level of hurt. Being cheated on by your husband when you have multiple kids together is like a whole other level of Yeah, that's gotta be a

Cuz now you're thinking of them. Yeah, like you cheated. That's happening to them You didn't just cheat on your wife you cheated on your family. Exactly. And that's the hard part and it's like yeah So she's just not thinking clearly But so now she's consumed with rage and she's determined to get David out into the opening of the hotel lobby. So she had Lindsay call her father's cell phone and he answered right away and Lindsay as instructed told him, you need to come home. Bradley is sick. That was one of their sons. Yeah. So he was like, okay, I'll be right there and hung up. Clara and Lindsay watched the bank of elevators from outside the glass front doors of the hotel, just waiting for David and Gail to emerge. After a few minutes passed and they still hadn't appeared,

Clara herself called David's phone and repeated the earlier message that their son was sick. And again, David said he was on his way immediately. By that point, Clara had gone back into the lobby and was waiting right by the elevators to confront him when he came out. Which, honestly, you wish that that had happened. Well, that does happen. But I honestly, you wish that that had happened.

Well, that does happen. Like confront, but I mean, like, and that's it. And period. Like just confrontation in a public place. Yeah. Because that's bad enough. Like that's bad enough. Yeah.

But it's like, you're not, nobody's getting hurt. Everybody leaves alive. Yeah, you're in a public place. Like obviously you don't want that to happen at all. But it's like, if it's gonna happen, that you wish that was the end of that. And then it's just like, and then divorce. Yes. The end.

Like get out of there. Yeah. Well, so anticipating the confrontation, Lindsay convinced her stepmother to go back outside and wait. She's like, we shouldn't wait right here. And this 16 year old trying to diffuse the situation, you feel so hard for her.

Oh, I feel Lindsay, I want to like gather up and hug. And just go take her shopping. Like I know she's a grown adult now because this was 2002. Yeah, but that trauma probably still lives in her. I still want to give you a hug because this was a lot. A lot. An unimaginable thing to go through. When she's being the adult here, she's saying to Clara,

like, we don't want to cause a scene. She's trying to de-escalate. Exactly. She's trying to de-escalate. So she does try to. But unfortunately, that didn't do a lot of good. Lindsay said she was calm until she saw Dad and Gail come out. Then because Lindsay was able to get her inside or outside. But then she said she ran inside. She was ready to go inside and fight. As soon as she saw David and Gail come out of those elevators, Clara rushed into the lobby and just started hitting Gail. Oh, see.

Tearing her shirt open, just starting a brawl with this woman. And as far as Clara was concerned, this was the woman who had stolen her husband and destroyed her family. And it's like, yeah, like, you know, she's the other woman. That's not good. That's not a good person to be. At the same time, you don't know what he's told her. Well, also, it doesn't even matter if she's like full on doesn't give a shit that he has a whole... It doesn't even matter.

Yup. It's like, you can't physically attack someone and you can't... And what is it getting you? Right. That's the thing. A charge. Many times, I have wanted to physically hurt someone. Same.

For sure. Same. Like, that's just, we're animals. We are animals. It's a thing. It's a primal instinct. Anger can, and fight or flight, fight is part of it. Yeah. And it's like that is, it's going to happen. But you have to fight against that instinct. Because again, especially as a parent, as a human, but especially as a parent when you have even more

under your responsibility, not just yourself. And more to lose. Like, you know what I mean? Like, especially as a parent, you have to sit there and go, is this worth it? This momentary second of getting all my rage out on this woman and feeling like, hell yeah, I just punched her in the face.

Probably not. Is that gonna be, how long is that gonna last? It's gonna last a split and feeling like, hell yeah, I just punched her in the face. Probably not. Is that gonna be, how long is that gonna last? It's gonna last a split second of like, that felt good. And then boom, reality is gonna hit you like a fucking 747 jet. It's like, that is not gonna be good. Cause then you're gonna catch a charge. Your kids are gonna have to see

how you reacted to a situation. They might take cues from how you reacted to a situation and think that's how they should act. Or could be embarrassed by the situation depending on how old they are. There's a lot of layers. It's bad. And you are now walking around. Even this is like, oh, girl.

And it shows you that she was just... Out of her mind. Gone. Out of her mind. Gone. Because this is such an overreaction, you know? It is. It is. So she yelled in Gail's face, you bitch, she's my husband, and just knocked her to the floor. She was just repeatedly striking Gail in the face and in the head.

And she looked up at all the guests who were just, you know, crowding around watching in a mix of horror and curiosity because we're all terrible people. And told them, this is David Harris and he's fucking this woman right here. Damn. Huh? Like, oh, you hear this stuff and you get...

You look so wild. You look so wild. And it's like, you get the emotion behind it. Absolutely. That's the thing. I cannot stress enough that like the emotions that would come with this would be horrific. And I can't imagine you would want to embarrass this man. Yeah.

But you're also embarrassing yourself. That's the thing. You're really not just embarrassing them. Yeah. And again, there's a child here. Yeah. There's a child not only involved, there's. And again, there's a child here. Yeah. There's a child not only involved, there's children involved, but there's a child literally present.

You're physically present. And it's like, this is just, that's going to affect her forever. Witnessing just that. Yeah. You know, if that was where it ended, that was going to fuck her up. And again, she's taking, she's a child, she's taking cues from you and she's very upset with her father. So now she's implicated in things and done things that she probably regrets.

