1
00:00:05,639 --> 00:00:23,719
Speaker 1: H a wall street line, shackle change, Oh someome gird,

2
00:00:25,879 --> 00:00:32,320
it's calling my name. There is no mercy and it's

3
00:00:32,359 --> 00:00:42,119
been a tentery juice as the hill Stream game Rango three.

4
00:00:42,719 --> 00:00:47,920
Speaker 2: Come in by me to die.

5
00:00:49,479 --> 00:00:59,479
Speaker 3: Inside these walls, inside the wild and went more girls.

6
00:00:59,280 --> 00:01:35,519
Speaker 4: As I imagine, you're sixteen years old, you're a young mother.

7
00:01:36,120 --> 00:01:39,680
You're tied to a bed at your grandmother's house while

8
00:01:39,719 --> 00:01:43,519
the man you once loved walks through your family home,

9
00:01:44,079 --> 00:01:49,480
executing them one by one. Your baby is lying beside you.

10
00:01:49,480 --> 00:01:54,400
You hear shots, you hear bodies fall, and then he

11
00:01:54,519 --> 00:01:58,680
cuts you, loose hands you your daughter and says we're leaving.

12
00:01:59,000 --> 00:02:02,920
That nightmare was not a movie. It happened in Alabama

13
00:02:03,239 --> 00:02:08,120
in two thousand and two. The man's name is Westerley Harris. Today,

14
00:02:08,319 --> 00:02:12,599
more than twenty three years later, he sits on Alabama's

15
00:02:12,919 --> 00:02:18,000
death row. This is the story of a family he destroyed.

16
00:02:18,159 --> 00:02:22,159
I'm Jim Chapman, host of Bloody Angola, and this is

17
00:02:22,319 --> 00:02:26,280
fifty Shades of Evil Alabama. Now, if you're a regular

18
00:02:26,759 --> 00:02:30,319
listener of Bloody Angla, you know that I love digging

19
00:02:30,599 --> 00:02:34,120
deep into the most dangerous of inmates that make up

20
00:02:34,479 --> 00:02:38,960
the fifty states. Today, I'm bringing you into Alabama to

21
00:02:39,039 --> 00:02:42,800
tell you the story of Wesley Harris, the case that

22
00:02:43,039 --> 00:02:46,159
shocked the state of Alabama when it occurred in two

23
00:02:46,159 --> 00:02:48,199
thousand and two. And you're not going to believe what

24
00:02:48,360 --> 00:02:52,439
I'm about to tell you, So let's get right into it.

25
00:02:52,479 --> 00:02:54,560
And I'm going to start by giving you a little

26
00:02:54,599 --> 00:02:58,680
background on Wesley Harris. Now, he was born in south

27
00:02:59,000 --> 00:03:03,199
central Alabam this is in April of nineteen eighty, and

28
00:03:03,240 --> 00:03:07,039
he was raised primarily by his mother and his grandmother.

29
00:03:07,360 --> 00:03:11,960
His family, they struggled economically. They moved around the south

30
00:03:12,280 --> 00:03:17,560
central Alabama area frequently during his childhood years. Now, when

31
00:03:17,599 --> 00:03:20,800
he was in the seventh grade, it is reported that

32
00:03:20,879 --> 00:03:24,280
he suffered a head injury that would lead to consistent

33
00:03:24,439 --> 00:03:28,360
migraines and a seizure disorder. Now, by the mid to

34
00:03:28,479 --> 00:03:31,599
late nineties, he was in his teenage years, and those

35
00:03:31,680 --> 00:03:36,360
who knew him would describe him as mild mannered, likable, polite,

36
00:03:36,520 --> 00:03:41,560
easy going, which would directly contrast with what I am

37
00:03:41,680 --> 00:03:45,599
about to tell you as it relates to his crimes.

38
00:03:46,080 --> 00:03:48,840
At this time in his life, there were no reports

39
00:03:48,879 --> 00:03:52,240
of any criminal activity during his high school years, but

40
00:03:52,280 --> 00:03:56,479
he would struggle academically in school and that would lead

41
00:03:56,599 --> 00:04:01,400
him to eventually dropping out of high school. So just

42
00:04:01,439 --> 00:04:05,599
a few years after dropping out, in late nineteen ninety eight,

43
00:04:05,879 --> 00:04:09,919
at the age of nineteen, he meets a fourteen year

44
00:04:09,960 --> 00:04:14,319
old girl by the name of Janice Ball. Now, Janis

45
00:04:14,439 --> 00:04:19,040
was raised quite differently than Wesley. She had a very

46
00:04:19,040 --> 00:04:22,120
close family. They all, as a matter of fact, lived

47
00:04:22,199 --> 00:04:27,279
on a family farm in Crenshaw County, Alabama. So Crenshaw

