Rising-star lawyer attacked in her own Louisiana law office

[Music] Baton Rouge Louisiana a sleepy southern city with a charming old state capitol that looks like a castle and around here the always friendly shaquita was the queen of the courthouse how was she viewed as a lawyer well we from the kyla the ghetto lawyer ghetto Supastar lawyer Danita tate says her little sister shaquita was a feisty force to be reckoned with what was her personality like wow who some you just can't explain because we Chiquito you never knew what you was gonna get shaquita was the hope for a family without a father and a mother who checked out my mother got on drugs and my grandfather used to tell her when she was growing up with that mouth you better be a preacher turning one of the what that mouth you have hmm attorney it was and with her good grades shaquita was accepted to the prestigious Southern University Law Center in Baton Rouge was not an easy thing for her to achieve how hard was it for her it was easy she passed the ball on the first track Chiquita loved the law so much she even had a tattoo of Lady Justice on her back and no one admired chiquitos legal skills more than her chief adversary first Assistant District Attorney Prem burns when she walked into a courtroom it was like she took over she owned it you could hear the shoes and the sound of the shoes walking in I had always seen her as the aggressor the one who was strong it seems no one could tame Chiquita until a chance encounter on the road with a smiling guy in a Mercedes supposedly they made it a real life he cut in front of her and she cursed him out and that's how he met there was a love at first sight she was like that was the perfect guy for Greg Harris was that perfect guy and money wasn't a problem he was a successful construction worker and shaquita was flush with cash from a big case she had just won a five hundred thousand dollar settlement and denita says it didn't take long until they walk down the aisle but the preacher say he told them if it is not what you want to do don't do it your sister had some form of apprehension all right but was she happy with it was she in love with him where I guess she was not exactly a ringing endorsement from the big sister who saw shaquita every day Danita worked as her legal secretary and met some of her shady defendants you knew all the cases on the people right she was not afraid of the tough no I mean she had some she was tough she's tough she was tough but some of her clients you know have been described as among the most ruthless of criminals out there coming from gangs and they love them they love that they are coming off as and laughs and talking and everything they love clients like Dena Kodu heart one of the baddest dudes in Baton Rouge he and his brother Darius were accused of beating and burning a man to death Chiquita represented Dena ko in the murder case he was like she said she was gonna give me out and she did he got out all right the state ultimately dropped the charges against the do hearts when something strange happened they were up to go to trial and one of the main witnesses in it and that crime I'm turned up dead or the do hearts responsible they've never been charged in connection with that killing shaquita was working on their case when our affiliate WAFB caught up with her outside the courthouse it seems to me that he was very cheerful in reiterating events that evening Chiquita was working late preparing briefs she called Donita who was home sick she was like I don't think I could do the Merritt thing and I was like girl whatever back and I hung up because she always say that lately during that time and then she'll say we decided we were gonna make it work or whatever the marriage was apparently working well enough for shaquita to ask Greg to come downtown and bring her dinner while he was there he started assisting her with shellacking her her shelves because she was doing some upgrades in her office during some point one of her clients arrived to bring some money for a case the husband went downstairs prop the door open went outside got the money from the client and went back upstairs to give it to his wife at some point he told her he was tired and she said well baby just going home I you know I got this I'll be home later Chiquita never made it home the next time she would leave her office would be in a body bag [Music] the Sun comes up over the mighty Mississippi in Baton Rouge prosecutor Prem burns is driving to work and here's the horrifying news on the radio a bloody murder in a downtown law office I found out in advance that an attorney had been killed and I was like okay I had not been called out call back to my office and said are they still at the scene Prem rushes to the crime scene and with one glance of the office building she knows in her heart it was shaquita Tate and I remember putting booties on my stiletto shoes loving up to go up there and to stand over her and to look at this fellow attorney member of the bar killed in her own office that was just heartbreaking to die under those circumstances with a law book basically falling out of her hands it just moved me in a way that I still can't describe and I remember I whispered to her I will make this right for