Jan 5, 2008 11:35 pm US/Pacific
Upland Woman May Be Victim Of Murder-Suicide
Husband Was Convicted Of Abducting His Estranged Wife In The Past
WHITTIER, Calif. (CBS) ―
-
-
A motel employee identified the victim as missing Monica Thomas-Harris.
CBS
-
-
A missing woman's truck was found in the parking lot of the Whittier Inn, where two bodies were found in a motel room.
CBS
The identities of a woman and her estranged husband who were found dead in a Whittier motel room in what authorities believe was a murder-suicide were released Sunday night by the coroner's office.
The bodies of a man and a woman, later identified as Curtis Harris, 34, of Chino, and Monica Harris, 37, of Upland, were found about 11:20 a.m. Saturday, in a second-floor room at the Whittier Inn Motel in the 11400 block of Whittier Boulevard, said coroner's Investigator John Kades.
Investigators believe the man shot his wife and then turned the gun on himself, Kades said.
"Based on the scene, it does appear that there might have been some type of struggle," Whittier police officer Diana Salazar said.
"We are not looking for any outstanding suspects," Salazar told the Whittier Daily News. Salazar said the bodies were those of a man from Chino and a woman from Upland, both in their 30s, the newspaper reported.
Police were sent to the room when the couple failed to check out on time. A handgun was found in the room.
Motel employees said the couple paid cash when they checked in about 11 a.m. Friday and were seen walking around the property at 11435 Whittier Blvd. about 2 p.m. that day.
A Ford Explorer registered to Monica Harris, 37, of Upland, was found in the parking lot, KCAL9 reported. According to her family, Thomas-Harris did not show up at work Friday. They feared she may have been abducted by her estranged husband who, after being arrested in December, was due to begin serving a 16-month prison term this month for having kidnapped her, according to reports.
On Nov. 16, Harris took her from a West Covina park to a hotel where he handcuffed her and held her captive, then released her only to abduct her the next day when he bound her and threatened her with a stun gun, West Covina police Lt. Pete Mena said.
Harris pleaded no contest to a false imprisonment and weapons charges in exchange for a sentence of 16 months in prison, court records show. He was granted a month of freedom before serving the sentence. Thomas-Harris was not informed that her husband had been freed, the Whittier Daily News reported.
(© 2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
Click to enlarge
Click to enlarge
Stumble It!