48
00:04:27,439 --> 00:04:32,800
County is just outside of Montgomery, Alabama, and where the

49
00:04:32,839 --> 00:04:36,839
family lived it was very rural. I'm talking in the

50
00:04:37,000 --> 00:04:42,439
middle of nowhere. The family farm was very isolated. Now,

51
00:04:43,000 --> 00:04:47,839
the relationship, in the way that Westerley entered this relationship,

52
00:04:47,879 --> 00:04:52,439
it could be described as quite the storm. What started

53
00:04:52,439 --> 00:04:57,720
out as a risky, youthful romance, remember he was much older,

54
00:04:58,279 --> 00:05:05,560
that would quickly into a turbulent, controlling relationship. Those early

55
00:05:06,040 --> 00:05:10,240
days of romance were very intense. In just three months

56
00:05:10,319 --> 00:05:15,439
after Janice and Westerley met, she was already pregnant. Nine

57
00:05:15,480 --> 00:05:20,079
months later, the couple would welcome their daughter, Shay, into

58
00:05:20,120 --> 00:05:23,720
the world. However, Wesley, he was not what you would

59
00:05:23,800 --> 00:05:28,600
call a present father during this pregnancy and Janis would

60
00:05:28,600 --> 00:05:32,839
almost never see him during those nine months prior to

61
00:05:32,879 --> 00:05:37,519
her daughter's birth. Now after the birth, Wesley appeared to

62
00:05:37,600 --> 00:05:41,439
want to be more involved, and the couple attempted to

63
00:05:41,519 --> 00:05:45,240
make a life together. They settled into a trailer in

64
00:05:45,399 --> 00:05:51,240
nearby Laverne, Alabama. But the cracks in this relationship would

65
00:05:51,439 --> 00:05:57,240
absolutely appear almost immediately as Wesley grew even more violent

66
00:05:57,399 --> 00:06:01,839
and even more controlling now that Janie was living with him.

67
00:06:02,079 --> 00:06:07,000
The smallest arguments would trigger what Janice would describe later

68
00:06:07,160 --> 00:06:10,800
as a rage in Wesley, and he would beat her

69
00:06:10,959 --> 00:06:15,839
violently during these instances. The violence would eventually cause her

70
00:06:15,879 --> 00:06:19,240
to leave that trailer and return to the safety of

71
00:06:19,279 --> 00:06:22,439
her family's farm, where she would live in the main

72
00:06:22,560 --> 00:06:28,560
house with her grandmother, Mala Ruth Baul. Now, despite the abuse,

73
00:06:29,040 --> 00:06:33,920
much like you see in many other cases of abusive relationships,

74
00:06:34,319 --> 00:06:39,160
the couple doesn't completely split up. They maintain contact, They're

75
00:06:39,199 --> 00:06:41,759
back and forth with each other. In this young lady,

76
00:06:42,560 --> 00:06:44,959
I mean, she had a baby with this guy. She

77
00:06:45,120 --> 00:06:48,240
was trying to make it work for better or worse.

78
00:06:48,439 --> 00:06:51,680
As a matter of fact, Janie's father, Willie, who was

79
00:06:52,160 --> 00:06:56,680
no fan of Wesley to say the least, he in

80
00:06:57,519 --> 00:07:00,240
I can only speak to say love for his daughter

81
00:07:00,600 --> 00:07:04,040
even tried to make this thing work, and he tried

82
00:07:04,120 --> 00:07:07,839
to support the young couple by purchasing a trailer and

83
00:07:07,959 --> 00:07:11,600
actually placing it on the family farm. Now, I can

84
00:07:11,639 --> 00:07:14,720
only assume that his hope here was maybe that Wesley

85
00:07:15,079 --> 00:07:18,759
would feel less pressure to pay bills and not go

86
00:07:18,920 --> 00:07:22,160
into these violent outbursts that seemed like a lot of

87
00:07:22,160 --> 00:07:26,319
these would be triggered by financial problems. And in addition

88
00:07:26,399 --> 00:07:29,680
to that, if they lived on the family farm, he

89
00:07:29,720 --> 00:07:32,879
could also keep an eye on his daughter and hopefully

90
00:07:33,000 --> 00:07:37,160
keep her safe. Now, despite all this help, the relationship

91
00:07:37,199 --> 00:07:42,040
between these two unfortunately would not improve. They would break up,

92
00:07:42,360 --> 00:07:45,680
they would get back together, break up again, get back

93
00:07:45,759 --> 00:07:49,600
together again, and they were just seemingly stuck in this

94
00:07:49,839 --> 00:07:55,240
constant back and forth cycle. Wesley's temper seemed to control everything,

95
00:07:55,319 --> 00:07:59,199
and Janie just never knew what was going to set

96
00:07:59,279 --> 00:08:03,199
him off. He was unemployed and he was also dealing

97
00:08:03,480 --> 00:08:08,439
with a recent arrest for distribution of crack cocaine. This

98
00:08:08,600 --> 00:08:11,560
was in two thousand and one, and he would often

99
00:08:11,639 --> 00:08:17,759
take his legal frustration out on Janice physically. So I'm

100
00:08:17,759 --> 00:08:20,560
going to take you to August of two thousand and two.