Yeah, and it's pitting, it's pitting this Lindsay, her emotions against her father, which obviously he made a massive mistake. It's like, was, you know, it's not like there was this like whole, you know, she hated him because he was physically abusive kind of thing to her or anything like that. Like, I mean, like Lindsay. Like, you know, this is all purely emotion based and betrayal based, which is a very real thing. Absolutely.

But to involve her in that kind of like emotional fight there, like you're having with him, is involve, is like directly inviting her into the trauma with you, when she should be able to deal with it in a way that she, because she's gonna feel betrayed by him. And she needs to deal, that's the thing, in a different way, she needs to deal with her piece of it

and not co-opt yours. Because your marriage does not equate to their relationship. Of course, again, like we said, she's going to feel a betrayal, but she's going to feel a betrayal as a daughter and not as a spouse. And those are two different things that need to be worked out in two very different ways. In two very different therapy rooms. And this is very much involving her in the romantic relationship of it all, which is a messier.

Way messier. In a totally different way, you know, kind of situation. It just is very upsetting. Well, so it didn't take long before several hotel employees rushed over to the scene and started trying to separate Gail and Clara. By then, Clara's anger had turned into uncontrollable rage. As one employee was pulling her away from Gail, she clung to the woman's blouse and nearly ripped it off. And then when she lost her grip on the shirt, she grabbed Gail's leg and bit down hard on her leg. She's like animal level right at this point.

I was just gonna say, this is animalistic. So when it was clear that hotel employees were having no luck separating the two women, David finally stepped in and put his hand on Clara's forehead and pushed her away to the floor, giving the desk clerk enough time to get Gail outside to her car,

and David walking a few feet behind after Gail. This is just so bad in every way. No one is making a correct decision here in how to act. No. Like, none of this was okay. Because he's not helping de-escalate this situation in any way, shape or form. And it's like, this is just not good.

It's horrible. So with Gail removed from the situation, things seemed to calm for a moment as the clerk then walked Clara and Lindsay out to the car in the parking lot. But then sitting behind the wheel of the Mercedes, Clara started crying as one of the guests, Evangelos Smiros, helped her into the driver's seat.

Just the fight having gone completely out of her. Now she's sobbing. And this sweet man is helping her in her car. Which I'm also like, don't let her drive right now. I know. He doesn't know her. Nobody could have predicted this. No, no, no, no.

So he closed the door and started to walk away. And then he heard the tires of Clara's car screech as she threw it into gear. He said she was screaming again, crying hysterical out of control. And then he watched as Clara threw the car into drive and tore through the parking lot in the direction of the hotel's front entrance. And Lindsay's in the car. Lindsay's in the car. See already, which is devastating. Not only are you like, you're out of control. You're reckless. You're endangering. No matter what is gonna happen here, you're endangering this child.

Yeah. That's fucked up. It is fucked up. Like get your emotions in check. You are an adult. Yeah, you absolutely are. This is a very emotional scene. I get it. This is fucked up in every way.

But you gotta check yourself. Get yourself together. Check yourself fucked up in every way. But you got to check yourself. Get yourself together. Check yourself. Become an adult. And also, it's one thing to try, like you were just saying, when there's kids in the equation, you have to think of them first. You have to do that when they're not there. She's sitting there right next to you as a reminder that you need to check yourself. She's right there. Every decision I make in my life, I think of my children and what that decision is going to do to affect them

Of course you do every single decision whether they are in the room with me not in the room with me Whether I'm somewhere else if they're in the fucking car with me It's a lot easier a lot easier to make that decision because they're right there And it's like you got to become an adult in this situation, and she just didn't So smearos tried to catch up to the car yelling for her to stop that she's going to hurt someone, but she already picked up speed. Oh, and that poor man. I know. He's just trying to stop it. He, all he could do at this point is watch as she

drove away. At the front entrance of the Hilton, the desk clerk, Garrett Clark, was standing on the curb watching David Harris walk back into the hotel after saying bye to Gail. After saying bye to Gail. He could hear Evangelos Smiros yelling just moments before he saw Clara's Mercedes swerve around Gail's car. He said, I saw her driving very fast around the corner and accelerating towards me. She clipped the rear bumper of Gail's car as she swerved around, just as Clark turned to see her intended target, David Harris. He said, I saw bulging eyes, a terrified look in his eyes. I then saw the Mercedes hit David

Harris and then come to a complete stop. Nicole Zichal-Blaire This must have been absolutely horrifying to watch. Um, yeah. Nicole Zichal-Blaire And all I'm thinking about in this moment is obviously David Harris did not deserve this at all and probably did not. Who can predict that this is going to happen? You know what I mean? Like people cheat on people all the time and you don't always hear of this outcome. But you know, like it's nobody's like hurting somebody physically or like killing anybody here. And it's like until now until now. And it's like, this has been escalated

to a point where it's no longer. Lindsay is in the car that just struck her father. I'm thinking of David Harris here who like made a mistake and is not, you know, the good guy in this situation up until this point, but he did not deserve this. And then Lindsay in this fucking out of control car with somebody who is so animalistic that they can't even see straight.

