Dentist Clara Harris, who famously ran over her orthodontist husband with her Mercedes after she caught him cheating, was granted parole after serving 15 years of a 20-year sentence for manslaughter.
Clara, of Houston, Texas, was convicted of first-degree murder in the death of David Harris in 2003. She will be released from the Mountain View Unit Prison in Gatesville. A release date has not been set.
“It’s about time,” said Harris’ former attorney and friend Emily Detoto, according to the Houston Chronicle. “It’s been long enough.”
David and Clara had twin sons, born in 1998, and he also had a daughter from a previous marriage. The couple ran a successful chain of dental offices and lived in a swanky mansion in the Houston area.
The former beauty queen and David, 44, hit a rough patch in their marriage when she learned he was carrying on an affair with his receptionist, Gail Bridges.
David told his wife that if she improved her physical appearance he would stop cheating on her. Clara lost weight and got breast implants in order to please her husband and save her marriage.
But their sex life did not improve, so she hired a private investigator to follow David and she discovered he was still sneaking around behind her back with his mistress.
The private investigator mistakenly informed Clara that David and his mistress were at the Nassau Bay Hilton Hotel.
Ironically, it was the same hotel where Clara and David exchanged their wedding vows on Valentine’s Day in 1992.
Out of frustration, Clara drove over to the hotel and confronted the pair in the lobby.
After a brief altercation in the lobby, Clara returned to her luxury vehicle, got behind the wheel, gunned the engine and ran over David repeatedly as the shocked private investigator continued to roll tape across the street.
The private investigation firm has since changed its policy about advising suspicious spouses of their cheating spouses’ location.
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