A Time To Kill

A Mother Disappears The Day After 9/11

(CBS)  The local state police, now back to full strength and convinced Cal had buried Michele's body, focused the search in and around the Harris property. They used helicopters in the air, dogs on the ground, and at one point, investigators even secretly placed a GPS device on Cal's car, hoping he'd lead them to Michelle’s body. He didn’t. But as they were searching abandoned wells, there was suddenly a discovery.

Capt. Lester says a black plastic bag of bones was found. But they turned out to be animal bones.

The search went on for a year, then two. After four years and no sign of Michele, investigators felt it was now or never. "The case wasn’t getting any better," Lester explains. "There were really no new significant leads or evidence coming in. But win, lose or draw, this case had to go to trial."

On Sept. 30, 2005, Cal was arrested and charged with Michele's murder. But how much of a case is there? Defense attorney Joe Cawley is confident Cal will never be convicted.

"Because you can't find a murder weapon. You can't just say, 'Well, he must have disposed of it,'" Cawley says. "And because you can't find sufficient quantities of blood, he must have cleaned it up. He must have just done a really good job. And we can't find the body. Well, he must have done a good job of that, too. A lack of evidence is reasonable doubt."

Nothing has quite shaken the calm of Owego, N.Y., like the murder trial of Calvin Harris. It took nearly six years, but Cal's trial finally began on May 21, 2007.

Harris, out on a half a million dollar bail, came to court from the house where authorities believe he murdered his wife almost six years earlier.

"Have you ever had a case where there was no body and you’ve prosecuted someone for murder? No body? No witness. No murder weapon. Nothing?" Moriarty asks District Attorney Gerald Keene.

"No. This was the most difficult case that I've ever done," Keene says.

Defense attorney Bill Easton says Cal is on trial because of who he is, not because of anything he did. "In most cases we have admissions, or we have eye witnesses. That’s not this case. This case is 'She’s missing. He was divorcing from her. His behavior was odd, there’s very small amounts of blood that might suggest something.' And that’s it," he says.

That blood is the main focus at the trial -- the small amounts police found inside the Harris home two days after Michele disappeared. Six drops of her blood on the doorway between the kitchen and the garage, more drops on a kitchen throw rug and on the garage floor.

"These are sub-millimeter spots," says defense attorney Joe Cawley. "It's such a small amount you know, it’s just not indicative of criminal conduct."

But D.A. Gerald Keene says, "It wasn't really the amount of blood that was incriminating here. It was the size of the blood specks and the manner in which the blood was deposited."

With so much riding on the blood evidence in the case, the prosecution recruited world renowned criminologist Henry Lee, who testified on videotape.

Lee, best known for the work in the O.J. Simpson trial more than a decade ago, says the small amounts of blood in the Harris home tell the story of what happened to Michele.

The pattern of blood spots in the doorway, says Lee, was caused when Michele was hit, twice. The first punch knocked her down. The second hit caused her blood to fly.

Using red dye to demonstrate, senior forensic investigator Steve Andersen showed Moriarty how spatter similar to what was found in the Harris home is created.

Andersen says the spatter was approximately a millimeter in size and some smaller than that.

Asked if this was enough to tell him that that was a crime scene, Andersen tells Moriarty, "The very potential of a crime scene was there. Yes."

Andersen, who also testified at trial, believes Michele was hit with medium velocity by some kind of blunt instrument, like a hammer or even a fist. "To get that size you have to apply a force to break that up into smaller droplets and propel it through the air," he explains.

"Isn’t it normal in a family’s home to find blood? I mean, people bleed. There’s kids," Moriarty points out.

"Yes. But normally, not medium velocity impact spatter," Andersen says.

"It was blood spatter, so that it wouldn’t come from a bloody nose dripping or a cut finger," D.A. Keene says.

[klhudson01]

I think this is really a sad case for our judicial system. Someone''s love one lost her life and our justice system failed her and her family. I wonder if Cal with his errogant attitude may have paid off the local mortitian to burrie her or to have her cremated without anyones knowledge? Just my thoughts!