you I will do everything I can to make this right the crime scene was so bloody we can't show it all the stabbing injuries to shaquita were brutal blood smeared on the wall and soaking the carpet but strangely no blood was found in the hallway or the elevator based on what you saw and the violence that you saw that was committed in that room did it seem like this was a very personal attack absolutely she was stabbed to death and a stabbing as opposed to a gunshot is a very personal a very hands-on literally type of killing this was not like she had been stabbed three or four times there were over 40 wounds to her body her face was cut repeatedly as if to disfigure her intentionally to say okay you think you're so good you think you're beautiful you think you're better than I am let me show you detectives immediately notice a shocking clue clutched in chiquitos hand a clump of hair it was woven basically through her fingers in a very odd way because had she been fighting and pulling the hair out of somebody's had first of all if you're fighting another female or even a male and you take ninety-one strands of hair out of their hand they'd be really stupid after the killing to lead that if I'd been fighting with somebody and they pulled my hair out that's what I'm gonna take with me Chiquita's sister Donita says her brother-in-law Greg frantically called her twice in the middle of the night when shaquita didn't come back home after working late she was there I say what he said you just listen I say why would she be here this time of morning so when I called that she did announce and then she didn't call me back I knew something was wrong when Donita arrives at the office she sees the yellow crime-scene tape surrounding the building and learns the horrible truth I saw the paramedics outside and I just saw them close to the door and the lights wasn't on so I was immediately I told my husband I say she did look around I was like where's my brother now is I'm because I saw both for the vehicles but I didn't see him as it turns out Greg is the one who called 911 didn't come home from a late night at the office that we saw calling and calling everybody was calling there's nobody can get hold up but I just came down because when I woke up this morning she's dead and I had the ball I just came down to see what was going on greg was the first to arrive at the office that morning now both Greg's Mercedes and chiquitos Hummer are surrounded by police tape that's what my husband said they are Greek in the back seat of the car police car not surprisingly Baton Rouge detective Elvin Howard jr. is now talking to him do you recall what his State of Mind was yeah at that time he was pretty upset he was yelling back and forth at the uniformed patrol man that was there and so was he acting like the husband of someone who's just had someone murdered you know he appeared to be upset and I guess I felt it was kind of overboard detectives always look at the husband first they take Gregg to the station for nearly two hours he sits in the interrogation room alone with his thoughts the camera records him looking very distraught as he speaks to a friend on his cell phone too good man meantime at the crime scene investigators discover some key clues Chiquita still had on a very beautiful diamond engagement ring she had her wedding ring on she had a tag heuer watch diamond stud earrings and if this were any kind of robbery or a burglary gone bad I would have expected someone just to grab those things obviously money was not the motive here her car keys were still there there was no rifling of her personal files her purse her purse was still there her wallet was taken and that was the only thing that was missing a Gucci wallet and almost instantly it turns up on one of the roughest streets of Baton Rouge a person called called in to the police department said they finally Chiquita Tate's wallet on Gardere Lane the person who found it was a beautician who did shakila's hair and the wallet still had shiki discredits inside the wallet had been thrown at about 10 o'clock that evening in a very bad area of town a very crime-ridden area of town in the middle of the road where somebody I would expect coming up with headlights on at that hour would see the wallet and go oh look money that's the same area of town where the do Hart brothers hung out Chiquita's clients could they have been the killers no one of them was incarcerated and another had an alibi the dew mark brothers were the first case that was coming up and they were like heck no you know why would why would we want to hurt someone who was fighting so hard for our defense they had paid her they wanted her to to continue the case cops rule out the do hearts they rule out any other disgruntled client and they rule out robbery investigators believe whoever killed Chiquita planted the wallet as a ruse do you believe that the wallet was dropped or placed there absolutely placed I think it was absolutely placed in that area of town for that reason just as a detour the murder of attorney shaquita tate was a bloodbath whoever killed the victim had a personal vendetta it was it was a personal killing I could tell that how could you tell I'm because of the multiple stab wounds because of