Dryden: A Town Of Tragedy: The Harris Family PART 1

so the weirdest thing just happened to me and  i have to tell you because i think a lot of   you will appreciate this so i'm looking at  myself on my computer in front of me and i   look behind me just to make sure like i'm somewhat  straight in frame you know even though i never um   but i'm looking in the computer to see like  what my background looks like and i did not see   dale cooper my skeleton dale cooper i did not  see him so i'm like oh dale must have fallen   i look behind me dale did not fall dale's sitting  there chilling on the salt lamp like he always is   and then i look back at the computer and there  he is in the computer i swear to god i did not   see him the first time i looked where was he is he  like a vampire does his reflection not show was he   hiding did he fall and then he realized i saw he  fell so he was like oh snap gotta get back up on   the salt lamp before she turns around you know  like we know that dolls do that in toy stores   when everybody leaves for the night this is crazy  anyways just thought i'd let you know either dale   cooper's walking around the recording booth at  night when i'm not here or i'm going crazy i think   dale cooper's walking around the recording booth  hello everybody welcome back to my channel and   thank you for joining me for another true crime  deep dive so i think the format of this series is   actually going to be very pleasing to everybody  those who like deep dives and multi-parts as   well as those who don't like waiting for the  next part because they don't have resolution   because in this video and the videos that follow  we're going to go over a string of tragedies   that hit the small town of dryden new york  between the years of 1989 and 1999 but since   these are all separate cases and i'm only going  to cover one or two cases each episode each part   there's going to be a resolution at the end of  each episode and then the next episode will just   build on these tragedies and it's also going to  refer back and forward to different tragedies so   they're all connected but it's not like you have  to wait till the next episode or the next part   to find out what happens so i think everyone's  gonna love it and be happy and i've gotten a   ton of requests to cover the town of dryden new  york a place that has been called the village   of the damned and a lot of these requests had  come through for me to cover this for halloween   but as i looked more into it i realized that what  happened to the people who lived in this area   it's really not something to be talked about  during halloween because to say that the residents   of this town were cursed because of the streak of  violence that haunted them for a decade i believe   that's a little bit insensitive although i'm sure  no one meant to be um i understand like it is sort   of like advertised and marketed as this when when  it's talked about in in different um media but i   feel like even suggesting that there's some sort  of like curse it kind of ignores the real trauma   that many people lived through and still live with  to this day i mean without a doubt it is almost   unbelievable that this small picturesque upstate  new york town suddenly became a place plagued by   nightmarish crimes over and over again but these  things happened to real people who didn't ask for   it who didn't want it and i certainly wouldn't  want to suggest that it's the result of something   supernatural or that the people of dryden new york  somehow brought this you know on themselves like   this curse on themselves however i do think very  much that it is still a story worth telling there   are broad implications there are there are things  to be talked about and i will tell that story   in the way that we go through all cases here on  this channel with sensitivity human compassion and   a study of the patterns of these crimes and the  far-reaching ripple effects that they had on the   people who lived through them because these are  stories of real people i love stories about people   i love looking into the lives they lived i love  seeing how everything that happens affects not   just the people involved but everyone around them  it's very interesting it's the human condition i   will say though that i did begin my research by  watching the investigation discovery docu-series   titled village of the dam simply because i wanted  to see what it was all about and get an idea of   the timeline and really that was all i had the  capacity to do that day because bella was home and   she didn't let me do any like sort of serious  deep research when she's around because she's   so damn cute i can't focus on anything and many  people believe that this series was insensitive   especially the people who live in dryden new  york i will say that as a viewer someone who's   not connected to this town or what happened  there i thought it was pretty well produced   although i did fact check everything i heard in  it as they usually do with documentaries it was   sort of like half documentary and half reenactment  but i did really enjoy the reenactment portions   i thought they were well acted which is not  typical in these sorts of things and i thought   it set the stage pretty well it certainly  grabbed my attention and didn't let go so   credit where credit is due they did get some facts  wrong i think they sensationalized some things i   hopefully have corrected those inaccuracies um you  know call it ego call it hubris in the words of   the great taylor swift call it what you want but  i believe that we can do better on this channel   with these stories but before we dive in let's  have a word from the sponsor of today's video   native i love talking about native because i truly  love their products and i use their deodorant and   body wash every single day and i have for over two  years there is really so much to love and respect   about this brand native deodorants are made with  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is one of the many reasons   why i'm so happy that i grew up here and i live  here you can be in a bustling city like rochester   frequenting these upscale restaurants with amazing  food sipping expertly crafted cocktails at some   modern high-ceilinged bar reminiscent of a  manhattan lounge and within 45 minutes you   can be driving through beautiful rolling  hills open fields and stunning lake views   making you feel as if you've traveled back in time  a century you can pick up a delicious grape pie in   naples you can traverse the finger lakes wine  trail you can get some of the freshest produce   from any of the hundreds of adorable little  farmers markets or stands that can be found   everywhere and anywhere i have friends who live  here who are high-powered business individuals   they wear suits to work they drive german cars and  i have friends who are farmers and who wear dirt   caked boots to work and drive tractors i love it  here it's so varied so multicultural it's made up   of all different kinds of people and they all make  new york one of the most beautiful and amazing   places to live now it has been said that dryden  new york inspired the fictional town of bedford   falls in it's a wonderful life it's an idyllic  little community where you can go sledding down   any hill or slide around on any ice covered pond  you can stroll down dryden's main street which is   a staple in any small town in america and visit  mom and pop shops or ice cream parlors emerging   with a sky-high tower of cold confection that you  have to skillfully maneuver to avoid sticky hands   or sad scoops dropped to the sidewalk never to be  enjoyed for me places like dryden are nostalgic   of a childhood gone forever a time where my  friends and i would run barefoot down dirt paths   a place where we would strip down to our underwear  and tiptoe out onto logs