Michele & Cal Harris | Did Millionaire Use Confusion on 9/11 to Murder His Estranged Wife?

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[00:01:56] Today's question is, can I analyze the case of Michelle Ann Harris and Calvin Harris? First I'll look at the background of this case, move to the timeline of the disappearance, then offer my analysis. Michelle Ann Harris was born on September 29, 1965 and grew up in Spencer, New York.

[00:02:27] In the late 1980s, when Michelle worked as a secretary at a car dealership, she met a man named Calvin Harris. He went by the name Cal. His family owned the car dealership. Michelle and Cal became romantically involved. They married in August of 1990.

[00:02:44] In 1993, they moved into a large house in Spencer, New York. The house was on a 252-acre lot. It featured a driveway, which was a quarter of a mile long. The Harris family grew quickly. Michelle had four children between 1994 and 1999.

[00:03:03] At some point, Cal started having an affair with another employee at the car dealership. I guess Cal thought that after a test drive, he was going to trade up and live life in the fast lane. Michelle discovered the affair.

[00:03:16] Cal told her that he was unfaithful because she did not keep the house clean enough. Despite his persuasive argument, Michelle demanded that he hit the brakes. Cal agreed and stopped seeing the other woman, but then he was off to the races again in March of 2000.

[00:03:34] In October of 2000, with their marriage running on fumes because Cal had resumed the affair, Michelle started sleeping on the couch. About a month later, she turned the corner and had an affair of her own. Her boyfriend was named Brian. He was 23 years old and lived in Philadelphia.

[00:03:52] Brian had a girlfriend, but he broke up with her to be with Michelle. He moved to a town just 15 minutes away from Spencer. Brian had planned on buying a house with Michelle and getting married, but it sounds like she put him in the back seat.

[00:04:07] Michelle continued to see Brian, but she also had at least one other affair. In January 2001, Michelle filed for divorce from Calvin Harris. Cal was not happy about this. He repeatedly advised her that he would not permit a divorce.

[00:04:22] The couple had vociferous disagreements on the topic, which were overheard by their family babysitter. In March 2001, Michelle told her family members that Cal told her he would not need a gun to kill her. He also said the police would never find her body.

[00:04:40] Michelle told her hairdresser a similar story about threatening statements made by Cal. Despite the threats, Michelle continued to live in the same house as her husband. In April 2001, after having some money problems, Michelle took a job as a waitress in the town

[00:04:56] of Waverly, about 20 minutes from her home. She was looking forward to the divorce trial, which was scheduled to start on October 22, 2001, because the outcome would have improved her financial situation. Unfortunately for Michelle, there would be no trial. Now moving to the timeline of the disappearance.

[00:05:17] On September 11, 2001, the day of the notorious terrorist attacks against the United States, Michelle worked at the restaurant in the afternoon and evening. Her shift ended at 9 p.m. After that, she stayed in the parking lot and consumed alcohol with two of her co-workers.

[00:05:35] They talked about the terrorist attacks. Michelle drove her gold 2000 Ford Windstar to Brian's apartment in Smithboro. Again, Brian was one of her boyfriends. For about an hour, the couple discussed the attacks. Michelle departed Brian's apartment sometime between 11 and 11.30 p.m. It's not exactly clear to where she drove.

[00:05:58] She may have connected with another boyfriend. On September 12, at 7 a.m., Calvin Harris called the family babysitter and said that Michelle did not come home the night before. The babysitter drove over to the Harris family house and found Michelle's Ford Windstar at the end of the driveway.

[00:06:17] The vehicle was unlocked and the keys were in the ignition. The babysitter made her way to the house and spoke with Cal. She told him that she had discovered Michelle's vehicle at the end of the driveway.

[00:06:28] Cal responded by expressing an interest in bringing the vehicle to the house. The babysitter asked him if they should search for Michelle. Cal told her no. Michelle went to New York City to visit a friend. The babysitter asked how that was possible considering Michelle's vehicle was there.