Stop for a second. Like this poor child is probably like, what is gonna happen? Is she gonna like send us into the side of this building? Like, are we gonna die here? Yeah, and the car has just hit her father. And she watches as her father's body was thrown 25 feet into the air

and then landed on the other side of the parking lot median, where obviously it came to a hard thud. Nobody should have to witness this. It only gets worse, Elina. [♪ music playing and chimes playing in background. [♪ music playing and chimes playing in background. [♪ music playing and chimes playing in background. Today is the worst day of Abby's life. The 17-year-old cradles her newborn son in her arms. They all saw how much I loved him.

They didn't have to take him from me. Between 1945 and the early 1970s, families shipped their pregnant teenage daughters to maternity homes and forced them to secretly place their babies for adoption. In hidden corners across America, it's still happening. My parents had me locked up in the godparent home against my will. They worked with them to manipulate me and to steal my son away from me. The godparent home is the brainchild of controversial preacher Jerry Falwell, the father of the modern evangelical right and the founder of Liberty University, where powerful men, emboldened

by their faith, determine who gets to be a parent and who must give their child away. Follow Liberty Lost on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, it's Mr. Ballin here, and I am so excited to tell you all about a podcast from Ballin Studios called Redacted, Declassified Mysteries, and it's hosted by the incredible Luke Lamanna. From covert government experiments to bizarre assassination attempts, Redacted dives deep into the astonishing true stories of uncovered secrets, lies, and deception within the world's most powerful institutions. Stories like the mind-bending truth behind Operation Paperclip, where former Nazi scientists were smuggled into America to

advance U.S. technology and intelligence during the Cold War. Or the shocking story of Charles Manson and the CIA, revealing how a notorious cult leader might have been entangled in a web of covert operations. Trust me when I tell you, the stories are real and the secrets are shocking. Be sure to follow Redacted Declassified Mysteries with Luke Lamanna on the Wondry app or wherever else you get your podcasts. You can listen early and ad-free right now by joining Wondry Plus in the Wondry app or on Spotify or Apple podcasts. Garrett Clark and other guests in the parking lot watched in absolute horror as Clara proceeded to

drive in a loop around the parking lot and over the median where she then drove over her husband's body not one more time, but two more times. I... That's like so beyond... When you have time to stop. That's beyond a snapped moment. Yes. And you have time to stop and realize that what you're doing is wrong. Like after the first... I mean, the first hit alone... Watching your husband's body go 25 feet in the air should absolutely... what you're doing is wrong. Like after the first, I mean, the first hit alone is beyond.

Watching your husband's body go 25 feet in the air should absolutely, like it should never get to that point. That should take you out of your. But that should take you out of it. Hearing the thud of your husband's body after it's been thrown across a parking lot median, come down onto the ground, should snap you out of it. Hearing whatever poor Lindsay is probably doing

in that car should be snapping you out of this situation. And this is haunting. Later, Clark, who was the hotel employee who was just standing by watching all of this, he said, I heard her cackling and laughing as she drove the last two feet before she hit him. I can't stop thinking of Lindsay in that car. Inside the car.

I can't stop thinking of her seeing this woman laughing and cackling. Inside the car, all they could hear was Lindsay screaming, and at one point even trying to get out of the car while it's still moving but slowed down. And she was trying to get out just before her stepmother drove over her father. Because you feel that. Yeah. Like she's feeling every second of this.

She knows she's driving over her father right now. Like... Yup. Like, this is just so beyond... It's on another level. Human emotion. This is like so beyond. So after hitting David for the final time, Clara finally put the car in park.

And according to witnesses, once the car had stopped, Lindsey jumped out of the passenger seat, ran around the driver's side and punched Clara in the face, which warranted... I know I just said, you got to think before you go violent with somebody. You run my dad over with a car, I'm punching you in the face. I'm having human emotions right now. You like to... No, no, no. We're all having human emotions.

And if you disagree with this, you're stupid. It's fine. Whatever. I'm in a car that some of my stepmom is driving and she runs, so like I have a stepmom and a dad. If my stepmom put me in a car at 16 years old and drove over my dad multiple times, I would get out and punch her in the face. Yeah, I can't.

That's my fucking dad. I cannot for one second blame Lindsay in any way, shape or form for punching her in the face. And honestly, she's probably trying to get her out of her fucking stupor. Yeah, like snap out of it. Snap the fuck out of it. Look what you just did. Exactly. Like, now it's all done. God damn.

So then Clara got out of the car, seemingly in a daze, uncertain what to do next. And at this point, she just stood over David's body and started sobbing uncontrollably, then dropped to the ground and cradled him in her arms and started begging him to breathe. Witnesses heard her saying over and over again, I'm so sorry, David, I'm so sorry, I love you.

Wow, she was just gone. Gone. She was just in fucking orbit during that. Because that's the thing, like there's a lot of argument over what her state of mind was when this all happened. For me, like, I think what she did is wrong and I think she deserved to spend time in prison for it.

100,000, gajillion percent. But I don't think she was all there when this happened. And then I think when she realized what she did, she had a moment of fuck. Yeah. Because she starts sobbing and begging him to breathe and telling him how sorry she is and how much she loves him. And I don't think that was for show. I think that was a,

I just fucking killed my husband's moment. Which also, that's a dangerous person. Oh, my God, yeah. That's a really dangerous person that can snap like that. Because that's an impulsive, reckless motherfucker. Well, and that they just blink out like that. You can't just blink out. And then come back and go, oh shit, sorry.