precariously positioned   over ponds which offered us cool relief from  the hot and humid new york summers it was places   like this and days like this where you could  consume your weight in freeze pops and at the   end of the day return home filthy and exhausted  but completely satisfied with the world and all   the unfettered surprises it held for a small kid  in a small town dryden is a place of bonfires and   homecoming parades a town where lighted wreaths  are placed on light posts at christmas time and   the season is kicked off with a tree lighting  ceremony in santa claus arriving in a fire truck   to bring holiday spirit to all the little boys and  girls and some of their parents who remained young   at heart and if it was one thing that the harris  family of dryden new york loved it was christmas   in 1986 when tony harris had been named sales  director of deanco a syracuse based electronics   equipment distribution company where he had worked  for 15 years he and his family relocated to dryden   and moved into their dream house at 1886 ellis  hollow road tony's father-in-law don lake a   building contractor from syracuse had built the  two-story home to his daughter and tony wife's   dolores exact specifications and it was perfect  so everyone called dolores harris dodie and   she and tony had been married for 17 years and  they both had family ties to the syracuse area   they also had two children 15 year old shelby who  was a sophomore at ithaca high school and 11 year   old mark harris who was a 6th grader at dewitt  middle school the entire family was described   as incredibly outgoing and by december of 1989  they had fully integrated themselves into their   community making friends and offering a helping  hand wherever they went dodie was active on the   pta and the ellis hollow board and when she'd  arrived in dryden she'd opened the gray goose   a crafts and gift shop located in a barn right  next to their house dodie really never wanted to   be bored so she kept herself busy and active and  running the store was one of the ways she did that   dodie's friend anne parzieli said that dodie  enjoyed meeting and knowing people and if there   was a job to be done she would do it even if no  one else wanted to both tony and dodie harris   were very active in the lives of their children  who both played sports and had busy social lives   mark played in the ithaca youth hockey league and  shelby was a member of the varsity tennis club so   the family were constantly traveling together to  attend shelby's tennis matches and mark's hockey   games tony and dodie also made sure that they  always knew all of mark and shelby's friends so   they would know whose house the kids were at  at any given time if their parents were home   and if they were safe december 22 1989 was the  last day of school before christmas break began   shelby harris said goodbye to her boyfriend james  ceoleck before boarding the bus to go home that   day they had embraced briefly before promising to  see each other at seven that evening when shelby   was getting dropped off at james's house so that  they could exchange christmas gifts she arrived   home around 3 30 p.m and waved goodbye to her  friends as she got off the bus calling out that   she would see them after christmas break around  that same time shelby's mother dodie got a call   from rita demarest a customer who had paid a visit  to the gray goose gift shop earlier that day rita   claimed that when she'd stopped by the shop in the  late morning no one was inside so she'd gathered   a few of the items that she wanted to purchase  and she'd considered making the short drive to   the harris home but she decided not to because  her small child was cold and she didn't want   her car to get stuck in the snowy driveway and if  you don't know this area of new york my area too   gets covered in snow and you will get stuck in the  snow and then it's a whole two three hour thing of   trying to get back to your day so when rita called  dodie around 3 30 uh she said that dodie was   surprised that rita had been in the store that the  store had been unlocked and rita was able to go in   but she apologized that she hadn't been there and  she made arrangements to deliver the items to rita   around 6 30 or 7 since she had to go out to  bring shelby to her boyfriend's house anyways   a half an hour later at 4 pm 11 year old mark  harris got off the school bus and he and a few   of his friends had a snowball fight at the  bottom of nearby hunt hill before walking   off to their respective homes fifteen minutes  later ann parziali spoke to dodie harris on the   phone about an upcoming athletic meeting and  during the call anne said dodie seemed happy   and relaxed and they chatted about some  errands that she had to run that evening   at 5 15 pm that same night tony harris walked  out of deenco his place of employment located   on north trip hammer road in lansing new york  he was dressed casually that day because his   company had been celebrating christmas that  afternoon with an employee christmas party   he got into his car and prepared to make the  quick 15-minute drive to his cozy home which his   wife had gone all out decorating for the holiday  as she always did with lights and garland on the   banisters and a glittering christmas tree decked  out with red ribbons and sentimental ornaments   6 30 p.m came and went 7 p.m came and went  dodie harris did not drop off the purchases   of rita demarest and shelby harris did not  arrive on the doorstep of her boyfriend's   house with her cheeks red from the wind and  snow in brightly wrapped packages in her arms   shelby's boyfriend james called the harris home  several times that night but no one ever picked up   the phone which was unusual just before 7 a.m on  december 23rd ellis hollow resident dennis reagan   was woken up by the sound of a smoke alarm coming  from the home of his neighbors the harris family   he hoped the alarm would be stopped but when  it continued he was concerned and he called the   state police at 6 58 a.m new york state police  trooper john benno got the call from the 9-1-1   dispatcher and started his car to respond to the  address never having a moment of dread because   this was dried in new york and bad things didn't  happen there especially not around christmas   later john beno would say quote i was figuring  that it was another false alarm which probably   95 to 97 of our alarms generally are end quote as  he pulled onto the harris property benno passed   a white wooden sign shaped like a goose that  read welcome friends and he noticed red ribbons   fluttering from the doorways of the two-story gray  house getting out of his vehicle john beno stood   outside for a moment in the cold listening  for the alarm but he couldn't hear anything   he did however see a set of tire tracks in the  snow leading from the home's garage and cutting   across the lawn when he got to the front door  john benno could hear the sound of a smoke alarm   coming from inside the house but when he knocked  on the door and rang the doorbell no one answered   john benno said quote as i was at the door i could  hear this constant beeping from inside the house   and at that point i said well it looks like  something happened and maybe somebody burned   something on the stove and may have gotten injured  and someone was heading to the hospital end quote   and he's thinking this because the smoke alarm's  going off no one's answering the door and he sees   these tire tracks leading from the garage and  cutting across the lawn typically if somebody   was driving normally they would just drive down  the driveway they wouldn't cut across the lawn   so it looked like somebody had possibly left in an  emergency situation and in a hurry but of course   jon beno had to make sure that all was truly  well so he entered the house through the garage   and he walked