True Crime All The Time - Gregory Harris

Episode Date: March 4, 2024

Chiquita Tate was a young, successful defense attorney who was murdered in her office in downtown Baton Rouge, Louisiana, as she was preparing for a murder trial. The killer made attempts to throw the police off, but the evidence pointed to Chiquita’s husband, Gregory Harris. Join Mike and Gibby as they discuss Gregory Harris and the murder of Chiquita Tate. The prosecution alledged that Chiquita was on the verge of leaving Gregory and the evidence seemed to back that up. There was also a life insurance policy that would have solved Gregory's financial problems. But, the most damning evidence came from Gregory's interview with police.You can help support the show at patreon.com/truecrimeallthetimeVisit the show's website at truecrimeallthetime.com for contact, merchandise, and donation informationAn Emash Digital productionSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Hello everyone and welcome to episode 373 of the True Crime All the Time podcast. I'm Mike Ferguson. And with me as always is my partner in true crime, Mike Gibson. How are you? Hey, I'm doing okay. How about you? I'm doing pretty good. Good.

You and I just talked about on our weekly kind of Patreon update. I'm battling a little vertigo situation. Yeah. Which is strange. I've never had before. So I got to get in to see my doctor to see what's going on with that. And then my dentist just told me I had to have a root canal. So you're falling apart, man.

I am. What is going on? Oh, man. I'll tell you, it's, you get yourself, you know, on a good nutritional diet. Eat more leafy greens. You think that's the cause of those two things? Well, I don't know. No.

I'm just throwing it out to it because you know, why not? Let's go ahead and give our Patreon shoutouts. We had Legista Branum. Hey, Legista. Jacqueline Gumman. Hey, thank you, Goman. Jan. Well, hi, Jan.

Kevin Twytle. Hey, Twytle. Personally victimized by Regina George. Oh, man, there it is. Mean Girls. That's right. And I did not know that. Asked you about it on Patreon and surprisingly you did know.

I was shocked. Mr. Movie guy. Ron Kinman. Hey, Ron. Matt O. What's going on? Oh.

Amanda Mitchell. Hey, Amanda. Patricia Cook. Hey, appreciate that cook. Melanie Fuentes. Ah, thank you. Funtez. Yeah.

Yeah, that's... Didn't when they're like a famous DJ or something? Daisy. Daisy Fuentes? Yeah. Yeah. Was she on MTV or something? Yeah.

Yeah. I remember her. Yeah. Janet Wiseman. What's going on, Janet? And Ilya C. Ilya. And then if we go back into the vault,

this week we selected Cheryl and Reed. Oh, you're awesome. Thanks, Cheryl. Yeah, we appreciate all the support we get. We have an episode out right now on Unsolved, where we're talking about Robert. Hoblin. This is a, you know, kind of a family man, pretty normal guy in Connecticut who all of a sudden kind of vanishes into thin air. And then he's found like nine years later. It's bizarre. Yeah, it's bizarre. I don't want to give anything away. But this is kind of one of those that people like to debate online and they have their own theory. So definitely check that one out. Come on over and give it a listen. All right, buddy, are you ready to get into this episode of true crime all the time?

And I am ready. We are talking about Gregory Harris. Gregory Harris was married to a woman named Chiquita Tate, who was a young successful defense attorney who was murdered in her office in downtown Baton Rouge, Louisiana, as she was preparing for this big murder trial. The killer made attempts to throw the police off, but the evidence pointed to her. husband Gregory Harris. You've been to Baton Rouge? I don't believe I have. No? I think I've only been to

New Orleans. Yeah, New Orleans. Yeah. I don't think I've been to Baton Rouge. Well, we need to go to Baton Rouge then. Before? I don't know. Why not? Okay. Then you could basically say that about any place in the U.S. or the world. Isn't

Baton Rouge like in the bottom of the boot of Louisiana? It's like a little like a little hill boot. The bottom of the boot. The state shaped like a little boot. I don't know. New Orleans is at the very bottom, right?

Well, maybe this is at the heel of the boot. Okay. Now we've got the heel. I have no idea. I'm going to get a map. People are going to get a map out and be like, what is Gibby talking about? Or Gibby nailed it.

One of the other. I know Italy looks like a boot. Well, that's the big boot. I don't know if Louisiana looks like a boot or not. I was like this like a little. In my mind, it doesn't, but I definitely could be wrong. And so could I.

Oh, yeah, yeah, that's a real possibility. Chiquita Tate was born on October 15th, 1975. She was one of seven siblings. So a pretty big family. Yeah. She was raised by her grandmother in an impoverished area of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, according to oxygen. You ever met people that come from a big family?

I'm, I'm sure I have. Sometimes they seem competitive in nature because they have to be competitive at home. I mean like at the dinner table to make sure everybody gets fed or just because you have so many siblings, naturally there's going to be competition. Competition for your parents' affection. Yeah, I could see that. I think sometimes that spills over into outside of the household. It could. It definitely could.

Now, what I find interesting is that, you know, I'm, I'm an only child and I'm about as competitive a person as you'll ever find. You are pretty competitive. So I don't know, you know, like where that comes from. I hate to lose, you know, I'll fight tooth and nail in a game of fish. I don't care. I do not like to lose. Well, maybe as you were growing up, you were used to getting whatever you want it.

And then when you got outside of that, you're like, hey, that should be mine. What do you do in touching that? I'm going to win this thing because that should be mine. I'm used to getting what I want. You may have hit on something there. As a child, Chiquita was strong-willed and analyzed everything. She was often told she would make a good lawyer. She was an intelligent and driven student and was the first person in her family to go to college.

So this is something that I've said about my youngest for a long time. You know, very strong-willed, likes to analyze things, is very good at, arguing. Yes, she is. Sometimes bests me in an argument. She's done it to me a few times. Yeah. And I always said, I think you'd make a good attorney. She doesn't want to be an attorney. She wants to be a nurse, but she does ask good questions. She does. She does. She even did some of that mock trial stuff and was amazing. Yeah. I went to go watch it. After graduating college, Chiquita worked briefly as a legislative secretary and recorded minutes. at Atlanta City Council meetings.

