Murder of Dale Harrell

The murder of Dale Harrell occurred in January 2009 by his wife Marissa-Suzanne "Reese" DeVault (born November 6, 1977).^[1] Her trial made national and global headlines. The case was noted as being very similar to that of Jodi Arias, with whom DeVault was in contact and whose murder trial occurred in the same courthouse one year earlier.^[2][3] Even though she faced the death penalty for her crime, DeVault was sentenced to life in prison.^[4] She is imprisoned within the Arizona Department of Corrections.

Murder and investigation

On January 14, 2009 DeVault entered the master bedroom that she and Harrell shared, and struck Harrell several times in the head while he was sleeping.^[5] Harrell received multiple skull fractures and was taken to the hospital.^[5] DeVault initially claimed that Harrell was beaten by an unknown assailant who had broken into the home.^[6] She later confessed that she had beaten Harrell as an act of self-defense and alleged that Harrell was physically and sexually abusive.^[7] DeVault was arrested the same night on charges of aggravated assault and was held at a local jail, but was later released on bail.^[8] Officers noted that DeVault had reddened marks upon her neck and that they had found a hammer covered with blood at the crime scene.^[7] Three weeks after her release, and on the same day that Harrell died, DeVault was assaulted and discovered in a field. DeVault reported that she had been jumped by an unknown assailant and left by the side of the road with a broken jaw and ankle.^[8] On February 9, 2009 Harrell died of his wounds and a grand jury indicted Devault for first-degree murder. ^[8]DeVault blamed Harrell's roommate Stanley Cook Jr. who had a brain injury that caused him to suffer from short-term memory loss and he corroborated DeVault's claim though he could provide no further details of the assault to officials that showed he was the true assailant.^[9] Police stated that there was no evidence to link Stanley Cook Jr. to the crime and forensic evidence contradicted the claim that Mr Cook Jr. had been the assailant. When confronted with the fact that her version of the attack was not corroborated by the evidence DeVault confessed on camera in police interview that she was the person who inflicted the injuries to her husband using a hammer.^[10]

Harrell was cremated at a Mesa mortuary and as DeVault refused to give the remains to his parents, they sued her for punitive damages and for Harrell's remains.^[8] DeVault filed a 300-page confession with the Gilbert police where she detailed the years of alleged abuse, stating that Harrell had beaten and raped her on January 14, which prompted her to assault him with the hammer.^[11] She also reported that Harrell had frequently sent her to the hospital and that he had once shoved her in front of several witnesses and dislocated her shoulder, which one of the witnesses helped pop back into place.^[11] During this time police interviewed friends of DeVault and Harrell, the police found that they had no evidence to corroborate claims that Harrell had been abusive towards DeVault.^[10] They also mentioned that DeVault had lied to them in the past about receiving a large inheritance from the death of her stepfather, who was not deceased, and that she had also lied about an older lover she was seeing on the side and had borrowed money from, Allen Flores (to whom DeVault owed over $300,000), who had been introduced to them as an ex-lover of her stepfather.^[10] Flores's house was searched twice and the police located a computer with child pornography on it.^[12] Flores later agreed to testify on the Harrell murder in exchange for full immunity over the pornography charges.^[12]

Trial

DeVault was initially set to go to trial in 2011, but the trial was postponed.^[13] Prosecution in the case sought for the death penalty if DeVault was convicted.^[1] Defense attorneys stated that DeVault had battered woman syndrome and post-traumatic stress disorder, which they used to argue against the death penalty.^[12] Jury selection for the new trial began in January 2014, where Judge Roland Steinle commented that he did not want anyone on the jury that had been overly focused on the Jodi Arias trial.^[12] The trial for DeVault officially began on January 22, 2014 and was expected to run until April.^[14]

In their opening statements to the court, the defense and prosecutors posed different reasons as to DeVault's motivations for beating Harrell with a hammer. Prosecutors alleged that DeVault killed Harrell with the intention of collecting on a total of $1,250,000 from two life insurance policies so she could repay Allen Flores the $300,000 she had borrowed from him while DeVault's defense attorneys claimed that DeVault acted in self-defense.^[15] The defense also stated that DeVault had experienced abuse as a child and that her mother had physically abused her while her stepfather had sexually abused her.^[15] Dr. Jon Conte, a clinical psychologist that was also knowledgeable about the effects of child abuse testified on behalf of the defense, stating that he believed that DeVault's actions were consistent with a long history of childhood abuse.^[16] One of DeVault's children also testified that she had witnessed Harrell abuse her mother.^[3] The prosecution countered this with testimony from clinical psychologist Dr. Janeen DeMarte, who diagnosed DeVault as having antisocial personality disorder. She also questioned why DeVault would give custody of her children to her mother and stepfather after DeVault had earlier claimed that they had abused her.^[16] The prosecution also pointed out that DeVault had initially claimed that an unknown assailant had broken into the home and assaulted Harrell before confessing that she was the perpetrator.^[6]

On April 8, 2014, DeVault was found guilty of first-degree premeditated murder for the death of Harrell and the jury found that excessive cruelty had been used which made DeVault eligible for the death penalty.^[17] In a statement to the court DeVault apologized for the murder, saying that she was "sorry, not only for my actions, but for everyone I hurt" and also addressed Harrell's parents, stating that "My heart goes out to them ... His mother and father have had to experience the worst loss in the world - the loss of a child. I know there is nothing I can say that will ever ease their pain."^[17]

Sentencing

The penalty phase of the trial commenced on April 15 and deliberations began on April 22.^[18] The jury sentenced DeVault to life in prison instead of giving her the death penalty and Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery stated that "Imposing the death penalty in any circumstance is difficult and in this one the jurors apparently felt that a life sentence was appropriate". On June 6, 2014, the judge in the case sentenced Devault to life in prison without the possibility of parole.^[18]

References