into a home that was quickly filling  up with smoke he also noticed the strong smell of   gasoline permeating the air bena went directly to  the home phone hanging on a wall in the kitchen   to call the fire department but when he picked  it up there was no dial tone and he discovered   that the cords to the telephone had been cut at  this point a sense of dread did begin to settle in   as benno made his way through the first floor  of the house finding no one there he just saw a   christmas tree there was some wrapped packages  underneath some unwrapped packages underneath   there was wrapping paper there as if someone had  been in the process of wrapping christmas gifts   he climbed the stairs to the second floor  he opened the door to the master bedroom   and he found the burnt and charred body of 15  year old shelby harris john benno had truly   never seen anything like this and his  brain was having a hard time processing   the gruesome reality of this situation but he knew  that he needed help so he immediately called for   backup and police and firefighters arrived on the  scene discovering three more bodies in another   upstairs bedroom this was mark's bedroom that  the other harris family members were found in   the entire harris family had been brutally  murdered dodie tony and mark were found tied   up in one bedroom and all three had been shot in  the head dodie and tony had been tied to the bed   forty-one-year-old dodie harris was found  leaning forward with a wire hanger around   her legs and shoelaces and other bonds securing  her wrists to the metal bed frame behind her back   she had been shot twice once to the rear base  of her head and once through the back middle of   her head her husband 39 year old tony harris  was behind his wife and facing the opposite   direction he'd been hog tied with metal wire  hangers and a shoelace attached to a blue cord   around his ankles broken glass was found  on his back and he had been shot twice   in the back of the head eleven-year-old mark  harris was found on the floor to the left of the   doorway bound to the foot of the bed with wires  at his elbows and legs and his wrists were bound   with some kind of leather strap mark had been shot  three times twice through his left cheek and once   to the top left side of his head their killer  had placed pillowcases over their heads before   taking their lives obviously as any person who  has a family who is a parent or who is a child   this is terrible this is just awful uh this  was hard to research it was hard to read about   it's heartbreaking to think about what this family  went through but it's even more crushing to wonder   if dodie tony and mark were still alive to hear  what was happening to shelby in the next room   fifteen-year-old shelby was found in the master  bedroom alone except for the family dog annie   who was lying dead from smoke inhalation a few  feet away reports say that shelby was tied to a   chair in the room with several different types of  bindings shelby's left arm was folded behind her   and a cord was attached to her left wrist and  pieces of pantyhose were found hanging from   the chair as well as being strewn all over  the carpet intertwined with long human hairs   scraps from a silk emerald green dress were found  on shelby's body and they were believed to have   been used to tie her up now this fabric was from  a dress that shelby had been planning to wear   to her school's christmas dance which had been  canceled the week before shelby had rags and   socks stuffed into her mouth and she'd been shot  three times once behind her right ear once to the   front of her right ear and once below her right  eye someone had hung towels up on the windows of   the master bedroom where shelby was blood-stained  and gasoline-soaked bed sheets were found bundled   up at the head of the bed and a good deal of blood  had pulled on the carpet under the bed there was   a watch which had stopped at 6 43 and an open  jar of vaseline was found next to where shelby   was located in the room there were cigarette ashes  everywhere and shelby had been burned on her skin   with a cigarette the young girl had been raped  several different ways and i don't need to   elaborate because i think you can figure out what  i mean i suspect that her dog annie found a shelby   after shelby's attacker had left the house and  annie had laid down next to the young girl causing   the dog to inhale smoke from shelby's burning  body and eventually leading to annie's demise   but annie was a loyal member of the family and  she didn't want shelby to be alone the family   cat was also found dead from smoke inhalation all  four members of the family had been doused with   gasoline and set on fire before their attacker  left three separate fires had been set one in the   master bedroom or shelby was found one in mark's  bedroom where mark had been found with his parents   and another outside the closed bedroom door of  mark's room police believed that the killer had   entered the house holding the family at gunpoint  sometime between 4 30 and 5 pm that evening he had   remained in that house until 10 30 or 10 45 pm and  then returned early the next morning when he set   the fire around 6 45 am the fire did not burn long  before the alarm started to go off which alerted   the harris's neighbor who called the police at  6 58 and jon beno was at the house within 21   minutes test fires would later show that the smoke  detector would have gone off just about a minute   and 25 seconds after the fire was set and that's  why they believe the attacker their killer came   back the next morning to set the fire during the  following investigation several objects were found   in the house including three gas cans a metal gas  can was found lying on its side in the living room   and it contained unleaded gas from the family's  lawn mower a larger plastic gas can was found   at the entrance of mark's bedroom where three of  the harris family members had been located and it   contained diesel fuel from their tractor and the  third gas can was found in the garage where the   family van was discovered to have been missing  a red scripto lighter was found in the master   bedroom as well as all of those cigarette ashes  and one cigarette butt was found in the kitchen   but no one in the family smoked and there were  cigarette ashes all over in the bathroom in the   living room in the master bedroom there was a lot  of cigarette ashes found and one cigarette butt   now what initially stood out as strange to  law enforcement and forensics was how clean   the house actually was aside from the cigarette  ashes they could find no evidence they dusted for   fingerprints and they found nothing they couldn't  even find one shell casing which means every shot   that the harris family murderer took he or  she picked that shell up afterwards and took   it away from the house whoever had done this  had also done a really great job of cleaning   up after themselves and then for extra security  they'd poured gasoline over the harris family   and set them on fire to eliminate the possibility  of any evidence being found on their bodies later   that morning the harris family van was located  in a bank parking lot at east hill plaza   approximately five miles west of their home and  then police received information that an attempt   had been made to withdraw cash from several atms  using bank cards that had belonged to dodie and   tony harris the harris's credit cards were  also used on december 23rd to make purchases   at different shopping malls in cayuga and oneonta  counties at this time there weren't surveillance   cameras on every corner so the police had to  depend on eyewitness descriptions from employees   at the stores to get an idea of who they should  be looking for tony harris's visa card had been   used four times by a man at different stores and  dodie