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Billy Joe Harris, the accused Texas Twilight Rapist, is headed to trial in Jackson County, Texas. He is charged with rape of a 59 year-old disabled woman on January 8, 2011; and he’s charged with home invasion of that home; also a home burglary where evidence was recovered from December 4, 2010.
On September 12, 2011 jury selection will begin. This is his first trial and hopefully will set the tide flow for others to come. Harris’ lawyer, Alan Cohen, for the Jackson Co., trial is wanting DNA samples reexamined. Cohen is questioning the chain of custody handling of the samples and wondering if there could be contamination. DNA has linked Harris to 6 of the rapes of elderly women in Texas. He is also charged with numerous counts of home invasion, burglary, and assault. His alleged crime spree of terrorizing elderly citizens spanned 2 years and through 9 counties, from Jan 21 2009 until his capture Jan 8 2011. DNA and other forensic evidence were collected at numerous scenes; which is a good thing since the victims are elderly and their memories could naturally fade. The DNA links him to five of the assaults in Bell, Falls, and Leon counties and in Yoakum. Yoakum is where the first rape occurred on January 21, 2009. His second alleged rape in Yoakum in Feb of 2009 is when they collected DNA samples.
Oddly, Mr. Harris worked for the prison system in Texas for years so he should’ve known crime doesn’t pay. He was a food service manager and corrections’ officer for different TX prisons between 1999 through 2010. I don’t think if he is found guilty of crimes in which he is accused his food service business will be responsible for seeing he’s well fed. When Harris was in court recently for the Falls County charges he allegedly yelled bible verses and rolled his head. ( An insanity attempt? Remember, Harris allegedly told Quanell X that someone apparently broke into his home and stole his clothing then spread his DNA all over the place. I say he can play dumb-dumb if he wants, I have no sympathy for him)
His Falls County lawyers’ Hoagie Karels and Stan Schwieger entered not guilty pleas to the charges. All his lawyers in each town and county have an uphill battle, (hopefully a losing one) DNA, forensic evidence and the fact missing items from the home invasions were discovered in Harris’ home screams guilt to me.
Yoakum, TX seemed to be the Twilight Rapist favorite crime center. In that town alone he had allegedly perpetrated 2 rapes, an assault, 3 home invasions and 2 attempted burglaries. In the rape of Feb 27 2009 and the assault on November 9, 2009 DNA was collected. Allegedly one victim in Yoakum is also the one raped on 2 different occasions and it’s believed he attempted a third attack but she had moved. All the rapist victims were between 59 and 91-years-old.
my previous post on Twilight Rapist:
http://tigresspenssurmisals.blogspot.com/2010/01/texas-twilight-rapist.html
Let's hope that his trial will be a good day for Lady Justice!
ReplyDeleteI have my fingers crossed that it will, Gayle. I think they have solid cases against him with all the rapes and home invasions. They not only allegedly have DNA but evidence from his residence of stolen items he'd taken from homes of the elderly he terrorized. I feel for his new wife and coowner of the BDK Healthcare, she was apparently clueless about his activities.
ReplyDeleteThis story has legs. There is a lot going on with this creep. The full story is worth following up on. Please keep watching this trial. It will get worse as time goes on. I hope the 91 year old woman he attacked lives to see him go to trial for that assault.
ReplyDelete"Has Legs." What a great way to describe the process of bringing this man to trial, Anonymous. Especially with the insanity Cohen is alleging his client suffers. IMO sane people can have bizzare and abstract thoughts!
ReplyDeleteI am trying to keep up with the cases. But it isn't easy when so many counties are involved. And, too, several other cases I've followed are due at trial soon too. I'm interested in how Mr. Cohen will proceed with his sanity defense of the abstract and bizarre thinking patterns. It's an interesting defense for sure, hopefully, it won't confuse the jury. If he attacks DNA contamination and the insanity defense then it could prove a heavier burden for DA to get the verdicts they are hoping for. That I, as a concerned trial watcher, are hoping for also. These elderly people deserve justice. What about their sanity? - the fear they felt and must still fill!
