Chapter 1: What happened to Christina Harris on the day of her overdose?
You're listening to the 2020 True Crime Vault. Looking at a crime, sometimes it's the tiny things that bring it into focus. Something small that gets left behind. Genesee guy, 911. I need an ambulance immediately. There's no pulse. Oh, my God. This crime is somewhat of a perfect crime. There was no murder. There's no DNA that helps. There's no fingerprints that help.
I could not wrap my head around a reason for her to not wake up.
One detail can solve a murder. That's what happened with Christy Harris.
Christy is just, she was literally the best mom. The best.
A new baby and a four-year-old? She was devoted to them. Jason Harris told the police that his wife had been unwell. She was kind of falling asleep while she's sitting in a chair, and he's able to get her into bed where she falls asleep. Was it an accident? Had someone killed her? He really thought that he was going to be able to get away with murder because at this point, he had.
But there was one thing that Christy Harris left behind. This could be the piece of the puzzle that solves this case. It was in the freezer all along. Davis in Michigan is a suburb of Flint, Michigan, a small town. People know each other. Nobody would have expected it here. Nobody would have expected something like that to happen.
Sheila Cooper is a long-time resident, and in 2014, neighbors moved next door, Jason and Christy Harris and their two daughters. And they've only been renting the house for about a few months when tragedy strikes.
I never assumed anything was going on in that house.
On September 29th, 2014, Sheila Koop gets a text message from Jason Harris. I received a text message from Jason. Hey, neighbor, are you busy? Apparently, Christy's overslept again. I can't get a response from her. And I said, do you want me to go knock on the door? And he said, oh, yes, would you please do that? Sheila Koop then goes to the house. The house is unlocked. She's able to get in.
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Chapter 2: What clues were left behind that could suggest foul play?
She was cold to the touch and unresponsive. So I immediately dialed 911. Janice, you got anyone? I need an ambulance immediately. I have a neighbor that I can't move. I can't turn on her back and she's cold. There's no pulse. Oh, my God. Davis and police come and take a report, and then family members, of course, started showing up as well. We were waiting outside, and Jason came pulling in.
Next thing I knew, I turned around, and I seen Jim Mays there. So I walked in the house, and I could see Christy laying on the bed. He came out to the car, and he said, Christy's gone. Kathy pulled up to the front of the house, and that was one of the saddest things I've ever seen in my life. I just kept saying, no, stop it. Stop saying that. That's not true. Stop saying that.
I could not, in my head, wrap around a medical reason for her to not wake up.
So a patrol officer and the ME took some photos.
There was a power strip on the floor, and the alarm clock that was on the nightstand was plugged into that power strip. And that power strip was flipped off, so the clock was flipped off.
one of the first questions they asked is did you see any medications and we all looked around the room she did have some pain pills that were from her c-section a couple months prior there were no signs of a struggle there was no signs of drug use on its surface it looked like it was a female that happened to pass away in her sleep the house looked like
The normal house I knew, I saw somebody who could have very easily died in her sleep from the look of things. Medics remove Christy's body and take it to have an autopsy to figure out why and how she died. Something terrible has happened here. She just gave birth four months ago. Why would a healthy woman in her mid-30s die in her bed? Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday dear Christy.
Christy was kind of the life of the party. Christy was the singer, the dancer, more outgoing. I would describe Christy as a very energetic, bubbly, fun person. So like a lot of couples, Jason's very different. Jason's a little more quiet, a little more to himself. Him and Christy met in 97. It was actually a party that one of my friends was having. They seemed to really hit it off very well.
Jason just seemed like your typical everyday guy that got up and went to work. Didn't get home until 5, 6 o'clock at night. He'd been married and divorced before and has two kids from a previous relationship. I wasn't just going to get a son-in-law. He was going to come with a family. Her wedding day was one of Christy's fantasies that came true. I was the best man.
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Chapter 3: How did the investigation into Christina's death unfold?
That was their costume. Yep, that's Christy. She was just as happy that Halloween as she was the day she got married. At the time of Christy's death, she and Jason have two young daughters of their own. Haley, who was born in 2009, and Callie Ann, who's only about four months old. Ready? Christy is just, she was literally the best mom. The best.
After Callie Ann was born in 2014, she was able to go back to work. Christy was literally doing it all. She was breastfeeding, and breastfeeding is kind of, it's a lifestyle in a sense because you've got to watch what you eat, you know, you have to watch what medication you take. When the autopsy results come back, it was just a shocker.
October 22, 2014, Davidson Police Department received the autopsy results, which showed that she died of heroin toxicity and ruled an accident. This case started and originated with me. I was an assistant prosecuting attorney here in Genesee County, and this appeared to be an overdose. there was a large amount of heroin in her system.