harris's card had been used by a woman also   four times using these credit cards the man and  woman had purchased a television a vcr underwear   sneakers and diamond earrings among other things a  clerk who was employed at things remembered which   is a store they sell like personalized little  gifts and accessories and knickknacks and things   he remembered helping a man who had come in to  buy a lighter and allegedly this customer who was   buying the lighter smelled strongly of kerosene  particularly on the lower half of his body   an employee at a shoe store in the finger  lakes mall remembered a man who had come in and   purchased a pair of women's sneakers a red pair of  women's sneakers another employee at the camilla   small kmart helped a man load a television set  onto his light-colored foreign-made car around 9pm   on december 23rd based on descriptions from these  employees police were able to create composite   sketches of these two individuals the man was said  to have been a young adult black male between the   ages of 25 and 30 of medium build with loose curly  hair his female accomplice was described as being   an older black woman between 40 and 50 years of  age standing at about 5-2 with a wide round face   law enforcement asked the public to call the tip  line if anyone who knew who these two individuals   were and they received several calls including one  from dean sutfin a professor at cornell university   who lived about four miles away from the harris  family on ellis hollow road in a statement given   to police on january 8 mr sutfin stated that on  december 23rd at approximately 6 50 a.m he'd been   pulling out of his driveway when he saw a slow  moving van that was not the harris van approaching   from the east he identified the driver of this  van as a light-skinned black male wearing a cap   and in the passenger seat he saw an older black  woman according to dean sutfin these two people   resembled the sketches of the suspects from the  harris investigation a woman named alicia who   was a neighbor of the harrises also reported  driving home on the evening of december 22nd   and seeing someone riding a bike on the road which  surprised her because it was the middle of a snow   storm alicia slowed down to see who it was because  people in small towns they can be quite nosy and   you know alicia wanted to like go to her book club  the next day and be like charlotte i saw your son   riding a bike in the snow last night like what is  he doing is he on drugs you know that's how people   in small towns are um or at least they were okay  and not all people are like that i'm not trying   to make generalizations but i have seen this  happen a million times and alicia claimed that   the individual on the bike was a black man wearing  a parka and when she realized she didn't know him   and there was no hot tea alicia continued driving  home john burton also called in to tell the police   that he had seen the mail suspect on december 23  when burton had been standing in line to withdraw   money from the marine midland atm in lansing new  york burton claimed the man successfully withdrew   200 from the atm but then the machine ate his  card and so the man turned to ask burton if burton   could use his card to try and jimmy it out and  john burton attempted to help and to do this but   the machine never gave the card back additionally  some people who'd been bowling near where the   harris van was found they claimed they'd seen the  van there at 1 15 a.m on december 23 several hours   before the fire was set at the house and this  helped law enforcement to begin developing a   timeline over the course of several days police  received calls and tips and eventually these   calls and tips piled up to the point where they  were able to identify the female suspect as 55   year old shirley king who lived with her mother  sally reese on one side of a duplex located at 520   aetna road in ithaca new york shirley herself  did not have a criminal record but her adult   son who lived on the other side of the duplex  with his girlfriend and two-year-old daughter   he did 33 year old michael king who often went  by the alias of anthony turner he'd served a   year at the clinton state correctional facility  following a new york city robbery from 1979   and he'd been paroled on february 19 1980. he'd  also been on probation for another new york city   robbery from 1975 and in 1982 he was arrested  in the city on a weapons charge and while he was   being booked he'd made a comment that he regretted  not shooting it out with his arresting officers   and killing as many of them as possible in the  process michael king had used several aliases in   the past years and he had a long criminal history  which included burglary robbery and theft with a   deadly weapon and since the motive of the harris  family murders had clearly been robbery it made   sense that he could be connected so police set up  surveillance about 300 feet from the king home now   apparently both michael and shirley king were sort  of mysterious to their neighbors even though they   had lived in the antaro duplex for over two years  they pretty much kept to themselves and didn't   talk to anyone michael could be seen walking his  black doberman pinscher in the early mornings   and in the early evenings but he never exchanged  a word with anyone one of his neighbors who   worked at an animal shelter said quote you won't  understand how odd he was unless you understand   dogs you could see his dog wanted to make friends  it watched us when we were out playing with our   dogs and you know it wanted to be petted but he'd  never allow it end quote neighbors would also see   shirley king going to the mailbox to get her mail  but she never talked to anyone the king's landlord   mary tilly told law enforcement that her tenants  owed her some money michael had failed to pay her   700 in rent and surely owed her 550 dollars  in utility bills but somehow four days after   the harris family were brutalized and murdered  and set on fire in their own home michael king   had come into some money and he was able to make  three payments on his delinquent electric bills   starting on december 26th stephen may a man who  had known michael king since the late 70s and who   had burglarized homes around christmas with him  one year which is you know the foundation of any   great friendship just going out around christmas  ruining people's holidays like the damn grinch   robbing people's christmas presents i mean i can't  imagine a better buddy but anyways he told police   that he had visited michael's home in november  of 1988 at this time may alleged that king had   showed off a murder weapon similar to the one  used in the harris murders and he'd also pulled   out his various lock picks and homemade knives a  man named charles muzzy also admitted that he had   sold king's girlfriend joanna white a charter arms  rifle in january of 1987 and this was the murder   weapon that was used on the harris family it was  discovered that michael king was unemployed but   shirley king was working at a bed and breakfast in  ithaca called the peregrine house but both shirley   and her son had worked as professional cleaners  for side money a man who owned ide's bowling lanes   claimed that he had hired shirley and her cleaning  staff in 1985 and they'd worked for him for six   months shirley's cleaning staff included a  woman known as bonnie and shirley's son a man   who the owner of the bowling alley only knew as  tony turner but this was actually michael king   on january 30th 1990 an investigator with the  new york state police named david harding decided   to go undercover posing as a guest at the bed  and breakfast where shirley king was employed   now at this time harding was a rising star in  the elite criminal investigation arm of the   state police and he was considered to be bright  