She eventually decided she wanted to move back to Louisiana to attend law school. Good call because I think recording minutes at council meetings and things like that would not be that exciting. It's an important job for somebody to do, but I think I would be bored. Yeah, so she was living in Atlanta there for a while, moved back to Louisiana. She studied at Southern University Law Center and worked as a course. clerk at a law firm while studying for the bar exam. So no doubt, Chiquita was very much a go-getter. That's the sense I'm getting driven. Very driven. Chiquita's mentor and former boss, Judge Pam Taylor Johnson, told CNN that Chiquita believed in justice for everyone and wanted to represent

vulnerable people. And if that is true, which I have no reason to think it's not true, it's very honorable. You know, you and I do a lot of cases, and we talk about a lot of trials. And the one thing that I worry gets lost in many trials is the actual notion of justice. I think most times it's, you know, obviously the prosecution wants to win. The defense wants to win. Too many times I've seen charges brought that. don't seem warranted. The evidence doesn't seem to really be there. Well, is that justice?

Are we really seeking justice? Or are we trying to get a conviction? Because the public's up in arms. Right. And I worry about that sometimes. So good thing to be worried about. I worry about those things too. Yeah, because to me, what is at the heart of it or what's most important is to get it right. And I think the other thing in this statement is that, you know, she wanted to represent vulnerable people and get justice for people that maybe had a harder time of getting true justice. Because unfortunately, we know that occurs. You know, if you're rich, you got a better chance. Very true. And it shouldn't be like that, right?

It should be equal for everyone. unfortunately the way our system works, it's not. Chiquita's legal assistant, Lesie Hufkin, told Dateline, she was just driven. Wanting to get that next, I'll call it, that next high. And law school was that. Being a lawyer was that and she had cheated. And I think there's really something to that. You know, people talk about a runner's high, but there are highs that people get when

accomplishing, you know, big time thing. I'm not talking about drugs here, but you know what I'm saying? When you're striving for something and you work really hard for it and you finally get it, there's a euphoria there. Yeah, you finally pass your bar exam. You're an attorney. You're excited. And then just the regular activity of being an attorney when you win your case.

Well, that's what I was going to say. Once you hit that high, well, then what's the next thing? Yeah. After passing the bar exam on her first try, Chiquita decided she wanted to, to be a criminal defense attorney. Many of her clients were accused murderers, drug dealers, and gang members. She was dedicated to her clients and was quickly making a name for herself in the Baton Rouge legal community.

And that's the thing. If you're going to be a criminal defense attorney, your clients are not all going to be sayings. No. Many of them are going to be guilty. Many of them are going to have pretty long rap sheets and have done some horrible things. But if you can establish that name, you know, that go-to person, if you're in trouble, this is who you want to call. I mean, in most cities, there's that person that you call.

Yeah, or a very small handful of people who are so well-respected. Because it is important, the way that our system works, that everybody, you know, gets good representation. Now, it may work out that the person is guilty, but it doesn't mean that they, they shouldn't get a fair trial and, you know, all that stuff. During her short career as a lawyer, Chiquita won a $500,000 jury verdict and opened her own law firm. Cases like that certainly help out, don't they? Well, if you're taking, what, 30%, 40%, I don't know what the, the standard, you know, kind of rate is. she may have been working on a contingency where she got nothing if they didn't win, but if you do win, you get 30, 40%, percent.

A bigger piece of the pie. You can make some real money in a hurry. Chiquita was known for her drive and intensity in and out of the courtroom. Some people described her as having a temper. And a lot of times, those things go hand in hand. Yeah, I don't know if having a temper is a bad thing. Sometimes I think it can be beneficial. It depends on how you will.

wield it. I know you would agree that sometimes I have a temper. Yes, you do. And sometimes you're at the other end, the receiving end of it. I want things to go a certain way. And that's part of, you know, the drive and the intensity. And when they don't go that way, whoever I'm working with can get the brunt end, I guess. So, you know, even at my old job or even, if it's just podcasting. I sometimes have to control my temper, but it comes out. It does more than it should know more than you would like it to. For example, Chiquita hired her sister Danita to work in her law office. Danita told Dateline that her sister fired her every week, but would then call her at night and say, hey, see you in the morning. You ever know somebody like that who had a temper where

they kind of boiled over on a regular basis, but they were very quick to kind of try to make it better. Oh, yeah. Or they wanted things to go back to normal very quickly. Know a few people like that. Now, my wife is the other way around. She holds it all inside until it erupts in a Mount Vesuvius type catastrophe. Right. Not good. And I don't know which one's better, worse. I mean, they all have their upsides and downsides.

I definitely keep my stuff in. You do. It's very rarely do I ever blow up at all. No. I would say you're almost emotionalists. I've been described as that by... Sometimes. By some people.

Some people. Not to name names, but... Now, I do think that would be tough when you're working with, you know, a sibling and they're on you so much that you're fired every week. And then you have to have that call, the makeup call and say, hey, everything's great. I'll see you in the morning. In late 2007, Chiquita met a contractor named Greg Davis. Both of them were driving through Baton Rouge that day. Greg cut Chiquita off and she honked him.

They stopped at a red light and smiled at each other. turned out to be a whirlwind romance and chiquita soon moved in with gray so i don't know how many relationships or you know romances have started with a road rage incident i'm going to think not that many no i don't think so because you know if you cut me off and i honk at you which would probably be the least amount of anger that i would show you're probably going to get the bird and and maybe some choice words. Oh, yeah. I can't imagine myself being single, rolling up to the light, and then looking over after

I'd done all that and being like, oh, hey. Hey, what's happening? Let's go out. There's a series on Netflix called Beef. Mm-hmm. It's really good. Yeah. Is that the one with the guy from the Walking Dead?

Yeah. Yeah. And it starts off basically her cutting him off and, you know, it kind of goes from. from there. Okay. Yeah, don't ruin it for me. But I had been wanting to watch that. I just haven't watched it yet. Jacita told her boss, Judge Pam Taylor Johnson, I met the most wonderful guy. I need you to perform our marriage tomorrow. Wow, that's really quick. Well, you know, when you use the term whirlwind, that can mean a bunch of different thing. But this is really whirlwind. You know, you're moving in, you're getting married. It

sound like everything happened pretty quickly, Johnson told her she would have to wait at least three days as required by law. Serious problems quickly surfaced though in Chiquita and Greg's relationship on December 22nd, 2007. Chiquita called 911 from the home that she shared with Greg. She was crying and asked the dispatcher for help. She reported that her fiancee beat her, choked her, and she thought her arm was broken. Intense. Yeah. That sounds like a very serious altercation.