the cuts I mean if you're trying to kill someone to rob them or take something from them you're just gonna kill them and you're gonna go on about your business this killing was an overkill there were stab wounds and injuries on the victim's body that were not necessary they occurred after death and this was personal for prosecutor Prem Byrnes who greatly admired Chiquita's legal skills I had always seen her as the warrior the aggressor the one who was strong here she was vulnerable here she was in death she had socks on as many of us would do if we were working in our office after hours in shaquita x' bloody office detectives find a mysterious clue left behind Chiquita closely clutching what may be long strands of the killer's hair her hand was not balled up as if she been fighting and pulling in death the way it should have been closed and there was one item missing shaquita x' gucci wallet but within hours of her murder a Good Samaritan just happened to find the wallet lying in the road filled with credit cards unfortunately for the killer someone's got out picked up that wallet there were several people in the car and one of the people said ooh credit cards let's go to the mall and spend them turns out the woman who found it ironically knew shaquita she quickly turned it over to police but something about the tossed wallet piqued cop's interests was it a breadcrumb designed to throw them off the trail because if you pick up a wallet of a murder victim start using those credit cards they're gonna pick you up thinking that you're the one who killed her the little plan to have a red hair somebody who had nothing to do with the crime itself but who was behind such a sinister plan just as the question surfaces cops get a call a tipster claiming Chiquita was involved in a love triangle particular female who never wanted to leave her name who would at least on three occasions to tell us that Chiquita was involved in a lesbian love triangle and one of the girls that was involved in and in this triangle was a client of hers and this person overheard them why Chili's eating saying that she she killed shakila and she gave me the name of the names of the females who who were there what a amazing lucky chance to overhear this at Chili's while eating that you have found the killer correct correct maybe that's the reason why the hair was in the hand maybe it was a female because you know at that point we're not 100% sure and so we proceeded to to find the girls and interview them detective Howard soon learned shaquita helped the two women adopt a child he wondered did either woman have hair like the hair clutched in shakyas hand first thing I look at is her hair to see what type of hairstyle she has and that particular female had a short hairstyles so that leaves one more question did they have it out first you keep it a no they loved it they spoke so highly of her they didn't have idea that I was coming so they didn't have a time didn't have any time to come up with any plot or plotting the story to to throw me off or confuse me as investigators begin the search for this unidentified tipster they conduct a search of shakila's house in vehicles and in Greg's car they find something incriminating inside his vehicle we located sunglasses that were under the seat their safety glasses we can see blood spatter on on the glasses he's a construction workers and he told us that he cut his finger one day at work a lot of construction companies and when you injure yourself even if it's a small injury you supposed to report it we check with his company and found out that he didn't make any reports of any injuries one by one other leads were falling apart by now with bloody glasses in hand cops were about to turn their focus to shakyas own husband Greg Harris when cops retrace Greg's movements the night shaquita was killed more damning evidence begins to surface he claims shaquita asked him to bring her food from a McDonald's near their home in the Baton Rouge suburb of Baker only one problem Baker is about a 40 40 minute run to Baton Rouge any burger like that and fries are going to be very cold there was a there was a McDonald's a couple of blocks from her office that struck me as being straight I don't think she called and shaquita sister Danita says after seeing the crime scene in person she thought the cheeseburger claim was strange to my mother when I was at Wendy's she said kita came the windows and she gave her food free that day for Windus that very same day yeah I didn't see any to win this food which means she ate the food cops confirmed greg did buy food and he never denied he was at the office that night but he told cops he left shaquita to work on a legal brief when she didn't come home he returned at 5 a.m. to check on her remember that's when he immediately calls 911 calls all night is there anything wrong with his story didn't seem normal that especially when we got there and the way he was acting that he was just insisting that something happened to his wife and for someone who just told the sister that the marriage was over and he goes directly to the place where she actually was and he calls the police as if something happened to her all I know is that her car is at her office and the lights are on so why