101
00:08:21,040 --> 00:08:25,439
Janis at this point was sixteen years old and Westerley

102
00:08:25,560 --> 00:08:29,279
Harris was twenty two years old. Shae, their daughter at

103
00:08:29,279 --> 00:08:33,240
this point in time, was seventeen months old, and the

104
00:08:33,320 --> 00:08:38,120
relationship just gets totally out of control. To get in

105
00:08:38,200 --> 00:08:41,639
an argument on August twenty third of two thousand and

106
00:08:41,639 --> 00:08:46,799
two over Westley's refusal to pay Jamis for some diapers

107
00:08:46,879 --> 00:08:50,120
that he had bought for Shade that he agreed to

108
00:08:50,159 --> 00:08:53,240
pay for. She asked him about it. He refuses to

109
00:08:53,279 --> 00:08:56,840
give her the money, and in the midst of this

110
00:08:57,039 --> 00:09:00,879
back and forth fighting, he hauls off and slaps her

111
00:09:01,120 --> 00:09:05,200
so hard it knocks her to the ground. She gets

112
00:09:05,320 --> 00:09:09,559
up and she's gonna defend herself. She actually grabs a

113
00:09:09,639 --> 00:09:14,399
shotgun from the closet. Now around this time, her brother

114
00:09:14,639 --> 00:09:18,240
Jerry enters the main house and he sees that she

115
00:09:18,360 --> 00:09:23,360
has this shotgun pointed at Wesley, and he attempts to

116
00:09:23,440 --> 00:09:27,240
calm everybody down before things get worse. You know, there's

117
00:09:27,279 --> 00:09:30,360
no good ending to this with someone having a shotgun

118
00:09:30,600 --> 00:09:34,840
pointing at someone they're pissed at. Right. Eventually everything does

119
00:09:35,000 --> 00:09:38,639
calm down, and Wesley storms out of that form and

120
00:09:38,799 --> 00:09:41,600
leaves the property, but it wouldn't take long. The very

121
00:09:41,639 --> 00:09:44,600
next day, as a matter of fact, Wesley starts calling

122
00:09:44,759 --> 00:09:48,240
Janice at her work and he's begging her not to

123
00:09:48,320 --> 00:09:51,519
call the police over that SmackDown if you will, that

124
00:09:51,639 --> 00:09:55,120
he gave her. He's acting as if he's sorry, trying

125
00:09:55,200 --> 00:09:59,000
to manipulate her all those things, but she doesn't tell

126
00:09:59,080 --> 00:10:02,559
him what she's decided to do. The fact is she

127
00:10:02,759 --> 00:10:05,360
hadn't made up her mind yet. Maybe she would call

128
00:10:05,399 --> 00:10:08,399
the police, maybe she wouldn't call the police. She was

129
00:10:08,440 --> 00:10:11,840
still thinking all of that over. But that was not

130
00:10:12,039 --> 00:10:15,720
enough for Wesley. He wanted an answer right. So the

131
00:10:15,759 --> 00:10:20,679
next evening, which is Sunday evening, Wesley shows up at

132
00:10:20,720 --> 00:10:24,840
the farm and he is determined to speak to Janice.

133
00:10:25,279 --> 00:10:29,879
Her grandmother, Mala Ruth, confronts him and she tells him

134
00:10:29,960 --> 00:10:33,919
if he doesn't leave the farm, she's gonna call police. Well,

135
00:10:34,080 --> 00:10:38,679
he still refuses to leave the farm, but rather than

136
00:10:38,720 --> 00:10:42,600
call the police, she rounds up Janie's father, who then

137
00:10:42,840 --> 00:10:47,200
rounds up two of her brothers, Jerry and John, as

138
00:10:47,279 --> 00:10:50,879
well as Janis's mother, Joanne, and they all show up

139
00:10:51,440 --> 00:10:56,159
at that trailer on the property armed and they ain't playing.