And if true, I would say, you know, a very serious incident of abuse on the part of Greg. Yeah. Oxygen reported that Chiquita said, he grabbed my finger and then I took the ring. I threw it at him. And then he, and then he choked me. And I couldn't move. Both Chiquita and Greg were arrested after this incident, but her charges were dropped. You know, I know people have some really bad verbal arguments.

Yes. That sometimes can escalate when there's some physical violence that occurs, wrong all the way around. But I just think there's some people that just can't control it. It just happens. Well, and I would call that a problem. Yeah. You and I have been and are both in relationships. And I'm sure a lot of the people listening fall into that same category.

When you're in a pretty long term relationship, there are going to be disagreements. You know, not everything is peaches and cream, you know, chocolate strawberries all the time. It just can't be. Now, do some of the verbal altercations escalate, you know, to be yelling, you know, to be yelling, screaming, I'm sure it does for people. Yeah. But to put your hands on someone you supposedly love, whether it's pushing and then even escalating into hitting or choking.

Right. That's just unacceptable. People are going to argue. Yeah, you're going to have those arguments. You might even get a little something thrown at you, you know. You sound like you're speaking from experience, but. Yeah, again, when it rises to the level of you putting your hands. Right.

On the other person. And this goes both ways for me. Women shouldn't be hitting men. Women shouldn't be choking men. And men shouldn't be hurting men. When you throw that Nerf stuff at me all the time, I know it's Nerf. So it shouldn't hurt. But you don't have to choke me.

That's unacceptable. Well, you know, when you throw the Nerf stuff at me, but it's not the Nerf, it's the piece that shoots the nerve stuff that's the plastic. Oh, when I throw that? Yeah. Yeah. It kind of hurts. Sorry about that. Yeah. But you actually make a very valid point to men in a relationship or two women for that matter. Basically, anyone in a relationship shouldn't be putting their hands on the other person. Exactly. And I don't know how normal this is. Maybe it is normal because I've never been in the situation. But I did think it was interesting that both were arrested. Maybe it was just that in the moment they couldn't figure out who was the aggressor, who was, you know, the person who, you know, received the abuse.

And I think in some counties, they haul both people in regardless. Just by law or formality or whatever. Greg and Chiquita applied for their marriage license on January 10, 2008, which was just two and a half week. after the domestic violence report. They got married on February 8th of that year. Seems kind of, I want to say, it's kind of quick. Well, it does. Obviously,

it sounds like these two people were in love, but you throw this domestic violence incident in the middle of it, and it's pretty hard to discount it or to not bring it up. Yeah. I mean, clearly they worked through whatever the issue was.

Well, that you would hope. You're assuming. you would have to assume that. Greg pleaded not guilty on March 6, 2008. He didn't show up for a pretrial conference on May 8th and a warrant was issued for his arrest. Now, I find that strange. I always do. I think we talked about something similar in an episode just not that far back. Yeah. Why put yourself at risk? Well, you know, he's pleaded not guilty. And then obviously they said, okay, you got to show up for this. He decides, I'm not going to.

And then you're going to have to deal with the repercussion. And on top of that, his wife's an attorney. I'm thinking she wouldn't she say, hey, buddy, you got to go to this thing. Oh, absolutely. Jaquita and Greg were married for just over a year before she was killed. On the evening of February 19, 2009, Chiquita was working late at her office in downtown Baton Rouge. she was preparing for a double murder trial that was supposed to start the following Monday. So I can see why she was working late.

Yeah. A double murder trial, I'm sure is a heck of a lot of work to get ready for. Chiquita never came home that night. Greg called her repeatedly and went to the office around 6 a.m. on the morning of the 20th. He called 911 because he couldn't get into the building. He requested an officer during his. call and flagged down an officer who was passing by, explaining that he was concerned about his wife because she didn't come home from work. The officer entered the building and found

Chiquita's body in her office. She had been stabbed 43 times, including a fatal wound to the neck. Excessive. It seems like that, right? Forty-three times. Now, what do we normally say when the number gets that high. It's an act of rage. Crime of passion, rage. I mean, that's the way that investigators are normally going to look at something like that. Now, the one thing that did strike me is a little bit odd is that, you know, he waited until 6 a.m. And I don't have all the, the facts surrounding that. Maybe he went to sleep knowing that she was going to be late. And he woke up to find that she wasn't home, I don't know. Chiquita was found on the floor of her office. And it was obvious that she had fought for her life. Books and papers were strewn all over the office. There were bloodstains on the

wall. It appeared that she tried to use a law book for self-defense. She also had defensive wounds on her arms. So she fought. She's a fighter, yeah. Investigators found long strands of dark hair in her hand. She wasn't clutching the hair tightly, like she had died soon after pulling it out of the killer's head. Instead, it looked more like someone had put the hair in her hand after she died. It's kind of like laid on top. Yeah. Yeah. So obviously rigor mortis would start to set in.

So it could be questionable. Well, I think that's the way I took it to investigators. It didn't look authentic. It looked more like maybe someone had placed the hair in her hand after she had already done. There were no footprints and no blood was found outside of her office and no murder weapon was found at the scene. Chiquita was still wearing her expensive jewelry, but her wallet was missing. And this is something that we talk about quite a lot. You know, what type of crime is this?

what is the motive for this murder? And when someone is wearing some expensive jewelry and the killer doesn't take it, well, you've got to look at it. Does it mean something definitively? I would say no, but it definitely could mean something. Because if you've gone through the act of murdering someone and you took that person's wallet, Why would you not also take this expensive jewelry? Unless the jewelry was too hard to take off the body.

You didn't want to leave any potential D&A behind. Yeah. Yeah, I get that. So you took the easy thing, the wallet, and left everything else behind. Yeah, I get that. If you thought like that. The detectives on the scene focused on creating a timeline of Chiquita's final hours. She went to court on February 19th and spoke to reporters about her case.