[00:06:45] Cal told her that Michelle, quote, probably hitched a ride, unquote. Later, the babysitter contacted a friend who in turn contacted Michelle's divorce attorney. The attorney reported Michelle missing to the police. Here's what the police found during their investigation.

[00:07:02] Michelle's cell phone was in her vehicle along with a nylon bag containing expensive jewelry. She may have planned on selling some of her valuables. Cal gave investigators permission to search his house. They found blood spatter in the garage and on a rug in the kitchen.

[00:07:20] A DNA test revealed that the blood belonged to Michelle. No blood was found in Cal's vehicle or in Michelle's vehicle. Investigators believe that Cal murdered Michelle sometime after 1130 p.m. on September 11, 2001. He then disposed of her body sometime before the babysitter discovered Michelle's minivan.

[00:07:42] Many of the state police troopers in the area had been sent to New York City due to the terrorist attacks. Cal did not have to worry too much about being spotted by law enforcement.

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[00:08:39] You can find us wherever you get your favorite podcasts or on evergreenpodcasts.com. Crime Capsule, history so interesting it's criminal. Not a lot happened with this case for a few years, despite the theory that the state had about Cal's involvement.

[00:08:58] But eventually, the state decided to prosecute Cal for the murder. Calvin Harris was arrested in September 2005 and charged with second-degree murder. In May 2007, he went to trial. In June, he was found guilty of second-degree murder.

[00:09:15] Before Cal could even be sentenced, a farmhand came forward and said that he had observed something relevant to the case on September 12, 2001 between 5.30 and 6 a.m. He was driving by the Harris family property and saw a woman and a man arguing at the end of the driveway.

[00:09:34] The farmhand identified the woman as Michelle and said the man was young. The man observed by the farmhand was not Calvin Harris. Michelle's SUV was there and a black pickup truck was behind it. The testimony of the farmhand undermined the state's case. Cal's conviction was overturned.

[00:09:55] Cal went to trial for a second time in June 2009. In August, he was found guilty of second-degree murder and sentenced to 25 years to life in prison. Due to mistakes made by the judge, this conviction was overturned as well.

[00:10:11] Calvin Harris was tried for a third time starting in January 2015. In May, the jury deadlocked and a mistrial was declared. In March of 2016, Cal's fourth trial started. This time, it was a bench trial. The judge decided his fate. Calvin Harris was acquitted of second-degree murder.

[00:10:33] Cal ran into some other legal entanglements after his acquittal. He was convicted for harassment in August of 2016 for an incident that occurred in 2015. In June of 2016, Cal was arrested outside the home of a police officer who had investigated the murder case.

[00:10:50] He was charged with stalking, menacing, and harassment. In 2017, Cal was arrested in Cortland County, New York, after allegedly striking a vehicle on Interstate 81 and driving away. He was charged with driving while intoxicated and leaving the scene of a property damage accident.

[00:11:08] In 2018, he pleaded guilty to driving while ability impaired. This is a lesser charge than driving while intoxicated. It sounds like Cal has struggled to avoid negative contact with law enforcement since being acquitted. Now moving to my analysis. Calvin Harris maintains his innocence.

[00:11:27] He was acquitted and can never be tried again for the murder of his wife. Despite the defeat, the state, of course, believes that Calvin was the killer. They are not looking for anyone else to charge. This brings me to the question, was Calvin Harris guilty of murder?

[00:11:44] Let's take a look at the evidence both for and against the idea that he was guilty, starting with the inculpatory factors. Michelle disappeared under circumstances which are consistent with her being dead. Cal had been accused of making threats against his wife.

[00:11:58] These involved homicidal violence and specifically mentioned her body not being found. Michelle and Cal were going through a divorce when she disappeared. Cal had a net worth of about $5.4 million. He had a lot to lose. On September 12, 2001, when the babysitter discovered Michelle's minivan at the end

[00:12:19] of the driveway, Cal wanted to retrieve the vehicle, but he didn't mention the key as if he knew the key was in the ignition. That same day, Cal asked an employee at the car dealership where he worked to clean his pickup truck inside and out.