[dr1321]

i worked for cal. he was a hot headed control freak, and oh by the way he did it and recycled her body at the steel yard and everybody in Owego knows it.

[carolcape]

Cal is Guilty, of course. I heard this case before, but did not know what the outcome was. Sorry to hear that he was released . The man that came forward, this man is probably being paid off. If he is not being paid off, he saw someone who Cal hired to abduct her and murder her and dispose of her body far from his land. My opinion is, She is Not on that Land. Someone took her somewhere else and murdered her and placed her in an unknown location, probably even in another state. A fine tooth comb should be taken to any monies he removed from his accounts previous to this, because he could afford to pay a hit man. Also, the fact that he tried to get rid of her possessions two weeks after she went missing, that proves it in itself. I have things here belonged to my mother who died a year ago of natural causes, I have to go through them and everyday, I put it off and it''s over a year. I know there is things I have to throw out. So give me a break, he is Guilty, Guilty, Guilty. And his new girlfriend indicating he said to her when she went to his home that she was afraid his wife would walk in, his words, "oh, she won''t be coming home". He knew she was dead and that is why she wasn''t coming home. I hope he gets the death penalty.

[newsreader57]

I haven''t read all the comments but a did read quite a few;no one seems to mention the "private lake" that was part of the estate. The police never mentioned any divers searcing the lake for a body or weapon.

[dlucero76]

Well there is alot of Polumbo''s, Revolver P.I.''s, Miami SUV''s, and old ladies who wrote about it on here and some of you are probably right-she''s probably under that slab but they will never be able to go in there and dig it up and the bottom line is this guy will walk eventually- no body, murder weapon, just little spots of blood that a Court of Appeals will through out. The bottom line is, as usual the police dropped the ball, they should have secured the home from the very beginning and brought in the pro''s but they didn''t....Sorry.

[donnaleac]

Not only was a new concrete floor poured the day after she went missing but has anyone thought that Cal may have also used one of the cars on his lot to remove the body from the house, dispose of it under the floor where the new concrete was to be poured, and cleaned the vehicle or disposed of it? I think that floor should be jack hammered up to look for evidence.

[dlucero76]

People need to stop watching so much T.V...What happen to "guilty beyond a shadow of a doubt"? Do I think he did it? YES. Would I have found him guilty?NO. Why? Because the prosecution did not prove their case "Beyond a shadow of a doubt". Come on people, the idea is to let a guilty person walk before putting an innocent guy behind bars. That''s why over and over we are seeing people that were wrongly convicted set free after many years behind bars. And it''s because-Oh I think he did it, or he might have did it, or he could have did it or my gut tells me he did it ..GET REAL!

[compry]

the nieghbor who came forward to state he saw Michele at the end of the driveway had told his wife that thier money toubles had been resolved, hinting that he was paid by Cal Harris. The rumours in Owego is that Cal took the body of Michele in the trunk of a car that was then shreded at a local metal recyclable place owned by a criminal named Wietsman who owed a lot of money in taxes and fines. Th fact that the Judge in the murder trial has alowed the testamony of a person whose own wife calls a liar shows that the trial should be moved to a county where the judges would not be bribed so easily by Cal Harris.

[leslielyn-2009]

WHY HAVE THEY NOT CHECK THE BARN WHERE THE HORSES ARE KEPT, HE COULD HAVE TAKEN HER OUT ON HORSE BACK TO GET RID OF THE BODY, CHECK STABLES, STALLS, AND SADDLES, ETC..... LESLIELYN

[mrsjp-2009]

just a thought.....we have (or did have) Phil Jordan living in Tioga County. He has been featured on Court TV and Discovery Times finding missing people and solving crimes. WHY didn''t anyone consult him?

[nikila40]

OK, you''ll probably think I''m crazy with this post. I do remember while watching 48 Hours that Calvin supposedly said he knew where to hide a body where nobody would find it. He doesn''t seem too concerned about his own land, as it didn''t bother him at all that they searched there. What about a cemetery? A newly dug grave? Any cemeteries nearby that held a burial on 9/11? That''s one place nobody would look - in the grave of another. Yikes...just a thought!

