Murder/Suicide leaves behind more questions than answers
The murder suicide in a Whittier motel Saturday morning leaves many questions in its wake about the criminal justice system and the protection of women who are threatened by their spouses or significant others.
The key lines in Jennifer McLain's story are at the bottom:
The couple were divorcing, and Harris, 34, had a history of holding her against her will.
On Nov. 16, Harris took her from a West Covina park to a hotel, where he handcuffed her and held her captive, according to Lt. Pete Mena of the West Covina Police Department. He later released her. The next day, he bound her with duct tape and threatened her with a stun gun, Mena said.
She escaped and reported both incidents to police.
Harris was arrested and pleaded no contest Dec. 21 to a false imprisonment and a weapons charge in exchange for a sentence of 16 months in prison, court records show.
Harris was granted a month of freedom before he began serving his sentence on Jan. 24. Thomas-Harris was not informed that her husband had been freed.
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| Frank Girardot, Metro Editor for the San Gabriel Valley Newspapers, brings you behind the yellow tape with takes on true crime, cold cases and more. This is also your forum to discuss crime, its impact on your neighborhood and how we cover it. Have any questions or tips? You can leave a comment here or e-mail Frank. |
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Brian Day is the crime reporter for the San Gabriel Valley Newspaper group. E-mail Brian. |
So this guy gets "low term" state prison sentence on charges that could have gotten him so much more time if the D.A.'s office doesn't allow him to plea. Than he doesn't start his term for a month and nobody bothers to tell his wife?
What judge allowed him to go free? Did the D.A,'s office agree to it? Who had the responsibility of telling the wife and didn't? What did his rap sheet look like? Heads should roll on this.
Local Boy
Who's going to explain to her childern there mother died because some judge did not follow the law. I mean come on the man had recently committed acts that the man was at some point out of control. Why would you let him out. Why should he been given a chance to do anything but to go directly to jail. That judge should have to be the to tell those children why there mom is not going to be there for them anymore... How could he do that to those innocent children. there mom will never be there for them ever. Does he even care about that? Or better yet does he even know what he has done?
The judge really screwed up.Two people are dead because of this. I use to work with Curtis over at Pactiv he seemed really mellow,I thought he was quiet and nice.I don't know what the hell happened. The judge has to bear some responsibility for his awful decision.These plea deals are horrible.I'm sorry Curtis made this awful choice.Perhaps if he was still in jail he would never have thought this.I'm sorry for Monica too. The whole system is terrible and two people are dead because of it.
The judge really screwed up.Two people are dead because of this. I use to work with Curtis over at Pactiv he seemed really mellow,I thought he was quiet and nice.I don't know what the hell happened. The judge has to bear some responsibility for his awful decision.These plea deals are horrible.I'm sorry Curtis made this awful choice.Perhaps if he was still in jail he would never have thought this.I'm sorry for Monica too. The whole system is terrible and two people are dead because of it.
In the news article today, it notes that 2 employees at the motel recognized the couple from the news, yet, they did not notify anyone. Why? Perhaps if the authorities were called during "check in" this would have not happened. The husband showed his id and 2 people recognized the couple... Perhaps these folks should be the ones taking some of the responsibility. Very sad.
It's all a very sad and horrible situation, but don't believe everything you hear in the news. I knew Curtis Personally and he was a very nice and kind guy. This is a case of "til death do us part" he loved his wife maybe too much and she hurt him so much that he obviously felt this was the way to deal with it. He didn't deserve to be in jail in the first place. Don't be so quick to judge is all I really want to say. You didn't know Curtis so of course you can't understand all of it but please don't assume that he was this horrible guy - maybe he just got tired of being the victim. May he rest in peace.
To the previous post's author... are you insane? So it was "her" fault he killed her and he's the victim? I'm quite sure who ever came up with the line "till death do us part" didn't mean love me or i'll kill you. This guy didn't only need to be kept in jail, he needed to be kept in a jail far, far away for a long time to protect this woman from him. Nice guys don't kill the people they love, moron.
Tia Fisher was the judge who released Harris. Sharp lady, used to be a commissioner at Santa Anita Court in Monrovia. Wonder what her reasoning was.
Local Boy
To the person that believes that he is a victim and should not be in jail, why not? Since when is it legal to hold and assult a person against their will?
So just because he loved her it gave him the right to do these things to her? In my opinion and i may be wrong you don't treat the people you love that way. You don't put your hands on someone you love in a violent manner. Above all you do not leave two children without a mother. If that is your idea of love then maybe your significant other should be notified immediately to watch his/her back as well.