It was inferred that it was eaten because she didn't have any needle marks. There wasn't anything to show that she was snorting it or smoking it. I have never, in all my years of doing things in law, heard of someone eating heroin. It jumps out at Christy's parents as being extremely odd. It was so unexpected. No way in the world did Christy do this.
But the medical examiner's ruling greatly impacts this investigation. He not only rules that she died from heroin, but that it was an accidental death. So at this point, the medical examiner also does not suspect homicide. And this is in the middle of the opioid epidemic in America that's still ongoing now. We have been reporting here on the opioid crisis in America.
Tonight, we take you inside the battle against a deadly narcotic.
Originally, everybody thought it was an accidental overdose because that's what the forensic pathologist had ruled.
But behind the facade of this normal suburban household, there were problems. And Christy's family knew that the marriage was on the rocks.
Jason had been texting not one, but multiple women.
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Chapter 4: What evidence was presented to support the theory of murder?
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After Christina passed, things really started changing. Jason wasn't going to work.
But he did not seem too worried about that because he cashes in the $100,000 life insurance policy from her employer.
That life insurance policy bought three cars. He bought himself a truck. The girlfriend got an Impala. He actually would later purchase a house with the proceeds from the life insurance. He had the house now that Christy always wanted, and he was able to do that with the money that was provided to him by Christy's death.
He made a new life for himself, the life that my sister would have liked to have. And Jason, this sort of reserved, somewhat shy guy, is taking a more active role in the community.
after christie died he's moving on with his life without a pause he was on the soccer board and being a great dad was kind of part of his agenda meanwhile people were quick to believe that christie was just another drug user and it wasn't just christie's family who were knocking on the door of the police station saying, I think Jason had something to do with this.
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Chapter 5: How did Jason Harris's behavior raise suspicion?
He could call one of the neighbors and ask her to check on Christy and find her deceased. A few days after, my sister tells us that Jason has decided he's just going to get a divorce. So that was relieving. In my mind, just kind of forgot about it and moved on. But then probably six months later, we get the phone call that Christy was found dead in her bed this morning.
After Christy Harris's death, it is Jason's own siblings, his sister and his brother, who divulged to police that Jason had talked about wanting to get rid of his wife.
christie's parents this is an accumulation of evidence that increasingly points towards foul play and increasingly points towards a motive for jason to murder christie he wandered out of this relationship he didn't want to have to pay child support but at this point the police do not believe that there's enough evidence to charge jason harris for anything having to do with christie harris's death
There was never enough early on to be able to get to the point where we could charge somebody. The honest to goodness truth is being a cheater and a liar and enjoying spending money that you got because your wife died does not make you a murderer. It's not evidence of murder. At this point, it's going to take something else to bring Jason Harris down. But all hope is not lost.
You've got a very motivated family who love this woman and they weren't giving up.
Not every family is as strong and would be willing to go to a birthday party and rub elbows with the person you believe killed your sister.
And Christy Harris's family are about to uncover a critical detail. This everyday object is going to put the focus on Jason. I'm sort of the computer guy. I get everybody up and running. Jason made a comment that his laptop wasn't booting, and I have some tools here that allows me to take the hard drive out and plug it in to some other devices, and he handed it to me.
And in that moment, all those months of gritting their teeth and smiling their way through their suspicion paid off. It's the Paradise Podcast.
I am your host, Ryan Michelle Bethea, with my husband Sterling.
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Chapter 6: What role did the breast milk play in the investigation?
Then he asked, if I gave you $5,000, will you kill my wife? He solicited essentially strangers at work. This is shocking information. To Christie's family, it seemed clear that he was trying to kill his wife. To Christie's parents, the accumulation of all of that should have at least led to an interview of Jason Harris.
Detectives attempted to interview Jason, but he had counsel, and they would not let him speak to detectives. Now Jason's not talking, and he has every right not to talk. He said, I've got a lawyer. I'm not talking. Christy's parents are viewing this through very rational eyes.
And to them, one of the stumbling blocks in this case is the absolute dearth of evidence collected at the scene by the police department that should have been responsible for doing that. On the morning Christy died, Jason was questioned by the police officer who responded to the 911 call. He's not a detective.
Jason Harris told the police that his wife had been unwell, that she had been suffering from a cold, and he had fed her a bowl of cereal the night before she was discovered. She was kind of falling asleep a little bit while she's sitting in the chair, and eventually he says that he's able to get her into bed where she falls asleep. But there's no examination of the cerebral.
There's no DNA that helps. There's no fingerprints that help. And the house isn't declared a crime scene. The police did not return to the house. Once they were gone, Jason ended up walking around the side of the house into the back door. And that little window they had to get that all-important evidence, it closed. When the police left the house and the ME declared
Christie's death and accidental drug overdose. And the case stalls. 2014, 2015, 2016. Nothing happens. We learned that there had not been any homicides in the city of Davidson in over 55 years, which was a concern. The family's concerned how the Davidson Police Department is going to be able to assess evidence like this I have no idea why the police didn't arrest Jason.