140
00:10:56,679 --> 00:11:00,919
They are gonna make sure Wesley leaves the property, even

141
00:11:00,960 --> 00:11:03,919
if he has to by gunpoint. And that brings us

142
00:11:04,120 --> 00:11:08,840
to the horrific events that would take place on August

143
00:11:08,879 --> 00:11:12,759
twenty six of two thousand and two. So Wesley Harris

144
00:11:13,039 --> 00:11:16,480
by this point, he's enraged. He's probably stayed up all

145
00:11:16,600 --> 00:11:20,120
night thinking on how he is going to get his

146
00:11:20,200 --> 00:11:22,679
hands on Janis. You got to remember, this is a

147
00:11:22,720 --> 00:11:27,919
guy that is used to controlling her, and that rage

148
00:11:28,200 --> 00:11:32,120
just builds and builds to the point that he can't

149
00:11:32,159 --> 00:11:36,480
take it anymore. The very next morning, at approximately eight

150
00:11:36,639 --> 00:11:41,120
thirty am, he arrives at the Ball family farm, and

151
00:11:41,320 --> 00:11:44,399
this time he is armed with a shotgun.

152
00:11:49,679 --> 00:11:51,519
Speaker 2: Jim, did you see what happened in Texas today?

153
00:11:51,720 --> 00:11:54,240
Speaker 4: Wait before you tell me that, let me tell you

154
00:11:54,279 --> 00:11:55,480
what happened in New York.

155
00:11:55,600 --> 00:11:57,440
Speaker 2: It cannot be as crazy as the case I told

156
00:11:57,440 --> 00:11:58,960
you about yesterday in Louisiana.

157
00:11:59,159 --> 00:12:02,080
Speaker 4: You know what, we should do a podcast about it.

158
00:12:02,279 --> 00:12:05,159
Speaker 2: And with that we did. Crime War Weekly covers the

159
00:12:05,200 --> 00:12:07,399
crime news headlines that have dominated the week.

160
00:12:07,559 --> 00:12:11,120
Speaker 4: We cover trending crimes from all over the country and

161
00:12:11,240 --> 00:12:13,639
even sprinkle in a few globally.

162
00:12:13,840 --> 00:12:16,480
Speaker 2: Crime War Weekly is available now wherever you listen to

163
00:12:16,519 --> 00:12:18,120
your podcasts.

164
00:12:17,440 --> 00:12:21,200
Speaker 4: Simply by searching crime wiar weekly or clicking the link

165
00:12:21,399 --> 00:12:30,799
in the description of this podcast. He breaks into the

166
00:12:30,840 --> 00:12:36,279
main house. Janice is awoken with the sight of Westley

167
00:12:36,840 --> 00:12:41,879
raging his eyes, standing over her, shaking the bed violently

168
00:12:42,440 --> 00:12:47,159
trying to wake her up. He has the shotgun pressed

169
00:12:47,440 --> 00:12:52,879
into her grandmother Mala Ruth's stomach, and he forces both

170
00:12:52,960 --> 00:12:56,320
women into the kitchen in that main house. He then

171
00:12:56,519 --> 00:13:00,600
makes sixty two year old grandmother Mala lie on the

172
00:13:00,639 --> 00:13:04,559
floor and he tapes her wrist behind her back with

173
00:13:04,799 --> 00:13:09,360
duct tape. Now Mala Ruth hands behind her back taped

174
00:13:09,480 --> 00:13:12,600
with this duct tape. She attempts to get to her

175
00:13:12,679 --> 00:13:15,720
knees and she also is scared to death and she

176
00:13:15,799 --> 00:13:20,240
starts to pray. And it's at this point that Wesley

177
00:13:20,320 --> 00:13:26,039
Harris takes the shotgun and he shoots grandmother Mala Ruth

178
00:13:26,759 --> 00:13:30,679
right in the face, killing her. He then turns his

179
00:13:30,720 --> 00:13:34,840
attention to Janice, tying her hands behind her back with

180
00:13:34,960 --> 00:13:39,159
the duct tape and then brings her into the bedroom

181
00:13:39,240 --> 00:13:43,080
and he takes a telephone cord and an extension cord

182
00:13:43,200 --> 00:13:47,720
and he ties Janie to the bed. He then turns

183
00:13:47,759 --> 00:13:52,639
his attention toward baby. Shay picks her up, places her

184
00:13:52,720 --> 00:13:59,679
in the bed, and tells Janice, quote, don't do anything stupid. Then,

185
00:14:00,080 --> 00:14:04,000
as Janie is laying there, she hears footsteps of him

186
00:14:04,039 --> 00:14:06,919
walking away and walking out of the house. Now, what

187
00:14:07,039 --> 00:14:10,799
she didn't know is that he was heading to her brother,

188
00:14:11,480 --> 00:14:15,759
seventeen year old Tony's room. He goes into Tony's bedroom,

189
00:14:16,080 --> 00:14:21,279
where Wesley finds him sleeping. He puts a gun to

190
00:14:21,440 --> 00:14:28,080
his head, shoots him, and kills him point blank range.