hard-working honest and on a career fast track   harding was picture perfect actually you  know everything you think you would want   an officer of the law to be he'd married his  high school sweetheart he'd gotten a bachelor's   degree in criminology and a master's degree  in communications at the new york state police   academy he was at the top of his class and he gave  the valedictorian address at graduation ceremonies   harding was only a state trooper for a year before  he was promoted to the rank of investigator which   the new york times claims is a promotion most  troopers need to wait a decade for but things were   not so picture-perfect behind the scenes because  harding was putting everything he had into his job   and he was neglecting his family at home he had  a wife and two children he and his wife got a   divorce in 1989 the same year the harris family  was murdered and harding focused on his work more   than he ever had before during this year david  harding became known as the guy to go to if you   needed solid physical evidence in a case because  he had a talent for finding fingerprints that were   clear as day and that could be used to really lock  up any circumstantial case in 1989 harding helped   put away timothy vale who is accused of raping  and killing a pregnant woman in a state office   building harding had found vale's fingerprints on  a credit card in the victim's purse and vale went   to prison after confessing to the crime harding  also found the fingerprints of suspect william   eschel on duct tape that was wrapped around the  head of a 43-year-old woman who had been killed   and left in a ditch and when the terrible tragedy  happened to the harris family at the end of 1989   david harding got quite involved and quite close  to the victims especially fifteen-year-old shelby   harris in a manuscript that he later wrote about  the case harding said quote those of us who   investigate homicides are supposed to be callous  to grief but shelby became special to many of us   almost all of us had young daughters to go home  to end quote so when michael and shirley king   were identified as suspects david harding wanted  to make sure that nothing fell between the cracks   he arrived at the peregrine house posing as a  grant administrator named david savage who was   checking in according to an october 1990 article  in the ithaca journal harding's objective as the   first police official to have direct contact  with shirley king during the investigation   was to get photographs fingerprints  and handwriting samples from this woman   harding checked into the bed and breakfast he  went to his room and he returned to the front   desk area about 20 minutes later where shirley  king was doing some ironing in the office area   while watching a news broadcast about a wave of  political reforms in eastern european countries   now i don't know exactly what this news broadcast  was about specifically but i do know that around   the 1989 time there were many democratic movements  across eastern europe the seeds of the dissolution   of the soviet union and the fall of communism  were being planted and we saw the beginnings of   a reunification of germany you know mr gorbachev  tear down this wall all that stuff things that i   feel you know were generally positive developments  and good for human rights you know just getting   rid of like fascists dictorial governments giving  some power back to the people things like that and   apparently shirley kind of thought that it was a  good thing as well because david harding struck up   a conversation with shirley telling her that he'd  been watching the same news program in his room   and she told him that she would not expect to see  these kinds of changes in the united states and   she hoped to retreat one day soon to a 200 acre  plot of land that she owned in upstate new york   and maybe she would even open up a hospice center  where underprivileged people who felt the same way   as she did could stay harding told shirley that he  administered state and federal grants for a living   and perhaps he could help her get the funding  to start this hospice as they chatted the news   broadcast changed to a story about a recent arrest  and harding claims that shirley began talking to   him about the differences between black on black  crime and black on white crime harding claims she   said quote if i rob a store and i kill a black  person that doesn't matter if i kill a white   person it's a new set of rules end quote at this  point harding claims that shirley motioned towards   the two white newscasters and said quote if i kill  him or her that's where it's at if i get caught   with a gun in new york that's 15 years and that's  without a silencer end quote as they continue   talking david harding asked shirley if he could  have a glass of orange juice which she poured   for him using her right hand as she held a lit  benson and hedge's cigarette in her left hand the   cigarette butt that police had found at the harris  home was benson and hedge's brand and apparently   both michael king and shirley king smoked this  brand of cigarettes during this meeting david   harding had his left hand in a splint and he told  shirley that he had to address several envelopes   to be sent out for a high school reunion but  he was finding it difficult with his injury so   shirley helpfully addressed 25 envelopes with all  fictional addresses and names including one name   delorean which harding hoped to be able to use to  compare to the name dolores which had been signed   when those illegal credit card purchases were made  after shirley went home that day harding collected   the glass that had held his orange juice as well  as jarv candles and some spray starch that shirley   had been using to do her ironing but he had no  success lifting her prints from any of these items   not ready to give up yet david harding contacted  shirley the next day and coordinated to meet up   with her at the friendliest restaurant near the  cayuga mall so that she could fill out some grant   applications while they sat in the restaurant  harding asked shirley questions one of the   questions he asked her was had she been in any  trouble recently and harding claims that shirley   leaned across the table took him by the hand and  said quote you mean have i killed anybody lately   no i'm not that way if someone puts a 357 magnum  to my face i might make you eat it but i would try   to get away end quote harding also asked about  shirley's relatives and she told him she had a   daughter named gabrielle who lived in south  carolina and a son named robert who lived in   arizona but she made no mention of michael king  or any of his aliases during this meeting shirley   had told david harding that she'd once worked for  the new york city port authority during the 1950s   so harding contacted the port authority to  see if they had her fingerprints on file   they did not but through the port authority  harding learned that shirley had also worked   for the u.s treasury department and they did  have shirley king's fingerprints on february   3rd harding received the prince and that same day  he told his superiors that he had matched shirley   king's prince to a fingerprint he had lifted  from the gas can found in the harris family's   living room and you might be thinking hold up  i thought the house looked as if it had been   professionally clean i thought they didn't find  anything not one fingerprint not one shell casing   and in fact i have a statement from a state police  investigator named david mt mcelligott who would   testify at a pre-trial hearing that a search  of the harris home had yielded no fingerprints   so what's the deal we'll get there i promise  early on the morning of february 7 1990 a special   state police entry team raided the aetna road  duplex where michael king and shirley king lived   knowing