That's the thing, cause I'm not saying, just to be clear, I'm not saying she was insane at the time. No, you're saying she blinked out. Exactly. That's the only phrase I can think of to describe how I'm seeing it is like, she literally just was, boop. Like, I don't think she was criminally insane at all during

this. I think she deserved to go to prison. I think she was fully blinded by the most intense rage that I can. I don't think any of us can conceive of. No, hopefully not. So I think and I think she literally was gone and I think I am blinded by rage. I think is apparently a real thing. I think it could be.

Yeah. Thankfully, I've never experienced it real thing. I think it could be. Thankfully, I've never experienced it. But moments later, so dangerous. So dangerous. Moments later, Houston police arrived at the scene and placed her under arrest for the murder of her husband, which everyone had just watched. Holy shit. So the news of Clara murdering, Clara Harris murdering her husband actually fucking shocked

everyone who knew them. I would assume. Clara and David were, as far as anybody could tell, the perfect couple. In fact, people said they had the type of relationship that they wished they had with their husbands. But that's for sure. Yeah. It tells you that nothing on the outside is real and you don't know anyone's life unless you're in that house with them.

It's true. You don't know anything. All these influencers that we all love online, all these fucking housewives that we watch, we don't know shit. Yeah. But everyone has an opinion. Everybody thinks they know exactly what's going on.

We don't know shit. This is the kind of shit that tells you you have no fucking clue. No. going on. We don't know shit. This is the kind of shit that tells you, you have no fucking clue. No, that's why I don't aspire for anybody's relationship. I focus on my relationship and making it the greatest I can be. You don't look at this is the perfect couple, no, it's the perfect couple.

And it's like, no, I'm concentrating on my own relationship. That's all I can control. So Clara, going back a little ways, Clara had been born in Colombia and raised by a mother who was widowed very young. So she'd seen firsthand what it was like to struggle and to get by. And she vowed that she was going to work hard. She was determined to make a life for herself and support herself. She was actually very successful. After finishing high school in the early 80s, she started studying to become a dentist in Columbia, and then she was accepted into the dental program at the University of Texas Houston, where she finished her studies and started a dental residency at the school. By all accounts,

she was beautiful, she was talented, she was smart, she had a very bright future ahead of her. In fact, just a few months after completing her dental residency at UT Houston, she was crowned Miss Columbia Houston in a local beauty contest. Oh, wow. So she, like, as far as everybody was concerned from the outside, she had it together. Had it all. In every way you possibly could. Had it all.

David met Clara in 1991 when they were both working at Castle Dental Center in Houston. And his father, Gerald, told a reporter, I remember David calling soon after he had met Clara and telling me he was completely smitten. Which is so sad. Like Clara, he was a skilled dentist with a bright future. He was actually very gifted when it came to his personal studies and his chosen profession. But he also had a way with patients that just put them at ease when they sat down. He had, he had a great personality, it seems.

And honestly, with dentists, you need that. You do. You need to be able to put people at ease. According to author, my guy, Skip Hollinsworth, he writes on all the big Texas cases, which I just love. According to Skip Hollinsworth, David, quote, had a charming, folksy nature and used words like golly long after they had fallen out of fashion.

OK, I love that. I do too. I actually love that. I love golly. David had been married once before to Lindsay's mother, but the marriage didn't last long. They separated after just a few years because Lindsay's mother felt like he was too driven, too

career-focused, just didn't have enough time to spend with the family. As divorces go, it was pretty amicable. He got partial custody of Lindsay. He saw her on occasional weekends and holidays. And as we know, she spent summers at his house. So that's a great deal. Yeah. It was true that he was a man driven to succeed in his field. But by the time he met Clara, he was already what most people would consider to be successful. So that drive, you know, diminished a little bit because he's already

So she probably got a little bit of a different version. She did. Yeah, exactly. I think that's a great way to say it. And for that drive, you know, diminished a little bit because he's already. So she probably got a little bit of a different version. She did. Yeah, exactly. I think that's a great way to say it. And for that matter, Clara was also career focused. So I think maybe they had that in common. Yeah. So she and David had a lot in common. They hit it off immediately. And within a year, they were engaged to be married.

They got married at the Windmere Yacht Club in Houston on February 14th, 1992. And as we know, had a large, beautiful reception at the adjacent Nassau Bay Hilton, which is just fucking chilling to me. That is. It is chilling to me that their wedding reception is where she, 10 years later, would kill him. And that's the thing. Their wedding guest parked in that parking lot. But it really all comes down to, you got to be a human, adult human about it, and you

can't go off the handle like this. Like there's ways to handle this. And those ways are you choose to work through it or you divorce. Or you divorce. Like you said, take them to the cleaners. Yeah, take them to the cleaners. Yeah, that's fine. Yeah.

You know, like why not? Yeah. But this is just so upsetting. It is. So yeah, before long David's reputation as a skilled orthodontist had gotten around Houston and he and Clara ended up opening their own practice. It was called Space Center Orthodontics. And the years that followed, they would open several other offices.

Basically they had like a small chain of privately owned orthodontic offices in the Houston area, and they were serving as many as a hundred, 120 clients per day. Wow. So they were like in business and probably making bank. Yeah, they definitely were making bank. I think they were among Houston's richest. Yeah. And 19, maybe not richest, but they were rich in 1993. Clara told a reporter, I found the best. I found the one God had reserved for me. Oh, man. Yeah.