She returned to the office to continue working. Her assistant, Leslie Hufkin, left around 5.30. Chiquita told her she was going to stay a while to finish up some work. Chiquita called Greg around 7 p.m. And asked if he could bring her dinner. Greg picked up McDonald's and entered the building to bring it to her. He noticed there were a number of people working late in the building. So far, nothing out of the ordinary?

No, doesn't seem like it other than the fact that he chose McDonald's for her dinner. You like McDonald's, the McRibb? Yeah, but I can only get that every now and then. The other thing I think is probably normal is you have a number of other people working late in the building. It's that type of job. You know, it's not a nine to five job. Being an attorney? No.

No, especially a defense attorney. Yeah. And especially if you have a huge case coming up. in a few days. Greg helped Chiquita by bringing money to one of her clients downstairs and picking up some paperwork from that client. Chiquita told him she had more work to do and another client to see. He left around 8.30 p.m. Initially, Greg said he went straight home after this. So you said nothing out of the ordinary. It does sound from what we know so far as though, you know, he's just kind of being the good husband. He's trying to help her. He knows, you know, she's under the gun.

She's got a lot of work to do. So he's helping her out. Yeah, I'll bring you dinner. I'll take care of some errands for you. That way, you don't have to worry about that stuff. There were surveillance cameras and traffic cameras outside the office. Detectives hoped to find footage of the killer entering the office. Unfortunately, the closest camera to Chiquita's office was not working due to a recent storm. We've had that occur in a few episodes here recently, right? The camera was there. It just wasn't operational. Like the one camera that would have been the most beneficial. Exactly. Seems to crop up like that in, in some episodes. Now, you can go back a number of years and you have the convenience store who has the camera, but it's not real. Yeah, that's true. You remember those?

Oh yeah. It really wasn't connected to anything. It wasn't recording anything. It was just more of a deterrent. Right. People walked in and said, uh, they got cameras here. I'll go on down to the next door. Yeah,

had a little light on it that blinked or something. Greg's family expressed concerns about Chiquita's clients, some of whom were accused of very violent crimes. One possible theory was that Chiquita had angered someone with her reportedly volatile temper, according to oxygen. And this was a thought that, you know, I kind of had doing the research as a defense attorney.

Like I said, you're going to defend some people with questionable morals, maybe long rap sheets. What happens if they don't like something that you do in the course of defending them? Could it be that they want revenge? They come after you. Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah.

So I do think that has to be a working theory in the beginning. But investigators thought this was unlikely because Chiquita worked hard for her clients and didn't have any known issues with any of them, but they still looked into her client list to establish alibis. And the two clients Chiquita was representing for the upcoming trial were in jail when she was murdered. So those alibis are pretty easy to verify. I do like the fact that the police, even though they thought this was an unlikely theory, still went

through the client list, still tried to establish alibis for these people. Yeah, because I think you have to, right? You have to check that off the list. Well, you don't have to. And I think that's the problem in some cases. It could have been possible that investigators said, I just don't think that's likely. so we're not going to run that down. Now, you should.

You definitely should, and they did. Yeah, because now you can eliminate it as the possibility just for your own concern, but also, you know, eventually, hopefully, in this case, we know they do. You catch the individual that did this, and what you don't want it is to be used against you later by the defense saying, how do you know it wasn't one of our clients?

Yeah, so we're pointed out by the defense that you're sloppy because you didn't follow up on this or follow up on that. When investigators began looking into her marriage, they discovered that Chiquita and Greg were having serious problems. Chiquita had threatened to leave Greg multiple times during their marriage about a month before she died. She signed a lease for an apartment and paid three months of rent, but she had not yet moved in.

They also learned that Greg was having some financial troubles. So that's pretty interesting and had to have been to police. It's one thing to threaten to leave. But to me, it's another thing to rent an apartment and pay in advance. Taking the steps to get out. Yeah, I mean, that's taking it to another level.

It shows that she was pretty serious about it. And we know that the husband, the significant other is going to be looked at. And the financial troubles probably did. didn't look real great in his favor as well. Chiquita's sister, Danita, recalled her saying on February 19th that she could no longer stay married to Gray. Danita told Dateline,

you know in a relationship you have to compromise. I don't think she was willing to do it. It was her way or no way. That's a tough relationship to be in. It really is. I mean, compromise is a big deal in any relationship. It really is. If you have one person that is, you know, it's my way or the highway, it's going to be tough sledding, for sure.

But it does sound like she was that type of person, you know, very driven. She wanted everything the way that she wanted it. And that's okay if you're on your own. Sure. But when you're trying to share your life with someone else, they may not want to do everything the way that you want them to do it. they may not do it the way you want them to do it. And if that my way or no way kind of comes in, it's going to be a constant battle.

Yeah. And I think this is the problem of jumping into a marriage as quick as they did, right? He didn't get a chance or neither one got a chance to see how each of them really are in long term. Well, I think that's a great point because it does sound from the research like everything happened very quickly. from the time they met to the time that they moved in to the time that they were married. Greg's father, Silver Harris, told Dateline that some of their problems stemmed from Chiquita's long hours and work and her frequent travel for cases. But you know what? You married a defense attorney. I think you kind of know that's how it's going to be. And I'm assuming when you met her, she was working long hours at that time, too.

But again, in the early stages, right, you're in love, you're euphoric. Isn't it natural for people to kind of overlook certain things or not think that they're going to be as big of a deal as they will ultimately turn out to be? Because we're in love and love conquers all. Exactly. Well, it can, but it doesn't always. Detective saw the record of the domestic violence incident from December, 2007 and the outstanding warrant against Greg.

Greg told them he forgot to show up to court. So I already said he had some things that were probably causing the alarm bells to go off for investigators. This had to be the capper. I mean, a woman ends up murdered. Her husband has this record of domestic violence. He's got an arrest warrant that's outstanding. that doesn't look great.