that king had previously mentioned  that he never planned to get arrested again   and he would shoot his way out if he could  even if it meant his own death there was some   anticipation that injuries might happen so  they flew a medical helicopter overhead with   instructions that the crew should take any  injured people to the hospital in syracuse   douglas vredenburg was the first member of  the assault team who entered the bedroom of   michael king that day and he claims that king was  sitting on the bed armed with a 20-gauge shotgun   allegedly king stood up rapidly after the police  yelled at him to put his weapon down and freeze   at which point two things happened at once  king's shotgun discharged and police fired   leading to michael king being killed now birdshot  was found in the ceiling above michael king's head   which supported the fact that his gun had  discharged shirley king was in bed when   police entered and she was promptly arrested now  obviously law enforcement and forensics are going   through this apartment this duplex once michael  king is gone and shirley king is in custody   and on michael king's side of the duplex they  found a workshop that contained a workbench and a   drill press and a belt sander and other tools that  king had been using to fashion homemade weapons   like guns and knives which were found all over the  apartment or the condo along with ammunition and   gun manuals with titles like improvised weapons  of the american underground in that same room they   found a mountain bike which was allegedly the same  one king had used to ride to the harris home on   december 22nd on a coffee table in the family room  they found benson and hedges cigarettes as well   as a collaborate lighter the same one that had  been purchased from things remembered using tony   harris's credit card in king's bedroom they found  the television and vcr that had been purchased   with tony harris's credit card and boxes of 22  caliber ammunition on his nightstand in the closet   of this bedroom police recovered a 22-caliber  assault rifle modified with a scope and silencer   the same weapon that charles muzzy had sold king's  girlfriend joanna and the same weapon that had   been used to kill the entire harris family after  michael king had used his workshop and tools to   sort of modify it charles boone who worked for  the crime lab in albany tested this weapon the   same day and determined that the scratch marks  it made on bullets that it fired were identical   to the scratch marks found on the bullets  retrieved from the bodies of the harris family on   shirley king's side of the duplex police located  sweaters and sneakers that had been purchased   with dodie harris's credit card along with several  other items purchased on december 23rd after   shirley's arrest she did admit to using dolores  harris's credit card for all but one transaction   she claimed that her son michael had given her the  credit card before she knew about the murders and   he told her that he'd gotten them from some guy  down by the commons which is in downtown ithaca   shirley claimed that when she heard on the  news about the harris family being murdered   she was outraged and she confronted her son two  days later at which point he did not deny it and   she was just as confused as everyone else about  why he had killed the family when he had claimed   that his motive was to rob them she said quote i  asked him why he had killed the people and he said   that he had done it so they couldn't identify  him end quote wearing a mask will do that too   michael king a mask makes it so that they can't  identify you and then you don't have to murder   four innocent people so that you can spend  thirteen hundred dollars of their money to   get yourself a tv and a vcr and a pair of sneakers  michael king's girlfriend joanna white was also   arrested after she admitted that she had dropped  michael king and his bicycle off in the vicinity   of the house knowing he was going there to commit  a crime and knowing he had a gun in his possession   at the time it also appears that joanna drove  king to several atms after the murders so   he could take money out using the harris bank  cards but the police did not want shirley king   simply due to her involvement in the credit card  fraud because of david harding's discovery of her   fingerprints on a gas can located at the scene  of the crime they believed she had been there   possibly during the murders but definitely after  to help her son michael clean the place thoroughly   as they often did together for extra cash in a  press conference that afternoon police announced   that they had planned to charge michael king  with the murders but they would now be charging   his mother for related crimes in august of 1990  shirley king went on trial for 12 felony counts   of burglary forgery arson criminal possession  of stolen property and hindering prosecution   during opening arguments on august 13th district  attorney george dents announced that he intended   to prove that shirley king had joined michael  king at the harris house sometime in the evening   of december 22nd and that she'd been there the  following morning when the bodies had been burned   however joanna white michael king's girlfriend had  given the police a statement claiming that shirley   had been home that entire evening although  she would not be allowed to testify during   shirley's trial because a grand jury had indicted  joanna on 14 felony and misdemeanor charges for   helping michael before and after the crime and any  admission anything she said on shirley's behalf   it might be used against her in her case when her  case went to trial on september 4th state police   investigator robert lashansky testified that he  and david harding had dusted for fingerprints   inside the harris home the day after the murders  and they'd found a set of fingerprints on the gas   can in the downstairs living room which would  turn out to be the fingerprints of shirley king   and on october 17th david harding himself took  the stand flashing a handsome smile at the jury   and talking about his extensive involvement in  finding the evidence that would prove shirley   king had been more involved in the murders than  she claimed to be harding said he had lifted two   of king's prince from the gas can unfortunately no  one could replicate that because after he lifted   the prince and photographed the gas can he'd wiped  the gas can clean to show that it looked like the   gas can found in the harris's garage because the  whole point of these gas cans was to prove that   this specific gas can with shirley's fingerprints  on it had come from the harris home and it hadn't   been brought there by michael king which would  explain somehow how shirley's prince had gotten   on it even if she hadn't been at the harris home  in fact they used the evidence that although there   were several gas cans found in the king duplex  all of those gas cans had been filled with   kerosene i believe because that was what  they used to heat their apartment because i   guess the electricity or the heat had been  shut off or something so they were using   heaters i guess that ran on this kerosene and  that's why michael king smelled like that when   he came in to the things remembered to buy  the lighter shirley's lawyer william sullivan   questioned david harding about this saying quote  your stated purpose for wiping can 87 was so   that the can would be red and yellow and shining  like 264 was red and yellow and shining end quote   to which harding responded quote that's correct  end quote later shirley's attorney william   sullivan would tell the new york times quote he  was the coolest smoothest most charming witness   the state could have produced i was hammering away  at him on the fingerprints in court and he looked   at the jurors smiled and winked at them as if to  