would you think something urgent suspect exactly why would you suspect something happen who kills Shekinah Tate in her private law office the mystery is slowly fading as one by one detectives theory surrounding her death unraveled had anything been taken there was nothing missing a purse was there the juror was still on her hand she had earrings on that appeared to be diamonds yeah cops are quick to rule out a robbery gone bad and the next scenario came from an anonymous tipster who claims shaquita was involved in a love triangle turned deadly when detectives interviewed the couple it's clear they had nothing to do with the murder so now you're looking for the tipster we found a address in Denton Texas which is north of Dallas cops want to speak to the mystery caller they head to the Lone Star State to track her down we went to the address and no one answered the door we weren't gonna leave wasn't gonna give up that easy so we decided to call the number and the girl answered again at first the woman said the phone associated with the number belonged to a friend I said well I need to talk to your friend can I talk to her never could find a friend never had the telephone number for the friend then after more digging the tipster reveals a bombshell and I said well do you do you happen no security and she said yeah so yes I know she kita Tate she was married to my brother great we were just shocked you heard right the mystery tipster is the sister of shakila's husband Greg Harris Greg Harris got his sister to call the police department with an anonymous tip which was allowed now with physical evidence like the blood splattered glasses and this stunning admission investigators turn the spotlight on Greg in an intense interrogation your wife did not kill my wife Yeah right didn't kill my wife didn't kill my wife screw your wife no I did but did he in what could be an eerie foreshadowing take a look at this interview with our Baton Rouge affiliate WAFB taped just hours before Chiquita was murdered listen closely as the reporter asked shaquita how to spell her name like an embassy hiq ITA he had two kids Chiquita seems concerned that her husband would have a fit and with good reason based on this chilling police radio transmission his fists could be violent by that her fiance is beating her cops are responding to Greg and Chiquita's house after she made this harrowing 911 six weeks before they tie the knot [Music] she's wailing like a baby and it was so just opposed to everything I had ever known about her now with shaquita in a morgue savagely murdered police hammer Greg in this explosive scene hi did you kill your wife I did not kill my what do you I know I did there's no good cop bad cop in this room detectives work in unison turning the screws on the narrative that Greg first laid out the night of his wife's murder I went home first you did yes I did oh well yeah every second crema theek rapid check the cameras obvious but are these detectives really just bluffing Greg claims after bringing shaquita dinner at her office he went straight home cops don't believe him they tricked Greg by suggesting cameras mounted along the highway tracked his movements to a street called Gardere Lane in one of Baton Rouge's roughest neighborhoods how do you think I'm pretty sure the cameras pick the car the car that goes through there so what does she think it picks up I really don't know I'm curious to see what because if there's anything else is applied look you guys basically faked him out we just let him know that there are cameras all over the place so you might as well be honest with us it turns out the cameras weren't working but the ploy worked and Greg quick changed his story finally admitting he made a pit stop to Gardere Lane south of downtown before heading home to Baker a 45-minute drive north I just basically asked him where when is the last time you've been a guardian Lane he was like Gardere Lane Guardian Lane oh I went there last night so you know at that point we were like okay Greg tells detectives he went to Gardere Lane to buy steroids he gave us the name of the person that he supposedly purchased the steroids from the guy of course said he hadn't seen Greg in a while and Greg doesn't buy sterilise from him why are steroids and streets like Gardere Lane so important to the investigation well remember shaquita z' gucci wallet that Good Samaritan found it on Gardere Lane so when he says he had been to Gardere Lane mm-hmm what are you thinking well what I'm thinking is that again he tried to put us all he took the wallet from chiquititas office to make it look as a theft or a robbery and dumped the wallet I don't gardial laying in the hopes that we will find that way we would surmise that it was a rivalry as the dots start to connect cops order Greg to remove his shirt they want to check for any suspicious scratches sample it take your shirt off take your shirt off we can sample it right now sample it right now I could tell you that's a negative what'd you do to him Sampson right now wasn't there I did not kill my wife Greg Harris also had scratches on his body which would be consistent with a woman's fingernail a particularly woman who would have her nails manicured and they were just kind of Halfmoon shaped