The Jackson Co. trial could set the stage for the later trials.
The charges against the 'Twilight Rapist' are numerous. His first trial is just the beginning of trials he will have.
ReplyDeleteCharges against him in cities and counties in Texas are:
January 21, 2009: Home invasion, rape in Yoakum
February 27, 2009: Home invasion, rape in Yoakum - (DNA was obtained)
July 3, 2009: Home burglary in Marquez (evidence was recovered)
July 20, 2009: Home invasion, rape Marquez (DNA was obtained)
August 14, 2009: Home invasion, rape Zabcikville (evidence was recovered)
August 2009: Home burglary in Falls County
September 5, 2009: Home invasion and assault Marquez
September 11, 2009: Home invasion, assault Bell County (DNA was obtained)
October 10, 2009: Home invasion, rape Falls County (DNA was obtained)
October 24, 2009: Home invasion, assault, Centerville
November 9, 2009: Home invasion, assault Yoakum (DNA was obtained)
November 24, 2009: Attempted home burglary Yoakum
November 24, 2009: Home invasion, fondling, Luling
December 24, 2009: Home burglary in Moody (evidence was recovered)
March 1, 2010: Home invasion, assault, Moody
December 4, 2010: Home burglary in Edna (evidence was recovered)
January 8, 2011: Attempted burglary Yoakum
January 8, 2011: Home invasion, rape Edna (DNA was obtained)
(The Jan 8, 2011 was also when he was fianlly arrested )
The jurors have been seated, 7 men and 7 women, and the OS were heard today.
ReplyDeleteAnd, The David The Dog did the horrendous acts for which Billy Joe Harris is accused!
Mr. Harris apparently showed his behind during some pretrail court precedings and his lawyer, Alan Cohen, requested he be in shackles for his safety and that of others during the trial. Judge Koetter agreed to the request and had reasons put on record.
I don't know if jurors will be told why he is in leg irons, hadcuffs and has a stun belt on. But, I have to wonder if Harris' laying his head on the defense table and shuddering at times is a ploy in the insanity defense. (I'm saying his own idea, not his attorney's idea). However, according to Cohen statements in a previous news interview, Harris has problems with dealing with very abstract thinking and very bizarre thinking, yet he has also stated Hasrris has significant feelings of remorse for what he understands. (which personality feels the remorse I wonder) Cohen told the jurors today that Harris suffers from MPD (multiple personality disorder). And what makes me laugh is according to Mr. Harris one of those personalities is a dog named David. David is the one who committed the crimes Billy Joe Harris is charged with- Okaaay-
According to Cohen, Mr. Harris was involved in beastiality as a teen and he was exposed to and participated in pornography. (Doggie David is getting his revenge I guess!) I am not falling for this subterfuge Harris has filled the expert witnesses head with... ploy to me. He has been perfectly sane enough to marry, open and run a business for some time, and to work in the food field that served prisoners for several years.
I personally don't think any problems he has with his thinking, or MPD with doggie David is reason to set him free; he still needs to be locked away for the rest of his life. He is a threat to society and in particular elderly women to me in my opinion. He doesn't need to be locked away in a mental insitution where he could be declared sane in a year or so either!
I do give him credit for originality in the excuse arena though.
Testimony in trial of Billy Joe Harris centered around his attack on the 59 year-old disabled victim yesterday and today. The victim testified yesterday and said she'd heard a noise and left her bed but before she had taken a couple steps he grabbed her from behind. This while Harris sit at the denfense table pretending he couldn't hear because he had paper stuffed in his ears. He allegedly
ReplyDeletewanted to keep from hearing the voices of Bobby, one of his MPD friends, and David the Dog, another MPD friend who he blames for the attacks after Bobby plans them. ( Seems Bobby is quite the intelligent one. He cuts phone lines and unscrews porch lights of intended victims! )
Mr Cohen told jurors on Tuesday that although Harris could go to work, certain triggers made Bobby and David come out... HA! I guess one of those triggers is hearing his own voice since he did have that paper in his ears and moved his head back and forth while jurors heard the tape of his police interview after being apprehended. Seems Mr. Harris spoke well and coherently in the interview. (No mention was made of Doggie David or Bobby Instigator!)