[heisguilty1]

Cal is guilty as sin and I trust that he will be convicted in this next trial and justice will finally be served. Why did he have no emotion? You have to have a heart to have emotion. He was having affairs while they were still married, long before Michele and they were legally separated before she starting seeing anyone. It''s too bad that the courts (or her lawyer?) required that they stay together in the same home during the divorce proceedings. I''m sure that just added fuel to the fire in an already bad marriage. As far as this Tubbs guy, I agree, he is NOT a credible witness and ironically his back taxes were recently paid! I hope they are keeping an eye on his bank account. Something definitely smells rotten in Denmark!

[wegoagain]

Erin Moriarty, my concern is for the children in Tioga County. Please contact The National School Safety and Security Services. "School Safety Post Crisis Consulting Support" This community seems to have done some math. They will pay all expenses. Lets help the community move forward. They seem to be flip flopped.

[calvindidit]

He is the only suspect who wouldn''t take a lie detector test...Wonder why?

[paul_in_va]

I think it is tragic that a panel of 12 jurors can review the evidence, convict a murderer in under 4hrs, and one debt ridden, authority plagued, story teller, can interupt justice and put this man back on the streets for a year. Gee, Maybe OJ didn''t commit murder either!! Justice has not been served here.

[sun4girl]

I HAVE KNOWN MICKELLE SINCE I WAS IN SCHOOL , SHE WAS A GOOD GOOD GIRL FROM A GOOD FAMILY , CAL SHOULD PAY FOR WHAT HE DID, SOMEONE SAID THERE WAS A NEW CONCRETE FLOOR PUT IN THE CAR DEALERSHIP THE DAY AFTER SHE DIED I BELIEVE SHE IS BURIED UNDER THERE AND SOMEONE SHOULD CHECK IT OUT. AS FAR AS THE NEW WITNESS GOES THOSE PEOPLE ARE NOT RELIABLE I KNOW THEM TO THEY ARE PROBABLY GETTING PAID GOOD FOR THE NEW INFO.

[kimynoregon]

can see Cal''''s lack of emotion concerning his wife. Put yourself in his shoes; he''''s just watched the love of his life, the mother of his children, throw everything away. Reject him and start a life of absolute debauchery and narcissistic hedonism. He''''s watched the most precious person in his life has become a two-bit *** having multiple flings with whoever she could run up against. If it were me, I too would have withdrawn emotionally and just prayed that this whole thing would be over and that she''''d take the shame and insult she''''s brought to him and his family away. He undoubtedly knew that her new behavior would be ruinous, and just wanted it over. How doesn''''t matter how so much as she could have decided simply to move away with some other *** and complete her transformation into a real whorish scumbag. Matter of fact we don''''t know that that didn''''t happen!

Terrible jeff82, poor taste on your comment.
I''ll just leave it at that.

[auntblue]

There are plenty of reasons to think he is guilty of murdering his wife. However, proving it a second time won''t be easy. The so called witness was a ridiculous attempt to insure a second tial. More than likely, this one will get him aquitted.

[mommyann1]

For a witness to come forward 6 years after the crime, with a vague at best description, and for that testimony to be deemed worthy enough to grant a new trial is beyond ridiculous. As an area resident familiar with the case, I am disgusted that this man is considered credible. He claims he didn''t hear about the case at first, and then didn''t consider what he says he saw important. (!?!?!?) It''s a true mouth breather moment, folks. Please keep the children in your thoughts and prayers. Imagine their lives for the past 6 years, and it''s only going to continue.

[thespectre24]

Yeah, Owego sure did take the spotlight, wegoagain. Which is why you find out about this roughly three days ago, which if my math tells me right, is roughly 6 YEARS after it happened. No one''s saying that this was more important than 9/11, it merely HAPPENED around that time.