as if she had been digging into his hands then detectives hammered Greg about a bleach bottle they found at the house and wise clothes and your wife is missing somewhere you were unwise clothes I go home I clean up I wash dishes I do it all don't please get everything up what are you talking about do you think boots do everything I tell you what are you talking about no let's say you touched it I don't you tell you I watched last night last night yes I wash my cake I want some cake some wore khaki pants a couple of shirts and that was it you put bleach on cankers oh yeah I always wash my khakis with bleach the top that's on the Clorox bottle it had a mixture of griggs and chiquitos blood we found blood residue along the walls I mean it was a it was a lot of blood cops issue Greg an orange jumpsuit for now he's being held overnight on an outstanding warrant over the fight he in shaquita had before they were married but as he's about to find out that overnight stay in jail could be a lot longer you know what you know Circulo you come on Greg Harris isn't really a serial killer but by now cops believe he is a wife killer how many have you killed kill no-damn-body you have a dish your way oh man yo y'all crazy I'm serious yes you I never killed my wife either the evidence starts stacking up and it all points to Greg as the knife wielding slasher who killed his wife shaquita Tate the phony tip about the lesbian love triangle his sister made it all up sure enough she fessed up to to the call and I'm thinking this is very odd Chiquita's gucci wallet found on Gardere Lane cops say Greg dumped it there to throw them off the trail and as for the cold cheeseburger just another crumb to establish an alibi he cooked his own goose so to speak he and the truth came out but what will help prosecutor Prem Byrnes prove her case goes beyond stale burgers and slimy fries test results from the bloody glasses found inside his car my boss called and said there's a DNA match to her husband so I got on the phone with the crime lab and they went yes there is her blood we just found on some safety glasses and they were like it's her DNA on his glasses as I said I don't need any more than that run with this case Harris was charged with second degree murder pleaded not guilty and bailed out the high-profile trial lasted 16 days with Harris strolling into court like he was a celebrity it's like OJ Simpson it's like some people have this persona about them every day he came into court he was on bond he would dress like mr. GQ he would have his sunglasses on a beautiful suit very nice-looking man very elegantly holding himself and it was like look at me I couldn't have done this I couldn't have done this but all I could think of was the rage of wielding that knife that many times striking her taking away that potential for the rest of the world and the hair that was clutched in shakyas hand investigators say harris planted back to forensic analyst said how it appeared to him just to have been cut as a serrated straight across as if with a pair of scissors which is not something as a result of a tussle or a fight and what better thing to do if you're a male and you've killed her than to make it look like a woman is responsible for this killing you actually where did that go but what clinched the case was when jurors saw this dramatic moment great showdown tomorrow when detectives tricked Harris into admitting he was on Gardere Lane immediately after the killing last time you've been on the audio night Gaudio Lane I want to go to yelling last night I remember the reaction of the jurors when they saw that portion of the tape and they were kind of like okay gotcha gotcha they got him but instead of second-degree murder the jury convicted him of manslaughter were you surprised with manslaughter very upset we all argued either it was he did it or he didn't do it and it was very clear the defense attorney never argued manslaughter this was all manufactured by a pretty decent criminal but he got caught then he got convicted still the judge threw the book at Harris sentencing him to 40 years at hard labor but this story isn't over yet remember the do Hart's Harris's defense attorney Lance uncles be argued in an appeal that the do Hart's now dead brother Denard actually killed Chiquita you've never ruled that out never do you think it's possible that they could have set up her husband if you track the the accusations against them if you've read their police reports they clearly were sophisticated enough as criminals to do that the appeal was later dismissed and now Harris sits behind prison gates still not admitting his role or showing remorse if he really did it I have forgiven him but I still want to know what happened and why [Music] you said that when you saw the body at the crime scene that you whispered to her but you would get justice for her yes and now that it's all done did you do it yes yes I wish he had gotten more time but he will be an old man he his life will be over by the day that he's released [Music]

Channel: True Crime Daily

Views: 1,534,663

Keywords: Chiquita Tate, Greg Harris, Chiquita Tate Baton Rouge, Crime Watch Daily, True Crime Daily

Id: qEvd-cZAG78

Length: 32min 56sec (1976 seconds)

Published: Mon Apr 22 2019