And the feeling was mutual at the time. Like Clara, David had photographs of him and Clara, photos of their family hanging all over the various offices, which tells you everything you need to know. Exactly. And if the photographs weren't enough of a reminder of their love, they spoke on the phone two or three times all throughout the day, all before going home to each other in the evening.

Which seems like it's like great. Yeah, they're in constant contact. After they were married, Clara welcomed Lindsay into her life with open arms, and Lindsay was actually smitten with her father's new wife. That's even sadder because it's like, you love to hear that. You're like, yes, like. Well, that's also like not common. No, which is like really sad, you love to hear that. You're like, yes. Like, well, that's also like not common. No, which is like really sad, you know?

Yeah. Like, yeah, got that and fucked it up. Yeah. Like beyond in a repair. Massive way. But before we got there, Clara also really wanted children of her own. And in 1993, that dream became reality when she gave birth to twin boys. So they had like, a big happy family. Everything's great. Yeah, they have the sprawling suburban mansion,

the Mercedes, the kids, but it was equally important to her that she showed the world that she was just as committed to her family as she was to her career. She wanted both. Skip Hollinsworth wrote, no matter how many patients Claire had to see, she always got home in time to cook dinner for her family and their palatial white brick home in the cheery suburb of Friendswood. Wow. Like when I tell you when I tell you quintessential like, and like picture perfect, it seems so perfect with her being like,

I have to get home to have dinner with my family. Like that's so and that's telling me like she had that like... that like parental like way of thinking where it's like, no, my family comes first. And it's like, where did it go on this day? She blinked out. It just blinked out. But she would always tell her patients

before this all happened, she had the perfect life. And those who knew her even just a little bit would have been inclined to agree. Absolutely. A former coworker said, I used to tell people I wish I could be able to love my husband in the way that Clara loved David, which I was like, damn, I think you should do some internal work. Um, that that's an unsettling statement. Yeah, but she really loved her husband. Like, holy shit. She's like, damn, I wish I liked my husband. Like, oh, shit. Okay. That's. You're like, oh shit, okay.

That's sad. You should talk to someone about that. Yeah. Well, the birth of the twins obviously was a major milestone in Clara and David's lives, both of them, and one they absolutely relished. But it also seemed that they may have underestimated the way that priorities change once kids enter the picture.

Uh-oh. At first, David's attentiveness to Clara and his two sons was unwavering. Former employee Susan Hanson said Clara was idolized by her husband. When she called, he would always run to the phone. But after a few years, things started to change, especially after one Gail Bridges joined the practice

as a new secretary in 2001. With Clara at home or at work in another practice, David started paying attention to Gail in ways that he had not ever paid attention to other women in the office. That's fucked up. And as far as anybody could tell, the feeling was mutual. They all agreed, quote unquote,

Gail went out of her way to gain David's attention as he flitted from exam room to exam room. So this is like a lifetime movie bullshit. And it's literally like she has twins and suddenly eyes are wandering. Yeah, that's fucked up. That's super fucked up. Oh, it only gets fucked up. I don't know. Six months later, in February 2022, David invited Gail to lunch at Perry's, one of his favorite local restaurants, and their affair pretty much started then.

Once Gail was hired, the change in David's behavior wasn't far behind. Susan Hanson said, I began to notice a difference in David around February. He was not making decisions as well as he had been in the past, and he was much less attentive to his patients. Wow. Which remember, this is the guy who was like super attentive. Yeah, too attentive in his first marriage. So much career focus that that didn't work out. Yep. And now he's like not really attentive at all.

Hanson there also started to notice that David was different with Gail than he was with other employees. He definitely seemed more intimate and attentive. And now she said when Clara would call, he was much less eager to rush to pick up the phone and sometimes would just put her on hold until he figured out and finished what he was doing. That's yucky. Mm-hmm.

It wasn't long before David's relationship with Gail was obvious, not just to everybody working in the office, but to even people who stopped by for a visit. And that's humiliating. Like his sister, like his daughter, Lindsay. Yeah, that's humiliating and gross. Yeah, it's humiliating to Clara and to Lindsay. Yeah, that's humiliating and gross. Yeah, it's humiliating to Clara and to Lindsay. On one occasion, Lindsay came by the office to visit her dad, and she was very troubled by something she saw. According to Lindsay, she was sitting in the waiting area by the front desk and she saw that her dad had dropped a patient vial on the floor. And before

he could reach down to pick it up, she said Gail had bent over to pick it up, not bent at the knees, like you would normally expect, but bent over at the waist, making a point of bending right in front of him. I'm going to be honest, I don't like Gail. No, let's get that out of the way. That's gross. And also like his daughter's there. So maybe like get together. Yeah, like maybe like get yourself out of heat for a minute.

Exactly. Take a cold shower, Gail. Maybe somebody spritz her down with some water. Susan Hansen said, I told Lindsay she should talk to him or to somebody about what she'd seen. Which is so sad that she was obviously upset and went to another employee who she probably knew, like she's grown up in this practice.

