Documents point to possible motive in girls' slaying
By Molly Montag, Journal staff writer | Posted: Wednesday, September 17, 2008
SIOUX CITY -- Recently filed court documents suggest that what prosecutors and police call the ritual slaying of two young girls in January may have been an act of revenge aimed at their mother.
Lawrence Douglas Harris Sr., who is accused of the killings, allegedly threatened his wife, prosecutors said in a motion filed in Woodbury County District Court, saying he could hurt her "in the worst possible way without even touching her."
Harris told a defense psychiatrist who examined him that he believed his wife, Marla Harris, was having an affair, the motion says. It also says Harris is trying to keep prosecutors from using the alleged threat as evidence.
Lawrence Harris, 26, is accused of stabbing and strangling Marla Harris' daughters, 10-year-old Kendra Suing and 8-year-old Alysha Suing, on Jan. 6 during a satanic ritual or spell in their Sioux City home. He told police the girls died during a spell that "had gone bad."
Harris has pleaded not guilty and is being held at the Woodbury County Jail in lieu of $1 million bond. His attorneys plan to use an insanity defense.
According to the prosecution's Sept. 11 motion, signed by Assistant Woodbury County Attorney Mark A. Campbell, the defense wants to keep any reports from psychological or psychiatric tests administered to Harris out of court.
But prosecutors want a jury to examine the reports and hear facts they say would show Harris was not mentally ill at the time of the slayings.
According to the motion, defense expert Dr. Harold Bursztajn testified in a deposition that Harris' responses to a psychiatric test indicated he may be faking a mental illness.
Harris' responses to the test were unusual or atypical for someone with a mental illness, the motion says, but are "relatively common among individuals feigning mental disorder."
Prosecutors wrote in the motion that they have the right to offer testimony about a non-psychotic motive for the crime. Killing the girls to get back at their mother, they wrote, is consistent with teachings in "The Satanic Bible" about destroying enemies "by proxy."
Police recovered a copy of "The Satanic Bible," pagan and Wiccan writings and Harris' own spell notebook at the family's home.
The motion says Marla Harris' teenage son witnessed Harris' alleged threat against his wife and that Marla and Lawrence Harris discussed the statement during a recorded conversation March 18 at the jail.
"Threatening to hurt Marla Harris in the worst possible way without even touching her would be evidence of the defendant's motive for the murder of Marla's daughters," the motion reads.
"The hypothesis that the defendant killed Marla Harris' daughters to get back because the defendant believed that his wife was having an affair would explain not only why the defendant murdered Marla's daughters, but why the defendant did not murder his own biological son," the motion reads.
Marla Harris has said her 3-year-old stepson was at the 1420 Nebraska St. home with his father when the girls died but that her 13-year-old son was not at the house.
Immediately after the girls' deaths, family members said Lawrence Harris was an attentive stepfather and that there were no signs he was involved in strange rituals or any other disturbing behavior.
In an order issued Tuesday, Woodbury County District Court Judge James D. Scott wrote that he will address the prosecution's motion, which is in response to a defense motion, Sept. 29 before a change of venue hearing set for that date.
An official in the Woodbury County Court Administrator's Office said Tuesday that the defense motion to keep the threats from court, filed Sept. 8 by Harris' attorneys, was not available because a judge is considering a motion to seal it.
It is not clear when the request to seal the motion was made or when it could be ruled upon. If granted, it would keep the document from being released to the public.
Lawrence Douglas Harris Sr., who is accused of the killings, allegedly threatened his wife, prosecutors said in a motion filed in Woodbury County District Court, saying he could hurt her "in the worst possible way without even touching her."
Harris told a defense psychiatrist who examined him that he believed his wife, Marla Harris, was having an affair, the motion says. It also says Harris is trying to keep prosecutors from using the alleged threat as evidence.
Lawrence Harris, 26, is accused of stabbing and strangling Marla Harris' daughters, 10-year-old Kendra Suing and 8-year-old Alysha Suing, on Jan. 6 during a satanic ritual or spell in their Sioux City home. He told police the girls died during a spell that "had gone bad."
Harris has pleaded not guilty and is being held at the Woodbury County Jail in lieu of $1 million bond. His attorneys plan to use an insanity defense.
According to the prosecution's Sept. 11 motion, signed by Assistant Woodbury County Attorney Mark A. Campbell, the defense wants to keep any reports from psychological or psychiatric tests administered to Harris out of court.
But prosecutors want a jury to examine the reports and hear facts they say would show Harris was not mentally ill at the time of the slayings.
According to the motion, defense expert Dr. Harold Bursztajn testified in a deposition that Harris' responses to a psychiatric test indicated he may be faking a mental illness.
Harris' responses to the test were unusual or atypical for someone with a mental illness, the motion says, but are "relatively common among individuals feigning mental disorder."
Prosecutors wrote in the motion that they have the right to offer testimony about a non-psychotic motive for the crime. Killing the girls to get back at their mother, they wrote, is consistent with teachings in "The Satanic Bible" about destroying enemies "by proxy."
Police recovered a copy of "The Satanic Bible," pagan and Wiccan writings and Harris' own spell notebook at the family's home.
The motion says Marla Harris' teenage son witnessed Harris' alleged threat against his wife and that Marla and Lawrence Harris discussed the statement during a recorded conversation March 18 at the jail.
"Threatening to hurt Marla Harris in the worst possible way without even touching her would be evidence of the defendant's motive for the murder of Marla's daughters," the motion reads.
"The hypothesis that the defendant killed Marla Harris' daughters to get back because the defendant believed that his wife was having an affair would explain not only why the defendant murdered Marla's daughters, but why the defendant did not murder his own biological son," the motion reads.
Marla Harris has said her 3-year-old stepson was at the 1420 Nebraska St. home with his father when the girls died but that her 13-year-old son was not at the house.
Immediately after the girls' deaths, family members said Lawrence Harris was an attentive stepfather and that there were no signs he was involved in strange rituals or any other disturbing behavior.
In an order issued Tuesday, Woodbury County District Court Judge James D. Scott wrote that he will address the prosecution's motion, which is in response to a defense motion, Sept. 29 before a change of venue hearing set for that date.
An official in the Woodbury County Court Administrator's Office said Tuesday that the defense motion to keep the threats from court, filed Sept. 8 by Harris' attorneys, was not available because a judge is considering a motion to seal it.
It is not clear when the request to seal the motion was made or when it could be ruled upon. If granted, it would keep the document from being released to the public.
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Magistra Ygraine wrote on Sep 19, 2008 6:13 PM:
Kate wrote on Sep 19, 2008 1:06 AM:
It might be irresponsible journalism to have repeated it; I suppose that's up for debate. Personally, I tend not to blame the newspapers. It's their job to tell people what's going on; it's not their responsibility to take sides. I like my media nice and unbiased, even when it's an exercise in absurdity like this one. "
Magistra Ygraine wrote on Sep 18, 2008 11:32 AM:
Duh, yourself. "
alt wrote on Sep 17, 2008 9:13 PM:
David wrote on Sep 17, 2008 4:13 PM:
The above statement is beyond false. Killing those girls goes against everything that Satanism stands for.
Why is the Sioux City Journal engaging in libelous pseudo-journalism? "