Clara Harris leaves prison
She ran over cheating spouse repeatedly in sensational case
The Friendswood woman who ran over her husband with a car, killing him, was released after serving 15 years of her 20-year sentence.
Clara Harris, the Friendswood dentist who made national headlines more than a decade ago after she ran over and killed her husband, was released from prison Friday morning after serving 15 years of her 20-year sentence.
Her parole conditions include no contact with the other victims or their families. She must also reside in Galveston County, find gainful employment and abstain from drugs and alcohol, according to Harris’ former attorney and now friend, Emily DeToto.
“Clara served more time than most similarly situated people,” DeToto said. “A jury spoke, and she’s done her time. I look forward to catching up with her soon.”
Harris, who served her sentence at the women’s prison complex in Gatesville, was convicted of manslaughter in the July 24, 2002, killing of 44-year-old dentist David Harris.
The gruesome killing became a sensational case, with the Houston trial generating international media coverage and the crime spawning true-crime books and a made-for-television movie.
When Harris’ parole was announced in November, it was condemned by victims’ advocates who wanted her to serve at least 17 years.
Her supporters argued the 60-year-old has been rehabilitated.
In 2002, Harris, who is originally from Colombia, and her orthodontist husband were a successful couple with a string of dental offices who lived in an upscale home in Friendswood. She became suspicious of her husband’s philandering and hired a private investigator to keep an eye on him.
When Harris was notified that her husband and his former receptionist Gail Bridges were at the Hilton Hotel in Nassau Bay, she confronted the woman in the hotel lobby, pulling her hair and biting her.
The couple left the hotel and went to Bridge’s car, while the private investigator was in the hotel parking lot with a camera videotaping the encounter.
Clara Harris hit Bridges with her silver Mercedes-Benz before she ran over her husband, and then wheeled the vehicle around and ran over him repeatedly.
David Harris’ then-17-yearold daughter from another marriage was a passenger in the car with Harris when her father was run over and killed.
During the trial, the teen testified her stepmother had driven the car over her father three times.