It doesn't. And why is it still outstanding? Well, that part I wasn't sure about. Greg was arrested on February 21st, 2009 for simple battery, domestic violence and failure to appear in court. This allowed investigators to hold him in jail for further questioning during the early phase of the investigation. And I think for investigators, that's always a great scenario. Oh, I think they love that. Now we got the person that we think might have something to do with it,

and we don't have to worry about them being out on the streets. We know exactly where they're at, and we can go back to them and question them again and again because they're right down the corridor in the jail. Investigators got to break in the case. When a woman called the report that she found Chiquita's wallet on Gardier Lane. Gardier Lane is located in what was described, according to Dateline as a crime-ridden area of Baton Rouge.

The woman recognized Chiquita because she visited her daughter's school in the past, and she'd heard news about the murder, so she knew right away the importance of what she had found. But this evidence was puzzling to investigators. The wallet was found in a section of the city with a higher crime rate, but her ID and credit cards were still inside. And Chiquita owned a Gucci wallet. it, meaning that, you know, it was valuable even without the cards or the cash inside.

Investigators believed that the killer planted the evidence, hoping that someone would steal the wallet and use the credit cards, which would link them to the murder. It doesn't make any sense that someone would toss, one, the very expensive wallet out. Why wouldn't they hold on to it for themselves? Or why wouldn't they sell it somebody? and then again, you have these credit cards and cash and cash that you're not going to keep. It doesn't make any sense. But flip it around and think about someone having the idea to plant the wallet there,

hoping that someone would come along, find it, you know, use the credit cards. Investigators are going to see that. They're going to track it back to the person. and they're going to believe that that person had, you know, something to do with the murder. That's actually kind of smart. But their plan didn't work out that way because no one took the bait. Yeah. Someone good, a good person found the wallet and turned it in.

Yeah. But I think to investigators, this indicated some pretty extensive planning by the killer. Detectives wanted to question Greg again. They told him that cameras captured. him taking a different way home than what he said in his last interview. They also told him they checked his phone records. Now, both statements were a lie, but it helped the investigators when they confronted Greg about the wallet. Yeah, I think you have to remember when you're being questioned by authorities, they're not obligated to be honest or truthful. Truthful with you. Yeah, it's been ruled on by the

Supreme Court. Yeah. Investigators can lie. Greg admitted. that he went to Gardier Lane on the night of the murder to buy steroids from his dealer. But we already mentioned it, right? In his first statement, he said he went straight home after leaving the office. And what have you said time and time again? It's a problem when your story changes. It never makes you look good. No. You're setting yourself up to appear to be guilty. Now, you could make an argument that, you know, he didn't want to disclose the fact that he was buying steroids from a dealer. You can make a lot of different arguments as a defense attorney, but the minute you change your story, I think right away investigators think that that means something.

And let's not forget that he's putting himself on Gardier Lane that night. Exactly. I just think when you're being questioned and you decide to talk to the authorities without your attorney, you're best to say what actually really happened unless you're, you know, if you're guilty, you're going to try to twist it around. But if you went to get some steroids, isn't that better to say, I went to buy some steroids versus saying, no, I just went home and be looked at a little differently for the murder of your wife? I just don't know why you would want to hide the fact that you went and buy some steroids.

What's going to happen to you? Yeah. I mean, you know, is it a crime? Even if it is, it doesn't rise to the level of putting. yourself in the crosshairs of being a murderer. Exactly. Greg denied having any recent problems in his marriage and said he and Chiquita were working through their issues.

Greg also said he had never hit Chiquita before. Or of course he's going to try to downplay all that stuff against him. Yeah, he wants to soften it, right? He wants to make himself look as good as possible. Detectives received an anonymous tip informing them that Chiquita was involved in a love triangle with two female clients who were already in a relationship. The police tracked down these clients. The women explained that Chiquita was helping them with an adoption and their relationship

with her was strictly professional. Now, police wanted an explanation regarding this false tip. They traced the tipster's phone to Dallas and they learned that the number belonged to Greg's sister. Okay. A little sister or big sister. So is sister's trying to help them out? Yeah, but she's going to have a lot of explaining to do, right,

as to why she called in this false tip. Or why did someone use her phone? Yeah, that's true. You know, she could say she didn't do it. And I think that's exactly what she did. You know, when questioned, she claimed she didn't place the call. But the police were suspicious, which they should have been, that the family was trying to take suspicion away from gray.

Greg's family insisted he was not the killer. And even Chiquita's sister Danita had a hard time believing Greg could be the killer. And we've seen this time and time again. It is very difficult for family members to believe that, you know, this person they've known their whole life and even sometimes the in-laws to believe that this person is capable of such a heinous act. Yeah. And I think as a family member, I think it'd be kind of natural to think that it had to be one of her clients or somebody related to that because she's in that line of business where you're dealing with, I mean, some shady people. Yeah. I get that. Greg's father, Silver Harris, told Dateline that his daughter was not trying to throw the police off with her tip. She received this piece of information from him. And he got it from another attorney. They wanted the detectives to look down all possible investigative avenues. He claimed he didn't encourage her to call in the tip and said she did this on her own.

So she's saying she didn't even make the call at all. The dad saying she made the call, but I gave her the information. Well, obviously something's not true. Yeah, definitely somebody's lying there. Around this time, DNA testing from the crime scene was completed. There was no DNA evidence on the hair. found in Chiquita's hand because the hairs came from a weave. These types of hair extensions are often worn by women.

This suggested the possibility of a female killer. And that makes sense, right? I mean, I know you tried to weave out once. I did. I did. And it was not a good look. Yeah, it definitely was not. It kind of turned out to be the comb over from hell.

Yeah. The lab found DNA from Greg and an unknown male under. Chiquita's fingernails. On March 4th, the police executed a search warrant on Greg's car and home. The warrant stated that Chiquita was planning on divorcing the defendant due to marital problems. It was also noted that when Greg was first interviewed, detectives noticed injuries to his hand and left arm, which appeared to be cuts and scratches, per the news outlet W-A-F-B. That's not going to be good for him. No, it's not. We talked. We talked. We talked. We talked about how Chiquita fought for her life. So you would think it would be natural that whoever

killed her would have some type of wounds. Detectives didn't find much visual evidence such as weapons or bloody clothing, but they did find a bottle of chlorox with small visible spots of blood on the handle. And a box of weeds was found under Greg's bed. Inside a closet, invest. Investors The investigators found the device with an audio recording of Greg and Chiquita having a loud argument. It sounded like they were dividing up their household furniture. Okay. Not great for Greg with a box of weaves underneath his bed if it's tied to the same weaves that was in her hand.