One of the things I remember distinctly that they said, well, I hate to arrest a guy who just lost his wife. And that kind of sits with me because I'm like, yeah, but he did it. I visited many times and said, can you please involve the state police? Can you please ask somebody to come in? And it just didn't happen.
ABC News did reach out to the Davidson City Police Department, but it did not respond. Meanwhile, Jason is still caring for their two daughters. And the rest of Christy's family is living in fear. If he killed my sister, what could he do to me? And at the time, I had moved, but I didn't want him to know where I lived.
Because there was a fear there that if he knows where I live, I don't know what else this man can do. The thought of this happening and then the world being okay with it was so traumatizing. I actually started getting sick from the stress of it because I was terrified. We live in the United States. People do not get away with murder, right? The whole family hung in there.
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Chapter 7: How did the jury reach a verdict in Jason Harris's trial?
What can I say to make somebody pay attention? Kathy would send me an email every single day. I lived with that every single night. I never forgot about this. But you know, at the same time, there's nothing we could have done more to get every shred of evidence. I just was reaching out even to people who knew people.
The response was always the same.
Jason Harris had denied ever using drugs except for smoking a little bit of weed. But these were people, neighbors who thought that That house, the Harris house, was a house where people were in there doing illegal drugs. If you hang out with, live with drug addicts, it is not a far stretch to believe you do drugs yourself. I can't help you except to suggest that you seek professional help.
I can't fathom how painful that would be to get emails like that. If somebody insulted my own daughter after she was dead and said, that's what you get if you hang out and live with drug addicts? Wow. I would have been furious. It was just all out of concern, A, for our daughter and her memory, and B, for our granddaughters.
We were raised by a strong, vocal mother who taught us to stand for what we believe in. Jason hadn't faced any intense questioning of any kind. He answered a few cursory questions the day they found Christy, and... That was it. At that time, Jason had never been asked questions, and we can at least get him in front of somebody to answer a set of questions.
Christie's parents unveil a brilliant legal tactic, and Jason Harris is about to slip up. It's been three years since Christy Harris was found dead in her own bedroom, and her family haven't given up on their quest for justice. When we first started keeping track of things, this was our very first notebook. This book grew to be four containers. This is more than just paperwork.
You know, this is our daughter. This is our love for her. They suspect that their son-in-law, Jason Harris, killed her. So to get the police to focus on them, they file a wrongful death suit. They decide to sue him. I needed to find an attorney, and Alec Gibbs was willing to take the case on. Alec Gibbs is one of my superheroes.
When I first heard about the case, all that I knew really was Christie died in a really odd way for somebody with no history of heroin use. And I realized that we were going to need more evidence. And so we filed the wrongful death action. So in the criminal process, they're seeking punishment regarding time in prison. In the civil process, it's monetary damages.
Typically, you wait for the criminal process to play itself out, and then you do the civil. Think about the O.J. Simpson case.
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Chapter 8: What was the final outcome of the case against Jason Harris?
had badgered the Davidson Police Department long enough into sending the case to the Michigan State Police Department to investigate. And it's handed over to Detective Sergeant Joshua Dirksy. When I took over the case in December of 2018, there was a civil lawsuit that the victim's family had filed against Jason Harris. We worked together. I was able to work along with them.
Early on, Jason said, I'm not talking to police, which is your Fifth Amendment right. In a civil case, though, for wrongful death, Jason Harris had to be deposed. This was the first time that Jason Harris had faced any scrutiny, any real questioning over his involvement in the death of his wife. Sir, would you please raise your right hand?
Do you swear the testimony you're about to give in this cause will be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth self you got? Yes. He was fairly calm, unexpressive. He really thought that he was going to be able to get away with murder because at this point for about four years, almost to the day, he had. Let's go to what happened on September 29th.
The story that he ended up giving, there were different nuances there that didn't match up.
Do you recall texting your wife on Monday morning?
Yeah. What prompted you to text her? To make sure that she got up for work. Is that kind of out of the ordinary? When we looked through his phone records, we found out what was unusual. What time do you usually go to bed? I don't know. I don't have a bedtime. Did you sleep beside her that night? Yep.
It didn't look like he had slept on the other side of the bed. And I can't imagine that when you put your wife to bed with the expectation she's going to die in her sleep, that you want to climb into bed next to her.
And was your wife awake with you to put the kids to sleep? Yes. Okay. Did you notice anything out of the ordinary?
She got hungry. She had made her up a bowl of cereal.
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