[00:12:36] Michelle's blood was found in the garage and in the kitchen of the Harris family house. The police said that there was medium-velocity blood spatter involving about 60 drops. This finding suggests that Michelle was struck with some type of object.

[00:12:50] Moving to the exculpatory factors, although it is reasonable to assume Michelle was dead, her cause of death is not known. She may have brought an end to her own life. No murder weapon was ever recovered other than the blood spatter.

[00:13:05] No physical evidence tied Calvin Harris to the murder. The blood spatter could have been there for a long time. In addition, an expert said the blood could have come from Michelle's hand or finger. The presence of the blood did not necessarily indicate that Michelle had died.

[00:13:23] Calvin Harris allowed the police to search his house and vehicles. Investigators did not see or smell anything consistent with a cleanup effort when they entered the Harris family house. Michelle was living a risky lifestyle at the time of her disappearance.

[00:13:37] She was having at least two extramarital affairs and hanging out with a few people at the restaurant where she worked who may have had criminal records involving violence against women. One of the people who she allegedly was having sex with was a steelworker.

[00:13:53] He allegedly told another girlfriend that he had once killed someone and knew how to hide a body. He also allegedly said that he was the last person to be seen with Michelle. A steelworker owned a black pickup truck just like the one described by the farmhand.

[00:14:09] Again, the farmhand saw a pickup truck near Michelle's SUV on September 12, 2001 in the morning. The steelworker allegedly burned bloody clothing on September 12. A partial bra strap and other pieces of fabric were found in a burn pit on the property where he used to live.

[00:14:29] This property was only seven miles from the Harris family house. When considering the evidence, do I think that Calvin Harris was guilty of murder? I think he was probably guilty in reality, but there is no way he was guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

[00:14:45] Michelle was living a lifestyle which put her in contact with any number of people who could have killed her. This is one of those uncomfortable cases where a person may have been able to get away with murder because there wasn't enough evidence available and the victim unwittingly created

[00:15:00] a viable alternate theory of the crime. What do I think happened in this case? This is just a theory, my opinion. Calvin Harris was a high sensation seeker who had an affair and destroyed his marriage. He was upset with this outcome and wanted to reconcile.

[00:15:17] Michelle was also a high sensation seeker. She wanted to have some fun after her relationship with Calvin Harris ended. She ran up about $16,000 in debt, started hanging out with the wrong crowd, and may have been using substances.

[00:15:32] Cal took advantage of the confusion after the 9-11 attacks to murder Michelle and dispose of her body. He cleaned up the evidence but failed to eradicate all the blood spatter. In addition, he didn't know what to do with Michelle's vehicle, so he left it at the end

[00:15:48] of his own driveway. Again, this is just a theory. It is also possible that Calvin Harris was innocent and the steel worker or someone else was responsible for Michelle's disappearance. This case has created a cloud of suspicion which will hang over the heads of many people,

[00:16:07] some because they may have been guilty of the murder and others for bringing such a weak case against Calvin Harris. Cal should have never been prosecuted based on the evidence in this case. Now moving to my final thoughts.

[00:16:20] Michelle's decision to continue living in the same house as Cal made her an easy target. She claimed that he threatened her and that he was even physically violent, yet she felt compelled to remain within his reach.

[00:16:33] This is something that comes up in many of the cases that I have covered. The victim knows that a spouse or lover is dangerous, but they are focused on other endeavors. I think the nature of being focused on something else is really the theme of this case.

[00:16:48] Cal was focused on protecting his assets, which may have made murder an option from his point of view. Michelle was focused on moving forward with her life and did not pay attention to Cal as a threat. Moments before she disappeared, her final conversations were focused on the terrorist

[00:17:05] attacks. When the police looked into her disappearance, they focused most of their time on Cal. This led to them being accused of having tunnel vision. This was a case where everyone was looking in the wrong direction and nobody can be certain about who to blame.

[00:17:30] This has been True Crime Psychology and Personality from Ars Langa Media. This content is for educational and entertainment purposes only. Ars Langa Vida Brevis. Allegedly is back for season two, a new crime every time.

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