She should not be having to see that kind of shit. No. Get it together. Now, it wasn't just the obvious tension that tipped others off to David and Gail's relationship, but also subtle changes happening around the office. Now, it wasn't just the obvious tension that tipped others off to David and Gail's relationship, but also subtle changes happening around the office. Gail was hired as a front desk receptionist.

She was going to schedule appointments, say hey to patients, file paperwork, receptionist shit. But by winter of 2002, she seemed to take on a much larger role in the company, seemingly at David's insistence. By March, other employees were stunned to find her participating in management meetings, making staffing decisions, and even touring the new facility that David was having built by Interstate 45. Making staffing decisions sent me. Yeah. Like, come on.

I'm sorry, but like, come on. That's, that's different. That's inappropriate. That's a different, that's a different job. Yeah. It just is. Yeah. Diana Sherrill, who worked at the office said, when we went on a tour of the new offices, Dr. David and Gail slipped off. He had forgotten I was there. Oh, yeah. Even though most people who noticed that, you know, this change was for sure happening were disgusted with his behavior, a few women in the office considered it a quote unquote natural part of aging. And here's a problem women.

Okay, ladies, let's do better. Okay, ladies, let's do a little fucking better for ourselves and each other. And not just say, well, he's going to try to fuck his secretary at some age. One of them said, men go through the change of life. No, get the fuck out of here. And women don life. No. Get the fuck out of here. I'm also so confused. And women don't? Oh, get the fuck out of here with that shit.

We all go through changes in life. That doesn't mean I'm going to hop on my secretary. Like, what the fuck? Take that shit and choke on it. Are you fucking kidding me? Woman. Yeah. Like. Like, Mikey just mumbled in the corner,

Mikey is marked safe. Mikey is marked safe. Happy Pride, everybody. Yeah. And then he's like, I'm gonna go get some food. I'm gonna go get some food. I'm gonna go get some food. I'm gonna go get some food. I'm gonna go get some food. I'm gonna go get some food. I'm gonna go get some food. I'm gonna go get some food. I'm gonna go get some food. I'm gonna go get some food. I'm gonna go get some food. I'm gonna go get some food.

I'm gonna go get some food. I'm gonna go get some food. I'm gonna go get some food. I'm gonna go get some food. I'm gonna go get some food. I'm gonna go get some food. I'm gonna go get some food. I'm gonna go get some food.

I'm gonna go get some food. I'm gonna go get some food. I'm gonna go get some food. I'm gonna go get some food. I'm gonna go get some food. I'm gonna go get some food. I'm gonna go get some food. I'm gonna go get some food.

I'm gonna go get some food. I'm gonna go get some food. I'm gonna go get some food. I'm gonna go get some food. I'm gonna go get some food. I'm gonna go get some food. Also just indicating that he's doing this because his needs aren't being met at home. Like, fuck off. It's a boys will be boys mentality. Men will be men. Well, then fuck the men, okay? Because no, you can't. And not all men and not all boys. So get out of here. Just leave.

Get out right now. Leave. Just like blanket it over them like this is what they all do. No. What? It's a very 2002 way of thinking. And again, does anyone deserve to die because of this? No, absolutely not. But by that summer, Diana, their employee there had grown very irritated and very tired of watching this affair play

out in front of everybody. And I'm sure for Diana, he wasn't being a great boss during this time. So she called Clara and asked if they could meet. Well, because they probably they know Clara. She works there. She works there. She's a huge part of the practice. And he's basically asking all of them to be a part of his bullshit. Yeah. And they're probably getting really tired of it.

And that's a girl's girl right there. It is. Diana's a girl's girl. And she's sitting there saying, you know what? I can't sit here and watch you do this and just pretend that it's fine. Listen, that's what you got to do. So when they finally sat down together in early July, Diana told Claire, you need to protect your marriage.

You need to pay attention to Dr. David. I take it back. She's not a girl's girl. Diana is not a girl's girl. I take that back. I also realized that Diana is the one that said they go through the change to Diana. You're not a girl's girl. I don't like that at all. I also realized that Diana's the one that said they go through the change too. Diana, you're not a girl's girl. Yeah.

I don't like that at all. I don't either. I'm actually really angry at that. She was basically being like, listen, he's stepping out on you, so you gotta like... And it's your fault. ... shove your boobies in his face when he gets home or something. Yeah, I actually have beef with Diana right now,

so that's where we are. Okay, that's... Diana, we have beef. Like, that's fucked up. Yeah, she said... And now you've totally put it on her. Oh, yeah, it gets worse. As far as Diana saw it, ever since the twins were born,

they had become the center of Clara's world. As it motherfucking should be. As it motherfucking should be. They're infants. They need their mom and dad. I'm sorry, are you telling me that a man is jealous of babies, of baby twins, of his own babies, for getting more attention? Fuck off.

You got it. The day you got the day a motherfucker says that to me, the day. That doesn't even sound real. Like that is. And that left less time for David. He felt like he'd been pushed to the side. Ooh. Diana said, finally, she asked me if he was having an affair.

And I said, yes. And Diana went one step further. She told Clara exactly who David was having an affair with. His secretary. How cliche. You made so many weird choices there, Diana. You really did. Yeah, she really...

