Deadly Women Premiered ‘An Eye for an Eye’ on Investigation Discovery: Karla Faye Tucker, Jessica McCord, and Clara Harris (August 12, 2010)

The path towards revenge can sometimes lead to murder. It can be quick, fiery and violent. When these women were crossed, they didn’t take it lying down. Murder was their answer. -An Eye for an Eye, Deadly Women (S4, E1)

“Revenge is the #1 motivator of murder. It’s a very powerful force.” -FBI Criminal Profiler Candice DeLong

1. Karla Faye Tucker

Date: June 13, 1983
Victims: Jerry Lynn Dean, 27, and Deborah Thornton, 32
Location: Houston, Texas
Circumstances: Karla was abusing drugs since elementary school; she developed a frightening temper; she was a very violent person, would fight with you in a minute; she was destined for prison; her mother was a drug addict and prostitute, she also worked a day job as a secretary; no boundaries and no rules in her household; teachers gave up on her; mom was living a party life and encouraged Karla to join her; Karla was shooting heroine by 12; she started working at 14 as a prostitute; her mom was her idol and mom began to school her in the art of prostitution; Karla didn’t stand a chance; Karla was once housemates with Jerry Dean; she had a bad relationship with him & once hit him, broke his glasses and hurt his eye; Karla had a lot of trouble with men; she wanted revenge and enlisted her boyfriend to confront Jerry and steal his motorcycle but the plan went terribly wrong, Karla grabbed an axe; after a wild 3 day party of booze and drugs, Karla and Danny were high and plotting revenge; she had meth, uppers, downers, a dangerous cocktail of drugs in her system; Danny stunned Jerry with a hammer while he lay in bed and Karla decided on murder with a brutal weapon; Karla started swinging the axe on Jerry; she had an intense hate for him & struck him around 35 times; Deborah Thornton was hiding under the covers; the surprise witness must be silenced so Danny hit Deborah until she was dead; they left the axe embedded in her chest; homicide detectives were amazed at the brutality of this crime; Karla was proud of what she had done; she bragged about the killings to friends; Karla showed no remorse and was described as a mean, vengeful, and evil person; and then she made a real conversion while in prison; she became a Christian and everybody loved her
Motive: Revenge
Disposition: Karla Faye Tucker (and boyfriend Danny) were convicted of first degree murder and sentenced to the death penalty; Karla spent 14 years on death row before she was executed by lethal injection on February 3, 1988 by the State of Texas

2. Jessica McCord

Date: February 15, 2002
Victims: Alan Bates, 31, and Terra Bates, 30
Location: Atlanta, Georgia
Circumstances: Jessica set her sights on Alan and then became pregnant; she was controlling from the beginning & she controlled how Alan spent his time; as the years progressed, her behavior got worse; she was the instigator of arguments and fights; Alan was a Christian and dedicated to the marriage & children despite what she did to him; she suffered from Borderline Personality Disorder and narcissism; Jessica was never happy, quick to anger, self obsessed, and dangerous; she’s the wife from hell; the combination of BPD and narcissism makes her almost impossible to be around on a daily basis; it is the classic “it’s all about me” when it comes to that person; after years of heartache and turmoil, Alan decides to divorce Jessica; she started to become violent & came at him with a butcher knife but luckily missed him; the rejection triggered something far worse inside her; she wasn’t capable of working out the issues with Alan; when she gets what she wants, she wants more; she declared war on Alan and used the children as weapons; she was the master of mind games; she made it impossible for Alan to see his kids then told them, “see he doesn’t want to see you anymore”; Jessica had to be in control; nothing the court said would influence Jessica’s decision to let Alan see the kids; she changed their names and hid his own children from him; the court would not be defied & she was briefly jailed for contempt; someone had to pay; when Alan divorced Jessica, he made a lifelong enemy; Alan made a fresh start with his new wife Terra; Terra brought new life to Alan; Jessica also remarried; she elicited the help of her husband Jeff to get back at Alan; Jessica asked Jeff to help her get rid of him because he was such a nuisance in their lives; Jeff was a police officer; Alan and Terra arrived at Jessica’s home to pick up the children but they didn’t know they walked into a death trap; Jessica used a lure that the children wanted to perform for him but the kids weren’t even home; Alan was getting impatient because they had to catch a flight; Jeff walked up to both of them and shot them; Jeff fired at Alan four times and Jessica just sat there and watched as the murders unfolded; the seeds of Jessica’s crimes were sewn years before; her parents were divorced because her father was abusive to both of them; her father killed someone in Tennessee; Jessica and Jeff put the two bodies in the trunk of Alan’s rental car; they drove across the state line to Atlanta, Georgia and lit the car on fire; Jessica’s arrogance would be her undoing; the bodies survived the blaze along with a bullet and paper towels; the license plate was traced back to the car rental agency at the airport; investigators learned where they were supposed to be & executed a search warrant for Jessica’s home; they found the matching paper towels and a bullet in the wall; Jessica is coldly defiant, vicious & cold hearted; she gave off the impression she would regain control & win in the end
Motive: Revenge
Disposition: Jessica McCord (and Jeff McCord) were found guilty of murder and sentenced to life in prison; Jessica received life without parole

3. Clara Harris

Date: July 24, 2002
Victim: David Harris, 44
Location: Houston, Texas
Circumstances: Clara Harris was considered a wonderful human being except for this one incident when she lost it; she immigrated from Columbia; college education and married to a wealthy dentist; living in a lavish home; husband David was a self-indulgent & egotistical then decided to have an affair with his receptionist Gail Bridges; he cheats on Clara for months, barely covering his tracks; the affair became apparent to the staff at the dentist office; one of them told Clara about it; David’s affair will become his death sentence; Clara confronted David about the affair; she could not deal with the fallout of a divorce and her standing in the community; she begged him to tell her about the other woman and that request has a searing comeback; David compared Gail to Clara and tore her ego down in the process; Clara started working out and shed the pounds but the affair continued; Clara hoped if she lost weight and looked prettier, it would fix the marriage; David told Clara he’s going to break up with Gail but instead took her to bed; Clara turned to a private investigator to find out if David did in fact end the relationship; she wanted evidence; she soon discovered David had no plans to break things off with Gail; they got a hotel room and engaged in adultery again; Clara snapped after learning this information from the PI; she asked her step-daughter to call David as a lure to get him to leave the hotel; Clara saw them come off the hotel elevator hand and hand; Clara attacked Gail and wrestled her to the ground in the hotel lobby; she snapped and flew into a rage & didn’t care who she hurt; she attacked Gail again after being pulled off her and bit her like an animal; David told Clara it was over and walked out with Gail; Clara got into her car with her step-daughter and raced through the parking lot; Clara hit David with her car and then drove around the parking lot in a circular fashion and returned to run over him again and again until he was dead; Lindsey Harris witnessed her father’s death; after Lindsey begged Clara to stop, she Clara stopped the car; after years of belittlement and an ongoing affair, she snapped
Motive: Revenge
Disposition: Clara Harris was found guilty of first degree murder and sentenced to 20 years in prison; she was granted parole in 2017 and released on May 11, 2018 after serving 15 years in prison

Jennifer S. Norris

Nature Lover, Environmentalist, Mental Health & Crime Victim Activist

Deadly Women Premiered ‘An Eye for an Eye’ on Investigation Discovery: Karla Faye Tucker, Jessica McCord, and Clara Harris (August 12, 2010)

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Nature Lover, Environmentalist, Mental Health & Crime Victim Activist

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