191
00:14:28,399 --> 00:14:30,960
He goes back into the main house and then for

192
00:14:31,120 --> 00:14:35,799
roughly seven hours, Wesley remains in that house. Periodically he

193
00:14:35,840 --> 00:14:39,960
would check on Janis, he would watch TV, acting the

194
00:14:40,039 --> 00:14:44,279
exact opposite of someone you would expect had just murdered

195
00:14:44,600 --> 00:14:50,440
two people. Now, at three point thirty pm, Janice's older brother,

196
00:14:50,919 --> 00:14:54,399
nineteen year old Jerry Ball, he arrives at the home

197
00:14:54,559 --> 00:14:59,279
after picking up Janie's younger brother, fourteen year old John Ball,

198
00:14:59,600 --> 00:15:04,320
from sk so, he drops John Ball in the front

199
00:15:04,399 --> 00:15:08,320
of that main house and he drives off. John enters

200
00:15:08,399 --> 00:15:11,879
the home just as Jerry drops him off and leaves,

201
00:15:12,279 --> 00:15:17,200
and before he can even walk in the home, Wesley

202
00:15:17,559 --> 00:15:22,519
shoots him. Then he pulls him into the house still alive,

203
00:15:23,240 --> 00:15:28,919
shoots him again kills him in the kitchen. About thirty

204
00:15:29,000 --> 00:15:34,320
minutes later, at four o'clock PM, Janesis father, forty year

205
00:15:34,360 --> 00:15:39,000
old Willie, arrives on the property. Now he goes first

206
00:15:39,159 --> 00:15:44,000
out to the hogpen to feed the hogs. Wesley exits

207
00:15:44,000 --> 00:15:47,399
the main house, meets him at the hog pen, shoots

208
00:15:47,480 --> 00:15:52,759
him in the face, killing him. And if you're keeping track,

209
00:15:53,320 --> 00:15:58,480
that's Wesley's fourth victim of the day. Then about an

210
00:15:58,480 --> 00:16:03,440
hour later, at five o'clock PM, Janie's mother, thirty five

211
00:16:03,600 --> 00:16:07,279
year old jo Anne, she arrives at the home. She

212
00:16:07,559 --> 00:16:10,159
enters the home and as soon as she walks in

213
00:16:10,480 --> 00:16:15,720
you guessed it, Wesley shoots her in the face. Joanne

214
00:16:16,799 --> 00:16:19,600
then falls to the floor, and just to make sure

215
00:16:19,679 --> 00:16:24,519
she's dead, Wesley fires She had another shot into the

216
00:16:24,559 --> 00:16:29,840
back of her neck, killing her. Now that's victim number five.

217
00:16:30,480 --> 00:16:34,639
But Wesley, he's not done yet. About thirty minutes later,

218
00:16:35,240 --> 00:16:39,799
Jerry Ball returns to that farm. He runs up the

219
00:16:39,840 --> 00:16:45,159
porch steps where Wesley shoots him once in the head

220
00:16:45,759 --> 00:16:50,039
and once in the chest, killing him. So in a

221
00:16:50,159 --> 00:16:55,120
nine to ten hour time span, Wesley Harris had killed

222
00:16:55,799 --> 00:17:02,919
Janis's mother, James's father, her three brothers, and her grandmother

223
00:17:04,039 --> 00:17:10,400
six people. Throughout this entire ordeal, Janice was forced to

224
00:17:10,480 --> 00:17:15,480
lay there tied to the bed while hearing each family

225
00:17:15,519 --> 00:17:20,359
member get murdered, hearing those gunshots going off, and when

226
00:17:20,359 --> 00:17:27,200
it was done, Wesley slowly unties Janie and tells her

227
00:17:27,319 --> 00:17:31,519
to make baby Shaye a bottle. He then loads up

228
00:17:31,640 --> 00:17:34,680
some stolen items that he's going to steal from all

229
00:17:34,680 --> 00:17:39,240
these people into the car and he flees the farm

230
00:17:39,440 --> 00:17:44,559
with Janice, Shay and even the family dog. So over

231
00:17:44,599 --> 00:17:48,400
the next several days they would stay at friend's house,

232
00:17:48,680 --> 00:17:52,920
with Janice obviously living in total fear that he's going

233
00:17:53,000 --> 00:17:55,839
to kill her and the baby if she says anything

234
00:17:55,839 --> 00:17:59,759
about any of this, But it was really no secret.

235
00:18:00,480 --> 00:18:04,759
The victims were discovered the very next day by Crenshaw

236
00:18:04,880 --> 00:18:09,039
County Sheriff's deputies. This was on the evening of Tuesday,

237
00:18:09,240 --> 00:18:12,759
August twenty seventh of two thousand and two, the day

238
00:18:12,839 --> 00:18:17,480
after the killings. The deputies get dispatched to the farm

239
00:18:17,640 --> 00:18:20,759
after a family member by the name of Coleman Ball,

240
00:18:20,920 --> 00:18:25,039
who was the son of Mila Ruth Ball. He goes

241
00:18:25,079 --> 00:18:28,839
to the property and he finds his mother's house locked.

