Convicted killer to be executed

By RACHEL STONE, The Beaumont Enterprise

David Ray Harris was no stranger to Vidor police when
he was arrested on
suspicion of capital murder Sept. 6, 1985.

The 24-year-old had been picked up for burglary and
other offenses as a
juvenile, but he was best known for his involvement in
the shooting death
of a Dallas police officer nine years earlier. In
1988, Harris would all
but admit he had killed the cop, Robert Wood, and that
Texas had put an
innocent man on death row.

The story of Harris, now 43, is sensational and
complex, but it's expected
to end Wednesday when the state of Texas plans to
execute him in
Huntsville.

A Jefferson County jury in 1986 convicted Harris in
the shooting death of
30-year-old Mark Mays, a Beaumont car dealership
manager.

Harris broke into Mays' apartment and kidnapped his
girlfriend,
26-year-old Roxanne Lockard, because, he told police,
he was looking for a
woman to have sex with.

Harris killed Mays during a gunfight in the parking
lot of a West End
apartment complex. Vidor police arrested him five days
later after he
broke into Texas Pride Gun Shop in Vidor.

Orange City Manager Sam Kittrell was assistant Vidor
police chief at the
time.

"It was a horrendous crime, and he accepts his
responsibility in that
case," said Kittrell, who visited Harris last week.
"It was terribly
tragic."

Some believe it was a tragedy that could have been
avoided.

In 1976, a 16-year-old Harris stole a car in Vidor and
drove it to Dallas.
Officer Wood pulled the car over because its
headlights were out. Wood was
shot dead.

Dallas County prosecutors never sought charges against
Harris for Wood's
death, even though police caught him driving the car.

"They wanted to give somebody the death penalty,"
Houston-based attorney
Randolph Schaffer Jr. said in a telephone interview
last week.

Harris fingered 27-year-old Randall Dale Adams and a
jury convicted him of
capital murder in 1978, based largely on Harris'
testimony.

Errol Morris' 1988 documentary, "The Thin Blue Line,"
revealed that
prosecutors had offered to drop other charges pending
against Harris in
exchange for his testimony, among other
inconsistencies.

Harris bragged about the police shooting to
acquaintances in Vidor and
later to other prisoners during a stint in
Leavenworth, Schaffer said.

"The only time Harris said he didn't kill the officer
was when he
testified against Adams," said Schaffer, who was
Adams' defense attorney.

The state dropped its charges against Adams, and he
was freed in 1989
after 12 years on death row. He came within 72 hours
of his date with
death.

"It's never been a hard case to figure out; it's just
that the state made
a deal with the devil and tried the wrong guy,"
Schaffer said.

Former Dallas County prosecutor Doug Mulder, who is in
private practice in
Dallas, didn't return a call placed to his office
Thursday. The Dallas
County District Attorney's office didn't return a
message seeking comment
Friday.

Harris never said he killed Wood in any official
document. In a 1988
hearing, he admitted he was alone in the car when Wood
was shot, and that
his finger was on the trigger.

In a 1991 interview with the Chicago Tribune, Adams
said he wasn't bitter.
Twelve years on death row and nearly being executed
had made him gentle.

"I came 72 hours from being executed. At that point,
you better make peace
with yourself," he told the Tribune.

David Ray Harris has been in the appeals process for
18 years, and he's
had several execution dates.

"We'll just have to wait and see," Kittrell said of
his Wednesday date.

---

Source : The Beaumont Enterprise

Wow thanks for the info.. lets just hope he gets a stay.

Convicted killer to be executed

By RACHEL STONE, The Beaumont Enterprise

David Ray Harris was no stranger to Vidor police when
he was arrested on
suspicion of capital murder Sept. 6, 1985.

The 24-year-old had been picked up for burglary and
other offenses as a
juvenile, but he was best known for his involvement in
the shooting death
of a Dallas police officer nine years earlier. In
1988, Harris would all
but admit he had killed the cop, Robert Wood, and that
Texas had put an
innocent man on death row.

The story of Harris, now 43, is sensational and
complex, but it's expected
to end Wednesday when the state of Texas plans to
execute him in
Huntsville.

A Jefferson County jury in 1986 convicted Harris in
the shooting death of
30-year-old Mark Mays, a Beaumont car dealership
manager.

Harris broke into Mays' apartment and kidnapped his
girlfriend,
26-year-old Roxanne Lockard, because, he told police,
he was looking for a
woman to have sex with.

Harris killed Mays during a gunfight in the parking
lot of a West End
apartment complex. Vidor police arrested him five days
later after he
broke into Texas Pride Gun Shop in Vidor.

Orange City Manager Sam Kittrell was assistant Vidor
police chief at the
time.

"It was a horrendous crime, and he accepts his
responsibility in that
case," said Kittrell, who visited Harris last week.
"It was terribly
tragic."

Some believe it was a tragedy that could have been
avoided.

In 1976, a 16-year-old Harris stole a car in Vidor and
drove it to Dallas.
Officer Wood pulled the car over because its
headlights were out. Wood was
shot dead.

Dallas County prosecutors never sought charges against
Harris for Wood's
death, even though police caught him driving the car.

"They wanted to give somebody the death penalty,"
Houston-based attorney
Randolph Schaffer Jr. said in a telephone interview
last week.

Harris fingered 27-year-old Randall Dale Adams and a
jury convicted him of
capital murder in 1978, based largely on Harris'
testimony.

Errol Morris' 1988 documentary, "The Thin Blue Line,"
revealed that
prosecutors had offered to drop other charges pending
against Harris in
exchange for his testimony, among other
inconsistencies.

Harris bragged about the police shooting to
acquaintances in Vidor and
later to other prisoners during a stint in
Leavenworth, Schaffer said.

"The only time Harris said he didn't kill the officer
was when he
testified against Adams," said Schaffer, who was
Adams' defense attorney.

The state dropped its charges against Adams, and he
was freed in 1989
after 12 years on death row. He came within 72 hours
of his date with
death.

"It's never been a hard case to figure out; it's just
that the state made
a deal with the devil and tried the wrong guy,"
Schaffer said.

Former Dallas County prosecutor Doug Mulder, who is in
private practice in
Dallas, didn't return a call placed to his office
Thursday. The Dallas
County District Attorney's office didn't return a
message seeking comment
Friday.

Harris never said he killed Wood in any official
document. In a 1988
hearing, he admitted he was alone in the car when Wood
was shot, and that
his finger was on the trigger.

In a 1991 interview with the Chicago Tribune, Adams
said he wasn't bitter.
Twelve years on death row and nearly being executed
had made him gentle.

"I came 72 hours from being executed. At that point,
you better make peace
with yourself," he told the Tribune.

David Ray Harris has been in the appeals process for
18 years, and he's
had several execution dates.

"We'll just have to wait and see," Kittrell said of
his Wednesday date.

---

Source : The Beaumont Enterprise
I just finished watching a "Thin Blue Line". It was very interesting,which is what led me to this board(Search).I was surprised to learn that Randall
Adams was released.(There were no no indications of that after the film).
At the very end of the film, the tape recording said it all. Harris was upset that he could not stay the night,thus blaming the killing on him being on the street that night.A peak into the mind of a sociapath? Perhaps. Thanks for the read.