She gave me whiplash. She gave me whiplash. Well gave me whiplash. Yeah. Well, anyway, the news obviously was a lot for Clara. I can't, that's a lot to swallow. But she, at this point, is like, oh, no, I've been so wrapped up in, you know, the boys and my practice. I didn't have any time to think about David

in recent months. Like, how dare I? But also, she didn't want to believe that any of that was true. That he, like, she was like, maybe he's not. Yeah. She said later, we were best friends. We were very much in love. We were a team.

That's so sad. Which is really sad that she thought that because they weren't. Because you weren't. And that's awful. It was true that David had seemed more stressed out lately. He even was seeming to snap at her and the kids more often than he had in the past. But she said it hardly seemed like a reason to think he was having an affair.

But the more she thought about it, the more things started to fall into place. He was more distant than usual, and he wasn't even just more busy with work. He was busy at home too. He used to love to come home and sit down and play with the boys for a few hours, participate in bedtime, that whole thing. But now he seemed far more interested in coming home and locking himself in his music room where he would just sit around playing piano. Grow up. Grow up. It wasn't just that he was busy, it was like he was busying himself to avoid

his family. That's not cool. So that night, after leaving her meeting with Diana, Clara actually called David's mother, Millie Harris, which I think Millie is the cutest name ever. And she told Millie what she'd learned in the hope that maybe his mom would know what she could do to salvage their relationship and their marriage. So rather than really share any insider suggestions though, Millie just succeeded in convincing Clara that her friend had no idea what she was talking about and there was no way David was having an affair. Which you can understand why his mom wouldn't think that.

That's his mom. She's probably like, no. Like, not my kid. No, never mind. She was like, it's natural for people married or otherwise to find others attractive, maybe even flirt a little bit. But she said David was not the kind of person who would have a straight-up affair. And I mean, she's probably really hoping that that's the case.

I think she's trying to probably convince herself of that as well. Also if you flirt with other people or are married, you're cheating on me. I'm gonna fight you. Period. After 45 minutes on the phone with her mother-in-law, Clara came away pretty relieved, reassured, but then she got home that night and she just couldn't shake the thought that maybe he was involved with another woman. Yeah, her gut was telling her something.

So the next morning she was getting into the shower when David came into the bathroom looking very troubled. And she's like, what's wrong? And after struggling to form his thoughts, he confessed that he had indeed been seeing another woman. He said, I think that you have to know there's somebody else. Obviously, completely shattered by the confirmation that her husband was definitely having an affair,

she ran downstairs to the kitchen where Lindsay was making breakfast. And it turned out Lindsay already knew her dad had told her. The relationships here are without borders. This is wrong on every level. It can be wrong. Yeah, like we need some boundaries in these relationships with our children. Yeah. The revelation that David not only was having an affair, but was having an affair with an employee at their shared practice was devastating. Clara said he told me there was no intimacy between them,

that he'd just been lonely. There it is. Fuck off. Yeah, classic. Mm-hmm. He said, this is also, I'm like, fuck you. Oh no. He said, Gail grew up in the US

and they shared a lot in common and it was nice to share that with someone. So he looked at his Colombian wife and was like, you know, she's from the US, we have more in common. Fuck you. Fuck you. I don't even know how to respond to that. I would look at him and be like,

we opened several practices together because I'm a successful ass motherfucker and you have more in common with your secretary because she's from the US. That is quite possibly the stupidest thing motherfucker and you have more in common with your secretary because she's from the US? That is quite possibly the stupidest thing I have ever heard someone say, especially in reference to like, why they were having an affair. I'm having an affair because she was born on American soil.

Because those colors don't run, okay? That's why. Like, that's essentially saying America. What? You're saying this to your Colombian wife? Crazy. Who has built things with you? Created a family with you? I'd be like, that's cool. Your children are Colombian.

What? That's a thing. I'm like, what? That's cool. These two boys that you procreated with me? Colombian. Like damn. Cool. Cool that you and Gail have the US in common. But I'm really, it's really nice that you guys are from the United States.

Can you imagine looking at anybody and just being like, we're both from the US so we have so much in common. What a weird reason. Frankly, I don't want to have much in common with the US. What a strange ass reason. Holy shit. So that afternoon, David and Clara drove to the office where Clara confronted Gail about the affair. I mean, yeah. which like, absolutely. Oh, yeah. You're going to do it without without

being physical. Absolutely. Yeah. And do it right away. Gail denied the relationship. But Clara said, I know you're lying. My husband told me you're fired, fired her on the spot and demanded that she hand over her keys to the office and get the fuck out of there. Yeah. Great. So at this point, support. Yeah. Supporting what is happening. Yeah. Then her initial reaction to David's confession was to start looking for a divorce lawyer,

which like, let's go girl. Yes. See, this is so frustrating because you're like, you're moving in the right direction. I wish you had kept moving in this direction. But later that day, after the initial shock had worn off, she decided she didn't want to end her marriage, which I get. You have two fucking babies together. Like, I, I, it's gotta be the worst kind of, can't with lash that you can imagine. And I understand. I understand both sides. I understand when you find out your husband

leaves, like has stepped out on you, you get the fuck out of there. And I also understand wanting to fight for your marriage. Yeah, I get, I get all of it. It's, It's a horrible, horrible situation that is unfathomable. Really. The next day she started the process of making herself over to be more attractive to her husband, which is really sad. That's devastating. She bought sexy clothes from Victoria's Secret. She scheduled breast augmentation surgery with a local plastic surgeon, and