242
00:18:29,519 --> 00:18:33,160
He had been alerted by his aunt who was concerned

243
00:18:33,240 --> 00:18:37,240
because the door was locked, and that was apparently very

244
00:18:37,599 --> 00:18:42,039
unusual for the family. So police make entry and they

245
00:18:42,079 --> 00:18:47,680
make obviously this horrific discovery. So you have a manhunt

246
00:18:48,119 --> 00:18:51,599
going on at this point for the murders of six people.

247
00:18:52,559 --> 00:18:56,720
Six people all of the state of Alabama is on

248
00:18:56,920 --> 00:19:00,759
watch for these two and police had a really good

249
00:19:00,799 --> 00:19:05,920
idea that Wesley was the one responsible. So three days later,

250
00:19:06,359 --> 00:19:11,160
after they implore the help of Wesley's aunt, who takes

251
00:19:11,240 --> 00:19:14,319
to the airwaves to beg her nephew to give up,

252
00:19:14,440 --> 00:19:18,759
it actually works, and on August twenty ninth of two

253
00:19:18,759 --> 00:19:24,720
thousand and two, Wesley is taken into custody for these killings,

254
00:19:25,000 --> 00:19:28,799
as is Janice. And of course it didn't take long.

255
00:19:29,000 --> 00:19:32,880
Police quickly determined Janis had nothing to do with the

256
00:19:32,960 --> 00:19:36,400
killings and was a victim of this guy. So the

257
00:19:36,519 --> 00:19:40,400
very next day he is charged with six counts of

258
00:19:40,519 --> 00:19:46,039
first degree murder, each count carrying a possible death penalty.

259
00:19:46,519 --> 00:19:49,119
And it took a while, but by the fall of

260
00:19:49,240 --> 00:19:53,519
two thousand and four, the case was finally ready for trial.

261
00:19:53,759 --> 00:19:57,640
Jerry's selection begins This is on October twenty fifth of

262
00:19:57,680 --> 00:20:01,720
two thousand and four, and the trial commences on November

263
00:20:01,839 --> 00:20:05,480
third of two thousand and four. The prosecution, of course,

264
00:20:05,519 --> 00:20:11,400
painted a picture of a calculated, vengeful attack, driven by

265
00:20:11,440 --> 00:20:15,880
Harris's resentment toward the Ball family for trying to protect

266
00:20:15,960 --> 00:20:21,039
Janie from his abuse. Janis, of course, testified in length,

267
00:20:21,240 --> 00:20:24,559
and she recounted how Harris had held her captive and

268
00:20:24,839 --> 00:20:28,960
forced her to witness the killings, and then abducted her

269
00:20:29,079 --> 00:20:33,359
and their daughter as they fled. Now, the defense, they

270
00:20:33,440 --> 00:20:38,160
aggressively countered this, and that's their job, right. They argued

271
00:20:38,240 --> 00:20:42,079
that Janis was an unreliable witness who may have had

272
00:20:42,119 --> 00:20:46,359
her own motives related to the family issues, and that

273
00:20:46,440 --> 00:20:51,079
she had possibly solicited or participated in the plan. Obviously,

274
00:20:51,160 --> 00:20:57,920
that totally bogus and ridiculous. The trial lasted nearly two weeks,

275
00:20:58,279 --> 00:21:02,400
but on November fifteenth of two thousand and four, suddenly

276
00:21:03,079 --> 00:21:08,400
that trial comes to an abrupt end and a mistrial

277
00:21:09,079 --> 00:21:15,559
is declared. That's right, a mistrial. So what happened? Well?

278
00:21:16,119 --> 00:21:20,640
Evidence emerged of jury tampering, apparently a woman connected to

279
00:21:20,759 --> 00:21:25,519
Harris's circle, which was later identified as a close friend

280
00:21:25,559 --> 00:21:30,119
of his had attempted to influence at least one juror,

281
00:21:30,799 --> 00:21:36,039
and a juror was found to have committed perjury regarding this. Now,

282
00:21:36,079 --> 00:21:40,559
both the woman and the juror later pleaded guilty to

283
00:21:41,519 --> 00:21:45,119
offenses related to that, but the judge hadn't a choice

284
00:21:45,119 --> 00:21:48,519
in this matter but to declare a mistrial in order

285
00:21:48,559 --> 00:21:52,519
a retrial. Now, that second trial starts in the spring

286
00:21:52,720 --> 00:21:56,200
of two thousand and five, and a full jury they

287
00:21:56,240 --> 00:22:00,279
were already seated just a couple of days later. This time,

