Mass/serial murderer Robert Wayne Harris holds his head high in this 2000 mug shot
Mass murdering psychopath Robert Wayne Harris killed seven people, and left an eighth for dead. Defense attorney Lydia Brandt cleaned Harris up for court, although she forgot to provide him with fake eyeglasses, in order to make him look like a scholar. David Woo /DMN
Defense attorney Lydia M. V. Brandt went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, in her mission to thwart justice
Previously, on this case, at WEJB/NSU:
[“Irving, TX: Negro Mi-T-Fine Car Wash Mass/Serial Murderer Robert Wayne Harris, Killer of Perhaps 7, Condemned to Death, Despite Playing IQ (Race) Card”; and
“Irving, Texas: Condemned Mi-T-Fine Car Wash Mass Murderer Robert Wayne Harris Loses Appeal.”]
By Nicholas Stix
As I wrote on March 14,
Robert Wayne Harris has been a monster since childhood. His known criminal career began at 10, and he beat an aunt with a hammer at 15. The rest of what is officially known of his youthful mayhem is under seal. All we know about his adult history, besides these six murders and one attempted murder, is that he was convicted of three burglaries—under a plea bargain, to be sure—and served seven years in prison, during which time he terrorized guards and inmates alike. It was at most five months [correction: about 10 months] after his release that he began murdering people. In spite of spending most of his time in prison, just as an adult, he surely committed countless crimes that we will never learn about.I haven’t heard any mention as to whether Robert Wayne Harris fit into the serial killer “Macdonald triad” profile of childhood animal cruelty, fire-setting, and bed-wetting, whose scientific character I doubt, anyway, but we may need to revise these “profiles,” anyway—or at least, the profile of sadistic killers, to include the propensity to engage in extreme cruelty behind bars.
The reason I am skeptical of the “Macdonald triad” theory, is because although some serial killers engaged in such behavior as children, we don’t hear about the kids who also engage in such behavior without growing up to be serial killers.
As Kori Ryan has written,
Even though the literature on violent behavior contains many references to the Macdonald triad (and its aliases), collectively these studies do not provide sufficient evidence of its ability to predict violence, nor, in fact, of its existence as a bona fide phenomenon.Ryan believes that such behaviors are more clearly indicators of an abused child than of a future serial killer. The categories overlap because some serial killers were abused as children.
No one needed any pseudo-scientific theories to see that the teenaged Robert Wayne Harris was a budding murderer. Anyone who knew him at the time could have told you that, without so much as a high school diploma.
So, what could have been done? If not for criminal justice affirmative action, Harris’ sentence would have been extended for several years for even a portion of the violent crimes he committed while in prison.
By Michael Graczyk
1 day ago
Associated Press
HUNSTVILLE, Texas (AP) — An ex-convict who confessed to killing five [sic] people at a Dallas-area car wash a week after he was fired from his job there 12 years ago was executed Thursday evening. [Harris confessed to killing seven people.]
Robert Wayne Harris, 40, received lethal injection less than two hours after the U.S. Supreme Court refused appeals to halt his punishment.
Harris expressed love to his brother and three friends who were watching through a window.
"I'm going home. I'm going home," Harris said. "Don't worry about me. I'll be alright. God bless, and the Texas Rangers, Texas Rangers."
He snored briefly as the lethal dose of pentobarbital began, then all breathing stopped. He was pronounced dead at 6:43 p.m., making him the eighth Texas inmate executed in the nation's most active capital punishment state. [“The eighth Texas inmate executed” during how long of a period? If it’s a year, that’s not a lot.]
Another execution is set for next week.
Harris was convicted of two of the five slayings in March 2000 at the Mi-T-Fine Car Wash in Irving. He also was charged with abducting and killing a woman months before the killing spree and led police to her remains.
Harris didn't deny the slayings, but his lawyer unsuccessfully contended in appeals he was mentally impaired [read: He was black] and should be spared because of a Supreme Court ban on execution of mentally impaired [read: black] people. Attorney Lydia Brandt also argued prosecutors improperly removed black prospective jurors from serving on his trial jury. Harris is black.
Harris died "without ever having had a fair trial" on the issues, Brandt said.
[She’s a liar. She’s just angry because a black killer met with justice, and is thus perpetuating yet another race hoax: Yet another undeserving black man murdered by the white man’s state.]
Harris' brother asked to leave the death chamber before the procedure was complete. A half-dozen friends and relatives of the victims also were present, watching in another room. Harris never looked at them. Two of them hugged after it was apparent Harris was dead. They declined to speak with reporters afterward.
State attorneys opposed Harris' appeals, saying IQ tests disputed the mental impairment claims and that no racial component was involved in jury selection.
Harris had served an eight-year sentence for burglary and other offenses and had been working at the car wash for about 10 months when he was fired and arrested after exposing himself to a female customer. The following Monday, he showed up before the business opened, demanded the safe be opened and then shot the manager, the assistant who had fired Harris and a cashier.
Three more employees reporting to work also were shot, two of them fatally. Harris was arrested the next day.
[“Also were shot by whom”? This passive voice crap makes it sound like someone else did it, or that it was just a natural occurrence, like getting hit by lightning. The sentence should read, Harris then shot three more employees reporting to work, two of them fatally.]
"I remember just the vicious nature of the offense and the fact it was very well thought-out and conceived by Robert Harris," Greg Davis, the former Dallas County assistant district attorney who was the lead trial prosecutor, said this week. "Guilt is just crystal clear."
Brad Lollar, one of Harris' trial lawyers, acknowledged that, and said: "Our whole aim was to get him a life sentence."
Prosecutors tried Harris specifically for two of the slayings: Agustin Villasenor, 36, of Arlington, the assistant manager whose throat also was slit, and cashier Rhoda Wheeler, 46, of Irving.
Harris was charged but not tried for killing Villasenor's brother, Benjamin, 32, a seven-year employee; car wash manager Dennis Lee, 48, of Irving; and Roberto Jimenez Jr., 15, an employee from Mexico.
The day after Harris confessed to the car wash bloodbath, he led police to the remains of an Irving woman, Sandra Scott, 37, who had been missing for four months. He was charged but never tried for capital murder in her death.
Court records showed Harris was 18 when he went to prison for burglary and other charges and after violating probation. He spent most of it in administrative segregation, a confinement level for troublesome inmates. Testimony at his trial showed he set fire to his cell, assaulted and threatened to kill prison staff and inmates, dealt drugs and engaged in sexual misconduct. [“Sexual misconduct.” Translation: He raped at least one inmate.]
Harris' mention of the baseball team in his last words isn't the first time a sports team has been referred to from the death chamber gurney. Several have thanked the Dallas Cowboys football team for providing them enjoyment.
[Thanks to reader-researcher RC for this story.]
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