say you and i know what this defense lawyer is   up to and they bought it completely end quote and  the jury did buy it completely after deliberating   for about a day the jury found shirley king  guilty on all charges third degree arson first   degree burglary second degree forgery first and  second degree hindering of prosecution and fourth   degree criminal possession of stolen property  so basically the jury saying we believe that   shirley king was at the harris home on the 22nd  or the 23rd but she knew what had happened she was   complicit she helped cover it up and they based  that decision mainly on the fingerprint evidence   that david harding had found as well as some other  things including dean sotfin's sighting of who he   believed was shirley and michael king driving away  from the harris home at about 6 50 a.m on december   23rd shirley was given the maximum sentence which  was 15 to 30 years and before she was sentenced   shirley spoke to the jury and admitted that she  had used dolores harris's credit card but she   also said quote during the trial the prosecutor  called several witnesses who were loose with   the truth one of these witnesses flat out lied  about fingerprints about conversations with me   and about other things like wiping the can clean  to make it shine end quote so we know who she's   talking about right she's talking about david  harding she's calling him a liar the community   of dryden they breathed a sigh of relief now that  it was all over the harris family was gone but the   people who had been responsible for their deaths  had received their punishment or had they without   a doubt no one contests that michael king murdered  the harris family his own mother revealed that he   had confessed this to her however was shirley ken  guilty of more than using stolen credit cards was   she guilty of more than showing poor moral fiber  for hiding her son's crimes and not going to the   police when she found out that he had massacred an  entire family maybe maybe not but what i do know   is the prosecution did not have enough to  prove that she was present at the harris home   on december 22nd or december 23rd 1989. in early  1991 david harding who had become a local hero   he applied for a job with the central intelligence  agency during his lie detector examination harding   revealed that he had planted evidence in the  harris case as well as four other documented   cases the new york times reported quote in all  four cases three involving murder and the fourth a   brutal assault on an elderly man the investigator  produced incriminating fingerprints of suspects   already under scrutiny in each mr harding produced  prints he said he had lifted at a crime scene or   photographs of the prince he had lifted in none of  the cases did he present exhibits actually showing   the prince on the surfaces he said he had lifted  them from end quote so what david harding did was   he got shirley's fingerprints and then he said  he found those fingerprints on the gas can   and nobody wanted to see evidence of this i guess  i i'm not exactly sure how he did it i'm not sure   if he actually put the fingerprint on the gas  can i don't think so i think he just probably   found a way to put the fingerprint on like  a slide or something i don't even know if he   ever showed anybody else the fingerprint i don't  even know if he ever had anybody else compare   the two fingerprints i think he just said i found  these fingerprints and that was that harding also   admitted to stealing a thousand dollars in a state  police drug sting operation as well as falsifying   the weight of seized cocaine in order to charge  the suspect with a more serious crime 15 months   after this terrifying admission the state police  received a tip from the cia about their shining   star investigator and everyone was horrified one  state police officer said quote most of us thought   this guy was either incredibly good or incredibly  lucky but no one ever guessed he was faking it   because he seemed like such a hard working  straight arrow end quote no one ever guessed   he was fake no one you didn't even have like the  ghost of an idea that that he might be faking it   because nobody's incredibly good and or incredibly  lucky all the time right in november of 1992   david harding pleaded guilty to perjury and he was  sentenced to four to 12 years in prison along with   state trooper robert lashansky who also testified  during shirley king's trial and leshansky received   6 to 18 years after pleading guilty to fabricating  evidence in at least 20 cases leshansky admitted   to working alone on 16 of these cases and working  with other former or current state troopers in the   other cases he also claimed that district attorney  george dents was present when david harding   fabricated the fingerprint evidence in shirley  king's case to which dents responded quote that   suggestion is absolutely unequivocally false end  quote because what else is he gonna say what else   is he gonna say i'm not saying he did it i'm not  saying george dents was there all right i'm saying   what else is he gonna say yeah i definitely did  that guys lock me up next slap the cops on now   it was the first evidence tampering scandal  in new york state police history and its   consequences were far-reaching and reverberating  several other police officers were arrested   several other police officers went to prison and  later david harding would say quote the cia was   recruiting me to work in a counter-terrorism unit  and they wanted bad guys they told me we don't   want any choir or altar boys and we don't want boy  scouts end quote so i guess he thought that like   admitting to planting evidence and putting you  know possibly innocent people behind bars was what   the cia wanted and listen i don't think that david  harding found anything wrong with this because he   truly thought that those people were guilty right  he truly thought that the circumstantial evidence   they had was enough and all they needed was that  that one piece of physical evidence to convince a   jury so he would provide that evidence because  he didn't want guilty people to get out right   but um that's not your job right that's not it's  not your job it's not what you're supposed to do   i understand the desire to do it i understand the  oh if we only had that one piece of evidence like   this won't even be a question but you can't do  it it's illegal it's terrible and listen i'm   not going to sit here and say the cia are choir  boys because they're not and i'm sure they told   him they don't want choir boys i'm sure they told  him they wanted bad guys because the cia does this   kind of [ __ ] all the time right like they are  one to talk saying like oh i can't believe he did   this we're so shocked clutching their pearls when  in reality like let's be honest the cia they're   spies they they do this kind of stuff in worse  all the time and it took 15 months for them to   even say anything about it so um i'm not sure they  were probably like considering hiring him and then   somewhere someone along the way was like uh what  if this comes back to us like this could come out   what if it comes back to us it won't look good i  don't know what happened i don't know what happens   behind the scenes but none of it's excusable none  of it's okay it seems obvious to us now in 2022   that harding's overzealousness and getting his  man or woman in this situation it's damaging   unfair obviously criminal i can't speak to why he  did it whether he got too close to the victims in   these cases or if he was just trying to further  his career maybe a little bit of both but the   implication was that hundreds of cases had to  be relooked at and many were dismissed even   though it's believed that the suspects of those  crimes were truly guilty but that brings about a   conversation that derek and i were