288
00:22:00,440 --> 00:22:06,119
the proceedings moved much more efficiently. The guilt phase unfolded

289
00:22:06,200 --> 00:22:09,160
over roughly two weeks in early June of that year,

290
00:22:09,200 --> 00:22:14,519
and the prosecution again relied heavily on Janus's testimony. They

291
00:22:14,559 --> 00:22:18,759
also had some forensic evidence linking Harris to those shootings,

292
00:22:18,839 --> 00:22:22,599
and of course they covered the timeline of these crimes,

293
00:22:23,000 --> 00:22:27,640
and the defense again tried to attack Janis's credibility, and

294
00:22:27,759 --> 00:22:32,160
they presented some evidence of Harris's difficult childhood. They tried

295
00:22:32,200 --> 00:22:37,839
to say he was a low functioning intellectual, and they

296
00:22:37,880 --> 00:22:40,480
also focused on the fact that he didn't have a

297
00:22:40,640 --> 00:22:45,200
very significant prior criminal history. He had one, remember, he

298
00:22:45,319 --> 00:22:49,839
got arrested for selling cocaine, but they really focused on

299
00:22:50,200 --> 00:22:52,640
he wasn't one of these guys that have been in

300
00:22:52,720 --> 00:22:55,119
and out of jail since he was fourteen, Like that

301
00:22:55,200 --> 00:22:58,519
freaking matters when you shoodn't kill six people. So on

302
00:22:58,599 --> 00:23:02,480
June fourteenth of two thousand and five, after deliberating, the

303
00:23:02,680 --> 00:23:07,720
jury returned verdicts of guilty on all six counts of

304
00:23:07,880 --> 00:23:12,640
capital murder and Harris he showed very little visible emotion

305
00:23:13,279 --> 00:23:18,000
as these convictions were read. Of course, the penalty phase

306
00:23:18,200 --> 00:23:20,720
followed that. As a matter of fact, it was the

307
00:23:20,920 --> 00:23:25,799
very next day, and this was the critical stage where

308
00:23:25,960 --> 00:23:31,240
the jury would recommend life without parole or death. Now,

309
00:23:31,440 --> 00:23:35,880
the defense presented an extensive case. They called ten witnesses,

310
00:23:35,920 --> 00:23:40,759
including family members, a former baseball coach, a youth minister,

311
00:23:40,880 --> 00:23:44,440
and even jail officials. In long story short, by the

312
00:23:44,519 --> 00:23:49,759
time this thing was all over, Harris received the death sentence,

313
00:23:49,880 --> 00:23:54,799
which at that time he was condemned to death by

314
00:23:55,000 --> 00:23:58,920
lethal injection. Now, if you've learned anything since I've been

315
00:23:58,960 --> 00:24:01,640
covering not only these cases, but everything I've covered on

316
00:24:01,720 --> 00:24:04,880
Bloody and Goa, it's not that simple. Of course, he

317
00:24:04,960 --> 00:24:10,519
had appeals et cetera throughout the years, but in each

318
00:24:10,559 --> 00:24:15,319
of those appeals. Eventually his death sentence was upheld. So

319
00:24:15,400 --> 00:24:18,680
when he sentenced to death, he arrives at what's known

320
00:24:18,759 --> 00:24:26,119
as the William C. Holman Correctional Facility. This is in Atmore, Alabama,

321
00:24:26,200 --> 00:24:29,559
and for more than twenty years now, Harris is identified

322
00:24:29,599 --> 00:24:34,599
in prison records as prisoner zero zero zero zero Z

323
00:24:35,000 --> 00:24:39,680
seven to one five. Obviously, he lives inside the walls

324
00:24:39,920 --> 00:24:44,640
of Holman, which is one of Alabama's most notorious prisons.

325
00:24:45,079 --> 00:24:50,880
The facility sits isolated among cotton fields. Its perimeter fences

326
00:24:50,880 --> 00:24:55,079
and watchtowers are a constant reminder that this is the

327
00:24:55,319 --> 00:24:59,400
end of the line for many, and Harris was no

328
00:25:00,839 --> 00:25:04,720
death row at Holman is a world apart even from

329
00:25:04,839 --> 00:25:09,799
the rest of the prison's violent general population see here.

330
00:25:09,960 --> 00:25:13,559
The condemned or kept in restrictive housing, and they are

331
00:25:13,720 --> 00:25:18,960
largely cut off from human contact. A typical day for

332
00:25:19,119 --> 00:25:23,000
Harris would start in a very small cell, roughly the

333
00:25:23,039 --> 00:25:27,039
size of an average bathroom, maybe eight by twelve feet.