I don't think any of this is great for Greg. I mean, the recording kind of almost solidifies the fact that she was planning on leaving. Yeah, and they didn't have this good relationship that he said they had. That they were working. Right. You know, to solve their marital issues. Detective sprayed luminal throughout the house and found blood traces all throughout throughout, including the washer and dryer in the closet.

In Greg's vehicle, they found a pair of safety glasses under the seat. Testing found a mix of Greg and Chiquita's blood on both the chlorox bottle and the safety glasses. Okay, none of that is great, right? None of the stuff that we talked about is great for Greg. Now, in your mind, you can start to formulate what or how a defense attorney might try to combat some of these things that they found. Sure.

Greg was charged with second degree murder and illegal use of a dangerous weapon on March 16, 2009. Greg was in court that day for a hearing on a hearing on. an outstanding traffic charge. He was ordered to pay a $10 fine and was going to be released later that day. But that was when detectives decided to charge him with murder to keep him in jail. Greg was indicted for second-degree murder on April 9th. He bonded out on April 17th, but was immediately re-arrested on stolen property charges. He was able to post bond on those charges and was released to await trial. So it sounds to me like they tried a bunch of different

things to, you know, keep this guy in jail. Just two days later, Greg called the police to report that someone tried to kill him. Must be the same person that killed her is what he's probably trying to set up. Could be. The shooting took place around 3 a.m. on April 20th, 2009, Greg reported that someone fired five shots into his home while he slept. Now, he wasn't hit, and the police found a bullet hole in the window and the headboard of his bed, which indicated the shooter was trying to kill him. Greg's father, Silver Harris, told Dayline, someone came up to his bedroom window around 3.40 in the morning and shoots into the bedroom window five times with a 10 millimeter gun, hoping that he was in bed. It just so happened that Greg fell asleep on the sofa. God saved him. He was not in bed. Is that believable?

Well, not to prosecutors because they believed Greg might have staged this attack in yet another attempt to throw the police off. Greg's murder trial started on March 22nd, 2011. Prosecutor Prim Burns told the jury that Greg Harris was the person who had both the motive and opportunity to kill Chiquita. He wanted to kill her because she was going to leave him. Greg had a history of control issues in previous relationships. And if Chiquita divorced him, he could no longer control her.

I mean, we know there's people like this that want to control their relationship and control their partner. And if they can't, it's devastating for them. The prosecution argued that Greg went to elaborate lengths to avoid suspicion, including placing the long hairs in Chiquita's hand, to suggest a female killer dumping her wallet in a bad part of town and staging the attempted murder at his home. Greg's defense attorney Louis Unglesby said there wasn't enough evidence for a conviction. The focus soon shifted from the trial evidence to tensions between the prosecution and defense. According to W.A.F.B., prosecutor Prim Burns complained that Lance Unglesby was stolen and accused him of Buffalo.

around the courtroom like everybody else is stupid. Doesn't like a little courtroom drama. Yeah, apparently the two didn't like each other. Unglesby responded, the prosecutor is afraid of the evidence. And to me, this is, you know, always the heart of the trial. There's evidence for sure. Is it enough? Is it going to be enough for the jury to be convinced that Greg Harris murdered his wife?

Did you ever see the movie with Jamie Fox and Tommy Lee Jones? Jamie Fox plays this big time attorney, but he's normally like a personal injury attorney, but he brings him pulled into the case by Tommy Lee Jones. He owns some funeral homes. No. Oh, it's a really good movie. It's based on a true story. But there's some scenes where him and the prosecutor or the other attorney,

there's a lot of banter back and forth that kind of makes me think of this. You know, it's just like the drama. Are you going to tell us the name of this really good movie? I can't remember it. All right. Yeah, but it was actually, it was a good, it came out like a year ago. I'm sure I can Google it. Yeah.

Because we have talked about a lot of evidence. We have. But is it definitive? Is it enough proof? And that's always the thing. The jury viewed photos. of the bleach bottle found inside the home with blood stains on the handle. The defense said the blood was old and could have been there long before the murder occurred.

They also suggested the possibility that it could have been menstrual blood. So I said, right, you can kind of picture or think about some of the ways that a defense attorney is going to try to combat the evidence. They're just trying to put doubt in your mind, right? That's their job. Yeah. Well, and it could be true. Absolutely, it could be. The jury then watched Greg's interrogation video.

Greg was told he was a prime suspect in the murder. A detective asked if he thought he could get away with it. Greg said, get away with it. I didn't do anything to get away with. I didn't kill my wife. During the interview, he removed his shirt and undershirt and challenged the police to test the items. He said, if Chiquita's blood is on my shirt, I'm going to. down. You got me. I did it. WafB reported that Greg's blood was found on those items,

but Chiquitas was not. So the blood on his items, was that from her defending herself against him? Or were these even the same clothes that he was wearing when this all went down? Did he have blood on him? He changed into new clothes, didn't realize that maybe he had blood on. He had blood on. on them and that blood got on the new clothes. Yeah, nothing really definitive. No, but my thought is, you know, when you stab somebody 43 times, you're not walking away without blood on your clothing. It's going to be pretty tough. I think it would be extremely tough. Chiquita's assistant testified that she knew that she was having marital problems. Chiquita told her she was tired of being married. Officers who responded to the domestic violence incident,

in 2007 testified that no one was immediately arrested, but Chiquita wanted Greg to leave that night. Before the prosecution rested. Two of Greg's former girlfriends testified that he physically abused them. One of them said he had a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde personality. You know what brings out the Dr. Jekyll and Mr. High personality, somebody that wants to control the relationship and doesn't have a problem yelling at you. So they both wanted control, but she had no problem arguing.

Maybe he just didn't like that. And that would be the thing to flip him. Well, and I was also kind of thinking that the flip might have occurred at the point where there was no doubt she was leaving. You know, going back to the control, you know, at the point where he was certain that he was going to lose the ability to have any control over her. Sure. Maybe he found some rental receipts.