having on crime  weekly recently there is a difference between   factual guilt meaning what the defendant did and  legal guilt meaning what the prosecution can prove   someone can be factually guilty but if the  evidence that is gathered can't support it   they can't be held responsible it's what allows  our justice system to work and although we know   that the justice system is broken because so many  people never face consequences for what they do   it can be just as broken when evidence can just  like be whipped out of thin air you know to put a   potentially like innocent person behind bars that  person might be guilty or they may not be you just   might think they are you know you might be so  tunnel visioned at this point you might be so   biased at this point you might be so emotionally  attached and wrapped up in the case and the   victims that you might just really be seeing what  you want to see if you can't prove it it didn't   happen as far as the legal system is concerned  and it really needs to be that way to protect   innocent people from being framed now listen  i'm not saying that shirley king was innocent   because i don't know i'm saying that they had  no evidence to prove that she was guilty i mean   besides that circumstantial evidence the  eyewitness dean sutfin who claimed he saw   michael and shirley king driving in a van  away from the harris home on the morning of   december 23rd right around the time the fire was  started right besides that which is circumstantial   they didn't have any physical evidence and dean  sutfin could have been seeing two other people   dean sutfin could have been seeing those people  on a different day he could have been mistaken   there could have been only one person in the  car eyewitness evidence is far from reliable   after this the new york state police did change  how they would go on to conduct investigations   david harding was allowed to gather evidence  analyze it and do undercover work in the king   case and having those three things be done by the  same person it made it super easy to fabricate   evidence you know we can't change human nature  we can't prevent people from being corrupted by   greed or power we can't stop people from being  motivated by emotions but we can put checks and   balances in place to make sure that it's just  not allowed to happen what michael king did   was wrong and horrible and honestly i can't  say that i'm sad he's gone i'm not what   shirley king did i believe was morally wrong  as well right she knew her son had butchered   an entire family she also would come to know what  had happened to shelley in that bedroom shelly was   horrendously raped what that family went through i  don't even want to imagine it makes me want to cry   what little eleven-year-old mark was thinking  and feeling when he was being tied up   to his own bed in his own room with his parents  begging their attacker to please spare them or to   at least please spare their children there's  no way to uh to process that there's also   no way to tell the order in which the harris  family died so it's possible that michael king   left dodie tony and mark alive while he tortured  shelley in the next room did mark hear the screams   of his big sister did dodie sob as her child was  being hurt over and over and over again did tony   fight against his bindings as he listened to  his daughter cry for help with the same daughter   that he had scooped up in his arms when she was  just three or four when she hurt her knee on the   pavement and he was able to make her feel better  but now he's powerless to do anything as she's   being tortured we don't know i cert i certainly  hope not i think that surely knowing what michael   king did and not turning him in is wrong i think  the fact that she was able to continue living next   door to him and the fact that she was able to look  him in the face after that says a lot she even   came out after everything happened and said he's  a good boy he was a good boy he just went wrong   somewhere like he's not a good boy and maybe he  was at one point but that is not relevant to the   conversation now and nobody wants to hear that he  was a good boy at one point so i do have problems   with what shirley did however no one deserves  to be lied about no one deserves to go into a   courtroom that's supposed to treat them fairly and  be completely railroaded to be totally honest i   don't believe shirley king said half that [ __ ]  that david harding claimed she said do the stuff   about killing news anchors and things like that it  just seemed way too overboard over dramatized like   who talks like that with someone they just met  you know like if i'm an employee of a bed and   breakfast and a customer comes down and starts  talking to me i'm not going to be like i just   i want to kill people but i can't you know it was  just so dumb like i believe that she talked to him   about guns and i believe she did talk to him about  like not being able to own a gun in new york state   because clearly like they had a lot of guns  in their in their duplex they had a lot of   guns in their apartment this was a family the  king family that that was comfortable around   weapons but it was very clear to me that  david harding was trying to paint shirley   to be a certain way and i'm not saying she wasn't  that way because i didn't know her i'm just saying   to me for me it's tough to believe anything david  harding said because he's proven himself to be   unreliable dishonest and calculated even if he  thought he was doing the right thing doing the   wrong thing in the service of the right thing is  still doing the wrong thing once david harding   admitted to what he had done shirley king was  released from prison after serving about two and   a half years of her sentence she pleaded guilty to  misdemeanor forgery charges and agreed to pay 600   in restitution and on december 13 2007 shirley  king was awarded 250 000 from the state of new   york after the court of claims found that the  state of new york was liable for negligent   supervision and malicious prosecution as david  harding's actions and unjustified complete lack   of supervision by his superiors amounted to  actual malice in an interview with the post   standard shirley talked about trying to uh catch  david harding's eye in court because she knew he   was lying and she wanted him to face her she  wanted him to like look her in the eye and   she said quote i was hoping that he would catch  fire and just explode poof end quote and i mean   i can't really blame her for that i would have  been pissed but as shirley's trial was happening   another trial was beginning as well the trial of  christine lane a woman who was charged with the   murder of her two-year-old daughter eliza may bush  the tragedies facing dryden new york were not over   in fact they were just beginning and that is where  we will pick up in the next episode thank you guys   so much for being here with me today we talked  about a lot in this video like it it covered a lot   of things a lot of implications a lot of topics  that i think are important now and were important   then and we're just starting to become important  then you know the unfairness of the justice system   if you are a specific person if you have a  specific skin color if you are of a specific   socioeconomic status so very important topics to  discuss always not just in 2022 and i would love   to hear what you guys think about this case in the  comments section thank you so much for being here   i cannot wait to talk to you again stay kind stay  beautiful stay safe and i'll see you very soon is so you got to let it go is my

Channel: Stephanie Harlowe

Views: 577,554

Keywords: Harris family, Dryden ny, cursed, shirley kinge, David harding, Michael kinge, Stephanie harlowe

Id: EWUBa2MB0j8

Length: 68min 44sec (4124 seconds)

Published: Mon May 23 2022