she bought a book about saving a marriage written by the one and only Dr. Phil. Oh my goodness. Yeah. That's just really sad. It is. That night, she and David went to a restaurant to talk things over, and while they were there, she pushed her husband to make a list comparing the attributes of both women so that she could do better. The lists were long and brutally honest, describing Gail as

as quote, a large person too big. She gave birth to your fucking children at the same time. She was pregnant with two human beings. I'm willing to bet David, you might get a little fucking bigger when you're growing two circulatory systems. Speaking of somebody who has grown to circulatory systems in their body to two at once, two at once, two at once, you got a little bigger, it's going to be different after a little bit. And I literally here's the part where it's like, David should not have been killed. Nope. I'm going to keep saying that because I want to make sure no

one takes what I'm saying differently. That is what I'm saying. And that because I want to make sure no one takes what I'm saying differently That is what I'm saying and it that is what I believe. Mm-hmm but That doesn't mean that he was a good guy at this point. He wasn't that's a he was not being a good guy This is not a good guy in this moment. He might have been a good guy his whole life He really took a turn here. This is cruel to do to somebody. Can you imagine? It's awful to do to somebody. Like body shaming your wife. If John had ever said to me, you're bigger, like it made any kind of comment person too big. Any kind of comment about what I looked like after I gave birth to our twins, any kind of negative comment, it would have

sent me into fucking orbit because also, yeah, she knows because that shit is very jarring after you have kids and especially after you have multiples, you look different. It's like you get out of that shower and you look in the mirror and you go, whoa, who's that? And even now I look at them like, wow, you see, it's always different. You look incredible. You have nine year old twins though, like, but you're always going to look like you. I had twins. I look like I had twins. And the thing is like, these were young boys. Yeah, they're big. It takes a while to get your

quote unquote body back. If you ever do my kids, we're almost a decade in and it's, it's different still. It just is. It's never going the way it was before. There's a lot that goes into it. You have to maintain a certain weight. If you want to breastfeed, you have to like, there's a whole bunch of reasons why you don't just snap right back. And it shouldn't matter. You should look different. You did something crazy. You did something life changing. So you should look different and you should have somebody that is in absolute awe of that is like, wow, yeah, your body's amazing.

It created two of my favorite people in the world. And that should be the trauma to do so. Yeah. And I hate because I know there's listeners that are listening right now who don't have somebody doing that. And you should because you're beautiful. have somebody doing that. And you should. Because you're beautiful. Don't kill anyone.

Don't ever kill anybody. That's never the answer. But you should always have somebody who is saying, wow, your body's incredible. And especially after you give birth, your body just created one of my favorite people on planet Earth. Your body just did a miracle. Your body created a circulatory system. A miracle. Like, fuck off. Like, large

person too big. So sad. And if anybody ever says that to you, you get up and you leave right then. You don't even think about it twice. I don't have sympathy for the act that she committed by any means, but I have sympathy for her in this moment because I just can't imagine being torn down like that. That would kill me in postpartum. You're already saying the worst things to yourself. And it's like, that's so cruel to do. It's mean. I just wish that this had gone a different way. Me too. Because like, damn. Me too. So despite the obvious fucking cruelty of comparing his wife's looks to those of his mistress, among other things, David and Clara

did agree to work on their marriage, with Clara taking most of the blame for him having an affair in the first place, and also shouldering the responsibility of fixing things. A few days later, they went away to the beach for a long weekend and everything seemed like it was back on track to getting normal. But just two weeks later, David Harris would be dead, crushed to death under the weight of his wife's Mercedes. Oh man. Yeah. It just escalated so quickly. Yeah. And I would say that was a lot of information for you guys to digest. So that is where we're going to wrap. So upsetting. That's where we're going to wrap for part one. Oh, Lord. This is just sad and horrible and... In every way imaginable.

Yeah. Every single way. Because it's just like, none of this needed to happen. No. None of it. No. And again, it's also like, and I'll state it again, it's not his fault that what happened to him.

No. But if you don't want to be with your significant other, that's cool. Don't be with them anymore. Divorce. Just, affairs never end well. I never understand why people go into them. It's like just, it's not going to end well. It never does.

How many affairs have I talked about on this fucking podcast? Exactly. End it. There'll be sad hurt feelings, but that's much better than a murder charge and a dead person involved. Yeah. Like, come on. Yeah.

But emotions run so high and humans are wily creatures. There's also a lot more to this story that we haven't even gotten into yet. So interesting. Stay tuned for part two. It gets wily. Oh man. And with that being said, we hope you keep listening and we hope you keep it weird. But that's a way that you hit your husband with a car even if he did cheat on you. No. You can't do that. Don't do that. It's really bad. I'm going to go to the bathroom. If you like morbid, you can listen early and and ad free right now by joining Wondery Plus in the Wondery app or on Apple podcasts. Prime members can listen ad free on Amazon Music. Before you go, tell us about yourself by filling out a short survey at Wondery.com slash survey.

Navigating family matters can be tough. At Learners, we understand the challenges you face. Whether you need help drafting a prenup, filing for divorce, or making support arrangements, at Learners, our team of experienced family lawyers are here to guide you every step of the way. These are life-altering events that come with many questions and concerns. Trust Learners to help you move forward. Visit LearnersFamilyLaw.ca. That's L-E-R-N-E-R-S-FamilyLaw.ca.