That might have been this. Or maybe she told him. Yeah, just flat out said, hey, I'm leaving you, buddy. On April 9th, 2011, both the prosecution and defense were shocked when the jury convicted Greg of manslaughter. There was such an outburst in the courtroom that one person was arrested. That's pretty interesting. I mean, you always have outbursts and the judge have.

has to quiet everybody down, but people must have kept on because somebody got arrested. Prosecutor Prim Burns spoke to the jury after the verdict. She told WafB that they had no doubt Greg was the killer. Their smoking gun was the wallet found on Gardier Lane. Jurors asked for the definition of murder versus manslaughter. Burns speculated that they might not have fully understood the law. According to Burns, the jury believes something occurred. heard in Chiquita's office that incited Greg to kill her. Perhaps she cursed at him or hit him.

Burns said that these actions would not justify Chiquita being stabbed 43 times and added per WFAB, if you find that the average person's blood would have cooled in that situation, you cannot return a verdict of manslaughter. It has to be second or first degree murder. Burns said the jury mistakenly believed the manslaughter conviction carried the same penalty as second degree murder. When she told them that it didn't, some of them started crime. Well, this is probably why the prosecution was shocked by them coming back with the manslaughter finding. I absolutely think it is. I'm a little surprised they weren't aware because typically a lot of that information is spelled out for you when you're on a judge.

jury. Yeah, the jury instructions and all that. But it sounds to me, at least according to the prosecutor, that the jury thought, you know, Chiquita might have incited Greg. But cursing and even, you know, hitting someone shouldn't result in what happened. You know, if my wife and I get in an argument and we're kind of yelling at each other and she hits me in the arm. She would never do that, but let's just say she did. And she'll like the fact that I'm putting her in this. I don't have the right to then stab her 43 times. No.

It hasn't risen to that level. Now, if somebody breaks into my house and is intent on doing me harm, then I can defend myself. Yeah. But not. To a certain level. But not if my wife hits me in my arm or whatever. should I be reasonably concerned for my life, for my safety, if my 115 pound wife hits me in the arm?

No, I weigh more than twice what she does. Right. So, I mean, I think that's what the prosecution is getting at that the jury believed that in some way the level of violence, I don't want to say was valid. But it didn't rise to murder because they thought Greg was incited. I guess that's what I'm taking. Yeah. From it. Now, obviously, it sounds like once they found out that murder and manslaughter have two

very different sentencing guidelines, they must have realized that they were wrong. You know, for members of the jury to start crying once they heard it. Burns told WafB, the system left. Chiquita Tate down. I feel like the system that I've spent 36 years in, let her down. Defense attorney Lewis Unglesby explained that the jury was told the penalty for second degree murder, but not the penalty for responsive verdicts. He said, I don't know what they think they've done, honestly. So I mean, I think that kind of spells it out why both sides were shocked at the verdict. Now, I don't know what the defense attorney thought was going to

going to happen. But he's even saying he doesn't understand what the jury thought they were trying to do. But he's happy about it. Well, I think he's happier about manslaughter than he would have been about second degree murder for sure. Prosecutor Burns told Dayline that another motive was Chiquita's $60,000 life insurance policy of which Greg was the beneficiary. On the night of the murder, Greg called his boss and asked for an advance or a loan on his 401k. But his boss told him it wasn't possible. And we kind of said that when police looked into his financials, he was having money problems.

Yeah. Greg's attorney told Dateline that he had no reason to kill Chiquita because he had so much going for him. They still believed the long strands of hair indicated a female killer and suggested two people were involved. Unclesby also noted that Greg was reluctant to admit he went to Gardier Lane on the night of the murder because buying steroids is illegal. And we kind of discussed that a little bit, but you go back to the prosecution saying that was to them kind of their smoking gun. That's right. He finally admitted that that night he was on Gardier Lane in the same vicinity of where the wallet was found. So

it must have been him. It's a tough thing to dispute. To me, it's way more than a, what's the word I'm trying to shoot for? Coincidence? Yeah, that he happens to be in the same area where the wallets found. Yeah, yeah, I agree with that as well. I also know you can't say the word coincidence and you made me say it, but I think you're exactly right. You know, what are the chances that he just happens to be on this street buying illegal steroids at the same place where his wife's wallet is found after she's murdered. Yeah, it just doesn't add up. Could it happen technically, yes.

Yeah. But what are the odds? Greg Harris was sentenced to 40 years in prison on September 30th, 2011, which was the maximum penalty for a manslaughter conviction. His appeal was denied in November 12. The Louisiana Supreme Court led his conviction and sentence stand in May 2013. In response, Greg filed an application for post-conviction relief. Greg's attorney alleged that Dinar Duhart, the deceased brother of one of Chiquita's former clients,

was the killer. Based on witness statements, Doohart's name was also brought up at trial. Duhard died in 2013. He was the brother of Darius and Danako Duhard, who were accused of killing a man in 2007. The charges against them were later dismissed after several witnesses were killed. And I think anytime you have that situation, you're looking at some very dangerous individuals. For sure. Now, let's say that they did murder this man.

They weren't convicted of it, but let's just say they did, and that they were, also willing to murder witnesses. Going to be tough for people to stand up and testify against them. Sounds like there's no line that these guys weren't willing to cross. Yeah. Yeah. It seems like that. And I think there are people like that, right?

They will go to any length to stay free. And if they're killing people anyway, they're going to kill anyone that could possibly put them in jail or prison. It actually sounds like a movie. Chiquita represented Danako Duhart. Less than two months before she was killed, she persuaded the judge to release him because prosecutors were not ready to try him. She was working on the Doohart case

at the time of her death. According to Oxygen, the brothers knew they could get a continuance if she died, which could be a potential motive. We mentioned it earlier, right? both of these suspects were in jail at the time of the murder. And that doesn't mean they couldn't have orchestrated something. Oh, I was thinking the same thing. I mean, surely they had influence outside of the prison.

They probably did, but please don't call me surely. My thought is, other than getting a continuance, why would they want to kill Chiquita? It sounds like she was doing a really good job for them. So it's not out of the realm of possibility, but when you stack that up, against Greg and the likelihood of which of them is more true. I mean, I think you have to lean towards Greg, right? Yeah, I think you have to. Greg's petition was rejected in March 2016.