334
00:25:27,359 --> 00:25:30,359
Inside of that cell there is a steel bunk, a

335
00:25:30,440 --> 00:25:35,839
combined sink in toilet, a narrow table shelf bolted to

336
00:25:35,960 --> 00:25:41,079
a wall. The heavy door closes with that familiar clang

337
00:25:41,400 --> 00:25:45,799
every night for him, and for twenty two to twenty

338
00:25:45,799 --> 00:25:50,720
four hours a day, that cell is his entire world.

339
00:25:50,839 --> 00:25:55,240
His mills are slid through a narrow slot in that cell.

340
00:25:55,359 --> 00:25:59,400
Door showers come just a few times a week, and

341
00:25:59,559 --> 00:26:03,920
typically almost always for death row inmates that's under escort.

342
00:26:04,519 --> 00:26:09,839
He has very limited natural light, and the music of

343
00:26:09,880 --> 00:26:14,119
the day is typically the sounds of guards walking up

344
00:26:14,119 --> 00:26:19,119
and down that tier, distant voices, maybe the occasional scrape

345
00:26:19,400 --> 00:26:22,000
of a food tray. Now a few times each week,

346
00:26:22,160 --> 00:26:25,079
if the schedule holds Harris, he might be allowed out

347
00:26:25,119 --> 00:26:30,319
for recreation, often alone in a small fenced cage where

348
00:26:30,319 --> 00:26:35,640
he can pace, stretch, or just simply stand there. Communication

349
00:26:35,759 --> 00:26:39,680
with other inmates only occurs through fishing, which are not

350
00:26:39,759 --> 00:26:43,319
supposted to, but these are improvised lines made from torn

351
00:26:43,359 --> 00:26:47,599
sheets of clothing that slide notes or small items from

352
00:26:47,680 --> 00:26:51,240
sell to sell. He can read, he can write letters,

353
00:26:51,240 --> 00:26:54,359
he can work on legal papers. He can listen to

354
00:26:54,519 --> 00:26:59,799
a radio or watch limited television, and his visits always

355
00:27:00,559 --> 00:27:06,880
place behind glass. Phone calls are brief, monitored and very infrequent.

356
00:27:07,400 --> 00:27:10,279
And that is his life, twenty four hours a day,

357
00:27:10,640 --> 00:27:13,880
seven days a week. And I cannot say that I

358
00:27:13,920 --> 00:27:18,759
feel sorry for Wesley Dale Harris. He's now in his

359
00:27:18,839 --> 00:27:22,720
mid forties. He has spent more than half his life

360
00:27:23,400 --> 00:27:30,880
behind these walls, all because of a knee jerk reaction

361
00:27:32,359 --> 00:27:38,200
and the absolute insanity to control another human being that

362
00:27:38,359 --> 00:27:45,480
led him to kill Janus's six family members. Absolutely horrific.

363
00:27:45,559 --> 00:27:48,880
He is one hundred percent one of the most dangerous

364
00:27:48,880 --> 00:27:56,200
inmates in Alabama and that was his story. Thank you

365
00:27:56,599 --> 00:28:00,039
so much for listening. We'll be back next week with

366
00:28:00,119 --> 00:28:05,279
another edition of fifty Shades of Evil. Not sure where

367
00:28:05,319 --> 00:28:07,680
I'm gonna go next, so you'll have to tune in

368
00:28:08,319 --> 00:28:10,880
and see if it's your state that I pick next.

369
00:28:12,079 --> 00:28:15,440
You can check us out on Patreon for ad free

370
00:28:16,200 --> 00:28:19,799
releases of all these episodes plus much more. I have

371
00:28:19,839 --> 00:28:23,680
over two hundred ad free episodes up on the Patreon

372
00:28:24,039 --> 00:28:29,920
that is patreon dot com. Slash Bloody Inngoa podcast and

373
00:28:30,079 --> 00:28:35,200
until next time for Bloody Angola, I'm your host, Jim Chapman.

374
00:28:35,799 --> 00:28:36,640
Much love.

375
00:28:52,359 --> 00:29:03,319
Speaker 1: A Wall Street line, shackle chain, some girdie. It's calling

376
00:29:03,480 --> 00:29:09,400
by the name. There is no mercy and it's been

377
00:29:09,599 --> 00:29:18,039
a tentery Jesus as the Hill Stream Game Wrangle three.

378
00:29:19,559 --> 00:29:20,440
Speaker 2: I'm here be.

379
00:29:22,880 --> 00:29:31,160
Speaker 3: By mere to die inside these walls, inside the wild,

380
00:29:33,079 --> 00:29:36,319
and went more girls.

381
00:29:36,480 --> 00:29:36,920
Speaker 2: I know.

382
00:29:37,279 --> 00:29:37,720
Speaker 4: It's a.

383
00:29:43,079 --> 00:30:05,640
Speaker 3: Bloody angle, obody angle in p