The victim testified that she told Harris that she was disabled and you could feel the rods in her back. Harris ignored her pleas and told her that he had followed her for some time and asked her for money. He forced her to perform oral sex on him and raped her. She was, during the attack, able to pull her silent alarm. When Mr. Harris fled he left his underwear and shoes at the victim's apartment. (David was a bad doggie!) I just so want this sick puppy (and I don't mean that as he is actually insane) to be sent to prison for rest of his natural life.
Today a paramedic firefighter who took the call for assistance said the victim was visibly upset when he arrived and told him about advising Harris of her condition. He said the victim said Harris didn't care that she'd recently had back surgery.
Sexual assault examiner, Leslie Kallus, testified that Harris had scratches on his back, shoulders and chest. A nurse that examined the victim after the rape gave testimony on the victim's injuries and said the victim's scratches and vaginal injuries were consistent with rape.
Alan Cohen tried to rehabilitate his client's image ( I know! bad choice of words. ) by suggesting the scratches could have been from a fight Harris got in with officers after he fled the scene. But Ms. Kallus said Harris was wearing a coat when he fought with officers. (You go Ms. Kallus!)
My heart goes out to the victim and I pray for justice for her and that she can eventually put this horrific attack behind her.
I hope when this trial continues next week, the state throws all the nonsense of mentally deficient due to hearing voices, Bobby and David Dog into the wind from where, I think, they came. I just keep thinking about his victim and how she has to use a walker. Of how she was praying when Harris was threatening her and not having any sympathy for her condition. Of course she felt like she was going to die! Who wouldn't. The very idea that he told her to stop praying when she was saying her Hail Mary angers me. That wasn't David Dog or Instigator Bobby! That was to me (from all I have learned of him and the crimes and this trial) Billy Joe Harris in all his evil!
ReplyDeleteThank God for the officers and EMS who responded so quickly when her silent alarm. I imagine Harris, since he told her he'd watched and followed her for some time, he was the one who'd removed the window screen a few weeks earlier.
If the jurors fall for the show Harris put on for the judicial system during his testimony Monday, I am going to have a hard time believing the TX justice system in Edna works. I think he is full of it. If he wouldn't remove his ear plugs then how could he so easily change from one personality to another and voice his testimony in their voice. I've never known that a MPD victim to be able to do so with such ease as he apparently does. Personally, after reading on his actions during court and what he claims, I think he is not only a rapist but a bad actor and liar.
ReplyDeleteAll this dog junk is sickening but doesn't make him mentally insane. One thing I give him, he has an imagination but it isn't fantastic. But Stephen King's writers imagination is better.
I can't say I blame jurors for giggling during his theatrics, if indeed they did, it's a sham. He carried it a little far with his claim about extra-terrestrials and Instigator Bobby's buying the stolen items at a store. (Instigator is my name for the alleged imagined personality Bobby) Harris complained to Judge that Pros was trying to manipulate him but I feel it's the other way around. He is trying to manipulate the justice system!
Mr. Harris antics in the courtroom was to no avail. Juror had no doubt of his guilt of the charges in which he was accused. They came back 5 minutes after retiring with a guilty verdict. Justice prevailed for the victim!
ReplyDeleteHis next trial will be in Falls Co. TX. I have to wonder if he'll continue this I am crazy insane junk. Will he keep sticking paper in hsi ears so he can't hear the voices of Bobby, David and other alleged personalities?
Jurors in Edna heard a phone call he'd made back in March and he'd asked his friend during that call if she enjoyed the show he put on during his hearing. He thought he'd done pretty good. The justice system and jurors showed him they weren't in to pretense!
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/witness/201110/multiple-personality-excluded-in-twilight-rapist-insanity-case
ReplyDeleteAlthough I agree Billy Joe Harris isn't a victim of MPD I don't agree that it's junk science.