The evidence in this case points to Greg Harris as the killer. He had two motives, maintaining control of Chiquita in any way possible, and the $60,000 insurance payout, which would help him out of, you know, his financial troubles. Pretty strong motives. Yeah, pretty strong motives. I think, you know, as we wrap this one up, the problem for me in this case is that it's hard to say that there is a smoking gun.

I mean, I think for the prosecution, they looked at him being on that street where the wallet was found as the smoking gun. But is it definitive? Because I think like with a lot of things, you could say, well, it's possible he was there buying a legal steroid. Yeah. And just happened to be in the vicinity of this wallet. Now, I don't believe that and I don't think it's that likely. But could you say that it's possible? Yes. And that's, you know, where this idea of reasonable doubt comes in. Now, we know the jury thought he was guilty. why they voted for manslaughter, that is still a little perplexing.

And I think, according to the research, some of them were pretty sorry about it afterwards. Like, they just didn't understand the implications of what they were doing. I mean, he still got 40 years. He did, but he's going to get out. Yeah, I get it. I mean, it's not the best scenario, but hopefully they can. keep him in for the bulk of that 40. Yeah. I mean, obviously he would have gotten a much longer sentence with a second degree murder conviction. So, you know, if he is the killer, which it's kind of hard

not to, to believe that he is, in my eyes, he got off light. Yeah. Because he's going to come up for parole probably pretty early into those 40 years. Now, whether he gets out or not, we'll have to wait and see. but the odds are probably in his favor. Yeah, yeah, they probably are. But there's no doubt that Chiquita was a talented attorney. She would have gone on most likely to have a very successful career. The murder of Chiquita Tate was a major loss for the Baton Rouge legal community because she was dedicated to serving her clients and representing vulnerable groups of people.

Now, did she have a temper? Yeah, sounds like she did. but was she still a good person? To me, it sounds like she was. Yeah, maybe that temper helped her in her legal field. Well, you know, being a type A personality and being able to be direct and, you know, kind of forceful when you need to, I don't think that hurts you as an attorney. Could be beneficial. Now, one thing that jumps out to me in this case is if there wasn't all this evidence,

that Chiquita was planning on leaving Greg. You know, they had the recording, right, about them splitting up assets. She had signed a lease agreement. She had paid three months in advance. I mean, it's very obvious that she was leaving. And I think Greg knew that. Without all of that, you could make the argument that it wouldn't have been beneficial for Greg to.

kill Chiquita, even for the $60,000 in life insurance. Right. I'm sure she was making pretty good money and would have only continued to make more money year after year. Absolutely. But if she leaves and they get a divorce, then, you know, obviously there's a divorce settlement, but moving forward, he's not going to be part of that lucrative payday. Yeah, the future income.

Yeah, the future income. So whether it was needing the $60,000 because of his financial troubles or whether it was the loss of her and the loss of the control that he craved, there's a couple of different motives there. But it's just it's strange that the jury came to a decision that he did it. but they came back with manslaughter when if they were right, you know, he stabbed her 43 times and one of those was a fatal slash to the neck or a fatal wound to the neck. And they had the definition of second degree murder and what that meant in front of them. But even the defense attorney kind of said that it was almost like they didn't get everything or they didn't understand what they got.

Right. as far as instructions. So nonetheless, a very, you know, interesting case, even though most of it pretty circumstantial, hard not to believe that Greg Harris was the killer. And he is serving time, but I don't think he'll serve the amount of time that he probably should. We got some voicemails, Gibbs. You want to check those out? Yeah, see him.

Hey, Mike and Gibby. Longtime listener here from South Bend in the. My name is Sarah, and I have been listening to your show for quite a few years, and I first started really listening to it when I was in quarantine with my daughter when she was a baby. There wasn't a whole lot to do, so I got into watching and listening to a lot of true crime. And now I have a son who is almost three months old, and sometimes when he's being just a little extra bussy. I will pop in my earbuds and listen to a podcast to help me keep my cool. And I just want to say that I appreciate all the content that you guys put out, the research that you do

and for bringing us a good show every week. So be safe and keep your own time ticking. Well, appreciate the voicemail very much. Yeah, it's been a long time for both of us since we had a three month old. Well, a long time. But I can remember, um, those are some wonderful,

but sometimes very trying time. Absolutely. Because sometimes no matter what you do, you just can't soothe. Yeah. A young, uh, baby like that.

And you try and try and try and sometimes it's hard not to get frustrated. Especially if you're tired. Which you're going to be. Exactly. If you've got a three month old. She's, for sure. She said she was up there in South Bend?

Yeah. Rudy. Rudy. I love that movie. And I don't know how many times I've seen it, but if I watched it right now, I would cry. Yeah. There's just, there's some movies, even though I know what's going to happen. It's so moving to me at, you know, at the end of Rudy that I will ball.

Gets you every time. Gets me every time. Marley and me, same way. Yeah. I lose it every time. Hey, guys. It's dispatcher Lisa. a long time, no hearing from me, I'm sure you're wondering if I was still alive.

Well, I am. Thanks for the shout out, by the way. And as far as miscoding the call of the shooting, our computer automatically assigns a priority to incidents, shooting, stabbing, the medical aid call, those are the highest priorities. So unless the dispatcher put a totally different call type in, I can't imagine, or unless they have to do it manually. Anyway, that is a, I can't even call that a mistake. That is gross negligence, if you ask me. And I rarely talk badly about other dispatchers. As right now, I'm headed into another 12-hour shift. I have five of those today, and I've got to work two of my days off for

four hours each, but I guess that's just the life I chose. So you guys have a great day. Keep safe and keep your own time taking. always love to hear from Lisa and I knew we would because that was a very specific incident. It was. And we need her expertise to talk about. And again, I don't know what they had back then, whether they had that type of automation that she's talking about or is just miscoding. But we try not to talk too bad about, you know, emergency dispatchers because I do believe it's a very tough job. Oh, it has to be.

But you even hear her say it. That type of mistake is gross negligence. And it's kind of hard not to think it is. Yeah. We had no mailbag this week. So that's it, Gibbs, for another episode of true crime all the time. So for Mike and Gibby, stay safe and keep your own time ticking.